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With Pele's passing aged 82, football has lost 'The King'. For so long he was hailed as the greatest player of all time, but now Sportsmail asks: who REALLY is the best ever: Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Messi or Ronaldo?

The GOAT. The king. TBE. It is a debate that has long raged among football fans, and don't expect it to end, ever.

Just who really is the greatest footballer to have played the game?

Although it is impossible to provide the definitive answer to that burning question, for half a century one man stood head and shoulders above all the other candidates: Pele.

Pele has long been considered by many to be the greatest football that ever lived
Pele, pictured here with Marcia Aokoi, was admitted to hospital on November 30 with swelling all over his body and later died
Somewhat fittingly, one of Pele's last posts on social media was about football

The only man ever to win the World Cup three times, he was idolised in every country across the globe.