Lionel Messi failed to lead Argentina to a World Cup title in Brazil, but world-renowned manager Jose Mourinho still believes that the Argentine star should still be considered as one of the best players ever.

Messi helped Argentina advance to the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but they failed to get the crown after losing to Germany in the final, stirring debates of whether or not he should be compared to football greats Diego Maradona and Pele.

In an interview with Yahoo! EuroSport, Mourinho said that Messi has his own place in history and he doesn't need a world title to be considered an all-time great.

"It's easy to respect him when he has won but when he has lost, it's not so easy," Mourinho said. "He is still a historical player. He does not need to be world champion to be a historical player, especially in this last decade."

Mourinho insisted that Messi cannot be compared to fellow Argentine Maradona or Brazilian legend Pele because the 27-year-old forward is a great player in his own right.

"For me, Pele is Pele and Maradona is Maradona," Mourinho said. "It's not for me to compare players from different generations. Maybe because he is from the same generation as when I was born -- for me Maradona is Maradona."

Messi has been receiving criticisms for failing to lead his team to a title in this year's World Cup, and curiously, Maradona is one of those people questioning the Argentine star, particularly his performance in this year's cup.

In an interview with Telesur, Maradona said that he was surprised when Messi was awarded the Golden Ball trophy. Maradona insisted that Messi was not the best player in the tournament, and that the award was given to him for plain marketing reasons.

"Messi? I would give him heaven, if possible," Maradona said. "But it's not right when someone wins something that he shouldn't have won just because of some marketing plan."

FIFA president Sepp Blatter also admitted that he was surprised when Messi, who scored four goals in the tournament, was called to receive the Golden Ball award.

"What do you want -- shall I tell the truth or be diplomatic? I am going to say the truth, I was surprised that he was chosen and to see him come up to get the award," Blatter said.

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