Lionel Messi: Watching Barcelona with my kids was 'beautiful'
The Barcelona superstar was sensationally slammed by Pele last week.
He criticised Messi for being one-footed and not being able to head the ball.
“How can you make a comparison between a guy who heads the ball well, shoots with the left, shoots with the right... and another who only shoots with one leg, only has one skill, doesn’t head the ball well?” Pele said.
Lionel Messi is better than Zinedine Zidane in his pomp says Robert Pires
“To compare with Pele, it has to be someone who shoots well with the left, shoots well with the right, and scores headers.”
But Pires - who played nearly 200 games for Arsenal - has refuted Pele’s bold claims.
And, speaking about the game against Espanyol last weekend, where Messi scored two free kicks, Pires hailed his performance as 'incredible'.
"If he plays like he did against Espanyol, it is impossible to stop him," Pires told Mundo Deportivo.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been hailed by Robert Pires (Image: GETTY)
"It was incredible.
"I have played with [Zinedine] Zidane, Henry and [Juan Roman] Riquelme, and against Ronaldinho and Cristiano [Ronaldo], but Messi has something that nobody else has.
"I don't know if he is the best in history, but there are few where he is."
Andres Iniesta spent over a decade playing with Messi at Barca and was similarly baffled by Pele’s comments.
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