entusiasta:

In case you forgot or didn't knew - 'La Bombonera' is Boca Juniors's stadium and yes Riquelme is a living legend in La Bombonera. In fact, Riquelme is a living legend in South America not only Argentina, Riquelme's the guy who has won 3 Copa Libertadores, and he won the 3 of them in only 4 1/2 years. Imagine if Ronaldinho had won 3 Champions Leagues in the 5 years he's been playing for Barcelona - that's Riquelme in South America and in La Bombonera.

drucurl keep fooling yourself if you think Argentines don't rate him 'that highly'.. It turns out that some 40% of Argentines love Boca Juniors and some other 40% of Argentines love River Plate - wich makes a 40% of Riquelme-hating-Argentines. And I must point out that Riquelme shows passion and excitement in his own way - just like Zinedine Zidane and a few others.

It's quite sad that even now you are too arrogant to admit the faux pas. Oh welll I KNOW La Bombonera is Boca's stadium...who doesn't know...it is as famous as the San Siro or the Maracana.....But doesn't the NT play there sometimes?

Even if they don't there are Boca fans that I know of that would NEVER rate Riquelme over Messi, Batigol and certainly not over Maradonna. That aside you said that he is a South American legend.....that's a pretty grand boast to make. But don't you think that if he was a South American legend that at least all/most of his countrymen should rate him? I don't see how 40% of a COUNTRY could hate their own countryman... regardless of which club he plays. I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen in any other country. Plus the guy didn't identify himself as a River fan so how could we make such an assumption......Riquelme's stoic nonchalant displays are annoying..I'd much rather watching a less talentd/intelligent player who is workinf his @$$ off

This Riquelme issue is bordering on disgusting, but hey I’m enjoying it…it broadens my intelligence when dealing with people who are oblivious to the obvious.  I like to see the light side of things, it helps deal with stress and also the philosophical question – Why?

So Drucurl, Thanks for the light side…this was funny: "Riquelme has no blood in his body” 

One may question the shrewdness of Entusiasta’s comments on Batigol and Riquelme:  Batistuta played for which Argentine club ~ River Plate & Boca Juniors for just 3 years in total ~ and unlike Riquelme who also made the choice except at youth level…everyone loves Batistuta, those that do not love him, just do not hate him either…however Riquelme so “bloodless” as is called comes along and is a star for Boca Juniors, the biggest club in Argentina, perhaps South America and a whopping 40% of fans dislike the "genius" ~ No he’s Riquelme!  Great players are respected no matter where they go or do not go…

What I do not understand is your persistence with the idea that Argentina play better with Riquelme than without him…come close let me tell you something ~ SO WHAT!  No World Cups and a few glittering performances mean precious little when you’re not finishing the job.  Do people say that Ronaldinho & Barca only managed to beat Arsenal 2-1, NO!   They say here’s a guy that brought Barca the Champions League…like it or not! 

You must be on some other planet to think that Batistuta was less entertaining than Riquelme…you saw what Drucurl wrote and what pretty much sums up people’s attitude towards Riquelme, "Riquelme has no blood in his body!"  Batistuta was the best player at the 2002 World Cup for Argentina and I was shocked since he was on his way out.  Batistuta played like he meant it, like he wanted to say hey…look ~ I LOVE FOOTBALL….and when I score goals, the world will know about it!  Riquelme,  he plays like his wife dragged him with her to go shopping with the "girls" ~ kudoos to those who like it, but it is toture!

You want to compare Riquelme to Zidane and reason the difference between strikers and midfielders…Let me ask you this – What is Samuel Eto’o ~ a Striker of course!  Does he inspire a whole Barcelona team?  Of course he does!  Did Batistuta inspire Fiorentina and ALL their fans even though Fiorentina were not even a great side?  Of course he did!  Ask around, who is Fiorentina’s most cherished player?  Why Batigol of course…and there was not just one way he celebrated, he didn’t insult fans and so on….he made all of us play football and some other sports and CELEBRATE with colour, that’s real inspiration!  Ronaldinho isn’t smiling and out of form…ask around and see what all the noise is about ~ BRING BACK RONNIE’s SMILE!  That’s real inspiration!  Inspiration is geared towards creating great things, Riquelme has not intention to do great things, he’s going back to Boca Juniors and do what he has always done…it’s like C. Ronaldo going back to Sporting Lisbon to become an also-ran CL participant and dominate the Portuguese league.  You’re a nuisance!  What was Riquelme’s greatest celebration moment?  Why is it that the world will tell you an outstanding feature of Ronaldinho=smile, Zidane=silky smooth, Batistuta=great goals and celebration, C. Ronaldo=tricks and so on and give Riquelme a statement like, "Riquelme has no blood in his body".

