Gareth Messenger

On 27 March 2002, the shirt worn by Pele in the 1970 World Cup Final sold at an auction for a record £157,750. The bid, placed by an anonymous telephone bidder, smashed the expected sale price, estimated by Christie's auction house at a mere £50,000.

The shirt still had grass stains from the final, in which Pele scored the opening goal in Brazil's 4-1 win over Italy. Do you remember it? Rivelino’s cross? Pele’s header? In front of just a mere 107,000 spectators at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City? World Cup history.

Does it come as any surprise the shirt was sold for so much? It was auctioned by Italian defender Roberto Rosato, who acquired it by swapping shirts with Pele at the end of the match.

The sale beat the previous auction record of £91,750, paid for the shirt worn by England's Geoff Hurst in the 1966 World Cup Final.

Even to this day, the boy from Brazil believes in his own superiority. The now 79-year-old, who holds the Guinness World Record as top scorer of all-time, doesn't think that the stars of today quite live up to his greatness.

When asked who was better out of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, the three-time world cup winner claimed that Ronaldo is better, but not without also insisting that HE is still the greatest footballer of all time.

“Now, it’s not my fault, but I think Pele was better than them all.” Confident chap, don’t you think?