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Football, soccer, footy, association football. The beautiful game has produced some great players. Here's a personal list of the best. Some of the names may surprise you.
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?
The copyright of the article Best Footballers Ever in Soccer is owned by Alistair McCulloch. Permission to republish Best Footballers Ever in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Aug 18, 2008 7:44 AM
Andrew Woolford :
Can't beleve you left out Ronaldinho from Brazil....everyone knows this
midfielder would destroy the Ferenc Puskas
Oct 23, 2008 9:30 AM
Guest :
PAUL GASCOIGNE..... ENGLANDS GREATEST EVER, WHAT A TALENT
Nov 2, 2008 11:14 AM
Guest :
While I admit that football is all about scoring goals, there's a lot in
defending as well. In that respect, Franco Baresi of Italy is a must in any
list.
Nov 16, 2008 6:39 AM
Guest :
man ronaldo.. R9 = the greatest
Nov 18, 2008 7:05 AM
Guest :
where is roberto baggio,thierry henry and michel platini
Dec 3, 2008 5:31 AM
Guest :
Fareed Hammond:
You just can't forget the great African, KING GOERGE,I
bet you Goerge Oppong Weah of Liberia is one of the best.
Dec 13, 2008 1:57 PM
Guest :
I've seen a couple of these and I keep thinking why do certain players not
get named. So here is a name of someone I consider to be a true football
great and one of the best ever to be poduced from the Scotland or even the
UK, Jimmy Johnstone. A Celtic player from 1962-1975.This is a man who had
the nerve to steal the show at the testimonial of the greatest Real Madrid
player ever. Celtic formed the opposition in the testimonial game for
Alfredo Di Stéfano. Johnstone's performance was such that the Real
supporters began to cry "Ole !" every time he dribbled past one
of their own team's players. He is my personal favourite of all time.
Dec 13, 2008 2:23 PM
Guest :
I've seen a couple of these and I keep thinking why do certain players not
get named. So here is a name of someone I consider to be a true football
great and one of the best ever to be poduced from the Scotland or even the
UK, Jimmy Johnstone. A Celtic player from 1962-1975.This is a man who had
the nerve to steal the show at the testimonial of the greatest Real Madrid
player ever. Celtic formed the opposition in the testimonial game for
Alfredo Di Stéfano. Johnstone's performance was such that the Real
supporters began to cry "Ole !" every time he dribbled past one
of their own team's players. He is my personal favourite of all time.
Dec 22, 2008 3:16 AM
Guest :
This is a really good list.
Two players I'm always inclined to include
are Eusebio and Denis Law. Am I daft?
Dec 22, 2008 5:39 PM
Guest :
george weah, marco van basten, del piero, and the greatest of all time,
'KING' Henrik Larson
Dec 23, 2008 2:55 AM
Guest :
The best of all time is Maradona and after him comes Pele. You have indeed
listed some of the greatest players but you left out many as well like
Ronaldo (Luiz not Cristiano of course!), Platini, Sir Bobby Charlton and
more who really deserve to be respected and talked about.
Jan 23, 2009 3:38 AM
Guest :
c.ronaldo
Mar 3, 2009 2:59 PM
Guest :
Got to laugh at the idiots who think ronaldo(brazilain) is one of the
greatest ever players,he wouldnt make it into brazils best ever 22 man
squad FOOLS!! Ferenc Puskas of Hungary was quite simply a Genuis even more
so than pele,The Hungary team of the 50's would destroy the brazil 1970
team every time(FACT) as for Marco Van Basten,well I'm 31 yrs old and apart
from Diego Maradona there hasnt been a more technicaly gifted player to
grace the field and that includes Zindane,who apart from his spell in seria
a with Juventus and his 2 goals against Brazil in the 1998 Final hasnt done
half as much as these guys!! He wasnt great at Bordeux or Real Madrid,David
Beckham is without a doubt the most over-rated player in the history of the
Sport,Paul Gascoinge dont make me laugh!! Franco Baresi one of the greatest
defenders of all time(What a Milan
Team)Costacurta,Rijkard,Gullit,Savijevic,Donadoni,Van Basten,Jean Pierre
Papin,Boban etc CLASS!! Roberto Baggio my Icon,Jinky Johnstone Legend,Just
Fontaine Greatest French Player along with Michel Platini,Johnny Rep and
Johan Cruyff,Franz Beckenbauer,Gerd Muller,Walter Fritz.The Legendary
Alfredo Di Stefano.Garrincha,Vava,Jairzinho the only player to score in
every game in a world cup(Better than Pele)Guiseppe Meazza,Alfredo
Foni,Guiseppe Riva and Paolo Rossi.All these guys are miles ahead of the so
called stars of today,Players today wouldnt last 5 mins back then!! Thats
why these guys are LEGENDS!! KNOW YOUR FOOTBALL
Jaffa(Aaron Welsh)
Scotland UK
Mar 25, 2009 10:57 PM
Guest :
agree with almost everything the last guest posted with the exception of
fatty ronaldo...the guy was without doubt the best striker in the world
untill he got injured in italy...and he missed out..
