Top 125 greatest player in history

Nicolae Dobrin is arguably the most talented Romanian player of all time and also is considered to have been one of the very best dribblers in football history.

He played almost all his career at Argeș Pitești where he became not only the club's idol , but also the Romanian League's best player ever. He managed to led Arges to 2 Romanian League titles , a phenomenal feat considering the lack of talent surrounding him in comparasion with the Bucharest teams that also recieved many benefits. Dobrin is also known for famously missing out on a transfer to Real Madrid. After playing them in a European Cup game and scoring a goal, Santiago Bernabéu was so impressed with Dobrin's skills that he wanted to transfer him to the Spanish team for 2 million $, much more than the all time record at the time. Because of the communist regime in Romania in that period, Bernabéu had to hold talks with Nicolae Ceaușescu himself, but could not persuade him, because Dobrin was regarded as a "national good" and such values could not be "estranged".
In 2015, Romanian newspaper Libertatea held a pool to determine the greatest Romanian player of all time and Dobrin was ranked the best ever.


Rob Rensenbrink was one of the best players of the late 70's. A creative left winger or forward of great talent, a talented dribbler as well as a cool finisher, who only ever missed two penalties in his entire career, and often enjoyed telling the keeper beforehand where he was going to place the ball, and then still beating him there. Jan Mulder said: "Robbie Resenbrink was as good as Cruyff, only in his mind was he not."

He started his career in Holland and eventualy moved to Belgium at Club Brugge where he won the Belgian Cup in 70. He reached his prime when he moved to Anderlecht. There , he averaged around 20 goals per season during his 9 seasons saty , and won 2 Belgian Leagues , 1 Belgian Cup , 2 UEFA Cup Winners Cups where he is the all time top scorer of the competition and 2 UEFA Super Cups.

With the national team his first major Tournament was the 1974 World Cup where Holland finished runner-up and Resenbrink was included in the All-Star XI. At the 1976 EURO , he finished 3rd place with Holland. Resenbrink's best moment was at the 1978 FIFA World Cup where he finished runner-up and was his team's top scorer with 5 goals aswell as the top assister of the tournament.

Resenbrink won the Onze d'Or in 76 and finished 3rd another 2 times in 78 and 79. He also finished 7/8th for the 77 Ballon d'Or and was named European Footballer of the Season in 76.


Imre Schlosser is regarded as the first world-phenomenon in football history. He was the greatest football player of his era and was noted for his aggressive style, shot accuracy and off the ball movement.

He started as a promising prodigy being capped by Hungary at only 16 years old and went on to become one of the greatest goal scorers ever. He played almost all his career for Ferencvárosi TC and MTK Hungária FC where he won a total of 13 league titles(European record) and 2 Hungarian Cups. Schlosser has been the league's top scorer on 7 different occasions , 4 of them even being the seasonal best goal scorer of the World. He is the all time top scorer of the Hungarian League and the 6th best ever in the domestic league leaderboards. In his career , he managed in 12 different seasons to have a higher goal ration than games played and in 7 of them even more than double the ratio.
He was ranked by IFFHS as the 4th best Hugarian player of the 20th Century.


Just Fontaine is French player of Moroccon descent that started his career for Casablanca in the Moroccon league scoring 62 goals in only 48 apps in his first 3 seasons being recruited after by Nice with whom he won one French Division and one Coupe de France being the star player of the team.
His best part in club career came after he was signed by Stade Reims in 1956. With Reims he won 3 times the French Division being the top scorer 2 times. He also finished runner-up for the European Cup in 59 being the Top Scorer of the Tournament. Sadly , Fontaine was forced to retire early in his career due to an injury. In his first 3 seasons with Reims(prior to the injury) he scored 105 goals in 104 apearences.

His best from came with the national team. At the NT , Fontaine scored 30 goals in 21 apps. His peak was reached in the 1958 WC where he finished 3rd place with France and was the top-scorer of the tournament with 13 goals , this being the all-time record in a single World Cup. Four of the goals were scored against the other Semi-Finalist , Germany.
Fontaine finished 3rd for the Ballon d'Or in 58 , was named as 4th World Cup Hero in 1990 and was named as the 14th best player of the 20th century by Placar. He was also named in 2003 as France’s most outstanding player of the last 50 years.


Luigi Riva is the greatest Cagliari player of all time and also arguably the greatest Italian pure striker in history.Riva was a well rounded, prolific, and opportunistic forward, with an astonishing finishing skill; he was initially deployed as a winger early in his career, but was later played in a more offensive role, as a striker, where he excelled. He had a very powerful and accurate shot with his left foot, although he was also capable of scoring with his right foot on occasion, or in the air due to his powerful physique, volleying ability, and his heading accuracy. Despite his strong physical attributes, he also possessed excellent technical skill and dribbling ability, as well as a very delicate first touch. In addition to his goalscoring prowess and technique, he was also an extremely fit and fast player, who excelled during sprints and at making attacking runs. He was also an accurate free-kick and penalty kick taker.

He played all his career for Cagliari and raised the club to a new level. Before and After Riva , Cagliari never even finished 2nd place , but in 69 , they finished runner-up for the title. A year later , Riva led them to their only scuddeto ever. During his career he was Serie A top scorer on 3 occasions.
With the national team , he is Italy's all time top scorer with 35 goals. His first international succes was the 1968 EURO where Italy was champion and Riva was included in the All-Star XI. He also reached the World Cup Final in 70 being his team's top scorer.

Riva finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 69 and was nominated 3 more times:13th in 67 , 6th in 68 and 3rd in 70. He is ranked by Guerin' Sportivo as the 24th best player of the 20th Century.


Del Piero is widely regarded by players, pundits, and managers as one of the greatest players of his generation, and as one of the best Italian players of all time. Due to his creative style of play, eye for goal, flair, and technical skill, Del Piero was known as a "fantasista" in Italy. His hard-working playing style was regarded by critics as creative in attacking, assisting many goals as well as scoring himself, as opposed to just "goal poaching". "He (Del Piero) is different to Zinedine Zidane. He likes to play, he feels it in his soul. Between him and the Frenchman, I choose him." - Maradona. Del Piero is currently the Italian all-time top scorer of free kicks in all competitions with 52 goals.

Del Piero has played almsot all his career for Juventus winning with the club 6 Serie A titles being the top scorer and assister once(2008 , 2000) and named Italian player of the year twice(1998, 2008), one Coppa Italia in 96 being the top scorer in 2006 , one UEFA Champions League in 96 and top scorer in 98 and 1 Intercontinental Cup being the MVP.
With the National team, his biggest achievement is winning the World Cup in 2006.

Del Piero has been included in the ESM Team of the Year 3 times (96-98), was named best young European player in 96, and was nominated for the Ballon d’Or 7 times(4th in 95, 4th in 96, 20th 97, 16th in 98 , nom in 2001, 10th in 2002 and 13/15th in 2003). He was also named best European player by the Olympic committee in 96 and ranked in the top 50 best European players in the last 50 years by a fan pool in 2004.


George Weah is the greatest African player of all time. During his prime in the 1990s, Weah was regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, lauded for his physical and athletic attributes, which he combined with his finishing, technical ability, creativity and skill. A fast, powerful, physically strong player, he successfully filled the void left in the Milan attack by Marco van Basten. Along with Ronaldo and Romário, Weah was seen as a modern, new breed of striker in the 1990s, who took the ball from outside the penalty area and ran towards goal, during a time when most strikers primarily operated in the penalty area in order to receive passes from team mates.

He started his career in Europe at AS Monaco where he won the Coupe de France in 91 being also named French Ligue Foreign Player of The Year. He moved to PSG where he won the Ligue 1 , the Coupe de la Ligue and 2 Coupe de France and was the UEFA Champions League Topscorer in 95. He then was bought by AC Milan where he won 2 times the Serie A title.

In 1995 he won the Onze d'Or , Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award finishing 2nd aswell for the first and third. He was named African Footballer of the Year 3 times and finished 3 times runner-up. He was also named African Player of the Century in 96 at 30 years old.


Mario Kempes was one of the best forwards of his generation and also in the history of Argentinean football.Famous as a hard-working forward, he used to strike from outside the penalty area with his surging runs goalwards and was not the traditional center-forward operating solely inside the box. Many defenders found difficulty handling his attacking style. He was a strong forward witha ferocious strike that possessed great skill and could easly create spaces.

He started his career in Argentina and quickly established himslef as a top-class forward winning the top-scorer award twice. He then moved to Valencia where he reached his best form. He won 1 Copa del Rey , 1 UEFA Super Cup and 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup where he was the top scorer with 9 goals. He won the Pichichi Trophy twice during his stay at the club.

With the national team , his best moment came at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. With Argentina , he won the tournament being the top scorer with 6 goals and also named as Best Player.

In 1978 , he was named South American Footballer of the Year and was awarded with the Onze d'Or. He was ranked by IFFHS as the 6th best Argentinean player of the century and 23rd best of South America.


Ruud van Nistelrooy was one of the greatest strikers of his time. He was strong target striker with an impressive eye for goal.

He first became famous at Eindhoven where he won 2 times the Eredivisie being the top scorer twice and named Dutch Player of the Year twice. He was bought by Manchester United where he won 1 Premier League , 1 FA Cup and 1 Football League Cup being included in the Leagues all-star XI twice , top scorer once and MVP of the league once. During his stay at Man. Utd. he was UEFA Champions League Top Scorer on 3 occasions , in the first also leading the assists and was also named UEFA Club Forward of the Year in 03. He was eventualy bought by Real Madrid where he won 2 times the La Liga being the top scorer once. He has scored over 30 goals in a season 6 times during his career.

During his national team career , Van Nistelrooy has scored 35 goals in 70 games and was included in the All-Star XI of the 2004 European Championship.

Van Nistelrooy was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 6 times being ranked 14th in 02 , 6th in 03 , 10th in 04 , nom in 05 , 6th in 07 and 25th in 08. He also finished runner-up for the World Soccer Player of the Year in 2003.


Kahn is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time, in addition to his goalkeeping technique, distribution, and shot-stopping abilities, he is widely admired for the stamina, mental strength, and composure he showed to overcome the stresses and pressures of his career. Known for his eccentricity and charismatic leadership from the back, due to the formidable presence, commanding influence, and aggressive playing style that he showed in goal during his professional career, Kahn's epithet is "The Titan"; he was also frequently nicknamed "King Kahn" throughout his career.

Khan started his career at Karlsruher SC where he was named Bundesliga gk of the year in his last season at the club, prompting Bayern Munich to aquire him. At Bayern he became a club legend winning 8 Bundesliga, 6 DFB-Pokal, 6 DFB-Ligapokal, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 Intercontinental Cup and 1 UEFA Champions League in 2001 also finishing runner-up in 1999.
With Germany he won as a reserve player the EURO in 96 but his biggest individual achievement was reaching the World Cup Final and being named MVP in 2002.

Khan was named Best Bundesliga Keeper a total of 7 times, Best European Goalkeeper 4 times, UEFA keeper of the year 4 times, German Footballer of the Year twice and IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper 3 times. He was also included in the ESM Team of the Year twice, was ranked 3rd at the Ballon d’Or twice and finished runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2002.



Jürgen Klinsmann is one of the best German strikers of all time aswell as one of the best in the 90s. He was a mobile central striker who roamed all along the forward line probing for weaknesses and opportunities, punishing any defenses lapses and finding them with a consistent scoring record. Klinsmann wasn't a completly prolific goalscorer scorer but his style of play was exciting being quite impressive technically for a poacher, strong with both feet and great in the air.

He started his career at Stuttgart and quickly became the star-player of the team. He was Bundesliga top scorer in 88 and named German Player of the Year while playing for them. He moved to Inter Milan for 3 seasons where he won the UEFA Cup. Even tough he played only 1 season for Tottenham , he is remebered as a legendary player for them , scoring a total of 30 goals and being named MVP of the Premiere League. He was then bought by Bayern , where he won in 2 seasons , 1 Bundesliga and 1 UEFA Cup scoring an all-time record of goals in a single tournament(15 goals).

In 1990 he won the FIFA World Cup being rated as the 5th best player of the tournament and included in the All-Star Team. In 1992 , he reached the Final with Germany , and in the next EURO , the germans emerged victorious with Klinsmann being their top scorer.

He finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 95 and was in the top 10 another 5 times:9th in 88 , 9th in 89 , 7th in 90 , 6th in 94 and 5th in 96.


Neeskens is one of Netherlands’ legendary players and one of the best midfielders of his generation. He began playing as right-back until the end of 1970-1971 season which he was a starter in European Cup final. Neeskens transformed his position to central midfielder because of his tireless running, great technical skills and scored his fair share of goals. He was a mercurial midfielder who could fulfill any role – ball winner, creator or scorer. Always one of the fittest players on the pitch. He was also deadly on penalty kicks. He personified the “Total Football Style” as well as Johan Cruyff being a key figure for the Golden Ajax that won 3 consecutive European Cups. After his Ajax stint, he moved to Barcelona being named La Liga Foreign Player of the Year in 76(best player overall according to media rating) and helped the team win the Copa del Rey in 78 and UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 79.

With Netherlands he was FIFA World Cup runner-up twice(74 and 78) and finished 3rd at the UEFA European Championship in 76. In his first World Cup , he won the silver boot scoring 5 goals and was included in the All-Star Team.

Neeskens was named IOC European Footballer of the Season in 72, finished 3rd in next season and also notably got ranked 5th at the 1974 Ballon d’Or.



Sepp Maier is one of Europe's greatest goalkeepers of all time , a top legend in german football history and also one of the most decorated players ever. He was nicknamed "the cat from Anzing" for his amazing reflexes.

He played all his career for Bayern Munich establishing himself as an absolute legend of the club. During his career , he won 4 times the Bundesliga , 4 times the DFB-Pokal , 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 3 consecutive European Cups , being a starter from the first title till his retirement.

With Germany , he won the 1972 European Championship and finished runner-up for the next edition. His best moment came at the 1974 FIFA World Cup where Germany emerged victorious.

Maier has been named German Footballer of the Year 3 times , during the era of Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller and finished 3rd 3 times being the 3rd best overall in the history of the award. He was also Bundesliga's best rated goalkeeper 9 times. He is ranked by IFFHS as the 4th best goalkeeper of the 20th Century and finished runner up for Best European player of the Season in 1975.


Oleh Blokhin is one of the greatest USSR players of all time. He was a technicaly gifted and hard-working player with excelent speed.

He played most of his career at Dynamo Kyiv where he won the Soviet Top League 8 times being the top scorer on 5 occasions , the Soviet Cup 5 times and UEFA Cup Winners Cup 2 times in the later being the top scorer. He is Dynamo Kyiv all time top scorer and greatest player ever as well as being the overall top goalscorer in the history of the Soviet Top League.He also was 2nd best top scorer in the 87 European Cup.
With the national team , he is USSR's all time top scorer with 42 goals.

He has been named Ukrainian Footballer of the Year 9 times and Soviet Footballer of the Year 3 times.
In 75 , Blokhin was awarded with the Ballon d'Or and was nominated another 3 times during his career:19/23rd in 74 , 20th in 76 and 5th in 81 and also was ranked 1th and 3rd best European player of the season by the Olympic Committee in 75 and 86 respectively.. He was also named the greatest Ukrainian player of the last 50 years in 2003.


Leonidas Da Silva is regarded as one of the most important players of the first half of the 20th century.He was known as the "Black Diamond" and the "Rubber Man" due to his agility.

He is credited with the invention of the bicycle kick.He won 8 times the stated championship was named Best player in the 1938 , 1940 , 1943 , 1945 , 1946 , 1948 and 1949 Championship.

In Brazil's shirt he is rememberd as one of the best forwards ever scoring 21 goalsin only 19 apearences. His best from came at the 1938 World Cup where Leonidas showed phenomenal class being the top scorer with 7 goals and until 2010 the only MVP not being in one of the finalist teams.

He was ranked as the 28th best player of the 20th century by Placar and 26th best player of the century by Guerin Sportivo


Beckham is considered to be of one of the best wingers of his era. He was renowned for his range of passing , bending free-kicks and as the greatest crosser in football history.

