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Big stars with big egos

March 10th, 2006 | By: Euler Costa | 13 Comments »

Four of the best Brazilian footballers have at some point being target for another’s words attack. I don’t think it is a healthy habit and I don’t know what goes trough the attackers’ minds when this kind of initiative pops in their heads. Pele and Romario just love to push people around. Zico and Ronaldo have been their main target. Are there egos involved?

Of course their egos are so large that just spills out of the corners of their mouth. Some attack got really funny responses. Before the quotes, let me explain some background ingredients to this story.

Zico is maybe the best Brazilian player after Pele and Garrincha, and he was the absolute idol of the Flamengo club here in Rio. He is the idol of the largest group of supporters around all Brazil. To give you a notion about how big Flamengo is, when it plays in other cities and states it is common that the stadium have more Flamengo supporters than of the local team. Not that people from Rio goes there to root, but because Flamengo’s supporters are a nation within out nation with fans all over our national territory.

Romario left FC Barcelona to come play for Flamengo and he started to pursuit his dream, to become the best player in the world. Fifa gave him that award in 1994, but his dream was to become bigger than Zico and Pele. If you ask me, he will never be what Pele and Zico were for their generations, other than that, he is a super player, and I loved when he played for my Flamengo. Since most people agree with me about his place in our history, he became bitter.

The King Pele was always considered the best, but he probably was feeling jealous of the attention people was giving to Zico, mainly when Flamengo won the Toyota Intercontinental Cup, just before his move to Italy’s Udinese.

Now to the good stuff: the attacks and the counter-attacks!

Pele: “Zico will never leave Brazil, where he makes good money, and he will never adapt to the hard football that is played in Italy.”
Zico: “From Pele’s head and from a baby’s butt you never knows what will come out.”
(Zico stayed in Udinese for 3 years and played against Maradona and Platini at that time)

Pele: “Lately, physically he can’t practice anymore. He should quit because he is still Romario. I quit when I was champion.”
Romario: “Pele with his mouth shut is a poet.”
(Romario is still trying to reach the 1.000th goal record, like Pele did)

Romario: “Zico lost the 3 World Cups as a player and one as coach. He is a natural looser.”
Zico: “Romario thinks that he is THE MAN. What can you expect from someone who thinks he’s a god?
(Romario won the WC in 1994, but Zico is a greater idol until today, Romario resents that)

Romario: “I consider myself the greater after Pele’s generation. I know this is polemic and I will be probably stoned for this but I do. Ronaldo conquered everything with his own merits and I respect him.”
Ronaldo “He is too much pretentious to self-proclaim “the best”. I rather like to listen to the specialists and the fans opinion. The numbers are there for all to see and one can think what they want. I don’t have the intention to be better than Pele or any other player.”
(after all Romario did for Brazil, he resents Ronaldo’s glories)

The latest one:
Pele: “Ronaldo could be a better player than what he has being, if he wasn’t disturbed by issues outside the green field.”
Ronaldo: “Pele is also known for the foolish things he says. When I retire from football I don’t want to be such a bitter person that says stupid things all the time. Pele with his mouth shut is a poet.”

That was sweet! Ronaldo quoting Romario! Fun, fun, fun! Pele seems to be afraid to be forgotten by the press. This way he appears at the news all the time. I don’t think he is doing any good for his own image. He is the ultimate football icon already. Imagine 20 or 50 years from now people saying: “Oh, Pele was the Football King and a real poet… with his mouth shut.”

The true heros don’t need that. Look at Ronaldinho! Maybe in 100 years from now people will say: “He was a magician of the beautiful game, with a brat’s smile on his face”. I like when our idols say more with their feet than with their lips.

Tags: Brazil, egos, Flamengo, Garrincha, Pele, Romario, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Udinese, Zico

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Comments

By Tomislav Chagall | March 10th, 2006 at 10:51 pm

pelé is first and foremost a man of business. big business. keeping a high profile helps earning a lot of money. he’s very good at that, too.

Posted from Germany

By Trent | March 11th, 2006 at 9:15 am

Euler-
That’s some pretty funny back and forth! Speaking of Garrincha, do you know anything about a play called ‘Garuma: Life in Torment’? It’s about Garrincha’s life, and evidently it’s playing in Berlin. That’s all I heard about it, though.
-Trent

Posted from United States

By Euler | March 11th, 2006 at 3:09 pm

I’ve seen a story on TV about it. It’s not about Garrincha’s life, it’s based on stories like his: poor boy growing up without school and with little parental attention.

The play shows the reality of many Brazilian players, and they are using Garrincha as one example among others.

By Gute | March 11th, 2006 at 10:30 pm

Romário is the best player of the world in all history.

1 Romario
2 Maradona
.
.
.
3 Pele

Zico is failure and has envy of the Romário. It never gained nothing with the Brazilian Nation Team.

Pelé is just a king, Romário is GOD.

If defenders were allowed to use their hands… they would PRAY!!! Romário is GOD!!

