Best Footballers Ever

Pele. This Brazilian great must be on everybody’s list of the best ever. Starring in World Cups between 1958 and 1970, he was the key member of what is often regarded as the best ever football team, the 1970 World Cup winners.

Maradona. The greatest Argentinean striker of all time, let down by his off-the-pitch private life. A celebrity footballer in an age of celebrity excess.

George Best. Probably the greatest footballer never to have played in a World Cup due to his loyalty to international minnows Northern Ireland. He made his name in six seasons with Manchester United, but his celebrity lifestyle took its toll and his later years were spent moving from club to club.

Willie Miller. Probably a surprise to many to find a Scottish player in this list, but this Scotland player and captain, who also captained Aberdeen for most of the 20 years he played for the club, was dubbed ‘the best penalty box defender I’ve ever seen’ by his former manager Alex Ferguson and there can be no finer accolade than that coming from the world's greatest ever club manager. Willie Miller fully deserves his place in this list.

Lev Yashin. Certainly the greatest Russian goalkeeper of all time and quite possibly the all-time best goalkeeper. Yashin was another ‘one-club’ man, staying with Dynamo Moscow for 22 seasons and gaining 74 caps. He played in the British FA’s Centenary match in 1963 where he pulled off a number of his characteristically superb saves.

Zinedine Zidane. This authoritative French midfielder made history by scoring two goals against Brazil to win the 1998 World Cup and then, in 2006, made history again when he was sent off for head-butting Italian player Marco Materazzi in retaliation for a highly personally insulting remark.

Franz Beckenbauer. Nicknamed ‘Der Kaiser’, defensive midfielder Beckenbauer is the only person to have won the Word Cup both as captain and manager of his country (West Germany). His genius is reflected in his having invented the role of the ‘attacking sweeper’.

Johan Cruyff. The inventor of ‘total football’ and mainstay of the Ajax team, Holland’s midfield genius won the European Footballer of the Year award three times and was part of probably the greatest team never to have won the World Cup.

Ferenc Puskas. Played as striker (centre forward) in the great Hungarian team during the 1950s and was part of the Hungary team that destroyed England and the myth of their superiority at Wembley in 1953 when the game ended 6-3 in favour of Hungary with Puskas scoring two of the goals. In 85 internationals he scored 84 goals and remains the only player to have scored four goals in a European Cup final. He also played for Spain.

Between them, these players (and many more) have contributed to soccer's reputation as 'the beautiful game'. Why not plug their names into youtube and see for yourself?

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