His best moments were at Manchester United where he won 6 times the Premier League being included in the PFA Team of the Year 4 times , 2 FA Cups , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 1 UEFA Champions League.He is third in the Premier League's all time assist provider chart, with 152 assists in 265 appearances. During his stay at Real Madrid , he won the La Liga title in 2007.
With England , he established a few records. He is England's best regular World Cup player since England last won it in 1966 – having created the most chances , has the joint-second most goal assists in European Championship finals history and is the most capped outfield player of his country.

He finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 99 being nominated another 9 times:22nd in 97 , 28/31th in 98 , 11th in 00 , 4th in 01 , nom in 02 , 10th in 03 , nom in 04 , nom in 05 and nom in 07.
He finished runner-up for the Onze d'Or in 99 and 3rd in 03
He finished runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year twice(99 and 01) and was nominated 3 more times:6th in 00 , 8th in 02 and 7th in 03.
He finished runner-up for World Soccer Player of the Year twice(99 and 01) and was again nominated in 03 being rated as 10th best.
He was named Best Player of the Season in 99 by the IOC.

He has been included in the UEFA Team of the Year twice and was selected in the Premiere League's Team of the Decade. He was also ranked as the 49th best player of the century by World Soccer even tough he was only 24 years old.


Günter Netzer is Borussia Moenchengladbach's greatest player of all time. He is without doubt Germany's best passer of all-time and one of the greatest passers in football history.

Netzer was the incarnation of the classic playmaker and is still regarded as one of the best midfielders of Bundesliga.In addition to his outstanding technique he had a natural authority , and was the undisputed leading figure of Borussia.He was aswell a great free-kick and corner taker.

With Moenchengladbach he won 2 Bundesliga , a DFB-Pokal and finished runner-up for the UEFA Cup. While there , he was twice voted German Footballer of the year(in the time of Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller).
With Real Madrid , he won 2 La Liga titles and 2 Copa del Rey being instrumental for his team.
With the National Team , he won EURO 72 and the 1974 World Cup , the first being his best tournament. Hence , he was included in 1992 in the All-Time XI of the EURO Championship.

He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 4 times finishing 4th in 71 , 3rd in 72 , 9th in 73 and 14th in 75. Note that in 72 he was ranked ahead of Johan Cruyff's best year title-wise.


Erico is considered the best Paraguayan footballer of all time. A striker noted for his technique, finishing and aerial ability, Erico was one of the finest players of the 1930s and one of greatest players to have played in the Argentinean league.

Erico was an inspiration to Argentine player Alfredo Di Stéfano, who considered him one of the greatest players ever. Other figures like Brazilian striker Leônidas da Silva and Paraguayan Delfín Benítez Cáceres also consider Erico as one of the best players in history.Argentine striker Francisco Varallo remembers Erico as a "phenomenon" that would excel in scoring headers due to his high jumps.

His goal stats are not perfectly recorded but for Independiente , he scored 295 goals in 325 matches.He never played an official game for Paraguay but he did score an incredible 56 goals in 26 unofficial matches.
In his prime(37-39) he scored scored 132 goals in only 96 matches. During this time he was 3 times South American Top Scorer of the year and 2 times World top scorer of the year(37,38).
He is the all-time top scorer of the argentine league and has been ranked 8th best South American player of the twentieth century by IFFHS.


Silvio Piola is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, as well as one of the best Italian players of all time.Piola's vision, work-rate, and technical ability, as well as his passing ability, made him a tactically versatile player who was capable of playing in several positions, and he was deployed on the wing, in midfield, or as a creative advanced playmaker on occasion but he was mainly a center-forward. Piola was also known for his powerful and accurate finishing ability with his head and both feet, from any position on the pitch, which made him a prolific goalscorer throughout his career. Due to his agility and athletic ability, Piola also excelled in the air, and he was capable of scoring spectacular acrobatic goals from volleys and bicycle kicks.

Piola played for several Italian clubs during his career but his best moments came at Lazio where he is still regarded as the club's best player ever. To this day, Piola is still currently the highest all-time goalscorer in Serie A.
He is third in the all-time goalscoring records of the Italian national team. With Italy his best moment came in 1938 when he won the World Cup.He finished the tournament as the second highest scorer and was named the second best player, also earning a place in the Team of the Tournament.

He is ranked by Guerin' Sportivo as the 18th best player of the 20th century.


Jimmy Greaves was a prolific goalscorer, and cited his relaxed attitude as the reason for his assured composure and confidence. He also had great acceleration and pace, as well as great positional skills and opportunism inside the penalty area; he was also an excellent dribbler.
Greaves is England's fourth highest international goalscorer (44 goals) and also the the highest goalscorer in the history of English top-flight football with 357 goals. He was Top Division top-scorer 6 times and scored 30+ in a season on 9 occasions. He also won the European Cup Winners Cup in 63 and was the top-scorer with 5 goals.
With the national team , Greaves won the 66 World Cup but didn't play in advanced stage because of an injury.

He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 7 times:16th/17th in 60 , 28/34th in 61 , 7th in 62 , 3rd in 63 , 6th in 64 , 25/26th in 67 and 10th in 68.


“The Magician” Hector Scarone was arguably the best play of his era and is one of the most decorated player ever , at least for his NT career.

He played mostly for Nacional with whom he won Primera División Uruguaya 8 times. He played a season for Barcelona scoring 17 goals in 18 matches.

With Uruguay he had a brilliant career winning 4 Copa América 1917, 1923, 1924, 1926 , the first in wich he was named MVP , 2 Olympic gold medals contributing with 8 goals and retired in 1930 winning the 1930 inaugural World Cup being named in the All-Star Team of the tournament.He was from 1930 to 2011 the all-time leading scorer with 31 goals.


Gaetano Scirea is considered to be one of the greatest central defenders of all time and the best defender of his time.He was a defender of skill and tactical ability, with an innate capacity to read the game. In contrast to the ruthless tactics often employed by other defenders, including his paired partner, Claudio Gentile, Scirea was renowned for his class, fair play and sportsmanship.

He spent most of his career at Juventus where he won 7 Scudettos , 2 Italian Cups , 1 UEFA Cup , 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 1 European Cup.He is considered as Juventus' greatest defender ever.

With Italy , he became and indispensable player benching the great Baresi until he was 26 years old. He reached the Semi-Final at the 1980 EURO being named in the All-Star Team of the Tournament. His best moment came in 1982 when he won with Italy the FIFA World Cup.

Scirea was ranked by Guerin' Sportivo as the 34th best player of the 20th Century.


Luis Monti is considered as the greatest Half-Back in the pre-war era. He was a rugged and ruthless player, but had the technical skills to go with his strong tackling. He was nicknamed doble ancho (double wide) due to his coverage of the pitch.

During his career in Argentine , he won 1 Argentine Primera División with Huracán and 3 with San Lorenzo. His best form was achieved at Juventus where he won 4 consecutive Serie A titles and 1 Coppa Italia being the backbone of the team.

At NT level , he played for 2 teams during his career , Argentina and Italy. With Argentina he won the 27 Copa America , a Silver Medal at the Summer Olympics and reached the inaugural World Cup Final being included in the All-Star XI. With Italy , he won the 1934 World Cup being named in the All-Star Team of the Tournament.


Dixie Dean is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time from Britain.He was a perfect specimen of an athlete, beautifully proportioned, with immense strength, a wizard with his feet but with extraordinary skill in the air being considered at the time as the best header ever.

He is Everton's All-Time Top Scorer and Greatest Player Ever. He's career peak came in the 1927–28 season were he broke the all-time english record(that stands even today) and scored 60 goals in only 39 league matches. Dean scored a career total of 425 goals and won the League Championship 2 times with Everton.
With his National Team , he scored 18 goals in only 16 matches.


'The Black Marvel' was a wing-half who played mostly for Nacional in the 20's and was regarded as one of the finest footballers in the world in his time and arguably the best during the mid 20s.
Andrade was credited with being an intelligent and honest player who never celebrated his goals. He was a dynamic, fast and highly technical player who was able to dominate the pitch without the physicality of many of his team mates.

At club level he won 3 times the Primera División Uruguaya , but his career highlights were at the National Team. He won with Uruguay the Olympic Games in 24 and 28 being one of the best players , the Copa America in 1923, 1924, 1926(In the later being named MVP) and also won the Inaugural World Cup in 1930 as one of the best players in the tournament being included in the All-Star team.

He was also named in the top 10 World Cup Heroes in 1990 and was ranked 29th best player of the 20th century by IFFHS.



Ernst Ocwirk is considered the greatest Austrian football player ever apart from Sindelar.
Nicknamed Clockwork by the British for his midfield consistency, he is often cited as the last of the old-fashioned attacking centre-halves; he was known for his aesthetic and technical style of playing, his heading ability, excellent timing (both in offensive and defensive tasks) and his passing range; particularly his long passing ability. The fans loved him for his modest and fair personality. The international media of the era saw Ocwirk as "the best centerhalf in the world". He is considered one of the greatest central midfielders of all time.

With Austria Wien he won 5 Austrian Football Bundesliga and 3 Austrian Cups. He also was one of the best midfielders in Serie A during his run with Sampdoria and is even considered by many as the club's best player ever.
In 1954 , he finished 3rd at the World Cup with Austria being the team's star player and was named in the All-Star team of the tournament.
He finished 7th place in the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 56 and was also named Austrian Sportsman Of The Year in 1951.


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Schmeichel is one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time and also amongst the best Scandinavian players ever.He was famous for his intimidating physique combined with great agility and one of the best reflexes ever.

During his career in Denmark he won 3 times the Danish 1st Division , 1 Danish Superliga and 1 Danish Cup. He eventualy moved to Man. Utd. where he reached his prime. He won 5 times the Premier League , 3 FA Cups , 1 Football League Cup and 1 UEFA Champions League.
With Denamrk , he won the 1992 EURO Championship being named as the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament.

Schmeichel was nominated 5 times for the Ballon d'Or finished 5th in 92 , 13th in 93 , nom in 95 , 8th in 97 and 17th in 99. He was also nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year 3 times finished 5/6th in 92 , 4th in 93 and 10/11th in 97 and also was ranked 3rd World Soccer Player of the Year in 92.
He was named 2 times World Keeper of the Year and 3 times UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year. Schmeichel is named as goalkeeper of the decade in premiere league and was ranked by IFFHS as the 7th best goalkeeper of the 20th Century.


Pavel Nedvěd is described as one of the best footballers of his generation, and also regarded as the greatest Czech Republic player of all time.
A complete, tenacious and consistent two-footed player, Nedved frequently played as a left-sided, offensive wide midfielder or as a left-winger throughout his career, due to his crossing ability with his left foot, as well as due to his ability to cut inside and shoot with his right foot, although he was capable of playing anywhere in midfield due to his offensive and defensive work-rate. He was also deployed as a central midfielder on occasion, as well as in an attacking midfield and playmaking role, or as a supporting striker where he excelled as an assist-man due to his excellent passing range and vision.Primarily known for his powerful shots and volleys from distance, as well as his stamina, he was also noted for his speed, endurance, technique and goal-scoring ability. He was also an accurate set-piece and penalty kick taker.

He started his career in the Czech Republic for Dukla and Sparta Praga where he won 1 Czechoslovak First League , 2 Czech Republic Football League and 1 Czech Cup.He then moved to Lazio where he won 1 Serie A , 2 times Coppa Italia , 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and 1 UEFA Super Cup.Nedved was included in the All-Time Lazio XI by many journalists from www.channel4.com. He eventualy moved to Juventus where he won 2 times the Serie A(in one of them being named MVP) and finished runner-up for the 2003 UEFA Champions League.

His first major tournament was the 96 EURO where he reached the Final with the Czech Republic. In the 2004 edition , he reached the semis and was included in the All-Star Team of the Tournament.

Nedved won the Ballon d'Or in 2003 and was nominated 7 more times:nom in 96 , nom in 98 , 15th in 99 , 22/23rd in 00 , nom in 01 , 7th in 04 and 23/24th in 05. He was also named World Soccer Player of the Year in 03 and finished 4th in 04. He was included in the ESM Team of the Year 2 times(01 and 03) and in the UEFA Team of the Year 3 times(03,04 and 05)


Gordon Banks is one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time and the greatest in british football history.

Banks career highlights came mostly at the international stage where he played 73 games and concieded only 57 goals keeping 32 clean sheets.
In 1966 he won Englands first and only major international trophy , the World Cup. He was instrumental for the succes and was named goalkeeper of the tournament. Next World Cup , Banks when confronted Brazil , he made deflected a perfect header from Pele , the incident being described as the greatest save in the history of the game.

Banks was named MVP of the English Top Division in 1972 and unofficialy FIFA Goalkeeper of the Year on six consecutive occasions from 66 to 71.
He was aslo named Daily Express Sportsmen of the Year in 1971 and 1972 and was ranked as the 2nd Goalkeeper of the century by IFFHS.


Papin is remembered as one of the best strikers of the late 80's and early 90's. He was a fast and lethal striker with impressive technique that in his prime rarely missed oportunities.

His best moments were at Olympique Marseille where won 4 league titles being 5 times top scorer , 1 Coupe de France and reached the European Cup Final in 91. He was European Cup Top Scorer on 3 consecutive occasions. During his 2 seasons at Milan , he won 2 Serie A titles and 1 UEFA Champions League.

Papin was awarded with the Ballon d'Or in 91 and was nominated 4 more times:11th in 89 , 11th in 90 , 18/19th in 92 and 16/19th in 94. He also was awarded with the Onze d'Or in 91 and finished 3rd another 3 times:89,90 and 92. He was named Marseille player of the century and also Clube Bruges' best foreign player ever even tough he only played 37 games for them.


Hugo Sánchez is the greatest CONCACAF player of all time. He was a prolific goals scorer renowned for his acrobatic goals , being the best bycicle kick scorer ever.

He started his career at UNAM 2 times the Primera División averaging 20 goals/season in his first 5 years. He eventualy moved to A.Madrid where he won a Copa del Rey and was once La Liga top scorer.
His prime came when he moved to Real Madrid. With Real he won 5 La Liga titles being the top scorer on 4 occasions , one of them he was the Golden Boot. Hugo Sanchez has scored a career total of 426 goals and is still the 3rd best scorer in La Liga's history.

He has been named Best footballer of Mexico of the 20th century , Best footballer of North America and Central America of the 20th century by IFFHS , Best Sportsman of Mexico of the 20th century and 26th best footballer of the 20th Century by IFFHS


Josef Masopust is the greatest Czech player of all time. He mostly played for Dukla Prague with whom he won 8 championships and 3 cups.
Masopust was a workhouse possessing immense stamina and pace.He possessed exemplary ball control, which he utilized with both feet , from the recovery of the ball in defense, to driving menacingly through the opposition in what was termed 'Masopust's slalom'. During these solo runs Masopust would seamlessly switch between both feet, easily jinking to the left and right but always moving forward.
Masopust was also a marvellous passer, and was able to pick out teammates with both strength and precision.

His best form came with the National Team. His first international succes was in the EURO 60 where he finished 3rd place and was named in the Team of the Tournament. Two years later , he reached the World Cup Final with Czechoslovakia being the star player of his team. They were only beaten by the Legendary Brazil.For his great succes , he was awarded with the Ballon d'Or in that Year.
He was also named Czech Republic's most outstanding player of the last 50 years in 2003


Djalma Santos is considered the greatest right-back of all time. While primarily known for his defensive skills, he often ventured upfield and displayed some impressive attacking skills and was also a dead-ball specialist.He was never sent-off during his career.

Alongside Beckenbauer , he is one of only 2 players in history to be selected in 3 World Cup All-Star Teams(54,58,62). He also was included in 3 Copa America Teams of The Tournament(1953, 1957, 1959). He won 2 World Cups with Brazil being especially instrumental in the second in wich he was the best defender of the tournament.

Djalma played for his national team 16 years and for his cliub team 22 years retaining ability even in later age and being included many all-star teams of the tournaments he played and is thus one of the most consistent and longevive defenders of all-time.

He was selected in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team in 1994 and also in the Football's all-time XI by Placar Magazine (1983) , Venerdì Magazine (1997) , A Tarde Newspaper (2004) and O Estado de São Paulo Newspaper (2013).



