Pele Vs. Maradona

Edison Arantes do Nascimento,[6] KBE (born 23 October 1940 in Três Corações, Brazil), best known by his nickname Pelé, is a Brazilian former football player, rated by many as the greatest footballer of all time. He was given the title of Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee.[7] While his birth certificate shows his first name as Edison (after the American inventor), he prefers to call himself Edson, but it is as Pelé that he has become a sporting legend.
In his native Brazil, Pelé is hailed as a national hero. He is known for his accomplishments and contributions to the game of football,[8] in addition to being officially declared the football ambassador of the world by FIFA and a national treasure by the Brazilian government. He is also acknowledged for his vocal support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor (when he scored his 1,000th goal he dedicated it to the poor children of Brazil).[9] During his career, he became known as "The King of Football" (O Rei do Futebol), "The King Pelé" (O Rei Pelé) or simply "The King" (O Rei). He is also a member of the American National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Spotted by football star Waldemar de Brito,[10] Pelé began playing for Santos Futebol Clube at 15 and his national team at 16, and won his first World Cup at 17. Despite numerous offers from European clubs, the current economic conditions and Brazilian Football regulations benefited Santos FC, thus enabling them to keep Pelé for almost two decades until 1974. Pelé played as an inside forward, striker, and what later became known as the playmaker position. Pelé's technique and natural athleticism have been universally praised; he was renowned for his excellent dribbling and passing, his pace, powerful shot, exceptional heading ability, and prolific goalscoring.
He is the all-time top scorer in the history of the Brazil national football team and is the only footballer to be a part of three World Cup-winning teams. In 1962 he was part of the Brazilian squad but due to an injury suffered in the 2nd match did not play the whole tournament. In November 2007 FIFA announced that he would be awarded the 1962 medal retroactively, making him the only player in the world to have three World Cup winning medals.
Since his full retirement in 1977 Pelé has been an ambassador for football and has also undertaken various acting roles and commercial ventures.


Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona (born 30 October 1960) is an Argentine ex-football player, and coach of the Argentine national side. He shared the FIFA Player of the Century award with Pelé after finishing first in a FIFA internet poll on the best player of the 20th century. [1][2][3]
Over the course of his professsional club career Maradona played for Boca Juniors, FC Barcelona, and, most distinguishedly, SSC Napoli. In his international career, playing for Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals. He played in four FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 1986 World Cup where he captained Argentina and led them to their victory over West Germany in the final, winning the Golden Ball award as the tournament's best player. In that same tournament's quarter-final round he scored two remarkable goals in a 2-1 victory over England which instantly cemented his fame. The first goal was an unpenalized handball known as the "Hand of God", while the second goal was a spectacular 60-metre weave through six England players, commonly referred to as "The Goal of the Century".
For various reasons, Maradona is considered one of the sport's most controversial and newsworthy figures. He was suspended from football for 15 months in 1991 after failing a doping test for cocaine in Italy, and he was sent home from the 1994 World Cup in the USA for using ephedrine.
After retiring from playing on his 37th birthday in 1997,[4] he increasingly suffered ill health and weight gain, hardly helped by ongoing cocaine abuse. In 2005 a stomach stapling operation helped control his weight gain. After overcoming his cocaine addiction, he became a popular TV host in Argentina.[5]
In October 2008, in a move which surprised many, Maradona was named as the new head coach of the Argentina national football team. He is scheduled to take control in December of 2008.[6]
[edit] Drug abuse and health situation
See also: List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
From the mid-1980s until 2004 Diego Maradona was addicted to cocaine. He allegedly began using the drug in Barcelona in 1983. [26] By the time he was playing for Napoli he had a regular addiction, which began to interfere with his ability to play football. "The New York Times: SOCCER; Maradona Sentenced" (1991-19-09).
Over the years following his retirement his health seriously deteriorated. Maradona had a tendency to put on weight, and suffered increasingly from obesity from the end of his playing career until undergoing gastric bypass surgery in a clinic in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia on 6 March 2005. When Maradona resumed public appearances shortly thereafter, he displayed a notably thinner figure.
18 April 2004, doctors reported that Maradona had suffered a major heart attack following a cocaine overdose; he was admitted to intensive care in a Buenos Aires hospital. Scores of fans gathered around the clinic. Days after the heart attack, a nurse was caught taking photos of Maradona with a mobile phone and was promptly fired by the hospital managers.[citation needed]
Fortunately he showed improvement and was taken off the respirator 23 April and remained in intensive care for several days before being discharged, 29 April. He returned to Cuba, where he had spent most of his time in the years leading up to the heart attack, in May.
29 March 2007, Maradona was readmitted to a hospital in Buenos Aires. He was treated for hepatitis and effects of alcohol abuse, and was released on 11 April, but re-admitted two days later.[27] In the following days there were constant rumors about his health, including three false claims of his death within a month.[28] After transfer to a psychiatric clinic specialising in alcohol-related problems, he was discharged on May 7.[29]
8 May 2007, Maradona appeared on Argentine television and stated that he had quit drinking and had not used drugs in two and a half years.[30]