The Pope reveals his favorite football player in an interview with the director Gian Marco Chiocci: “All of them are great, each with their own unique traits.”
Maradona or Messi? “I will have to give you a third name and say, Pelé.” This is how Pope Francis responded to the Tg1 director Gian Marco Chiocci, who asked him which of the two Argentine champions he preferred.
“Maradona, as a player, was great, truly great. But as a person, he failed,” the Pope said. “He fell into the company of those who praised him but didn’t help him. He came to visit me in the first year of my pontificate, and then poor fellow met his end. Many athletes have tragic endings.”
“Messi on the other end is very correct. He’s a gentleman. But for me, of these three, the true gentleman was Pelé. A man with a big heart.” He added, “I’ve talked with Pelé, I met him once on a plane when I was in Buenos Aires, and we had a conversation. He is a man with such tremendous humanity.”
“But I have to say, all three of them are great, each with their own unique way. Messi is great at this moment, while Pelé and Maradona were great in their time.”