You pin your point on Ronaldinho being a flop at PSG, but something has to be wrong in the minds of Barcelona staff to buy a flop at a small club and win the league twice with a champion’s league, maybe twice.  Will you give the maestro respect if he does it again or even twice again? 

You point on strikers scoring hattricks and the team losing is a categorical non-point…hear why, Riquelme had a “great” world cup and didn’t finish even 3^rd, a great copa America and finished runner’s up…it happens daily, sometimes the buck doesn’t drop on your side or sometimes, teams simply beat you.  Batistuta’s only plausible problem was that he settled playing at Fiorentina all his career and then decided to win titles in his last years…Your ignorance is astonishing and quite franckly mind-boggling, because we can easily say that Seedorf was one of the greatest players around with 4 CLs and leagues and league cups in every league he played in, all that was left was for him to be was Brazilian, Italian or French, then he’d be one of the greatest players to ever live with a glittering trophy cabinet internationally as well ~ but I think we’d agree that here is the difference between choosing the right club and choosing the wrong club.  If he stayed at Sampdoria like Batistuta at Fiorentina, we wouldn’t have heard about Seedorf other than being a former Ajax CL winner.

Riquelme is not that special, he’s a very good player and that’s about it…he looks lazy, uninterested and pretty much the type of person you don't invite to your christmas party, because he'll be boring, but he'll bring a "thoughtful" gift.  He doesn’t even have personality like Jose Mourinho to highlight.  He’s like the well-dressed guy and school who is extremely bright and nobody notices although he's head captain.  C'mon live a little, stop playing chess everyday...

entusiasta:

In case you forgot or didn't knew - 'La Bombonera' is Boca Juniors's stadium and yes Riquelme is a living legend in La Bombonera. In fact, Riquelme is a living legend in South America not only Argentina, Riquelme's the guy who has won 3 Copa Libertadores, and he won the 3 of them in only 4 1/2 years. Imagine if Ronaldinho had won 3 Champions Leagues in the 5 years he's been playing for Barcelona - that's Riquelme in South America and in La Bombonera.

drucurl keep fooling yourself if you think Argentines don't rate him 'that highly'.. It turns out that some 40% of Argentines love Boca Juniors and some other 40% of Argentines love River Plate - wich makes a 40% of Riquelme-hating-Argentines. And I must point out that Riquelme shows passion and excitement in his own way - just like Zinedine Zidane and a few others.

It's so sad that you could confuse yourself with your own stats.....if 40% of a person's own HOMELAND hate him....how could that one be a South American Legend.......to the Argentine people Batigol is the real legend . Riquelme is just another great player in a looong line of greats.

Did it ever occur to you that the Libertadores isn't that tough of a competition??? If Boca won the title THREE times in FOUR years then something MUST be wrong with the opponents.....That's why Celtic or Rangers keep winning the SPL.

In Italy, Inter and Milan hate eachother. and everybody who isn't a Juve fan hates them......Why then do the Inter fans like Maldini and Pirlo, and the Milan fans like ADP and Chilenni????

drucurl you are the most disapointing poster I've ever dealt with - sometimes you're pretty clever, and some other times (like right now) you are very stupid and ignorant.

As it ever ocurred to you that the champions of the Copa Libertadores have a lead in victories over the Champions League champions - I guess yoiu ignore that fact. Boca won the Libertadores 3 times in the 4 years Riquelme played for them - those years were not consecutive as the last and third one was won in 2007 - after 4 years of not doing so - as a matter of fact Boca Juniors only managed to win 1 Copa Libertadores in the 5 years absence of Riquelme -- 4 1/2 years with Riquelme = 3 Copa Libertadores and 1 Intercontinental Cup -- 5 years without Riquelme= 1 Copa Libertadores and 1 Intercontinental Cup (Carlos Tevez played between those years).