Ruud Krol is the greatest defender ever in history of Dutch football and amongst the best ever in European football.Krol mainly played as a sweeper or left-back, however he could play anywhere across the back four or as a defensive midfielder applying perfectly in Rinus' Total Football phylosophy.

He mostly played with Ajax winning 6 Eredivise , 4 KNVB Cups , 2 UEFA Super Cups , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 3 European Cups.
Even tough moving in his late years to Napoli , he still was one of the best defenders in Serie A being even named MVP of the league in 81 according to average ratings.
With his National Team he reached 2 times the World Cup Final being named in both in the All-Star Team. He was also included in the 76 EURO All-Star team.

He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 5 times: 18th in 77 , 7th in 78 , 3rd in 79 , 19th in 80 and 16th/18th in 81.


Florian Albert nicknamed "The Emperor", has been described as one of the most elegant footballers of all time.

He played all his life with Ferencváros and won 4 Hungarian Leagues , 1 Hungarian Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 65. He was Hungarian Championship top scorer 3 times and top scorer of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 67.

With the national team , he had great moments being Top-scorer and best young player at the 1962 World Cup and at the 1966 WC being named in the All-Star team. He was also included in the 1964 EURO All-Star Team and reched the semis in 72.

He scored a career total of 255 goals in 351 apps for his club and won the Ballon d'Or in 1967. He was also nominated 7 more times at the Ballon d'Or:20/22nd in 59 , 19/24th in 62 , 14/16th in 63 , 16/18th in 64 , 6th in 65 , 5th in 66 and 19th in 68.


József Bozsik is the greatest Half-Back in football history.In his prime, Bozsik was considered as the best midfielder in Europe , possessing good technique, flair, tactical nous, passing accuracy and creativity, although he suffered from a lack of pace. He was often used as a deep lying playmaker where his tackling ability was also helpful. He is considered one of the greatest Hungarian footballers.

He played all his life for Budapest Honvéd FC with whome he won 5 times the Hugarian league and the Mitropa Cup in 1959.
He holds the record most Caps and most consecutive years of Caps for Hungary national team. While playing for the NT , he won the Olympic title with his country in 1952 in Helsinki,1953 Central European Champion and finished second with the Hungarian team in the 1954 FIFA World Cup where he was named in the All-Star Team of the Tournament.

Even tough he was past his prime , Boszik was still nominated for the Ballon d'Or 2 times:6th in 56(the inaugural award) and 9th in 57.He was also voted the third place Hungary’s player of century by IFFHS’s poll.


Still in progress...


Steven Gerrard is one of the best midfielders of his generation.A hardworking box-to-box player, he was usually deployed as a central midfielder, but he had also been used as a second striker, a holding midfielder, an attacking midfielder, a right back, and a right winger.Renowned for his pace, work-rate and stamina in his prime, his main attributes in his later career were his vision, ball striking, and his accurate, varied passing range, which allowed him to set the tempo of his team's play and create attacking chances from midfield. He also possessed good technical and aerial ability, as well as notable defensive attributes.

Gerrard has played almost all his career for Liverpool(4 times the club’s top scorer), being considered by some as the club’s best ever. Most notably he won with the club 3 League Cups, 2 FA Cups , 1 UEFA Cup and 1 UEFA Champions League in 2005, also finishing runner-up in 2007. With England his best achievement was being included in the All-Star squad of the EURO 2012.

Gerrard currently holds the most appearances in the PFA Team of the Year in the Premier League era with 8 appearances. He has been named PFA Fans' Player of the Year twice(2001,2009) , PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2006 and FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009. He has been included in UEFA Team of the Year and FIFA FIFPro World XI 3 times each and was named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year in 2005
In 2005 , Gerrard was 3rd at the Ballon d’Or , runner-up for World Soccer Player of the Year and runner-up for the Onze d’Or and was named Best Player of the Season by the Olympic committee. At the FIFA World Player of the Year, he was also ranked 6th in 2007, 6th in 2008 and 8th in 2009.


Tostao is one of the most gifted brazilian players ever and in his prime, he was considered one of the best players in the world.Legend has it that as a six-year old school boy he netted 47 goals in one game for his primary school football team.

He started his career at only 15 years old and established himself as a elite goal scorer but also as a superb organizer with great dribbling and superb vision and passing. After his team Cruizeiro destoyed Pele's Santos in 66 , people said that a New King has arrived and he was dubbed "White King". He was the top scorer of the state championship on 4 consecutive occasions and top scorer of the Campeonato Brasileiro in 70.

With Brazil , he was the team's top scorer with 10 goals in the WC qualifiers for the 1970 tournament. He went on to win the 1970 World Cup making one of the greatest partnerships of all-time with Pele.

He was named Brazilian Athlete of the Year in 1969 , Best South American Player of the Year in 71 and also finished 4th in 72 but tragicaly ended his career next year because of a retina detachment.
He was ranked the 5th best Brazilian Player of the 20th century and the 13th best South American player of the century by IFFHS.

83.John Charles​

John Charles may be an underrated legend becuase he mostly played in the 2nd divison of England but even so is without doubt the greatest Welsh player of all time.Rated by many as the greatest all-round footballer ever to come from Britain, he was equally adept at centre-forward or centre-back. Due to his height, physique, and strength, he excelled in the air(the most all-around header ever), although he was also a prolific goalscorer with his feet, due to his powerful and accurate shot. Despite his size, he was also a fast player, who was gifted with good technical ability and passing ability, which allowed him both to score and create goals.He was never cautioned or sent off during his entire career.

Charles made his first team debut as a centre back for Leeds United in a friendly versus Dumfries club Queen of the South on 19 April 1949. Charles was tasked with marking the Scotland centre forward Billy Houliston, who ten days previously at Wembley had run the England defence ragged as the Scots won 3-1. The score was 0–0. After the game Houliston said 17 year old Charles was "the best centre half I've ever played against".

In his first top division season when new promoted leeds , he scored 39 goals being the top scorer of the league. He was then sold to Juventus for 5 seasons and became the greatest striker in the clubs history winning 3 Scudetos and 2 Copa Italia.

Sir Bobby Robson described him as "incomparable" and classed him among the all-time footballing greats such as Pelé, Diego Maradona and George Best. He also notes that Charles is the only footballing great to be world class in two very different positions.

Jack Charlton, another Leeds legend, said:
John Charles was a team unto himself. People often say to me, 'Who was the best player you ever saw?', and I answer that it was probably Eusebio, Di Stefano, Cruyff, Pele or our Bob (Bobby Charlton). But the most effective player I ever saw, the one that made the most difference to the performance of the whole team, was without question John Charles.

The manager of Wales, Jimmy Murphy spoke of the greatness of Charles:
Do you know, whenever I look at John it feels as though the Messiah has returned.

He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 6 times consecutively finishing 6th in 57 , 5th in 58 , 3rd in 59 , 7th in 60 , 8th in 61 and 9th in 62.He was also voted 'the greatest foreign player ever in Serie A in 1997.


Sir Thomas Finney is the greatest player that has never won any trophy in his career choosing to play with "little" side Preston. "Tom Finney should claim income tax relief ... for his 10 dependents." (Satirical observation on the weakness of the Preston team in his absence).

The Football Association called him "one of England's all-time greatest players", while fellow England player Bobby Charlton said Finney's contributions to football were "immeasurable".
Former team-mate and Liverpool manager, Bill Shankly, had called him "the greatest player to ever play the game" while Stanley Matthews once compared him to Diego Maradona, Pelé, George Best and Alfredo Di Stéfano.He also added "Tom Finney would have been great in any team, in any match and in any age ... even if he had been wearing an overcoat."
Preston team-mate Tommy Docherty said "To me Messi is Finney reborn.He was a diamond. If I was a manager and was able to buy any player who has played the game, I would buy Finney."

He was named 2 times MVP of the English Top Divison.


Shevchenko was one of the best forwards of his era.A fast, hardworking, energetic, opportunistic, and prolific goalscorer, Shevchenko was usually deployed as a centre-forward, although he was capable of attacking from the left wing as well, he was also effective from set-pieces and penalties.A strong and physical striker with an eye for goal, he was primarily known for his powerful and accurate shot, although he also possessed good technique and aerial ability.Until his 29 years old , Shevchenko has been constantly one of the best players in the world but droped in form upon his move to Chelsea.

With Dynamo Kyiv he notably won 5 times the league and 3 times the cup being named once MVP of the the league and once top-scorer.
When he moved to Milan he reached his prime and most notably won with the club 1 Serie A , 1 Coppa Italia and 1 UCL being the top scorer of the league 2 times and top scorer of UCL 2 times.

In 2004 , he was awarded with the Ballon d'Or. He was nominated another 2 times in 98 and 06 and was ranked another 5 times:3rd in 99 , 3rd in 00 , 8th in 01 , 4th in 03 and 5th in 05.


It is estimated by RSSSF that Bican scored about 800 goals in all competitive matches, not including friendly games. This would make him the most prolific scorer of football history.Bican had the ability to play with both feet; he also had considerable pace and was able to run 100 metres in 10.8 seconds, which was as fast as many sprinters of the time.IFFHS awarded Bican the "Golden Ball" as the greatest goalscorer of the last century.

He was the Czechoslovak First League top-scorer 11 times during his career and World's top scorer in five consecutive seasons, from 1939/40 to 1943/44(including one season where he scored 57 goals in 24 matches) while the most of players and the physically fit young men were in the war.He was also Mitropa Cup top-scorer in 38 with 10 goals.
Bican remained a prolific top scorer until his retirement at 42 years old.

Pelé was getting ready for his "1000th" goal and many journalists were searching for another player who had scored a thousand goals they turned to Bican who claimed to have scored 5000 goals.When reporters asked Bican why he hadn't made more of a fuss about his goalscoring feats, he simply said "who'd have believed me if I said I'd scored five times as many goals as Pelé?!"
He was named Czechoslovakia player of the century by IFFHS.


Batistuta is considered as the greatest strike in Argentina's history.A powerful player with an all-round game, clinical finishing, as well as accurate heading and free-kick taking abilities, he is known as one of the most complete strikers of his generation. Diego Maradona stated that Batistuta is the best striker he has ever seen play the game.

He mostly played for Fiorentina becoming the club's all-time top scorer with 207 goals and was one of the best players of Serie A during his stay at the club.He then moved to Roma wining the Serie A title in his first season being the clubs top scorer.He ended his career moving to Qatar end broke the all-time record of goals in a season in his first year.

At national level , Batistuta is Argentina's all time top scorer with 56 goals. He won with the NT 2 Copa Américas(91 and 93) being top scorer in the first and also in the 95 edition ; and also has won the 92 FIFA Confederations Cup being the top scorer.

In 1991before coming to play in Europe , Batistuta was named South American Player of the Year.

He was ranked by World Soccer in top 10 on 6 occasions:7th in 91 , 10th in 94 , 6th in 96 , 6th in 98 , 8/10th in 99 and 8th in 00. He was also ranked in the FIFA World Player of the Year 5 times in top 10:9th in 96 , 8/9th in 97 , 5th in 98 , 3rd in 99 and 4th in 00.


Enzo Francescoli is regarded as one of the best Uruguayan players of all time.He was known for his classic and elegant style, becoming the idol of Zinedine Zidane who copied him troughout his career.

Enzo's best moments came at River Plate with whom he won 5 times the Primera División being top scorer 3 times and MVP twice and the Copa Libertadores in 96. With Marseille his best moment came in 1990 when he won Ligue 1 being named as the leagues best Foreign Player.
With Uruguay , he won the Copa América an all-time record 3 times being named the MVP twice , aswell an all time record.

He was named South American Footballer of the Year twice and finished runner-up twice. The South American Team of the Year was in 86 , with him being abroad and after he returned in 94 , he made into the all-star XI 4 times consecutively.
He was ranked by France Football a the 12th best Football Player of the Century.


Totti is considered to be one of the greatest Italian players of all time and one of the most talented players of his generation. An elegant, world-class, and technically gifted attacking midfielder with a good knowledge of the game, Totti was a tactically versatile player, capable of playing anywhere along the front line, and was also occasionally deployed as a winger or as a central midfield playmaker under Zdeněk Zeman, and most notably as a false-9 under Luciano Spalletti and Rudi García.While Totti was a prolific goalscorer, he was also renowned for his ball control, vision, and range of passing, as well as his ability to set the pace in midfield and provide through-balls and assists for his teammates, often through his trademark use of the backheel, in particular when holding up the ball or playing with his back to goal.

Totti remained loyal toAS Roma playing for them all his career and becoming the club’s greatest player ever. Choosing to refuse any big club offers, Totti’s trophy cabinet isn’t impressive, alltough he lead Roma to 2 Coppa Italia and 1 Serie A title in 2001.
Totti’s individual accolades in Serie A include: Guerin d'Oro in 98 and 2004, Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in 99, Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007, Serie A Assist Leader in 99, 2007 and 2014, Serie A Top Scorer in 2007(also Golden Shoe) and Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2000 and 2003.
With Italy he reached the EURO 2000 Final being named man of the match and included in the all star team and won the 2006 World Cup being the top assister of the tournament and included in the all-star XI. Totti has also been included in the ESM Team of the Year 3 times(2001, 2004 and 2007).


Kevin Keegan is one of the greatest English players of all time.

He became a world-class forward at Liverpool where he won 3 times the Football League First Division , 1 FA Cup , 2 UEFA Cups and 1 European Cup.
He then moved to Hamburg for 3 season where he won the Bundesliga in 79 and finished runner-up for the European Cup in 1980. He then returned to England but still retaind world class level.

He won the Ballon d'Or twice in 78 and 79 and also finished 2nd and 4th in 77 and 76 respectively. Onze d'Or ranked him 2nd in 76 , 1th in 77 , 1th in 79 and 2nd in 80. He was also named FWA Footballer of the Year in 76 and PFA Players' Player of the Year in 82.


Nílton Santos is regarded as one of the greatest defenders in the history of the game and by some as the greatest wing-back of all-time.He was world class both at defending and attacking and possessed very good technique. and thus is credited with inventing the atacking full-back role.

He is the first player to participate in 4 World Cups , winning two of them (58 and 62) and reaching the Final in 50. In the 1958 edition he was included in the All-Star team and was by far the best defender.In the grades given out by various Swedish newspapers during the World Cup he received the highest accolades of all players that participated in Sweden managing the best grade in all matches due to his fine way of playing.He also scored a magnificent goal against Austria dribbling his way through the whole field, he finished with a superb shot, driving his coach Vicente Feola crazy (he kept on insisting for Nílton to retreat to the defensive field, but was ignored until the goal was scored).

-He was included by Placar in 83 in the all-time dream team of the century
-He was included in the all-time XI in 88 by the Italian FA
-He was included in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team in 94.
-He was included in the FIFA Team of the Century in 99
-He was included in the all-time greatest XI by A Tarde Newspaper in 2004
-He was ranked as the 22nd best football player of the century by Placar


Nils Liedholm is considered by many as the greatest Swedish football player of all-time. He was renowned for his excellent passing ability being the most accurate ever, as well as his vision, control, class, and his elegant style of play; he is regarded as one of Milan's greatest ever players.Liedholm was also one of the first players to realise the importance of fitness to a good performance. Consequently, he put in many more hours of training than other players, saying himself that he did the 100 metres, 3000 metres, javelin, shot put and high jump twice a week.His club career would continue until he was almost 40.

He started his career in Sweeden winning 2 championships before moving to AC Milan.Two years after he joined, during a home-game, the Swede misplaced a pass. Not so strange, you'd think… except it was the first time he'd done at the San Siro. He remembers the reaction: "My mistake was so unexpected that they gave me an ovation that lasted for five minutes." He won 4 times the Serie A with Milan and also finished as runner-up for the European Cup in 58 with a 35 year old Nils being the core of the team.

With the national team , he won the Olympic gold medal in 48 and also was the playmaker of his team when they finished runner-up for the World Cup in 58 being defeated by arguably the greatest team in football history , Pele's Brazil.

Even tough it was first awarded when Liedholm was 34 years old , he was nominated twice for the Ballon d'Or finishing 8th in 58 and 13/14th in 59.Liedholm was voted the best Swedish player of the millennium by the readers of Sweden's largest newspaper, Aftonbladet.


Breitner is remebered as one of the greatest German players of all time.He is a very versatyle football player having played world-class as both Left-Back and Central-Midfielder.

