Former Barcelona striker Zaldua: Messi better than Pele, Di Stefano, Maradona and Cruyff

Posted Friday, March 09, 2012 by Goal.com

Former Barcelona striker Jose Antonio Zaldua has claimed that Lionel Messi is the finest player the game has ever seen, insisting that even Pele, Alfredo Di Stefano, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff do not compare to the diminutive Argentine.

Messi became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League game during his club's 7-1 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night and his feat has been lauded by pundits and ex-pros around the world.

The debate is now raging over just where the Rosario native stands in the list of the all-time greats but Zaldua is of the opinion that Messi has no equal.

"Messi is the best player I've seen in my life," the 70-year-old Spaniard told Sport. "I've seen Pele, Di Stefano, Maradona and Cruyff but nobody like Messi.

"This ease with which he scores. He does it all so easily; I have not seen anything like it.

"I have not seen anyone like Messi. There is just no end to him. He is a phenomenon, an extraterrestrial.

"He will destroy and kill all the records that we have or might have. He is a marvel."

Zaldua was also full of praise for Barca coach Pep Guardiola, who he is praying will commit his future to the club beyond the end of the current campaign.

"We have the best coach in the world," the former forward enthused. "There is much merit in what he is doing and I hope that he has many years [at the club]."

Zaldua spent 10 years at Camp Nou before departing for Sabadell in 1971.