the 'black pearl'
EUSEBIO, the great STANLEY MATHEWS, GEORGE BEST, BOBBY CHARLTON, ZICO,
MARIO KEMPES, and for the 3 years before he went to madrid was probably the
best player in the world LUIS FIGO, and the simply sensational ronaldhino
for 2 seasons at barca was simply out of this world...the likes of which
will not be seen again in todays football of lightning pace marathon
athletes...where is the flair???
comment on puskas (better then di
stefano) and hungary team spot on
van basten class,
maradonna
the best!!!
zidane again spot on..zidane had 1 good season at madrid,
his best years were at juventus....sooo overrated, when did you ever see
zidane go past 2 or 3 players and beat the keeper NEVER
baresi
comment spot on part of a magnificent team he wouldnt have todo much
defening, maldini is far superior as a defender..
del piero isnt half
as good as the TOPCLASS roberto baggio over looked in italy because of his
religion..
pele wouldnt even make my top 10....1000 goals in 13 years
as a professional..average of 70 goals a season, what a load of
nonsense...yet he only scored 37goals in 64games in the MLS a worse then
second rate league...you figure it out.
some players only get
adulation because who they play for or who they represent...football and
recognition is all about being part of the 'in' crowd and the media...
Mar 30, 2009 9:39 AM
Guest :
You little fool, look at some Youtube videos of Ronaldo 'Il Fenomeno' and
you will understand what the word Phenomenon means, what an idiot to be, if
u dont consider Ronaldo 'The Greatest Striker Ever' as one of the greatest
of all time, Ronaldo had allready at age of 23-24 writed his name in the
history books of football. 3 time World Player of the Year( the 1st one to
win it 3 times and the youngest ever to win it at age of 19, all time World
Cup Top scorer with 15 goals...So please tell me my dear friend, which
player has done something like that in the last 10-20-30 or years...Maybe
ur little beloved Cristiano Gaynaldo? no one has ever done that and never
will. If you ask most of football-inteligent people they proberbly rank
Ronaldo as the 3. greatest player to exist after Maradona and Pelé. If
wasn't injured 1/3 of his carrer he proberbly would surpass Maradona and
Pele. Ronaldo Luiz Nazario Da Lima, The greatest ever of our generation but
still so understimated. Ronaldo hopefully make it to the 2010 South Africa,
and fires Brazil to their 6. World Title, and retires as The greatest Ever.
In dictionary Ronaldo = Phenomenon and Phenomenon = Ronaldo. Please my
friend watch some Ronaldo videos in Youtube and then comment about The
King.
Mar 31, 2009 4:50 AM
Guest :
I agree with what all of you have to say. So how does one actually decide
who is the best. I would think that it is personnel preference. Ronaldo9 is
playing again and has just scored his 4th goal in 5 games for the
Corinthians since March 5 2009. He is back and I would suggest that we all
keep an eye on him as he is now playing in Brazil. Not retired yet but
defiantly the best footballer ever in my books.
Mar 31, 2009 6:17 AM
Guest :
In his first and only season at my beloved FC Barcelona he terreoside the
spanish defences and scored 34 goals in 37 games and became the World
Player of the Year, now thats something.
And the year before at PSV he
scored 42 goals in 46 matches for for the Dutch outfit.
May 24, 2009 11:15 AM
Guest :
what the hell
Aug 23, 2009 1:47 PM
Guest :
what about luis ronaldo of brasil, he is the probably the best footballer
within the last 16 years
19 Comments
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Aug 17, 2008
