Is Zico, not Maradona, the second best player?ever?

Discussion in 'Players & Legends' started by Izzy9, Jul 19, 2011.

  1. Izzy9

    Izzy9 Member

    Apr 21, 2011
    U.S.
    Club:
    Santos FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Brazil
    Every time I watch highlights of Zico, I think about the early 80s and begin to question whether Maradona was indeed better than Zico. I guess Maradona performed better with his national team than Zico did. Zico had a much better all-around game and was a better scorer, passer, free kick taker and was as good a dribbler as Maradona. Well, Maradona was a better dribbler but, not by much. What is fair is that Maradona won the world cup in 1986 and went to the finals again in 1990 and for that, he will always be regarded as a better player. In fact, many people put him up there with Pele.
    Was Maradona better than Zico?
     
  2. DanFla

    DanFla Member

    Apr 18, 2010
    Club:
    Flamengo Rio Janeiro
    Not easy question, first of all i think you should define the criteria first. Do you believe that Maradona historic outside of the field interfire on the judgment? If yes i think that Zico was better than Maradona, Zico outside the field was and still is a completely honored (dont know if this is the correct word). But on the field Maradona titles on the NT team makes the difference in favor of him, if Zico had won a WC probably i would consider him better.
     
  3. Alessandro10

    Alessandro10 Member

    Dec 6, 2010
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Zico was a better passer, playmaker but Maradona was a better dribbler(in my opinion the best ever with Garrincha). When you really compare them there's nothing that one can do that the other can't , but I think Maradona was a level above every player in his era.
     
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  4. schwuppe

    schwuppe Member+

    Sep 17, 2009
    Club:
    FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
    The guy with Flamengo as his favourite club said it's probably Maradona so you got your answer. :D
     
  5. DanFla

    DanFla Member

    Apr 18, 2010
    Club:
    Flamengo Rio Janeiro
    Yes, but for me Zico is on the Top 5 and Maradona is the 3rd after Garrincha.

    Pelé
    Garrincha
    Maradona
    Cruyff and Zico tied
     
  6. RoyOfTheRovers

    Jul 24, 2009
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    [I have to agree w/"Dan" here: Are you asking if Zico was a "better" footballer than Maradona, or a "greater" one? :confused:]
     
  7. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    Firstly wen compare players there are two basics things; Talent and Acgievement.
    - Talent: it is very close call, but Maradona would get the edge (in term of his leadership and his mental of "rasing games on accasions" to win fr the team.

    Now if we take Pele as Golden Rule of player skills and ability:
    Pele 10/10, Maradona 9.9/10 and Zico 9.7/10

    - Achievement:
    Obviously Maradona left Zico behind for his WC86 performance.

    Verdict:
    Maradona edged Zico in "techniques" (by a tiny bit) but Overall, he was ranked higher surely ... (as many lists out there: Maradona in TOP3 and most often Zico was out of TOP15) -

    I found Zico was way underated for his UNLUCKY career path (too short with Unidese for European fans to admire along with a very good performance at WC82 but ended up trophieless to the rest of the world)

    UNLUCKY in the sense: Not fit at both WC78 and WC86 inorder to shine his talent and made up for his lost in 82!
     
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  8. SirWellingtonSilva

    May 30, 2011
    Club:
    Arsenal FC

    What exactly is the 0.1 in this case that you think seperates maradona from pele?.... technique? agility? speed? strength? or some other skill?
     
  9. y.o.n.k.o

    y.o.n.k.o Member

    Jan 12, 2010
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    I think Maradona was a player we have come closest to see win a game or a title/trophy on his own. I'm not saying he won anything all on his own, but rather that he was the closest to such a claim. And the interesting thing is that he didn't do it with skills and ability alone but also with guile and savvy (some may call it cheating, i.e. the game vs England and the "hand of God").

    Zico was a great player too in his own right, but Diego was a smidgen greater and not for the WC title he has over the Brazilian.

    Ability-wise, Maradona's passing and vision were closer to Zico's more than Zico's dribbling was to Maradona's. But we are probably talking very small margins of difference either way.

    I know this will steer the discussion into a different direction, but what do you all think about Zico vs Platini? Both came close to winning a WC and even played against each other in 1986 1/4 final.
     
  10. jerrito

    jerrito Member+

    Jun 22, 2006
    America
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    It wasn't just for his National Team that Maradona was greater than Zico or Platini. He was more dominant in big moments for his club side (Napoli) than any player I have ever seen.
     
  11. DanFla

    DanFla Member

    Apr 18, 2010
    Club:
    Flamengo Rio Janeiro
    i have to disagree, in the club level Zico was better than Maradona.

    Zico in Flamengo scored 509 goals.