He started his career as a left-back for Bayern and qucikly established himself as a key player. He won in his first spell at the club 3 Budesliga tiles , 1 DFB-Pokal Cup and 1 European Cup. He was then purchased by Real Madrid were he becam an instrumental player in winning 2 La Liga titles and 1 Copa del Rey during his 3 year stay at the club.
He then returned to Germany playing one season at Eintracht Braunschweig switching to CM and after he rejoined Bayern reaching his prime.During this second spell he won 2 Bundesliga's , 1 DFB-Pokal Cup and and finished runner-up for the European Cup in 82.He formed such a formidable one-two-punch with Rummenigge , that they were often called Breitnigge. They were the 2 best players in Europe during 81.

With the national team he won the 72 EURO being named in the All Star Team , the 1974 FIFA World Cup being named in the All-Star Team and also finsihed runner-up at the EURO 82.

He was named German Player of the Year in 81 , was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 6 times:18/27th in 72 , 4th in 74 , 8th in 75(these first 3 as left-back) , 13th in 79 , 2nd in 81 , 15th/19th in 82 and also was named European Player of the Season in 81 by the Olympic Committee.
Breitner was also included in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team in 94 and even in the Football All-Time team by O Estado de São Paulo Newspaper in 2013


Gunnar Nordahl is the greatest Swedish player of all time and considered by many experts as the best ever Scandinavian player. He was a strong target-striker , with good aerial ability and most impotantly a almost paranormal eye for goal.

He started his career in Sweeden but his best moments in his home country came when he moved at IFK Norrköping.He made the score-sheet 87 times in 85 league appearances for IFK, inspiring them to the title in each of his four seasons at the club, all of which he finished as the competition’s leading marksman. No man has ever seized the competition’s golden boot on more occasions; no man has ever scored more than the seven goals in a match as he did in 45.
He later on moved to Milan reaching his prime.Playing eight seasons with AC Milan, he is Serie A's multi-top-scorer a record five times.Nordahl is also AC Milan's all-time top-scorer, with 210 league goals. He is still the third-highest Serie A goalscorer of all time, with 225 goals in 291 matches. Only Silvio Piola and Francesco Totti have scored more goals in that division. That makes Nordahl the top goalscorer among non-Italian players, and he is also the most efficient goalscorer goals in Serie A ever with 0.77 goals/match. Only players who has scored more than one hundred goals are counted in this record.

In 1948, he helped Sweden to win the Olympic football tournament, becoming the tournament's top scorer on the way. Nordahl's transfer to Milan forced him to retire from the national team early. In his 30 matches in the national team, he scored a total of 44 goals, or about 1.5 goals per game.


László Kubala was a forward with great passing qualities, and had an uncommon dribbling ability, combining pace and skill. Kubala's composure in finishing, and power when striking for goal were also highly renowned. Also, he was one of history's greatest free kick specialists, able to bend the ball with pace and accuracy.

He played for various clubs during his career but his best moments came at FC Barcelona. During his stay he won 4 times the La Liga , 5 times the Copa del Rey , 2 times Copa Eva Duarte , 1 Latin Cup , and 2 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. His best season was in 52 when he scored a total of 39 goals in only 28 games and won the La Liga the , CDR , Copa Eva Duarte and the Latin Cup and is remember as the best player of the season in the world.
Because of various regulations at the time , Kubala played for three different international teams – Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Spain.

He scored 194 goals in 256 appearances for Barca and in 1999, during the club's centenary celebrations, a fan's poll declared him the best player ever to play for the club


Dennis Bergkamp has been described by Jan Mulder as having "the finest technique" of any Dutch international and a "dream for a striker" by teammate Thierry Henry.
In addition to his ability to score goals, Bergkamp was also capable of functioning as playmaking attacking midfielder, due to his incredible technical skills, vision, and passing range.

He started his career at Ajax and won with the club 1 Eredivisie , 2 KNVB Cups , 1 UEFA Cup and 1 European Cup Winners' Cup.He also won a UEFA Cup at Inter but did not adapted well.
He later moved to Arsenal wining 3 Premier League titles , 4 FA Cups and finished runner-up for the UCL in 2006.He was also named MVP of the league in 98.

With the national team , he was from 98 to 2003 the all-time top scorer. He was top scorer of 92 EURO being included in the All-Star Team and was also included in the Dream Team for the 98 FIFA World Cup.

He was runner-up for the World Soccer Player of the Year Award 3 times(92,93,97) and also finished 5th in 98.


Kenny Dlaglish is widly regarded as the greatest scotish player ever and Liverpool's greatest player of all time.He was a prolific scorer but also had great team-work and vision.

He started his career at Celtic winning 4 leauge titles and 4 cups.He later on joined Liverpool becoming the clubs best ever. He won with Liverpool and incredible 6 league titles , 1 FA Cup , 4 League Cups and 3 European Cups.
With the national team , Dalglish is the all-time most capped player and also the all-time top scorer with 30 goals.

Dalglish was included in the PFA Team of the year 5 times , named MVP of the English Top division 2 times(79 and 83) and was also nominated for the Ballon d'Or 6 times:8th in 78 , 11th in 79 , 14th in 80 , 21/26th in 81 , 2nd in 83 and 21th in 86. He was also named European Player of the Season in 78 and finished runner-up in 83.
In 2009 FourFourTwo named Dalglish as the greatest striker in post-war British football(above players like Henry , Cantona , Greaves , J.Charles and Keegan).He was also ranked as the 22nd best football player of the century by World Soccer.


Mazzola is widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian football players of all time, and as one of the best players of his generation.
He was a versatyle atacking player thanks to his passing range, vision, technique, ball skills, and close control. He was also a prolific goalscorer as a forward, which enabled him to win several top scorer awards. Mazzola was most highly regarded during his prime for his pace, stamina, balance, acceleration, and agility, in particular when dribbling at speed, which along with his excellent ball control and technical ability, enabled him to beat defenders frequently in one on one situations.

With Inter , he won 4 times Serie A being top scorer in 65 , 2 times the Intercontinental Cup scoring a brace in 65 , and 2 European Cups being top scorer in 64.
With the national team , he finished runner-up for the EURO 68 being included in the All-Star Team and also runner-up at the 1970 World Cup.

He was nominated 9 times for the Ballon d'Or:19/26th in 64 , 9th in 65 , 14th/17th in 66 , 10th in 67 , 18th in 68 , 9th in 70 , 2nd in 71 , 17th in 72 and 15th in 73.


Mazzola is considered by some as Italy's finest player ever, and perhaps the first modern all-around footballer, as he was a well-rounded and hardworking footballer who could lead his teammates to victory with his charismatic presence and leadership. Mazzola was a quick, strong and energetic attacking midfielder, with excellent technical ability, vision, and accurate shooting and passing ability; he also excelled in the air. Because of his many attributes he was capable of both scoring and creating many goals, and was also competent defensively, often pressing and tackling opponents in order to win back possession.

With Torino, Mazzola won an Italian record of five successive Serie A titles, as well as a Coppa Italia in 1942–43. He was also the top-scorer in 47 with 29 goals in 38 games. In 1940–41, he won the Coppa Italia with Venezia.

He is the best player of his time and was as his team-mate Mario Rigamont half the squad. A squad that is still regarded one of the best teams ever breaking numerous Serie A records.


Hristo Stoichkov
is regarded as one of the best footballers of his generation and the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time.He was known for his explosive acceleration and speed dribbling, and for taking unpredictable shots on goal. He was also notable at taking free kicks and penalties as well as being a very good crosser.

He started being world class at CSKA Sofia scoring in 2 consecutive seasons 39 and 47 goals winning 2 league titles and 1 cup and was also the top scorer of the European Cup Winners' Cup with 7 goals.In the second season he won the European Golden Shoe.
He then moved to Barcelona reaching his prime winning in his first 4 seasons 4 La Liga titles and 1 European Cup.

With Bulgaria , he reached the World Cup semis in 94 being named the 3rd best player of the tourney. In the 96 EURO he was named in the All-Star team.

He won the Ballon d'Or in 94 and was nominated another 4 times:13/18th in 91 , 2nd in 92 , 14th in 93 and 15th in 95. At the FIFA World Player(first awarded in 91) he was ranked 4 times in top 10(2nd in 92 , 5th in 93 , 2nd in 94 and 6th in 95). Onze d'Or and the Olympic Committee also named him World Player of the year in 92 and runner-up in 94 for the former.


Dragan Džajić is the greatest Yugoslav player of all time.He could both score goals and deliver defence splitting passes with fantastic precision. It was quite usual for him to take off, leaving all defenders in his wake to deliver an inch-perfect pass into the penalty area.Highly appreciated by players and coaches alike for his passing ability, Džajić was no less embraced for his goal-scoring. He could score from just about any angle and many of his successful attempts came direct from corner kicks. Gifted with vision and that rare gift, a killer left foot, he was already scoring "Platini-like" free kicks when the French legend was still in shorts.Džajić is viewed by some football experts as perhaps one of the most underrated players in European football, partly because he played in Yugoslavia.

He won the Yugoslav league 4 times and the cup 5 times , but his peak season was in 68 when he bassicaly won the treble wining the league , cup and the Mitropa and also reached the EURO Final being the top scorer and MVP of the tournament. Beckenbauer said he deserved the Ballon d'Or in that year. Next year he was named best Yugoslav Athlete and in 1976 he was agin included in the EURO All-Star Team.

In December 2011 Džajić was named in being part of "the greatest European Championship XI of all time" by Goal.com. Pelé said "Džajić is the Balkan miracle – a real wizard. I'm just sorry he's not Brazilian because I've never seen such a natural footballer."
Even tough he played only in Yugoslavia , Dzajic was nominated 7 times for the Ballon d'Or:2nd in 68 , 12th in 69 , 6th in 70 , 16/17th in 71 , 18/27th in 72 , 23/27th in 73 and 27/32nd in 75.


Falcão is widely considered one of the best players in Internacional and Roma history, and one of the most talented central midfielders of all time, especially at his peak in the mid-1980s. At one stage, he was the world's highest paid footballer.He usually played as a play-making central midfielder known for his impecable technique, vision, passing and long-range shot.

With Internacional , he won the Campeonato Gaúcho 7 times and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 3 times being the MVP of the league 2 times(78 and 79).
He later moved to Roma wining 2 Coppa Italia(81 and 84) and the Serie A in 83.He also reached the European Cup Final in 84.He inspired Roma to win their first league title since the Benito Mussolini years in 1982-83, scoring 7 times in 27 games, and creating countless more. Although Juventus's Michel Platini finished as top scorer in the league, and despite Juventus beating Roma in both league games, he was acknowledged as the star man in Serie a this season, also performing well as Roma won through to the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup. At the end of this season, Falcão had earned the nickname "the 8th King of Rome".
With Brazil his best form came in the 1982 World Cup where he was named as the 2nd best player fo the tournament.

Falcao finished runner-up 2 times for being named World Player of the Year by Onze d'Or in 82 and 83.He also finsiehd 3rd for South American player of the Year in 79.


Paco Gento is considered by some to be the best spanish player ever and one of the greatest left-wingers in history.He was noted not only for having great speed (he could run 100 meters in 11 seconds flat and was almost as quick with a ball at his feet), but also for his skills with the ball and his scoring prowess from the midfield position.Even his team mates some-times complained of his speed.

He is the most club decorated player in football history. With Real Madrid , he won 12 La Liga titles(all-time record) , 2 Copa del Rey , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 6 European Cups(all-time record). He is also the player to reach the most european finals ever , reaching the European Cup final 8 times.Even more incredible , he was instrumental in almost all the tiles he has ever won.

He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or only 6 times(13th in 57 , 12th in 58 , 8th in 59 , 11th in 60 , 9th in 61 and 25/27th in 62) because of being overshadowed by his phenomenal team-mates during the 50's and 60s such as Alfredo di Stefano , Raymond Kopa and Ferenc Puskas.
He was included in Voetbal's World Team of The Century.


Jairzinho was considered by many as the greatest winger in the world during his time.He was a quick, powerful winger with excelent dribbling skills and great passing skills possessing also an eye for goal.

He was 2 Times Brazil League Player of The Year (1964, 1966) and 2 Times Campeonato Carioca Best Player (1967, 1968). He won the Bronze Ball South American Footballer of The Year in 72 and finished 8th and 7/9th in 71 and 73 respectively(the award being created in 71). His most notable team award at club level was the 1976 Copa Libertadores.

Jairzinho's best form tough came at international level. He was one of the key components of what is widley regarded as the greatest team in football history. At the 1970 World Cup , Jairzinho performed phenomenaly scoring in every match of the tournament(only Alcides Ghiggia and Just Fontaine have done so) being nicknamed "The Hurricane".

He was ranked by World Soccer as the 27th greatest football player of the 20th century.


Teófilo Cubillas is by far the greatest Peruvian player of all time.He was renowned for his great technique and legendary free kick ability.
Alltough being primarly a playmaker , Cubillas was also a incredible goal scorer , having a career total of 338 goals.

In his debut season , he manged to be the peruvian's league top scorer and managed it again in 1970.In 1972 , he finished as Copa Libertadores top-scorer with 6 goals.And in his last year before leaving Peru , he was selected in the CONMEBOL All-Star Team.
He eventually ended at Porto where he become an essential player and even scored 35 goals in 38 games in 76.
He returned for 2 season in Peru playing great again and the he moved to the U.S.A. become one of the best players ever of the league.

At NT level , he is his country all-time top scorer with 26 goals.Cubillas helped Peru advance to the quarter-finals of the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He scored in all of Peru's four matches and was thus won the FIFA World Cup Young Player Award. In 1975 , he led his country to victory in the 1975 Copa América being named the MVP of the tournament. Later on in the 1978 World Cup he scored five goals for the Peruvian national team, finishing joint second highest goal scorer after Mario Kempes and being included in the All-Star Team.

He was named Southamerican player of the year in 72 and finished 4th in 71 , 9/8th in 75 , 7th in 77 and 5th in 78. In 2006 he was ranked as 17th best South American player of the century and also in 2008 he was selected in the All-Star First Team of South America in the past 50 years


Roberto Carlos is arguably the greatest wing-back of all-time and the best South American defensive player ever.He was nicknamed "the bullet man" due to him having the most powerful shot in football history and the most bending free kicks ever, which have been measured at over 105 miles per hour (169 km/h). He is also known for his unhuman stamina, running speed(10.6 s), technical skills, crossing ability, long throw-ins(36 m) and 24-inch (61 cm) thighs.He is also one of the most decorated players of all time.

He started his career at Palmeiras winning in his first 3 seasons 2 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A , 2 Campeonato Paulista and 1 Torneio Rio-São Paulo.
He eventualy ended at Real Madrid becoming the greatest defensive player ever to grace Spanish football. He most notably won 4 La Liga , 2 Intercontinental Cups and 3 times the UEFA Champions League being instrumental instrumental in all the titles he has ever won.

With Brazil he most notably won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 97 , 2 times Copa América in 97 and 99 , reached the FIFA World Cup Final in 98 being included in the All-Star Team and won the World Cup in 2002 being the best defender of the tournament.In 97 , he scored what is considered to be the greatest free kick of all time.Next year he scored another goal against Tenerife wich is considered by many as the most beautiful goal in football history.

Roberto Carlos has been included in the ESM Team of the Year 7 times wich is the all-time record. He finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 2002 in favour of co-national Ronaldo who had an inspirational come-back and was nominated 7 more times:5th in 97 , 13th in 98 , 26/31th in 99 , 16th in 00 , 18/21th in 01 , 8th in 03 and nom in 05. He also finished runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 97 and was ranked 4th and 5th in 02 and 03 respectively.
He was included in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Dream Team and also in the All-Time best XI ever by Marca. He was also ranked 11th in AFS Top-100 Players of All-Time based on specific criteria.


Elías Figueroa is considered the best Chilean footballer of all time, as well as one of the greatest defenders ever to play the game.Figueroa was noted for his elegant style of play, his calmness in the centre of defence and his ability to cut out opposition attacks and immediately launch counterattacks from the back.

