~snip~
Players may come and go. But for my generation, Messi and Ronaldo are like legends. They represent the sport of football for an entire generation, as they have been playing for more than 15 years. Obviously in the next world cup (2026) some new player may take their place. And it is quite possible that some of the younger fans back then won't recognize how good Messi and Ronaldo were. For my parents' generation, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Peter Schmeichel, Romário and Roberto Baggio were the heroes. But I don't feel nostalgic for them, because I was a small kid back then. For me, my heroes are Messi and Ronaldo. For the next generation, it maybe someone else.
Maradona and Pele are probably on another level though.
In Argentina Maradona is also known as D10S (God in Spanish, spelled with the number 10, his shirt number). People really have an adoration of Maradona, I think he transcended football.
And Pele was just phenomenal, probably the first superstar in football.
Even though Messi is great, it will never get to the same level of Maradona.