     
  12. RoyOfTheRovers

    Jul 24, 2009
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Maradona v. Zico:

    [So you must be rating Maradona v. Zico in terms of "greatness" then, mate? :confused:]
     
  13. jerrito

    jerrito Member+

    Jun 22, 2006
    America
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy

    If goals alone were the only measure of greatness...

    What I am saying is that in my opinion Maradona meant more to the success or failure of his side than both Zico and Platini, and took a side which on paper was not the equal of Juventus and others and won the Serie A twice, and a less than great Argentina side to the World Cup title. And in both cases, he was a difference maker on a fairly regular basis.
     
  14. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    Re: Maradona v. Zico:

    LOL ... can you not just guess?? Pele header is second to none, even Maradona's "hand of God" could not compare ...

    Read again, Talent only I still rate Maradona 9.9 a bit higher than Zico 9.7

    and overall (mean greatness) of course Maradona is also higher
     
  15. RoyOfTheRovers

    Jul 24, 2009
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Re: Maradona v. Zico:

    [I've got you now, mate: what you were terming as their relative "greatness" compared to each other was a bit confusing to me at first...]
     
  16. SirWellingtonSilva

    May 30, 2011
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Re: Maradona v. Zico:



    When talking about great players headers are hardly ever considered though, its a skill even average footballers can be good at. You cant say pele has better talent because he was a great header, maybe you can say he was more complete overall, but it should be about who has the better technique ect not who was the best at heading the ball
     
  17. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    Re: Maradona v. Zico:

    Haha .. You got me ... I was kidding (even though it's true Pele's header was way better)

    For the difference of 0.1 in skills I gave to Pele for he was so complete in skills and also in "PERFORMANCE" at any level from day 1 to day 1000+
    For example, a credit clearly was his greatness at Copa59, then Libertadore (and then of course Intercontinental cup) That Maradona could not achieve or show off ... per se .. for any good reson.
     
  18. SirWellingtonSilva

    May 30, 2011
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    If we can use free kicks (traditional style, not the vulgar modern cr7 inspired trend of punting the valve) as a measure of technical ability, its pretty hard to choose a winner

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlVfzOb_w9s"]‪Diego Maradona - Greatest freekick specialist‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyMA_SRkfvU"]‪Zico Free Kicks‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]


    But both look more cultured than pele
     
  19. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    Well in Freekick apart, I rate either Zico or Platini as best 2, along with Mijailovic, then Maradona come close as 3,4 dependent on the weigh of criteria: techniques, from variety spots to far, close,and from different angles. Last and not least, rate of conversion (how many scored) versus howmany in big games. The reason I placed Platini and Zico higher than Maradona for the latter criterion. Zico scored the most and both of them did score in big games (more so than Maradona).

    Zico, Maradona , Rivelino and Mihailovic were among the rare players who could score a freekick from a 180degree angle - like corner kick).

    Pele would be in TOP 10 freekicker, but not in TOP5 best.
     
  20. Pipiolo

    Pipiolo Member+

    Jul 19, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Had Maradona stayed in Boca Juniors all his career, I think he would have surpassed those achievements. Maradona only played two seasons, one of them almost entirely lost to injury, at a big club in Europe (Barcelona). The rest of it was at small club Napoli, which he made into a great side during his time there.
     
  21. DanFla

    DanFla Member

    Apr 18, 2010
    Club:
    Flamengo Rio Janeiro
    Yes possibly he would, but achivements are not measured by "If", if Zico had won the WC 82 possibly he would be consider the 2nd best.
     
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  22. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    Well not sure of the #2 place, but your statement was not way off

    From 79-82 (before WC), many experts had believed and said that Zico was probably even "BETTER" than Pele in his time.

    Maradona was among them, he agreed that Zico was better than Pele - LOL
    Note that Zico was the ONLY player who could rival Maradona during those years ... until WC86 ! Not even Platini with his Euro84, because at time, Zico was still having his last chance at WC86, but then he was injured ... not fully fit
     
  23. Pipiolo

    Pipiolo Member+

    Jul 19, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    These are not comparable statements...Maradona left to Europe because he was regarded the greatest South American prodigy since Pele himself, thus he never got a chance to play in his prime in SA. Zico did get a fair chance to win the WC in 82, and couldn't do it.

    By the way, I never saw Paolo Rossi and Zico talking to each other even after all these years.
     
  24. onetoes banned

    onetoes banned Red Card

    Aug 13, 2011
    he was amazing
     
  25. Cool Rob

    Cool Rob Member

    Sep 26, 2002
    Chicago USA
    Club:
    Flamengo Rio Janeiro
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes. Obviously Zico's club career was better (;)), but you can't underestimate what Diego did for Napoli winning Serie A twice. It was a massive shock in Italy at the time, IMO one of the great club achievements in the past quarter century for sheer degree of difficulty.
     
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