He won many title during his career but what made him mostly stand out were his individual recognition.He was elected the best player in the Uruguayan championship in 1967 and 1968.When he moved to Brazil he was named South American player of the Year a record 3 times(74-76) and he also finished 7/8th in 72 , 6th in 73 , 3rd in 77 and 6th in 78.He was even named unofficialy FIFA World Player of the Year in 76.

He captained the Chilean squad through their most successive era to date when they qualified for three World Cups, He played in the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England, the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. In 1974 Figueroa was elected the best central defender of the tournament and member of the all-star team of World Cup.

Don Elias has been ranked as the 19th greatest player of the 20th century by Placar and 8th best South American Player of the century by IFFHS


Daniel Passarella is considered by many as the greatest South American defender in football history and is also the geratest goal-scoring pure defender in football history having scored a career total of 182 goals.He was nicknamed "El Gran Capitán" because of his leadership ability, his passion, and his organisational prowess on the field. He was a defender who often joined the attack, and helped generate and finish offensive plays.His aerial game was effective both defensively and in attack. He scored frequent headers in spite of his average height (1.73 m). He was an excellent free kick and penalty shooter.

During his stay at River Plate he won the Primera División Argentina 6 times and scored in one club season 24 goals(all-time record).
He then moved to Serie A playing 4 seasons with Fiorentina and 2 seasons with Inter being one of the best defenders in the league(Serie A golden era).

With the national team he won 2 World Cups(78,86) , his best moment coming in 78 where he was named in the All-Star Team and was the best defender of the tournament.In the later he was reserve because of arguments with the coach and Maradona.

While at River Plate he was nominated 6 times for the South American Player of the Year:7/9th in 76 , 4th in 78 , 8th in 79 , 6th in 80 , 6th in 81 and 7th in 82.He was also ranked as the 15th best player of the Century by Placar.


Sivori's playing style is described by Encyclopædia Britannica to be "audacious and brilliant".He utilized his dribbling skills and favourite move of the nutmeg (playing the ball between an opposition players legs) to defeat defenders. Primarily a left footed player, Sívori had the ability to score with his left, his right and, despite his relatively short stature, his head.
Especially while with Juventus, he was able to utilise his vision and passing skills, working in unison with Charles and Boniperti. Because of his playing style, country of birth and at times rebellious nature on and off the field, Sívori is retroactively compared to a player who emerged after him; Diego Maradona, with some parts of the media dubbing him "the Maradona of the Sixties".

He started playing for River Plate wining the Argentine Primera División in all 3 season at the club.He then was buyed by Juventus for an all-time record fee at the time , where he won 3 times the Serie A title being the top scorer in 60 and 2 times the Coppa Italia.Sivori notably scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Real Madrid, making Juventus the first Italian side ever to win at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and also holds the all-time record for most goals in a single match in Serie A ,scoring 6 goals against Inter.During his prime(first 7 seasons in Italy) he scored 161 goals for Juventus despite not being the main striker.
His best form an international level came in 57 when he won the Copa America being named as the MVP of the tournament.

Sivori was awarded with the Ballon d'Or in 1961 and was nominated 4 more times:9/10th in 60 , 13th in 62 , 13th in 63 and 19/26th in 64 this being possible thanks to his Italian ancestry. He was ranked as the 16th best South American player of the century.


Adolfo Pedernera is still considered by many to be one of the greatest Argentine players of all-time.Nicknamed "El Maestro" he usually played as an inside forward and was renowned for his technique and ability to create chances for others whilst also being a prominent goalscorer.He can be considered as one of the creators of the false no.9 role being set as center-forward but going deep to assist his team-mates because of being part of the legendary La Maquina team that played a prototype of Total Football.

During his club career , he won the Argentine league 5 times and the Colombian league(golden era) 4 times. After his debut at Millonarios the press said "A phenomenon, an artist, a master of passing, and a show of intelligence. After the debut of El Maestro, everything is possible."According to Di Stéfano, the team played with the "5 and dance" strategy, in which they would try to not humiliate their opponents by scoring when they were leading by five goals. This strategy was employed in nine consecutive victories.

With Argentina , he won 2 Copa América (1941, 1946) in the later being named as the Best Player of the Tournament.

After Maradona , Di Stefano and Manuel Moreno , he was choosed as the 4th best Argentine Player of the 20th century.


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Gheorghe Hagi was considered by many the best attacking midfielder in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s and the greatest Romanian footballer of all time.He was renowned for his technique, vision, passing , finishing , free-kick and one of the greatest long-range shooters in football history.

He already became a great player while at Sportul Studențesc scoring 34 goals in only 33 games(1985–86 season) despite being a playmaker.
He then moved to Steaua wining 3 Romanian leagues , 2 Romanian Cups and finished runner-up for the European Cup in 89 being also the top scorer in the 88 edition.
He later played a few season for Real Madrid , Brescia and Barcelona and finaly ended up at Galatasaray where he became arguably the club's best player of all time. He played his final 5 years at Galata wining 4 Turkish Super Leagues , 2 Turkish Cups and 1 UEFA Cup.Also they beaten Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup.

Hagi's best moment came tough at international stage where he is Romania's all time top scorer with 35 goals.He was the undiputed star of the best Romania that qualified for 3 consecutive World Cup final tournaments and also the 2000 EURO. In the 94 World Cup , hagi scored a folha secca that was the goal of the tournament and was named in the all-star team.
He was ranked by World Soccer as the 25th best football player of the century.


Uwe Seeler is usually regarded as one of the greatest players in German football history.He was a gifted, powerful, and prolific striker who, among other things, was most of all renowned for his leadership, consistency, overhead kicks, and aerial ability.

He played all his life for Hamburger SV being the clubs undisputed best player ever and was a very cerebral striker. In his first 9 seasons at the club playing in Oberliga he scored a total of 267 goals in only 237 games(in 7 seasons he had more goals than games) and in the inaugural Bundesliga season , he scored 30 goals in 30 games and was also top-scorer of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1967-68.
His goal-scoring decreased after but he still reamined a great player overall scoring a career total of 487 goals in all competitions.

With the national team he scored a total of 43 goals including 9 goals in World Cups.He was the only playuer to score at least two goals in each of four World Cups until tied by Klose in 2014.He was Vice World Champion in 1966 in England , Third Place World Cup Mexico 1970 and
World Cup Fourth Sweden 1958.

He was rated by kicker in 7.5 World-Class seasons and also 7.5 seasons of international-class which is the second best only to Beckenbauer and was named German Footballer of the Year 3 times(1960, 1964, 1970).
He was also nominated for the Ballon d'Or on 5 occasions:20/22nd in 59 , 3rd in 60 , 6/7th in 61 , 7th in 63 and 10th in 70.

51.Dino Zoff​

Dino Zoff is the 2nd greatest goalkeeper in football history.He was particularly known for his outstanding positioning, handling, reactions, leadership, and organisational skills, as well as concentration, consistency, and calm mindset.

Zoff's best years came at Juventus where he won 6 times the Serie A , 2 times Coppa Italia , 1 UEFA Cup and was runner-up for the European Cup 2 times in 73 and 83.He made made 360 clean sheets from 720 first-level club games(50%) and holds the Juventus record for longest streak without conceding a goal with 903 minutes.

For the national team , he holds the record for the longest playing time without allowing goals in international tournaments (1142 minutes) set between 1972 and 1974.He won the EURO in 68 being named the best GK of the tournament(also team of the year by World Soccer) and was again included in the All-Star Team in 1980. He also won the 1982 FIFA World Cup setting the record that stands even today for oldest player ever to win the WC being 40 years old and was incredibly even named best goalkeeper of the tournament.

He was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 73 and was nominated 5 more times nominated for the award finishing 15th in 75 , 26/29th in 76 , 12th in 80 , 6th in 81 and 8th in 82.The Italian Football Federation named him the best Italian player of the last 50 years in 2003.


Rijkaard is arguably the best defensive midfielder in footballing history and one of the best players of his generation.A complete, tenacious, and consistent midfielder, throughout his career he was praised by pundits for his physical and athletic attributes, his work rate, positioning, his acute tactical intelligence and decision making, as well as his outstanding ability to read the game.Rijkaard was also a strong tackler, who was adept at starting attacking plays once he won back possession.He also possessed a powerful shot.

During his first spell at Ajax he won 3 Eredivisie , 3 KNVB Cups and 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup being named MVP of the league twice.
At Milan he most notably won 2 Scuddetos , 2 Intercontinental Cups and 2 European Cups being named Serie A Footballer of the Year in 92.
When he returned to Ajax he won another 2 Eredivisie and the 95 UEFA Champions League.
With the national team , he won the EURO 88 being named in the team of the tournament.

Rijkaard was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 5 times:3rd in 88 , 3rd in 89 , 9th in 90 , 10th in 92 and 12th in 95. He was also ranked by World Soccer in top 10 , 3 times:3rd in 88 , 9th in 92 and 8th in 93.


Fritz Walter is without doubt one of the most outstanding players in German football history.He was a brilliant playmaker , highly aware, equipped with charisma and authority, as well as having the ability to "read" the game.His operating range extended from his own penalty area up until the opponent's goal. He helped out in his own defense, and was also a goal threat, a gifted engineer and a great strategist. He always had an answer to the tactical scheme of the opponent.

He played all of his career for FC Kaiserslautern being the clubs best player ever and top scorer , winning the Oberliga Südwest 10 times and the German football championship 2 times in 51 and 53. Alltough he was an all-round player contributing in all areas , Walter was an incredible goal scorer , scoring 357 goals in 364 games for Kaiserslautern.On 6 October 1956 Walter scored a spectacular goal in Leipzig in front of 100,000 East Germans during a friendly against Wismut Aue, when he hit the ball back-heel while diving forward.Even tough past his prime , Walter was rated as World-Class by kicker in 1955(the first year they stared ranking) at 34 years old.

Walter's best form that immortalised him in football history came at the 1954 World Cup where he was the star player of his team and captained Germany to victory.He scored a toal of 33 goals for his national team.

In 2003 , Walter was named the most outstanding German player of the past 50 years.


Facchetti is considered by experts as the greatest European wing-back in football history.He excelled defensively, playing as a sweeper later in his career due to his ability to read the game, man-marking, positioning, anticipation and tackling.He possessed excellent physical and technical traits, as well as his ability with both feet, his elegance, strength, pace, stamina, distribution, and ball skills making him the perfect exponent for the creation of the "catenaccio" system.

He played all his career for Inter becoming one of the club's best players ever , winning 4 Serie A titles , 1 Coppa Italia , 2 Intercontinental Cups and 2 European Cups(64,65) aswell as finishing runner-up in 67 and 72.

With the Italy , he won the Euro 68 being included in the Team of the Tournament and also reached the World Cup Final in 70 being aswell included in the All-Star Team.

Facchetti finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 65 and was nominated 7 more times:18/26th in 64 , 20/22nd in 67 , 5th in 68 , 20/21th in 70 , 13th in 71 , 12th in 73 and 27/32nd in 75.In World Soccer's teams of the the 60s he apeared 6 times consecutively from 64 to 69. He was easly one of the world's best the defenders for 12 years from 64 to 75.


Rivelino was famous for his bending free kicks, accurate long passing, vision and close ball control. He also perfected a football move called the "flip flap", famously copied by Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo in recent years. He is widely regarded as one of the most graceful football players ever, and among the best midfielders of his generation.Because of his feints and ability with his left foot, Diego Maradona named Rivellino among his greatest inspirations growing up.

Rivelino mostly player during his career for Corinthians being their best player ever , however, the late 60s and early 70s were one of the most troubled periods in the history of the club.Because of this , he was gravely affected in individual awards and is probably one of the most underrated players of all time.He then moved to Fluzão where was undoubtedly the greatest star in the excellent Fluminense of the mid 70s, dubbed "the tricolor machine".He won the Rio de Janeiro league championship in 1975 and 1976. Rivellino is un-officialy credited with scoring the fastest goal in football history when he supposedly scored a goal direct from the kick-off.

Rivellino was a key member of Brazil's 1970 FIFA World Cup winning team, which is often cited as the greatest-ever. Wearing the number 11 jersey, He was deployed on the left side of midfield and scored 3 goals, including the powerful bending free-kick against Czechoslovakia, which earned him the nickname "Patada Atómica" (Atomic Kick) by Mexican fans and was included in the All-Star Team. Rivellino also played in the 1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups, finishing in fourth and third place respectively.

He finished runner-up for the South American player of the year in 77 and was nominated 5 more times:9th in 71 , 3rd in 73 , 10th in 74 , 3rd in 76 and 9th in 78.He was ranked as the 12th best football player of the century by Placar and was selected in FIFA All-Time South America team of the Century in 1998.


György Sárosi was a complete footballer renowned for his versatility and technique among other things, and he played in several positions for Ferencváros TC(all-time top scorer) and Hungary. Essentially a second striker, he could also operate in midfield or central defence. He is considered one of the greatest players of the pre-war era.

During his club career , he scored a total of 351 goals despite playing many seasons in deep positions. He won the Hungarian Championship 5 times being the top scorer 3 times(In the 1935 -1936 season,he scored 36 goals in only 20 league games) , the Hungarian Cup 4 times and the Mitropa Cup in 37. He reached the Mitropa Cup Final a total of 4 times during his career where he was top scorer twice(37,35) with 12 goals (all-time record) and 9 goals respectively. He is the all-time Mitropa Cup top scorer with 49 goals in only 43 games.

At NT level , he scored a total of 42 goals. He was Central European International Cup Top Scorer twice with 7 and 10 goals but his finest hour came when he captained Hungary to the 1938 FIFA World Cup finals, where he scored five goals in the tournament. He was awarded with the Bronze Ball for his performance.
Sarosi scored 54 hat-tricks and at least 6 goals on 4 occasions during his career.


Juan Schiaffino is widley considered as the greatest Uruguayan football player of all time. Schiaffino was an inside-forward renowned for his creative ability as a proficient playmaker and assist provider; he was best known for his excellent technical ability, passing range, and vision.

He started his career with Peñarol with whom he won Primera División Uruguaya on 4 occasions and became the greatest player in the club's history.
He then moved to AC Milan for a World football transfer record at the time.He won with Milan the Serie A 4 times , Latin Cup in 56 and reached the European Cup Final in 58 scoring 5 goals including 3 goals in the semis and the opening goal in the Final.He was the team's key player in this succesful era.Schiaffino ended his career at Roma where he won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 61.

In 1950 he lead Uruguay to win the World Cup being the undisputed star-player of the team. Four years later in the 54 World Cup he performed again great for his country but suffered an injury in the semi final and saw his team eliminated.

In 97 Venerdì Magazine included him in their All-Time best XI of football history. He was ranked by IFFHS as the 17th greatest football player of the century and 8th best player of the century by Guerin Sportivo.


Sándor Kocsis is widley regarded as the greatest header in football history and was a member of the Mighty Magyars.

During his career he most notably played for Ferencváros TC winning 1 Hungarian Championship , Honvéd FC winning 3 Hungarian Championships and CF Barcelona winning 2 La Liga titles , 2 Copa del Rey and 1 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. During his 7 year long prime in hungary , these were Kocsis match/goal ratios(30/33 , 30/30 , 15/24 , 26/30 , 26/36 , 25/24 , 26/33). In 52 and 54 , he was the World league top scorer.

With the national team , he was a key part of what his remembert as on of the greatest NTs of all time. He scored a total of 75 goals in 68 matches having the all-times best ratio , 1.103 goals/game average making him No.1 for players past 43 caps FIFA in class-A competition.
He was his team's top scorer with 6 goals when they became Olympic Champions in 1952.He also won the Central European International Cup in 53.
His finest moment came at the 1954 World Cup where he scored a total of 11 goals in 5 games , at the times making his the all-time WC top scorer.He was considered as the best player of the tourney.In that respective year , he scored a total of 23 goals in 14 games for the NT , this being the all time record for a single season.

Even tough it was past his prime , he was voted 8th best player at the inaugural 1956 Ballon d’Or and also 20/21th in 57.He was ranked as the 2nd best hugarian player ever apart from Puskas by IFFHS and as the 24th best player of the century by Placar.


