Diego Maradona has blasted his compatriot and former player Lionel Messi on Live TV without knowing he was being recorded, claiming the Barcelona star lacks the character to be a leader for the national team.
At the “Hublot Loves Football” event in Paris , Brazil legend Pele asked Maradona if he knew Lionel Messi personally, and Maradona spoke his mind. forgetting he was on live TV.
“He’s a really good person, but he has no personality,” Maradona said.
“He lacks [the] character to be a leader.”
Pele responded: “Ah, I get it, he’s not like we were back in the days. In the 70s we [Brazil] had really good players like Rivellino, Gerson, Tostao.
“Not like Argentina now, which depends only on Messi. He [Maradona] is saying that Messi is a good player, there’s no doubt about it, but he has no personality.”