I have great respect for Cristiano too, and I liked him as a younger player. There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance though, and crossing that line is rarely a good thing. Aforementioned Tyson is a prime example of just that, not to mention Maradona himself. I will not shoot down how non-sock Diego dragged Napoli into significance, but his opponents weren't of the same quality and he was not that good over such a long time as Messi, much due to off-pitch turmoil and a small brain. And there have been players with greater skill than him - albeit over a shorter timespan (Ronaldinho and even the real Ronaldo). His importance for the teams he played on cannot be underestimated though, even symbolic. I also hate how every single time there's a montage of him, the handball goal is shown as greatness. Talk about glorification gone wrong, that one of the two goals he's most known for was blatant cheating and he was even proud of it. Such a player can never be the greatest for me. Lionel Messi, hands down.
Worth mentioning that almost the entire country of Italy demanded that Maradona lost against them in the WC since he lived and played there, and look at how things went for him afterwards. Probably safer to be a Messi in France I'd reckon.
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