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Baresi is considered one of the greatest defenders of all time.He was a complete and consistent defender, who combined power with elegance, and he was gifted with outstanding physical and mental attributes, such as pace, strength, tenacity, concentration and stamina, which made him effective in the air.His passing range, technical ability, and ball control allowed him to advance forward into the mifdield to start attacking plays from the back, enabling him to function as a secondary playmaker for his team, and also play as a defensive or central midfielder when necessary.He was also an accurate penalty kick taker. Baresi was known for being a strong and accurate tackler, who was very good at winning back possession, and at anticipating and intercepting plays, due to his acute tactical intelligence, marking ability, and positional sense.

He played all his career with Milan notably winign 6 times the Serie A(being MVP according to average rating in 90) , 2 Intercontinental Cups , 2 European Cups and 1 UEFA Champions League.
With the national team he started being a first team regular only at 27 years old being overshadowed by Gaetano Scirea.FIFA World Cup: 1982
He finished FIFA World Cup Third-place in 1990 , FIFA World Cup Runners-up in 1994 and UEFA European Championship: Semifinalists in 1980 and 1988 being included in the 90 WC All-Star but reserve player in the 80 and 82 tournaments.

He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 7 times:10th in 88 , 2nd in 89 , 5th in 90 , 20/22nd in 92 , 6th in 93 , 11th in 94 , 21th in 95. According to FIFA he finished in top 10 , 3 times:6th in 91 , 9/11th in 92 and 9/12th in 94. World Soccer rated him 5th in 89 , 9th in 90 and 6th in 94.
He was ranked 19th best player of the century by World Soccer and also named most representative Milan player in 99.


Matthias Sindelar is by far the greatest Austrian football player of all time. He was known as "The Mozart of football" being regarded by some as the best pre-war football player and recognized for his fantastic ball control, passing , dribbling, and especially his creativity.Anecdote has it that some Viennese football fans went to Sindelar's games not only to see him play but to get a better understanding of how football should be played.

He played all his life for FK Austria Vienna becoming Austrian's league greatest player ever and winning with the club 1 Austrian football championship , 5 Austrian Cups , and 2 Mitropa Cups(33 and 36) in the first being the top scorer with 5 goals.

With the national team , he was the main exponent of Hugo Meisl's Wunderteam that are considered by some historyans as the pre-cursors of Total Football. He won the Central European International Cup in 1932 and in the 1934 World Cup , he reached the Semi-Final and was named as the 2nd best player of the tournament.

"Technique bordering on virtuosity , precision work and an inexhaustible repertoire of tricks and ideas"
Willy Meisl
"He was endowed with such an unbelievable wealth of variations and ideas that one could never really be sure which manner of play was to be expected. He had no system , to say nothing of a set pattern. He just had...genius"
Friedrich Torberg

Sindelar was voted 22nd greatest footballer of the Century by IFFHS’s poll and was also named The Greatest Austrian Athlete of the Century.



Luis Suárez is arguably the best player and passer in Spain's history.As a player he was noted for his elegant, fluid, graceful style of play , his perceptive distribution of the ball and explosive shot , possessing ball skills, vision, and passing range.

Luis Suarez started being a world class player when he moved at Barca becoming one of the club's best players ever.There he won 2 La Liga titles , 2 Copa del Rey and 2 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
He was then buyed by Inter for , at the time , the world transfer record and became one of the leading icons in the clubs history.With Inter , he won 3 times the Serie A , 2 Intercontinental Cups and 2 European Cup(64,65).
With Spain , Suarez reached his best moment in 64 where he was the orchestrater of the team that won the European Championship.

Suarez won the Ballon d'Or in 60 being the only Spanish player to do so and was runner-up 2 more times in 61 and 64.He was nominated 5 more times:14/18th in 58 , 4th in 59 , 15/18th in 62 , 10th in 63 and 3rd in 65.


Figo is the greatest right winger of modern era and one of the best portuguese players ever.He was renowned for his creativity and having the ability to get past defenders easly and assisting his team-mates.

He started his career at Sporting CP and established himslef as one of the best players in the league.Figo was then sold to Barca where he became one of the best players in the World. He won 2 La Ligas , 2 Copa del Rey , and 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
He then made a controversial move choosing to move to Madrid despite being Barca's star-player.At Real , he won 2 La Liga's , 1 Intercontinental Cup and the 2002 UEFA Champions League.He ended his career at Inter where he won the Serie A in all the 4 seasons at the club.

Figo was named UEFA Under-21 Championship Golden Player and then he became a key player of his NT. His best moment at Portugal cam at the 2004 EURO where he reached the Final and was included in the Team of the tournament. He also made the all-star team of the previous edition and of the 2006 WC.

Figo was awarded with the Ballon d'Or in 2000 and was nominated 9 more times:32/34th in 95 , 28/32nd in 96 , 14th in 97 , 5th in 99 , 6th in 01 , 20th in 02 , nom in 03 , 22nd in 2004 and nom in 05. He also was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 2001 and finished 2nd and 6th in 00 and 99 respectively.
Figo was ranked 4th in AFS Top-100 Players of All-Time according to goals scored (for midfielders and forwarders),matches without receive a goal (for defenders and goalkeepers), titles won, matches played
as captain etc.


Zizinho is considered by some as the best player of the hidden era of football , the 40's and is arguably one of the best atacking midfielders ever.He was lauded as a complete player, renowned for his incredible array of offensive skills such as dribbling, passing, shooting with both feet as well as dead ball ability and extraordinary vision.

His best years were at Flamego where he won state championships in 1942, 1943 and 1944 being the undisputed star player of the team. He then moved again becoming an iconic player for the club scoring 115 goals during his stay.Also with Sao Paolo he led them to the title being the best player in the league.

With the national team , he was 4 Times Copa America Runner-Up (1945, 1946, 1953, 1957) and won it in 49 being the competitions all time top scorer and best player ever. In 1950 he reached the World Cup Final and was named as the Best Player of the Tournament.

Giordano Fattori , a well respected journalist from Gazzetta dello Sport said that watching Zizinho play football is like watching Leonardo da Vinci painting.
Pelé said that Zizinho was the best player he ever saw. "He was a complete player. He played in midfield, in attack, he scored goals, he could mark, head and cross"
He was ranked by IFFHS as the 4th best brazilian player of the century and the 10th best Southamerican player of the century.


Laudrup is considered by many as the greatest Scandinavian footballer of all-time and one of the most talented midfielders ever.He was the magician in every team he has ever played being both one of the greatest dribblers and passers of all-time.

With Juventus he won the Serie A and the Intercontinental Cup , with Barcelona he won 4 La Liga , 1 Copa del Rey and the 92 European Cup , with Real Madrid he won the La Liga and with Ajax he won the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup.
With Denmark he only won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 95 missing the EURO 92 because of injury. He was also included in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 98 when he retired.

He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 10 times:22nd in 83 , 4th in 85 , 26/27th in 86 , 18/23rd in 90 , 11th in 91 , 7th in 92 , 5th in 93 , 13th in 94 , 10th in 95 and 20th in 98. He was also named Best Foreign Player in Spanish Football in the last 25 years 1974–1999

-Romário: "The best player I have ever played with and the 4th best in the history of the game"(Pele,Maradona and himself)
-Figo: "I think maybe Laudrup was the best player I ever played against."
-Raúl: "The best I have ever played with."
-Iniesta: "Who is the best player in history? Laudrup."
-Cruyff:"When Michael plays like a dream, a magic illusion, determined to show his new team his extreme abilities, no one in the world comes anywhere near his level.Had Michael been born in a poor ghetto in Brazil or Argentina with the ball being his only way out of poverty he would today be recognised as the biggest genius of the game ever."
-Platini: "One of the biggest talents ever. The best in the world on the training pitch, but never used his talent to its full during matches.
-Guardiola: "The best player in the world, I can't believe he hasn't won the title as best player."
-Beckenbauer: "Pelé was the best in the 60s, Cruyff in the 70s, Maradona in the 80s and Laudrup in the 90s."
-Clemente: "To me, Michael Laudrup is the most genius player the world has ever seen. He will always be my numero uno. Always."
-Stoichkov: "Laudrup was the greatest"
-Alan Tate: "He is still the best player in training at 48 years."
-Ian Rush: "He probably had the most individual skill I've seen. He was an incredible player."
-John Toshack: "To me he was the best player of his generation and he is a lot like Cruyff both as a player and a manager"
-Roberto Galia: "I have played against Maradona, Platini and Baggio. But the player I saw do the most indescribable things was Michael Laudrup."


Sir Stan is often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game and one of the greatest wingers ever.Franz Beckenbauer said that the speed and skill Matthews possessed meant that "almost no one in the game could stop him".John Charles noted that "he was the best crosser I've ever seen – and he had to contend with the old heavy ball".Johnny Giles said that "he had everything – good close control, great dribbling ability and he was lightning quick. He was also an intelligent player, who knew how to pass the ball".

He played all his life for underdog teams Stoke City and Blackpool but led the latter to FA Cup victory in 1953.With the national team , he won 9 times the British Home Championship.

Matthews' nicknames included "The Wizard of the Dribble" and "The Magician" due to the fact he is still one of the best dribblers and especially crossers ever.

Sir Stan is the player with the greatest longevity in football history having played in the English Top Divison till reaching 50 years old.
He was named FWA Footballer of the Year 2 times and also won the inaugural Ballon d'Or in 1956 at 40 years old.
He was voted 11th and 17th World player of the century by IFFHS and World Soccer’s poll, respectively.Also 8th best European player of the century by IFFHS.


Didi is considered to be one of the greatest midfielders in the sport's history renowned for his range of passing, stamina and flawless technique. He became famous for inventing the folha seca (dry leaf) free kicks, notably used by modern day players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Juninho, where the ball would swerve seemingly downwards at the right time resulting in a goal.He is the greatest long-range passer ever and one of the greatest free-kick takers ever.

During his career , he won 4 times the state championship.He even moved to Real Madrid one season winning the European Cup but didn't fit because of argumnets with Di Stefano.
With the national team he finished 2nd in the 1957 Copa America where despite being the playmaker , he scored 8 goals being the top scorer of his team.His greatest achievement came at the 1958 World Cup where he was player of the tournament.He also won the 1962 Wrold Cup being the playmaker of his team. From midfield, he masterminded the first of his two World Cup successes for Brazil. In 68 international matches he scored 20 goals, including a dozen using his trademark free-kicks.

Didi was sugestively nicknamed “Mr. Football” by the European Press and after they won the WC , Pele said “I’m nothing compared to Didi. I’ll never be anywhere near as good as he is"
He was ranked as the 19th best player of the century by IFFHS and 13th best player of the century by Placar.


Raymond Kopa is considered one of leading players of his generation and one of the best European midfielders ever.He was a free-role playmaker who was quick, agile and known for his love of dribbling as well as a prolific scorer.

Kopa started his career at Stade Reims in french leagues' golden era and imediatly became the team's star player. He won 2 times the French League 1 Latin Cup(also runner-up in 55) and finished runner-up in the inaugural European Cup where he was defeated by the Real Madrid Galacticos.
He impressed the club and was right away joined the "Galaxy".
During his 3 seasons at Madrid , he won in all seasons the European Cup and also 2 La Liga titles and a Latin Cup being providential for his team's succes.
He returned to Reims where he won another 2 French Leagues.

For France , Kopa played 45 Games scoring 18 goals and managing 20 assists.In the 1958 FIFA World Cup , where Kopa performed outstandingly and was one of the players of the tournament, scoring 3 goals and assisting 9(all-time record) as he led France to the Semi-Finals where the national team succumbed to arguably the best team ever , Pele's Brazil. The French team finished third in the tournament.

Kopa was awarded with the Ballon d'Or in 1958 and finished runner-up in 59. He was nominated 4 more times:3rd in 56 , 4th in 57 , 6th in 60 and 14th in 62.He was also ranked 18th(tied with 5 others) best player of the century).



Rivera was an elegant, graceful, creative, technical, and efficient offensive midfield playmaker, who possessed footballing intelligence, and class.He possessed ball control, quick feet, acceleration, agility, balance, dribbling skills, and technique, which allowed him to dribble past players with ease. Above all, he was highly regarded for his vision and his sublime range of passing, which made him an excellent assist provider.Despite being primarily a creative midfield player, Rivera was also known for having a keen eye for goal, and was an accurate finisher from both inside and outside the area.He was also an accurate set piece and penalty-kick taker.Rivera is widely considered to be one of the greatest Italian footballers and one of the most talented playmakers of all time.

Rivera started his career at 15 years old for Alessandria and after the 1959–60 season during wich he was only 16 years old , he impressed Milan so bad the they bought him with a record transfer fee of $200,000 at the time.
At Milan , he became arguably the best player in the club's history.He won 3 Scudettos(top scorer in 73) , 4 Coppa Italia , 2 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup , 2 European Cups and 1 Intercontinental Cup.
At the NT he always clash with Sandro Mazzola because of playing the same role. He won tough the 68 EURO and was runner-up for the 1970 WC.

Rivera was awarded with the Ballon d'Or in 1969 and finished runner-up in 63.He was also nominated 8 more times:6th in 62 , 9th in 64 , 7th in 65 , 16/18th in 67 , 9th in 68 , 12th in 70 , 18/27th in 72 and 8th in 73.
He was named Italian player of the century by IFFHS and 20th best player overall. And was also ranked 14th best player of the century by Guerin Sportivo.


Rivaldo is regarded as one of the best football players of the last 20 years.He was a free-role atacker due to his pace, technique, vision, and crossing ability.One of the most skillful and creative players of his generation, Rivaldo was renowned for his bending free kicks, overhead kicks, ball striking from distance, dribbling, passing and close ball control.

He played in many teams during his career but reached his prime at Barcelona.Most notably during his career in Europe he won 2 La Liga tiles , 1 Copa del Rey , 1 Coppa Italia and the UEFA Champions League in 2003. In his prime , he had 7 consecutive seasons where scored at least 22 goals at club level alone and was once UCL Top Scorer..

With Brazil , he won the Confederations Cup in 97 , the Copa América in 99 being the top-scorer and MVP of the tournament , finished runner-up for the 1998 WC being named in the All-Star team and won the 2002 FIFA World Cup where many rated him as the best player of the tournament.

In 1999 , Rivaldo has a phenomenom level season being unanimously named by all associations as the World Player of the Year and was also nominated by the Ballon d'Or 5 more times:33/36th in 97 , 5th in 98 , 6th in 00 and 7th in 01 , 8th in 00 and 4 more times by FIFA:6th in 98 , 3rd in 00 , 5th in 01 and 5th in 02.
In a fan-pool organised by FIFA in 99 , Rivaldo was ranked as the 10th best player of the century despite being only 27 years old.



Henry is regarded as the greatest footballer in history of English Premier League and one of the best players of his generation.Henry had the ability to dribble past opponents with exceptional pace, skill and composure, so he could get in behind defenders regularly enough to score.Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith commented on Henry: "I have to say I haven't seen a player like him. He's an athlete with great technical ability and a tremendous desire to be the best." Abidal said Henry is the fastest human to wear the football boots.

Henry started being world class at Arsenal becoming the clubs best player ever winning 2 League Titles and 4 FA Cups.The 2004 title is the only undefeated english season since 1889. He was inclcuded in the leagues team of the season 6 times and MVP of the league 3 times. being top scorer on 4 occasions(2 times European Golden Shoe).He was also included 5 times consecutively in the UEFA Team of the Year while at Arsenal.
He then moved to Barca where he won the sextuple in the 2009 calendar year and the La Liga in 2010.

With France , he won the EURO 00 being named in the Team of the Tournament , and finished runner-up in 2006 also being included in the All-Star XI. He is the all-time top scorer of the French National team with 51 goals and has scored a crareer total of 411 goals+194 assists.

Henry has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or on 9 occasions:4th in 00 , 9th in 01 , 6th in 02 , 2nd in 03 , 4th in 04 , 4th in 05 , 3rd in 06 , 21th in 07 and 15th i 09. He also finished runner-up for the World Soccer Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004.


Raúl is considered one of the most important players in the history of Real Madrid, and is regarded as the greatest Spanish player of all time.Although primarily renowned for prolific goalscoring, Raúl was also a highly creative and hardworking player, capable of playing off of his team mates, creating chances, and assisting goals.In addition to these characteristics, Raúl is remembered for his leadership and discipline.He possessed excellent ball control and technical ability, and was effective in the air as well as with his feet.For his technical skills, elegance and performances, he was nicknamed "El Ferrari".

