Pele: Messi is better for Barcelona than Argentina

Pele believes Argentina captain Lionel Messi is still to reach the same heights for his country that he has achieved with Barcelona, Goal.com reported.

The four-time Ballon d’Or winner has helped the Catalan club to three Champions League titles and six La Liga crowns among numerous other trophies.

But his only international honours have come in the form of the Fifa World Youth Championship in 2005 and the 2008 Olympic title, while La Albiceleste fell at the final hurdle in the 2007 Copa America and the World Cup last summer.

Argentina are among the favourites going into the 2015 Copa in Chile, but Brazil legend Pele feels their star man flourishes more while in the company of his club colleagues.

"When he's in Spain, with Barcelona, with a team he already knows and knows well, he's a player," the 74-year-old told Fifa.com, while visiting a homeless shelter in Santiago.

"But Messi when he's with the Argentinian team is not the same thing.

"It's a different way of playing - the Argentinian team is not organised the same way.

“The same thing happens with Neymar and Brazil."

Despite that, Pele remains confident that the South American showpiece this summer will captivate audiences across the globe.

"These days the individual players are better known than the teams," he added. "It's going to be a Copa of Stars, no doubt."

But the three-time World Cup winner would not be drawn on who he expects to lift the trophy following the final in Santiago on July 4.

"Today football is very even - you can't say who will win," he said.

"With computers and television, everyone knows everything about their opponents. It's hard to say who will reach the final."