Has it ever ocurred to you that the UEFA's Champions League is not that tough of a competition???? I mean, in the last 3 finals - out of those 3, 2 of them were Liverpool vs. AC Milan - that has never happened in the Copa Libertadores. As a matter of fact, Alfredo di Stefano's Real Madrid won the Champions League 5 times CONSECUTIVELY (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, AND 1960) - that has never happened in the South American Copa Libertadores. Tell me drucurl, has you like to ask questions, answer me - why has those things happened in the Champions League?? and why has that never happened in the Copa Libertadores?? Could it be that the Champions League is about big names and big money and not so competitive.  and while youy're at it, please answer me this - why as AC Milan failed to win their last 3 Intercontinental Cups?? AC Milan played against the Copa Libertadores's Champions, it should've been a walk in the park for AC Milan, right? Another fact is that in the last 5 seasons (2004-2007), AC Milan has reached 3 Champions League Finals - something must be wrong with the opposition, I mean AC Milan reached the Final 3 times in the last 5 years!!

Get your facts straight drucurl.. It has become very very clear that you and Gregory haven't seen much of Riquelme, has far has you knew - Riquelme had won 3 Copa Libertadores in 4 consecutive seasons, no drucurl that does not happens in the Copa Libertadores - that's a Champions League thing.

Gregory:

This Riquelme issue is bordering on disgusting, but hey I’m enjoying it…it broadens my intelligence when dealing with people who are oblivious to the obvious.  I like to see the light side of things, it helps deal with stress and also the philosophical question – Why?

 

So Drucurl, Thanks for the light side…this was funny: "Riquelme has no blood in his body” 

 

One may question the shrewdness of Entusiasta’s comments on Batigol and Riquelme:  Batistuta played for which Argentine club ~ River Plate & Boca Juniors for just 3 years in total ~ and unlike Riquelme who also made the choice except at youth level…everyone loves Batistuta, those that do not love him, just do not hate him either…however Riquelme so “bloodless” as is called comes along and is a star for Boca Juniors, the biggest club in Argentina, perhaps South America and a whopping 40% of fans dislike the "genius" ~ No he’s Riquelme!  Great players are respected no matter where they go or do not go… (so you get people who dont like riquelme.. whats the point? you get people who dont like vaderrama, you get people who dont like ronaldo, even in brasil, you get people who dont like bebto, you get people who dont even like pele.. what is your point?)

 

What I do not understand is your persistence with the idea that Argentina play better with Riquelme than without him…come close let me tell you something ~ SO WHAT!  No World Cups and a few glittering performances mean precious little when you’re not finishing the job.  Do people say that Ronaldinho & Barca only managed to beat Arsenal 2-1, NO!   They say here’s a guy that brought Barca the Champions League…like it or not!  (that is according to you, but not everybody in football sees it that way)

 

You must be on some other planet to think that Batistuta was less entertaining than Riquelme…you saw what Drucurl wrote and what pretty much sums up people’s attitude towards Riquelme, "Riquelme has no blood in his body!"  Batistuta was the best player at the 2002 World Cup for Argentina and I was shocked since he was on his way out.  Batistuta played like he meant it, like he wanted to say hey…look ~ I LOVE FOOTBALL….and when I score goals, the world will know about it!  Riquelme,  he plays like his wife dragged him with her to go shopping with the "girls" ~ kudoos to those who like it, but it is toture!

 

You want to compare Riquelme to Zidane and reason the difference between strikers and midfielders…Let me ask you this – What is Samuel Eto’o ~ a Striker of course!  Does he inspire a whole Barcelona team?  Of course he does!  Did Batistuta inspire Fiorentina and ALL their fans even though Fiorentina were not even a great side?  Of course he did!  Ask around, who is Fiorentina’s most cherished player?  Why Batigol of course…and there was not just one way he celebrated, he didn’t insult fans and so on….he made all of us play football and some other sports and CELEBRATE with colour, that’s real inspiration!  Ronaldinho isn’t smiling and out of form…ask around and see what all the noise is about ~ BRING BACK RONNIE’s SMILE!  That’s real inspiration!  (YES ABSOLUTELY!) Inspiration is geared towards creating great things, Riquelme has not intention to do great things, he’s going back to Boca Juniors and do what he has always done…it’s like C. Ronaldo going back to Sporting Lisbon to become an also-ran CL participant and dominate the Portuguese league (ANOTHER STUPID EXAMPLE, BUT WE'RE ALL USED TO THEM BY NOW I GUESS).  You’re a nuisance! (AND UR NOT LOL) What was Riquelme’s greatest celebration moment?  (IS THIS HOW YOU JUDGE WHETHER A PLAYER IS GOOD OR NOT? BY THE WAY HE CELEBRATES?) Why is it that the world will tell you an outstanding feature of Ronaldinho=smile, Zidane=silky smooth, Batistuta=great goals and celebration, C. Ronaldo=tricks and so on and give Riquelme a statement like, "Riquelme has no blood in his body".