He played most of his career at Real becoming the clubs all-time top scorer and being named La Liga's Breakthrough Player from his first season.He most notably won the La Liga 6 times being the competitions best spanish player a record 5 times and MVP of the league in 2008 by Marca , 2 Intercontinental Cups(MVP in 98) and 3 times the UEFA Champions League being the competitions best forward a record 3 times. He has also been the all-time top scorer of the UCL until recently surpassed by Messi but is still Top scorers in UEFA club competitions.
He them moved to Shalke where he became the star-player in the first season leading his team to the UCL Semi-Final.

With the national team he didn't win any trophy but became during his career , Spain's all-time top scroer. He was also included in the EURO 00 All-Star Team of the Tournament.

Alex Ferguson-"Real buy these big players like Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo but I think the best player in the world is Raúl"
Luís Figo (11/06/05): "I think he is the greatest player to have ever played the game. He walks on the turf and astounds. It is utterly amazing"

Raul finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 01 and was nominated 9 more times:21th in 96 , 7th in 97 , 22nd in 98 , 9th in 99 , 9th in 00 , 7th in 03 , nom in 05 and nom in 07. He was nominated for the World Soccer Player of the Year 6 times:9th in 97 , 7th in 99 , 9th in 00 , 3rd in 01 , 7th in 02 , 3rd in 03. And alsowas nominated 6 times for FIFA World Player of the Year:5th in 97 , 8th in 99 , 10/11th in 00 , 3rd in 01 , 6th in 02 and 8th in 03.
He may have been underrated in individual awards due to his style and hsi resounding team-mates such as Ronaldo , Zidane or Figo.


Bobby Moore is the greatest pure-defender of all time and one of the greatest british players ever. Franz Beckenbauer said he was the best defender in the history of the game and was cited by Pelé as the greatest defender that he had ever played against.Moore is the best tackler in football history.He was phenomenal reader of the game with Jock Stein even saying "There should be a law against him. He knows what's happening 20 minutes before everyone else".

Moore played most of his career at West Ham United being the clubs undisputed best player ever.He led them to the FA Cup victory in 64 and also won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 65.
With Enlgand , Moore's finest moment imortalising him in football history as he won the only major title ever of his nation , the World Cup. Moore performed flawlesly as he was the best defender of the tournament.Next World Cup in the match against Brazil, there was a defining moment for Moore when he tackled Jairzinho with such precision and cleanliness that it has been described as the finest tackle ever. It continues to be shown on television around the world.

Moore was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or in 70 and was nominated 6 more times:19/26th in 64 , 4th in 66 , 22/23rd in 68 , 10th in 71 , 7/10th in 72 and 19/22nd in 73.In 64 he was named MVP of the English Top Division and in 66 BBC Sports Personality Of The Year.
-In 83 Placar named in the All-Time best XI ever
-In 1988 , the Italian FA included him in the all-time dream team of football history.
-In 94 he was included in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team.-
-He was included in the FIFA Team of the Century.
-In 2004 , A Tarde Newspaper included him in their all-time best XI of all time.
-In 2013 O Estado de São Paulo Newspaper included him in the All-Star Team of Fooball History
-In 99 he was ranked by World Soccer as the 14th best football player of the century.


Rummenigge is one of the greatest German player of all time and one of the best players of the late 70's and early 80's.He is one of the most complete atacking players ever being world-class in all atacking positions.

He played most of his career at Bayern winning 2 Bundesliga Titles(being top scorer 3 times) , 1 German Cup , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 2 European Cupsin 75 and 76 , but also was the top scorer of the 81 edition with 6 goals and reached the Final in 82 being the top scorer of his team with 6 goals.He has scored a career total of 338 goals.

With Germany , he reached 2 World Cup Finals(82,86) in the first being the 3rd best player of the tournament and his best moment came in 80 when he lead his team to victory of the European Championship.

In 1980, he won Ballon'Dor as the most unanimous votes in history of the awards with 1st votes from 24 persons from total 25 and also won it again in 81 and runner-up in 79 being nominated another 5 times:21/30 in 78 , 4th in 82 , 8th in 83 , 8th in 84 and 5th in 85.He also finished runner-up for the inaugural World Soccer Player of the Year being nominated another 2 times:5th in 83 and 9th in 95 and also won the Onze d'Or on 2 occasions(80,81) finishing 3rd in 83. The Olympic Committee named Rummenigge the best European Player of the Season in 1982 and 3rd in 85.


Maldini is is considered to have been one of the greatest defenders of all time, and has been described as "an icon and gentleman of the game".was renowned for his technical ability, athleticism, sliding tackles, stamina, and fast energetic forward runs as a left-back.He was also an excellent crosser of the ball, and was an effective attacking threat, scoring and assisting several goals throughout his career.In the final few years of his career, as he lost speed, he was moved to a centre-back position, where he excelled in relying on his experience, tactical ability, positioning and timing to win the ball

He played all his career for Milan(902 games , club-record) winning 7 scuddetos , 1 Coppa Italia , 5 European Cup/Champions Leagues(also finished runner-up another 3 times) and 3 Intercontinental Cup/FIFA Club World Cup being an instrumental player for the team's succes.
With the national team , he was included in 3 EURO All-Star teams , and 2 World Cup All-Star teams.
"I always found it very difficult when I came up against Paolo Maldini. He was the best defender I faced over the course of my career. He definitely deserved to win the award FIFA World Player of the Year several times over"—Ronaldo.

He recieved the Bravo Award in 89 , entered the ESM Team of the Year 4 times(first awarded in 95) and was named UEFA Champions League Best Defender in 2007.
Maldini was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 13 times:23/30 in 89 , 14/15th in 92 , 7th in 93 , 3rd in 94 , 7th in 95 , 22/23rd in 96 , nom in 99 , 10th in 00 , nom in 02 , 3rd in 03 , 28/29th in 04 , 6th in 05 , and 18th in 07.
He was named World Soccer Player of the Year in 94 and finished 4th in 95 and 03.Also finished 3rd at the Onze d'Or in 95 and was named Best European Player of the Season by the Olympic Committee in 94.
According to the overall-team compelled by RSSSF counting various dream teams , Maldini is the most tenured left-back ever. He was also ranked 21th best player of the century by World Soccer Magazine even tough he was only 31 years old.


José Manuel Moreno is regarded by many argentinians as the greatest player of their country and one of the very best ever. The people that saw him play say he is the best player ever.He was known as a player of great technique, great vision, and lethal in the penalty area.Despite his reputation for drinking, smoking and not going to training, Moreno was also known for his formidable heading ability and fine physical qualities.

He most notably playe for River Plate being part of the squad that won league titles in 1936 and 1937, and went on to become the undisputed star-player of the River Plate squad known as La Máquina, famous for his line of attack composed by Moreno, Adolfo Pedernera Ángel Labruna, Juan Carlos Muñoz, and Félix Loustau, and which dominated Argentine football during the first half of the 1940s decade, winning three national titles (1941, 1942 and 1945).He was a very complete player fitting in La Maquina's prototype style of Total Football.He was the first footballer ever to have won top division league titles in four different countries (later players to emulate the feat include Jiri Jarosik and Rivaldo).

With Argentina , he won the Copa América on two occasions(41 and 47) in the latter being named as the best player of the tournament and finished runner-up in 42 where he was the top scorer of the edition.

Being ususaly regarded as the best player of the 40's , Moreno was ranked as the 5th best South American Player of the Century by IFFHS.


Roberto Baggio is considered by many as the greatest Italian player of all time.He is the greatest dribbler in Italy's history aswell as possesing unique vision and passing technique.Baggio was a set piece specialist renowned for his accurate, bending shots and free kicks aswell as scoring the most PKs in Serie A history.

He played at many teams in Serie A druing his career including Juventus,AC Milan and Inter. He managed a total of 205 goals and 118 assists in Serie A in 452 matches , 96 of them being either equalisers or match winners.
With the national team he first performed great in the 1990 WC being rated as the 6th best player of the tournament. In 94 his best but paradoxal worst moment came. He reached the World Cup Final being rated as the 2nd best player of the tournament but missed a PK in the final shootout.

He won the Ballon d'Or in 93 , finished runner-up in 94 and was nominated 4 more times:8th in 90 , 23/24th in 95 , nom in 98 and 25.27th in 01. He was named World Soccer Player of the Year in 93 , finished runner-up in 84 and was ranked 6th in 90. He also won the Onze d'Or in 93 , finished runner-up in 95 and was ranked 3rd in 94.
He was included in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Dream Team and was ranked 18th player of the century by France Football tied with 5 other players.


Gullit epitomised the ethos of Total Football as he was naturally adept in several positions, and was capable of aiding his team defensively as well as offensively.His foremost attribute was his athleticism, as he used his strength and speed to great effect, as well as being excellent in the air, as he was tall and an excellent jumper.Yet, unusually for a man of his stature, Gullit also possessed outstanding natural balance, technical skill, and poise that gave a graceful style to his game.Gullit also was noted for his intelligence, creativity, vision, and spatial abilities, qualities that helped him score goals early in his career and enabled him to play deeper late in his days.Gullit thus combined physical presence with flair, mental acuity, formidable technique, and natural touch, to become an iconic figure in world football.George Best comment in 1990 that, "Ruud Gullit is a great player by any standards. He has all the skills. He's not afraid to do things with the ball. And he looks as if he's enjoying every second of it. By my reckoning that's what makes him an even better player than Maradona. Both have the key quality you will find in all the best players: balance. You just can't knock them off the ball. It was the same with Pelé, Beckenbauer and Cruijff."

He started his career in Holand playing for Feyenoord and Eindhoven winning 3 Eredivisie and 1 KNVB Cup.He was named Dutch Footballer of the Year in 84 and 86 and Dutch Sportsman of the Year in 87.
He then moved to Milan where he won 3 times the Serie A , 2 Intercontinental Cups and 2 European Cups.When he moved to Sampdoria for the 1993-94 season winning the Coppa Italia , Dbs Calcio rated him having the best season of his career.
He then moved to Chelsea to end his career and was named Chelsea Player of the Year and included in the PFA Team of the Year in his first season.

With the national team , his best moment came when he won with his team the EURO 88 being included in the Team of the Tournament.He was included in the All-Star XI in the next edition aswell.

He won the Ballon d'Or in 87 , finished runner-up in 88 and was nominated 5 more times:30/32nd in 83 , 20th in 86 , 7th in 89 , 21/31th in 91 , and 12th in 93. He finished runner-up for the Onze d'Or 2 times(88,89) and was named World Soccer Player of the Year twice(87 , 89) finishing 2nd and 3rd in 88 and 93 respectively. He also was named European Player of the Season by the International Olympic Committee in 88.
He was ranked 18th best player of the century by IFFHS.


Giuseppe Meazza is regarded as the greatest Italian player in history , and at some point he was the greatest player of all time. Due to his technical skill, prolific goalscoring, and creative ability, he was often given the nickname "il genio"
"I also saw Pelé playing. He did not achieve Meazza's elegant style of playing. One day, at the Arena, I witnessed him doing something astonishing: he stopped the ball with a bicycle kick, elevating himself two meters from the ground. Then he landed with the ball glued at his foot, dribbled over an astonished defender, and then went on scoring a goal with one of his hallmark shots, sardonic and accurate to the millimeter."—Luigi Veronelli
His trademark goals were ones where he would collect the ball at the half-line, dribble through several opponents with a series of twinkle-toed shuffles, and turns, until arriving in front of the goal, where he would stop and invite the goalkeeper to attack him like a matador, before faking a shot, then dribbling past the beaten goalkeeper to slot home easily. In away games, the defenders would often foul and hack him to avoid being humiliated.They are called today "Gol alla Meazza".
During the 1933 season, Meazza made a bet with Giampiero Combi, goalkeeper of Juventus and captain of the 1934 World Champion Italian National Team. Combi challenged Meazza, claiming that nobody, not even Meazza, could sidestep him to score a goal. Meazza accepted the challenge. Combi also made another bet with Meazza. A few weeks earlier, while training with the national team, Meazza scored a splendid bicycle kick against the Juventus goalkeeper. Combi wagered that he could not repeat it in an official game. The next game between Ambrosiana Inter and Juventus was played in the Arena Civica of Milan on 25 May 1933. Meazza managed to score two stupendous goals. The first goal was an identical overhead kick to the one he had scored against Combi in practice. For the second goal he dribbled through a series of defenders, before faking out Combi, dribbling past him, and scoring a tap-in goal.

He played most of his career for Inter becoming the clubs all-time best player and has won 3 Scuddetos(being the top scorer 3 times) , 1 Coppa Italia and finished runner-up once for the Mitropa Cup(has been the competitions top scorer a record 3 times).
With Italy he most notably won 2 World Cup , 34 and 38 , in the first being the MVP of the tournament.He has scored a career total of 347 goals in all competitions

He was ranked by Guerin Sportivo as the 4th best player of the Century and was also included by Venerdì Magazine in 97 in their All Time best XI.


George Best is one of the most talented football players of all time aswell as one of the very top dribbers in history.He is by far the best irish player ever and the most talented british player in history."With feet as sensitive as a pickpocket's hands, his control of the ball under the most violent pressure was astonishing. The bewildering repertoire of feints and swerves... and balance that would have made Isaac Newton decide he might as well have eaten the apple"— Sports writer Hugh McIlvanney.

Best began his club career in England with Manchester United, with the scout who had spotted his talent at the age of 15 sending a telegram to manager Matt Busby which read: "I think I've found you a genius." He went on to see success with United, scoring 179 goals from 470 appearances over 11 years, and was the club's top goalscorer in the league for five consecutive seasons making many to consider him Man.Utd and English league's greatest player ever.He won the Football League First Division 2 times and the European Cup in 68.

He won the Ballon d'Or in 68 having a phenomenal prime season and also finished 8th in 67 , 6th in 69 and 3rd in 71.
He was ranked by World Soccer as the 8th greatest player of the 20th century and 9th best player of the century by FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote.


Romário is regarded as one of the greatest forwards of all time.Some credit him of inventing a new breed of striker in the 90's being the first to drop from the penalty box to pick up the ball in midfield, switch to the flanks, attract and disorientate the central defenders with his runs, his acceleration and his marvelous dribbling.

Romario played in many many teams and leagues trought his career being almost always a magnificent goalscorer. He has 16 season of scoring at least 24 goals , 12 season scoring at least 30 goals , 3 seasons of 40+ goals and in his best season he scored 65 goals , all this just counting club goals.He has scored a carrer total of 743 goals in all competitions.
He won allot of titles in Brazil and in Europe , he most notably won 3 Eredivisie titles , 2 KNVB Cups , 1 La Liga and reached the 94 UEFA Champions League Final.

At the national team , he scored 55 goals winning the 88 Summer Olympics where he was top scorer with 7 goals , Copa América 89 and 97 , FIFA Confederations Cup in 97 being the top scorer with 7 goals and most importantly the 94 FIFA World Cup wehre he was named MVP of the tournament.

Romario was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 94 , finished runner-up in 93 and was nominated 2 more times:4th in 95 and 10th in 96(the award being created in 91).He also finsiehd 10th for World Soccer Player of the Year in 88 and was named South American Footballer of the Year in 2000.
He was included in the All-Time FIFA World Cup Dream Team and by Marca in 2014 in the All Time Best XI of Football History.


Lev Yashin is generaly agreed to have been by far the greatest goallkeeper in football history and also USSR's best player ever.He earned iconic status for revolutionizing the goalkeeping position by stamping his authority on the entire defence.He shouted orders at his defenders, came off his line to intercept crosses and also ran out to meet onrushing attackers, done at a time when goalkeepers spent the 90 minutes standing in the goal waiting to be called into action.Highly renowned for his athleticism in goal, imposing stature and reflex saves.

He played all his life for Dynamo Moscow being their undisputed best player ever , winning the Soviet Top League on 5 occasions and the Soviet Cup 3 times.
With the URSS , he lead his team to the Olympics Games Gold Medal in 1956. In World Cups , Yashin was rated as the 2nd best keeper by kicker in the 58 edition and also led his team to the semis in 66. Arguably his best moment came at the 1960 EURO where he led his team to victory.He also finished runner-up in the next edition.

