Sorry, Clint Dempsey -- you had a great career ... but it still doesn't compare with Mia Hamm's -- so says soccer legend Alexi Lalas.
Alexi spoke with TMZ Sports after Clint hung up the cleats Wednesday ... and when we asked about greatest U.S. soccer players of all time -- Lalas told us Nomar Garciaparra's boo was better than Clint.
"You can put Mia Hamm higher than Clint Dempsey," Lalas says.
Don't feel too bad for Clint .