 

You pin your point on Ronaldinho being a flop at PSG, but something has to be wrong in the minds of Barcelona staff to buy a flop at a small club and win the league twice with a champion’s league, maybe twice. (AS WE MENTIONED IN EARLIER POSTS, RONNIE WAS GIVEN THE TIME HE NEEDED TO ADAPT BECAUSE HE NEVER WON LA LIGA WITH BARCA IN HIS FIRST SEASON- FACT. HE WASNT THE ONLY 1 WHO INSPIRED THEM TO WINNING, HE HAD GUILY, MESSI, DECO, XAVI, INESTA, PYOL.. THE LIST GOES ON)  Will you give the maestro respect if he does it again or even twice again?  (I CERTAINLY WOULD GIVE HIM CREDIT IF, LIKE RIQUELME, HE INSPIRED A SMALL TEAM LIKE VILLAREAL TO 2ND IN LA LIGA, SEMI FINAL OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, AND UEFA CUP)

 

You point on strikers scoring hattricks and the team losing is a categorical non-point…hear why, Riquelme had a “great” world cup and didn’t finish even 3^rd, a great copa America and finished runner’s up…it happens daily, sometimes the buck doesn’t drop on your side or sometimes, teams simply beat you.  Batistuta’s only plausible problem was that he settled playing at Fiorentina all his career and then decided to win titles in his last years…Your ignorance is astonishing and quite franckly mind-boggling, because we can easily say that Seedorf was one of the greatest players around with 4 CLs and leagues and league cups in every league he played in, all that was left was for him to be was Brazilian, Italian or French, then he’d be one of the greatest players to ever live with a glittering trophy cabinet internationally as well ~ but I think we’d agree that here is the difference between choosing the right club and choosing the wrong club.  If he stayed at Sampdoria like Batistuta at Fiorentina, we wouldn’t have heard about Seedorf other than being a former Ajax CL winner.

 

Riquelme is not that special, he’s a very good player and that’s about it…he looks lazy  uninterested and pretty much the type of person you don't invite to your christmas party, because he'll be boring, but he'll bring a "thoughtful" gift. (MUCH LIKE ZIDANE) He doesn’t even have personality like Jose Mourinho to highlight.  He’s like the well-dressed guy and school who is extremely bright and nobody notices although he's head captain.  C'mon live a little, stop playing chess everyday... (LOL, SO IF I WAS TO PRETEND I WAS YOU GREGORY, ID SAY RONNIE IS PRETTY MUCH THAT IDIOT WHO LIKES TO PARTY AND SHOW OFF AND REACTS LIKE A CHILD WHEN HE DOESNT GET THE ATTENTION HE THINKS HE DESERVES)

SO IN OTHER WORDS, IF HE INSPIRES A TEAM TO WINNING THINGS LIKE VILLAREAL FOR EXAMPLE ACHIEVING 2ND IN LA LIGA, SEMI FINAL OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, UEFA CUP, INTERTOTO.. ITS ALLLLL DOWN TO HIS TEAM MATES. WHEN ARGENTINA FAIL TO WIN COPA, OR THE WORLD CUP.. YOU QUESTION NOT THE MANAGER, NOT ANYBODY ELSE, BUT POOR RIQUELME.. YOU'RE PRETTY CONSISTENT IN BEING INCONSISTENT WHEN YOU ARGUE.

YOUR WHOLE ARGUMENT CENTRES AROUND HOW RIQUELME LOOKS DISINTERESTED AND BORING.. OK.

THE OTHER POINTS UR MAKING IS ABOUT HOW HE FAILS TO INSPIRE HIS TEAM (WHEN HE INSPIRED VILLARREAL AND BOCA TO THEIR BEST EVER SEASONS), HE MAKES THE WRONG CHOICES AND BECAUSE SOME IDIOT WHO WORKS WITH DRUCURL DOESNT RATE HIM. LOL

Oh please, take anything what a River Plate fan says about Riquelme with a huge pinch of salt. Hell River Plate fans even hate Maradona and sing hatefull songs about him when Boca plays the superclassico against them. Why do they do it? Simple really: out of spite because of the humiliation Maradona gave River time and time again. (Just like Riquelme!)