He is the only goalkeeper in history to have won the Ballon d'Or(managed it in 63) and was also nominated 9 more times:5th in 56 , 11th in 57 , 14/18th in 58 , 11th in 59 , 5th in 60 , 4th in 61 , 8th in 64 , 15/16th in 65 and 8th in 66. According to these rankings , he was the best European GK on 8 occasions.He was named best GK in 67 by World Soccer.

He is estimated to have made over 150 penalty saves during his career being by far the all-time record and also kept 270 clean sheets from approximately 420 career games played or almost 65 percent.
Yashin is almost unanimously coosen as the goalkeeper in all the dream team XIs ever made and wa ranked as the 11th best player of the century on 3 occasions by World Soccer , Placar and France Football.


Ronaldinho is one of the most spectacular football players of all time.Renowned for his technique, tricks, dribbling, overhead kicks, no-look passes and free kicks, Ronaldinho is regarded to be one of the best players of his generation.ESPN has described Ronaldinho as being "skillful by nature, his tricks are unparalleled and he is wonderful with the ball at his feet. One of the coolest players in pressure situations" and a "fast, brash, skilful, tricky, an uninhibited playmaker" who provides "a mix of goals, assists, skills and a large repertoire of crafty moves."

He started his career for Gremio becoming one of the best players in the Brazilian league and then moved to PSG becoming one of the best players in the french league and finaly moved to Barca where he met his prime.At Barca , he won 2 La Liga titles and the 2006 UEFA Champions League being the MVP of the tournament. After his Barca stint , he massively decreased in performance but still managed to be the MVP of the Barzilian league in 2012 and South American Footballer of the Year in 2013.

With the national team he won the Copa America in 99 , the FIFA World Cup in 2002 being named in the All-Star XI and the FIFA Confederations Cup being the MVP in 2005.

He has won the Ballon d'Or in 2005 and was nominated 5 more times:12th in 02 , 22/26th in 03 , 3rd in 04 , 4th in 06 and 12th in 07.He won the Onze d'Or in 2005 being , finished runner-up in 06 and was nominated 2 more times:3rd in 02 and 3rd in 04.He was named FIFA World Player of the Year 2 times in 04 and 05 and also finsiehd 3rd in 06 and 5th in 07.Dinho was also named World Soccer Player of the Year 2 times in 04 and 05 and was nominated 3 more times:10th in 02 , 4th in 06 and 10th in 07. The Olympic Committee named him Best Player of the Season in 2006.


Marco van Basten is regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and has scored 277 goals in a high-profile career, but played his last game in 1993 at the age of 28 due to an injury which caused his retirement two years later.He was was renowned for his clinical finishing, his height and strength allowed him to excel in the air, and his technical ability saw him execute spectacular strikes, such as volleys and bicycle kicks(scored the best such goal ever), possessed excellent vision and distribution, which enabled him to play in deeper positions and provide assists to his teammates and also excellent technical skills and ball control, as well as good balance and a notable elegance on the ball, which inspired his nickname "the swan of Utrecht".

He started his career at Ajax winning 3 Eredivisie titles(being top scorer 4 times) , 3 KNVB Cups and 1 UEFA Cup Winners Cup.
He then moved to Milan reaching his prime where he won 4 Serie A titles(being top scorer twice) , 2 Intercontinental Cups and 2 European Cups being top scorer in the first.Many consider him AC Milan's best player ever.
His best moment came at the National Team when he won the 88 UEFA European Championship being the competions top scorer and MVP(the goal in the final being the best ever of the competition).He was also included in the All-Star XI of the next edition.

He has won the Ballon d'Or 3 times(88,89,92) being nominated 3 more times:9th in 86 , 7th in 87 and 19/20th in 91.He was named World Soccer Player of the Year 2 times finishing 2nd in 98 and 3rd in 87.He was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 92 and finished 5th in 91(inaugural award). He won the Onze d'Or 2 times , finished runner-up 2 times in 87 and 92.
He has been ranked 12th FIFA best player of the century , 11th best player of the century bu Guerin Sportivo , 9th best player of the century by World Soccer and 8th best player of the century by France Football.


Lothar Matthäus is the greatest central-midfielder of all time and one of the most versatile players aswell.A complete player, Matthäus was renowned for his perceptive passing, positional sense, well-timed tackling, as well as powerful shooting. During his career, he usually played as a box-to-box midfielder, although late in his career he played as a sweeper.

He started playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach becoming one of the best midfielders in Bundesliga and then moved to Bayern Munich.During his first stay at the club he won 3 Bundesliga titles , 1 DFB-Pokal and was UEFA Champions League runner-up in 87.He reached his prime at Inter where he won the Serie A in 89 and the UEFA Cup in 91.When he retuned to Bayern , he was stwiched to sweeper position becoming a world calss defdenr and winning 4 more Bundesliga titles , 2 DFB-Pokal , 1 UEFA Cup and finished runner-up for the 99 UEFA Champions League.

With the national team , he is the most capped field-player of all time from the top 10 nations of history and also has played in most World Cups ever with 5 tournaments.He won the UEFA European Football Championship in 80 and was included in the All-Star XI of the 88 edition.His career highlight came when he won the 1990 FIFA World Cup being the 2nd best player of the tournament. He also finished runner-up in 82 and 86 making him one of the greatest World Cup players ever.

He was named by all associations was the best player of the year in 1990 and was nominated for the Ballon d'Or 7 more times:25th in 86 , 13th in 87 , 6th in 88 , 4th in 89 , 4th in 91 , 20th in 94 and 10th in 99. He also was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1991 and Best Player of the Season in 89 by the Olympic Committee. Matthaus was voted 15th World’s player of century in IFFHS’s poll.


Gerd Müller is arguably the greatest goalscorer in history of the game. Müller was short, squat, awkward-looking and not notably fast; he never fit the conventional idea of a great footballer, but he had lethal acceleration over short distances, a remarkable aerial game, and uncanny goalscoring instincts. His short legs gave him a strangely low center of gravity, so he could turn quickly and with perfect balance in spaces and at speeds that would cause other players to fall over. He also had a knack of scoring in unlikely situations

During his 11 season prime at Bayern , he scored 532 goals in 532 games including NT games. That means he scored more than 48 goals per season in more than a decade.He won the Bundesliga 4 times being the top scorer a record 7 times(all-time top scorer) , 4 DFB-Pokal Cups(all-time top scorer) , 1 European Cup Winners' Cup , 3 European Cups being the top scorer a record 4 times and 1 Intercontinental Cup.
With the national team , he scored 68 goals in 62 matches.He was the top scorer of the 1970 FIFA World Cup and won the 74 edition(was the all-time top scorer till Ronaldo broke it in 2006) , and also won the 1972 EURO being the top scorer.

He won the Ballon d'Or in 70 , finsiehd runner-up in 72 and was nominated 8 more times:7th in 67 , 20th in 68 , 3rd in 69 , 6th in 71 , 3rd in 73 , 7th in 74 , 17/19th in 75 and 9/10th in 76. He also finished 3rd as the best European Player in 74 according to the Olympic Committee.
Muller was voted best Player in 40 Years of Bundesliga 1963–2003 and was ranked 10th best player of the century by France Football.


Bobby Charlton is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and the greatest British player in history.He is renowned for his attacking instincts and passing abilities from midfield and his ferocious long-range shot. He was also well known for his fitness and stamina.

He played almost all his life for Manchester United becoming the clubs best player ever and top scorer.With Man.Utd. he most notably won the Football League First Division on 3 occasions , 1 FA Cup and the 1967/68 European Cup.He is Manchester's all time topscorer with 249 goals.
With the national team , Charlton is Englands most important player ever leading them to victory in the 1966 World Cup where he was named Best Player of the Tournament.He also finished 3rd at EURO 68 , was named in the All-Star Team of the 1970 World Cup and won a total of 10 British Home Championships.

Charton won the Ballon d'Or in 66 , finished runner-up in 67 and 68 and was nominated 6 more times:8th in 60 , 13th in 61 , 8/963 , 5th in 65 , 15/16th in 69 and 22/23rd in 71.
He was named England's best player at the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll , was included in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team in 94 , was included in the best XI in football history in 1983 by Placar and is one of only 6 players included in all 12 lists of "Best Ten All-Time or Century Elections" kept by RSSSF being ranked 10th best player of the century by IFFHS and also FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote.


Garrincha is known as the greatest dribbler and winger in soccer history.Many brazilian soccer experts rate him at least the equal of Pele.He is is renowned for his remarkable ball control, imagination, dribbling skills and feints, and having the ability to create something from nothing. He also possessed a powerful shot with either foot and was a gifted set piece specialist known for free kicks and corners taken with the outside of his foot(scored 4 times directly from corner). He was also able to turn on himself at top speed and explode at unusual angles, which he used to great effect. The numerous attacks and goal opportunities he generated through individual plays would often end up in an accurate pass to a teammate in a position to score , making him one of the greatest crossers in football history.

In his first ever training seassion , he nutmeged brazilian legend Nilton Santos. Garrincha's best moments came at the international scene with Brazil.He nearly missed the 1958 World Cup because one of his most famous goals, in Italy versus Fiorentina when he beat 4 defenders and the goalkeeper, and then when faced with an open goal, rather than scoring, he waited for another defender to get back and dribbled past him before scoring(the coach tought Garrincha was too individualistic).He proced to win the tournament being selected in the All-Star Team. Next tournament in 62 , Garrincha managed one of the greatest perfomances ever of a football player at any tournament in history. With Pele being injured in group stages , he won the tournament being the top scorer and MVP.

He was included in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team in 94 , the All-Time best XI by Venerdì Magazine , FIFA Team of the Century , A Tarde Newspaper All-Time best XI , A Tarde Newspaper Best XI of all time.
He was also named 8th best player of the century by IFFHS , 7th best player of the century by FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote and 4th best Player of the century by Placar.


Ronaldo , popularly dubbed "the phenomenon", is considered by experts and fans to be one of the greatest football players of all time and arguably the best striker in history.He was a prolific goalscorer, and despite being more of an individualistic attacker, he was also capable of providing assists for his team-mates, due to his vision, passing and crossing ability.He was an extremely powerful , fast player that possessed one of the finest dribbling ability ever prompting Alessandro Nesta to say "He was imposible to stop"

He started his career ar Cruzeiro scoring 44 goals in 47 games in his first 2 season before being bought by PSV.There he established himself as one of the best players in the world.Ronaldo then played 1 season for Barcelona becoming the undisputed best player in the world despite being only 20 establishing himself as the greatest early bloomer the world has seen since Pele.He moved to Inter demolishing Serie A defenses but eventualy , his career was intrerupted due to injuries. After he fully recoverd he moved to Real Madrid regaining his world class status but could only sustain it till his 28 years old because of health issues.
During his club career he most notably won 1 La Liga , 1 Copa del Rey , 2 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup/UEFA Cup , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 4 titles in Brazil.Including NT games he scored a career total of 414 goals.

With Brazil he was at one point the WC all-time top scorer. He won 2 editions(in one didn't play and in one was top scorer with 8 goals) and reached the final in 98 being named the MVP of the tournament.He also won 2 Copa América(97-MVP,99-Top Scorer) and the 97 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Ronaldo has been named FIFA World Player of the Year 3 times(96,97 and 02) and finished 2nd in 98 , 3rd in 03 and 7/8th in 04. He was nominated at the Ballon d'Or 9 times.
He was named Serie A player of the decade in 2007 , was included in France Football and Marca's Starting eleven of all time and was also ranked at only 23 years old the 13th best player of the Century by World Soccer.


Zidane has been often described as one of the greatest players in the history of the game.He had supreme ball control , phenomenal passing and a football IQ next to perfection.

He started his career in France playing for Cannes and latter for Bordeaux being one of the leagues best players. He then moved to Juventus where he won 2 Serie A , 1 Intercontinental Cup and finsiehd runner-up for the UEFA Champions League 2 times(97,98).He was eventualy bouth by Real Madrid for a all-time record fee becoming one of the clubs all-time icons.He most notably won 1 La Liga , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 1 UEFA Champions League.

With France , his first succes came in 1998 when he won the World Cup being named in the All-Star XI. Two years later , he wins the European Championship being named as the Tournament's best player. He ended his international career at the 2006 WC where he finished runner-up and was named as MVP.

Zidaned has won the Ballon d'Or in 98 and was nominated 10 more times finishing 28/32nd in 96 , 3rd in 97 , 19/20th in 99 , 2nd in 00 , 10th in 01 , 4th in 02 , 5th in 03 , 23rd in 04 , 18th in 05 and 5th in 06.He was named FIFA World Player of the Year 3 times being nominated 6 more times:3/4th in 97 , 4th in 99 , 4th in 01 , 3rd in 02 , 5th in 04 and 2nd in 06.He won the Onze d’Or 3 times(98,00 and 01) and was nominated another 4 times:2nd in 97 , 3rd in 99 , 2nd in 02 and 2nd in 03. Zidane was also named best player of the season in 2002 by the Olympic Committee.
He was included in World Soccer and Marca's Greatest XI of all Time aswell as the FIFA World Cup Dream Team.He was also choosen in the UEFA fan-pool as the best European Player of the last 50 years.


Eusébio is considered one of the greatest footballers of all time.He was known for his incredible speed, technique, athleticism and his ferocious right-footed shot(he had the largest circumference around his quadriceps of any footballer ever measured) , making him a prolific goalscorer.

He played almost all his career for Benfica where he won 11 times(top scorer 7 times) the Primeira Liga , 5 times Taça de Portugal , 9 times Taça de Honra , the 1962 European Cup and was runner-up another 3 times(top scorer 3 times).Including NT games , Eusebio has scored a total of 621 goals wich make him one of the best goal scorers in history.

With Portugal , his best moment came at the 1966 WC where he was the top scorer of the tournament with 9 goals and was named 2nd best player.He was also the all time top scorer until 2005 with 41 goals.

He has won the Ballon d'Or in 65 , finished runner-up in 66(could have won if a journalist that considered him a sure winner would have voted for him)and 62 , and was nominated 8 more times:35/43rd in 61 , 5th in 63 , 4th in 64 , 5th in 67 , 8th in 68 , 22nd in 70 , 15/16th in 72 and 7th in 73.
Eusebio was named Portugal's most outstanding player of the last 50 years in 2004.He was named 9th best player of the Century by both IFFHS and Placar and by the FIFA fan-poll the 3rd best player of the century.


Ferenc Puskás is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He was a techinicaly gifted forward that possessed the "deadliest" left-foot in football history.

He started his career in Hungay where he played for Kispest and later for Budapest Honvéd. In hungary he scored a unbealivable total of 374 goals in only 358 games. He was the undisputed best player of the early 50's but than stoped playing because of the Hungarian Revolution. He rejoined football aged 31 after a couple of years of absence with weight gained , but this didn't stop Puskas from still being the best. With Real he won 5 La Liga titles being the top scorer 4 times , 1 Spanish Cup , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 3 European Cups also finishing runner-up 2 times and top scorer of the tourney 3 times(he's the only player to score 4 goals in a EC/UCL Final).

With Hungary he is the most prolific scorer in history of European NT football with 84 goals in 85 games. He won the Balkan Cup in 47 , the Olympic Games in 52 , Central European Champions in 53 being top scorer with 10 goals , and also finished runner-up for the 54 WC being beaten controversially and was retroactively named MVP.
He has 12 season where he scored at least 30 goals in all competitions and an incredible 700 career goal total.

Puskas was ranked 7th best player of the 20th century on 3 occasions by World Soccer , France Football and Placar consecutively and 6th best player of the century on 2 occasions by IFFHS and Guerin' Sportivo.


Michel Platini is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time and the best french player ever.A versatile playmaker renowned for his control, technical ability, and vision, Platini is regarded by many as the best passer in football history, and one of the best penalty kick and free kick specialists. Despite primarily being a creative midfielder who provided assists, Platini was also a prolific goalscorer, renowned for his accurate finishing ability.

He started playing for Nancy and after was bought by Saint-Étienne. During his career in France , he already established himself as one of the best players in the world. He met his prime when he moved to Juventus where he won 2 Serie A titles being the top scorer 3 times consecutively , 1 Coppa Italia , 1 Intercontinental Cup , 1 European Cup Winners' