Messi Vs Pele - Pele aims sly dig at Messi

Some things never change. A Brazil-Argentina rivalry falls under that category. And what greater example than legendary Brazilian footballer Pele, and despite being a generation later, his rivalry with Diego Maradona.

Be that as it may, Pele has turned his nose on Argentina's successor to Maradona - Lionel Messi. The Barcelona superstar has won almost everything he has every attempted to win. At the tender age of 23, he has scored 180 goals already. It has all led to talk of him being the greatest player of all time.

However, when a cheeky journalist suggested to Pele that Messi had already surpassed his achievements, the Brazilian's reply was curt, saying Messi can't be considered the greatest of all time unless he overhauls the number of goals scored by Pele - 1283.

The 1283 goals he scored, for Santos, New York and Brazil, is still a long way away for Messi. But if anyone can overhaul it at the moment, it is the Argentinean.

Speaking after Santos' Copa Libertadores win on Wednesday, Pele responded to the suggestion saying, Messi better than Pele? To get there he needs to score more than 1283 goals.

He then spoke about the current Brazilian starlet, Neymar, who while also taking a subtle yet sly dig at Messi's achievements.

Neymar has great talent. I hope Neymar doesn't end up like Messi, who plays so well for his club but does nothing for his country (Argentina), he added.