Don't try to understand the Argentine mentality about this issue because you'll never be able to.

Volrath:

Oh please, take anything what a River Plate fan says about Riquelme with a huge pinch of salt. Hell River Plate fans even hate Maradona and sing hatefull songs about him when Boca plays the superclassico against them. Why do they do it? Simple really: out of spite because of the humiliation Maradona gave River time and time again. (Just like Riquelme!)

Don't try to understand the Argentine mentality about this issue because you'll never be able to.

you could say that for other nations around the world.

Yeah Gregory and drucurl seem to ignore those very obvious facts - The rivalry between River Plate and Boca Juniors is renowned world-wide - it is quite obvious that River Plate fans hate Riquelme. Of course this is not only an Argentine thing, as 'foxhound' said - this is an international thing - But South Americans are (in my opinion) more passionate about their teams. For example, the Inter and AC Milan rivalry is world famous - but Inter fans show respect towards AC Milan legends such as Paolo Maldini, or AC Milan players such as Andrea Pirlo - this is very rare in South America as neither Diego Maradona or Pele had that kind of respect from their contraries.. and the same goes for Juan Roman Riquelme.

A good example of this was back in 1990, World Cup Italy - Argentina vs Italy, in Napoli's stadium, or in other words in Maradona's home ground. Maradona's own crowd turned against him in this one, booing him throught out the entire game.. Argentina ended up winning the game. Anyways, the fact I wanted to point out is that - Italian fans of Napoli turned against Maradona, Maradona was playing against Italy and Maradona's Italian fans didn't show a glimpse of respect towards him.

Another good example as Volrath already stated - even the great Diego Armando Maradona was disrespected by River Plate fans. On the other hand, Roberto Baggio (as far as I know) was never disrespected in such a way, Baggio was a recognised and respected figure in Italy and his Serie A. Now I ask myself - does this makes Roberto Baggio better or greater than Diego Maradona?? Of corse not!! Roberto Baggio was great, probably the best Italian player till date, but not better than Maradona!!

I could find much more examples if I wanted to, but the point is that respect and affection do not make a player's greatness - It is first and foremost what they do on the pitch. Maybe Rivaldo wasn't Brazil's favourite player back in 2002, but he's the reason for Brazil's fifth World Cup Title.

Hold on, so you're saying that IN ITALY: Argentina vs Italy...they booed Maradona(Argentine) ~ well that's a surprise  Blood must have been thicker than water...

Baggio was never disrespected even after he missed that penalty in the World Cup?..i must have been shipped out and given the wrong cable television, internet, newspapers as well as all the fans and commentators i heard from must have been praising him.

Respect vs Favour ~  not everyone has to like you, not even your mother and father.  That's life!  Respect symbolises something that is fundamental to your recognition as a great player.  Favour is secondary, maybe a plus, but with respect you become Ambassador for the UN, Captain, most valuable player, and other NON-STATISTIC things that money cannot buy.  

Riquelme clearly lacks this charisma, allure or what have you and this my fellow posters is the crux of the matter.  You may not like it, but YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED IN LIFE ON YOUR OWN, you will have to please someone or the other to get through and that is what all recognised great players have done.  Results is not all there is to life, you have to follow it up with other things like charity, charm, or something that appeals to fans, coaches, teams and so on.  If you think that all Riquelme has to do is play at Boca Juniors and win all the trophies he can over there and win the favour of the World, you're sadly mistaken.  The fact of the matter is that the South American leagues are not terrible, they are quite good.  However, the fundamental fact of world football and anything else is that if you want to be recognised, appreciated and respected by the World, you have to be on the World's stage...few people have been recognised by playing in their backyard literallly speaking.  You have to compete against players who people recognise as the best ~ that is a FACT!  If Floyd Mayweather only fought boxers from somewhere in his hometown, he would never have been World Champion.  The World's stage for football is EUROPE or the WORLD CUP!  If you don't like it, then lump it...Riquelme will never ever win a World Player of the Year playing at Boca Juniors unless he wins every single trophy there is to win for Boca Juniors and even then he will have to be outstanding like Kaka scoring 10 goals in the Champions League.  Nobody in the World would seriously consider making a player from the MLS, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, French League, Greek League, Turkish League, Caribbean, African nations cup, African Champions league, Australian league, Asian leagues and so on, the World Player of the Year unless their performances have been so outstanding to make the world recognise.  Fact is few people will be able to tell you who won the last 5 Copa Libertadores trophies, but you'll quickly get the last 5 ,without Wikipedia, CL winners. 