By Tomislav Chagall | March 13th, 2006 at 5:37 pm

gute: itŽs perfectly alright to be a fan, but man please … GOD is GOD, dude. romario is a just football player and not even the best one i am afraid — you should have a look at some of the older games to know what it was like when football wasn’t purely business but purely sport. to call him better than pelé or zico or garrincha or ademir (or socrates … man, i really like him and his style) is ridiculous. and where would ronaldinho be in all this?

the best player in history is augustine okocha!

anybody remembers atlanta 1996?
semi-final: nigeria vs. brazil 4:3 (ht 1:3)
final: nigeria vs. argentina 3:2 (ht 1:1)

check the players who played then: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_at_the_1996_Summer_Olympics

that’s my boy.

Posted from Germany

By Gute | March 14th, 2006 at 12:20 pm

What Zico, Sócrates, Ademir had earned with the Brazilian Nation Team and in teamses it are of Brazil? NOTHING!

Romário is consecrated world-wide… He gained 2x Brazilian, 4x Dutch and 1x Spanish championships, was most goal player in all the competitions that it disputed.

Ronaldinho, Garrincha and Pelé are and had been great names of the world-wide soccer. However they had never been and they will never be better than Romário.

Romário was best player and does most goals of the Brazilian championship with 40 YEARS! None another being in this universe is capable of this. For these and several other reasons, Romário is really GOD!

Others are just a king or good players.

By Tomislav Chagall | March 15th, 2006 at 5:16 pm

hast du schon mal etwas von stanley matthews gehört? romario war gut, aber das waren viele, sorry. und viele waren besser.

Posted from Germany

By Rodrigo | March 16th, 2006 at 4:22 pm

Wow,

so Romario won 4 Dutch leagues, that´s an accomplishment - so many good teams there at his time…

And nowadays, when there´s not a single great player playing in Brazil first division, he´s the top scorer - wow! A shame his team was beaten by Baraúnas, that´s right, a team that didn´t make even 2nd division in Brazil, and Romario didn´t score…

Romario is as great as a player as he´s an idiot when wants to talk, but he´s not in the same level even of Ronaldo or Ronaldinho…Zico is the best player after Pele, and as a character he´s much nicer. The guy won the Brazilian championship 4 times while Brazilian stars still played in our league, and won everything on club-level - btw, did Romario win a Toyota Cup?

About National Team, he was superb too - you just have to look at his stats as a midfielder to understand that.

Gute, try to learn a bit about football else than a baby butt would know, then you post something…

Posted from Brazil

By Gute | March 17th, 2006 at 10:17 pm

My little baby Rodrigo…

What Zico won playing with Brazilian Nation Team? NOTHING MY BABY!!!

Perhaps Zico would to try to play Fifa Soccer 2006 Game… Who knows thus, he gain something dressing the yellow shirt of Brazil Team, righ?

By ally | March 31st, 2006 at 4:00 am

Who cares about their petty squabbles ?

Its all about DIEGO

Posted from United Kingdom

By James | May 9th, 2006 at 5:04 am

Pele is just jealous and worried at the fame,Success and Talent of Zico, Romario, Ronaldo and even Maradonna; he always comes out and makes a stupid unneeded comment, Romario is the goal scorer i’ve ever seen and a superb player, i don’t know about Zico but i heard he was worldclass, Ronaldo is the best player ever after Maradonna, Romario is jealous of Zico, Pele is jealous of everyone, Ronaldo is jealous of no one, because everyone knows the truth in thier hearts.

Pele only achieved what he achieved because of three reasons:

1. he had stars playing next to him.

2. Football was more rough but had no tactics.

3. he invented a lot of things, that in the modern day is nothing.

4. he never played in europe, i wonder why?.

Ronaldinho is good but he will never ever be on the same level as these players.

Posted from United Kingdom

By lou | June 13th, 2006 at 2:03 am

Zico was the greatest player of Flamengo club, a true hero and champion for that Club. He won for Flamengo many championships worldwide. To say anything other than this will be unjust and stupid. Zico was a true hero for Flamengo fans. Although, his record with the Brazilian National team is inferior to many, many players. He lost/participated in 3 WCs and was a decisive losing factor on one(1998 Romario cut). Reality is: with Zico, Brazil never even reached the semi-finals of any WC. The only title outside he won for Brazil was the 1976 US independence centennial and the guy who escored the winning goal was R. Dinamite. To put Zico at the same level of Romario, Pele, Rivelino, Garrincha, Tostao, Gerson, Bebeto, etc.. is to minimize the importance of these true champions and what they gave us. Sorry Zico, I honestly admire you and your work ethic however it takes a lot more winning than what you have shown us in your incredible career

Posted from United States

By Nick | March 27th, 2008 at 7:34 am

Zico was a fantastic player. He didn’t won a World Cup? Who cares. In 1978 and in 1986 he was injured. In 1982 he was sublime.
Cruyff, Puskas, Di Stefano, Platini, Baggio also never did.
Zico was the greatest after Pelè.
Romario culd be a shoeshine for him.

Posted from Italy