Oh and now you've gotten to understand respect, maybe Rivaldo was the most hated superstar for Brazil, or was it the goal-keeper who messed up during the last WC in Brazil, but Rivaldo is undoubtedly one of Brazil's best players and trophies & performances for club and country SHOW it.  However, Riquelme has not given fans the success for Argentina that Zidane, Romario, Rivaldo and others have given their respective countries.  Love him or hate him, Rivaldo's production speaks for itself and even so, that is why Rivaldo isn't as appreciated as others, because he did pretty much what C. Ronaldo & Ronaldinho did for his club and prehaps more, but Rivaldo could inspire the others around him to do what they do.

On the other hand. Riquelme's production, well, we have Teee and Entusiasta to speak for them, because they certainly will not speak for Riquelme, the genius of a playmaker.

I just asked another Argentine working with the company what did the people think of Riquelme....he said that they made a jersy for him that said that he has no heart (literally "cold hearted") He said that there was NO comparison between him and Batigol because Batigol is a legend...but that they feel like "killing Riquelme" ...Oh and he's an Independiente fan

Hey i missd Riquelme, how are things down in South America?  Are Boca Juniors going to be Champions again?

Let me go on record by saying that Argentina will not win the next World Cup and it seems likely that Riquelme might not even be on that team either.  I wonder though, should Ronaldinho and Barcelona win another league and one or two domestic trophies with another Champions League...along with Brazil win the 2010 World Cup with Ronaldinho as #10.  Will you consider Ronaldinho as an all-time great?  Or will you say it is only because of Pato, Kaka, eto'o, etc?  And if that is the case, could we agree that if Argentina do indeed the next WC, that it is because of Cambiaso, Messi, tevez and co?

Pato has to get out of Italy, otherwise, like ALL other foreign strikers in Italy, he'll find it extremely difficult to stay off the injury table and will be furthermore lucky to have a reputable career like batistuta or as voted best striker, Trezeguet.

Anyway, as we predicted, Juve didn't buy Lampard and he is rotting away at Chelsea.  He needed Juventus more than they needed him.  I'm sure Capello would've comfortably picked him with his eyes close, but i guess he didn't realise that the next English manager would've been Italian.

I think we all know that Ronaldinho cannot perform without World Class players playing along-side him. He was the revelation of World Cup 2002, playing alongside a fantastic Rivaldo, a good Ronaldo, and in form Roberto carlos.. Cafu, and other stars. However in 2006, when Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, etc, etc.. were aged (and Rivaldo wasn't even there) and declining what happened to Ronaldinho?? Ronaldinho was suposed to be the leader of Brazil, but he didn't delivered when Brazil needed him.

Juan Roman Riquelme on the other hand, has proven himself with star-studded teams and average teams. And unlike Ronaldinho (who can score a goal or create a scoring opportunity in an advanced position), Riquelme creates a play from the midfield, he organises his teams, he distributes play, and most things revolve around him effctively. No one can say the same for Ronaldinho, in Barcelona Ronaldinho didn't make Barcelona click - it was Xavi. Deco did the hard work in the midfield, Samuel Eto'o scored most of the goals, and Ronaldinho worked more like a Second Striker than a Playmaker.

Anyways, do you think Juventus needs Diego?? I mean, Sebastian Giovinco will join them for next season. And as for Frank Lampard - he's overrated like most players from England.

Dude, you still don't get it.. South American Football is just as good as European Football - the difference is in the style not the quality, and of course it doesn't pays the $$ that European clubs pay.

Keeping in mind that Maradona played in the best League at the time (The Italian Serie A, facing opponents such as Platini, Maldini, Baresi, Gullit, Baggio, Zico, etc, etc), while on the other hand Pele played in the Sao Paulo League (this League was arguably less compettitive than the 'Torneo Brasileiro Serie A', and the Torneo Brasileiro Serie A was founded in 1971) playing against unknown Brazilians.

Who would you say was better? Maradona or Pele??

First of all, it doesn't matter who is better between Maradona and Pele.  Second of all, I barely caught either one of them play as well.  And finally, it is impossible to tell who was really better between Maradona and Pele for the simple fact that neither one played against each other.  Right, those criteria puts that argument aside - of course, Riquelme, you're Argentine, so you'd say Maradona..no doubt, which is why you'd say you're the best player in the world.

As far as Ronaldinho is concerned, i like him.  However, as far as his reliability in the World Cup is concerned, fine, but who actually delivered in that World Cup when their country needed them most?  Bare in mind, they were filing through the Italian players to decide which one should get the accolade of most valuable player and names like Materazzi, Nesta, Pirlo and Luca Toni were in the hat.

Juan Roman Riquelme vs Ronaldinho Gaucho ~  Argentina vs Brazil ~ Pragmatic vs Flair:  Both these players, representing their National teams, are surrounded by a host of superstars.  In fact, Argentina's teams are perhaps more current stars that Brazil's "once were" stars, yet the result - neither won the World Cup.  We went over this again and again and we pretty much knew and predicted that what would've happened to Riquelme did.  Ac Milan, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Manchester United and even one or two wishful thinking clubs still want Ronaldinho every summer since his "failed" World Cup, yet Riquelme who carried Argentina on his back finds it difficult to get the same job offers.  I am not a professional football analyst, but this tells me that the movers and shakers in the industry prefer Ronaldinho to Riquelme although, in all honesty, some of those team could do with midfield reinforcement.

Frank Lampard is an idiot, should've left Chelsea while his stock was high and could've tricked many teams into wasting money on him.  It seems rather likely that both Giovinco and Diego will end up and Juventus.  There's no sense hiding from the fact - Juventus need to upgrade their team!  Trezeguet, Del Piero, Nedved, Iaquinta etc will get most teams to compete in the top 6 in Italy almost with surity, but Juventus is a club that needs to beat both Milan clubs and the Roman clubs to be #1 in Italy and currently they cannot do that AND still consistently beat the clubs outside that top 6.  Diego may get better at Juventus, so perhaps both Juventus and Diego need each other like Ronaldinho and Barcelona or Ribery and let's say Bayern Munich, but Juventus needs to offload Claudio Ranieri really.  He is doing as much as he is capable of, getting good teams to finish in the top 4 and even that is questionable since Milan WILL MOST DEFINITELY finish in the top 4, hence leaving a scramble if they play to their potential and go higher than 4th.

Now, this South American league vs Europe.  Let us not get confused by, about four top clubs in South America and about 20 top clubs in Europe.  Yes, Boca Juniors and a few other clubs of similar status can compete with Ac Milan and the likes, but it is a different kettle of fish to forget that Ac Milan and the likes include: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia?, Sevilla?, Juventus, Inter Milan, Ac Milan, Roma, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Porto, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, Lyon, Celtic and Rangers, Bayern Munich, Ajax and PSV, Fenerbache and even more: 21 plus top rated clubs with at least 10 Superstar clubs compared to as much as 10 real contending South American clubs.  You don't find players like Eto'o and Drogba in South America and if you do find similar players, then you have trouble finding remainding players to compare to Raul, Ruud, Ronaldo etc.  Furthermore, let us not kid ourselves, these players get better when they come to Europe, so don't use the argeument that Crespo, Ronaldo etc came from South America.  EVEN if we took La Liga and compared it directly with the Argentine clasura, you'd find it very hard to get teams to compare equitably with teams that are 6th to 10th place in the table.

The quality speaks for itself even if we only use Serie A and La Liga.  However, in all fairness to the Bundesliga, Eredevisie, Ligue 1, EPL, Superliga etc.  Europe is bigger and the absolute number of quality players are clearly more.  When last has a national team from South America named 7 players in their starting line-up  playing in South America won a World Cup or gotten to a semi- final as compared to European counterparts.  The difference is glaring and has nothing to do with money or style.

And now, cross-referencing your comments with that and how Maradona played in the best league at the time.  Which do you say is the best league now?  And if it isn't La Liga or Serie A, what changed since Maradona?  Why was Serie A the best league at that time?  I ask this because it seems that you've contradicted yourself yet again for the sake of making your point on several fronts.  Maradona made up part of the dream team and the best trio in Serie A at Napoli according to references drawn when comparing Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Messi which relates to your comments on Ronaldinho and star-studded teams.  Conveniently, you recognise that, "back then", Serie A was the best league and so suggesting in your tone that Maradona was obviously better than Pele.  While you attempt to downplay the quality of Pele's league, you fail to recognise that these said home-trained players won World Cups.

You can only beat what you are you given...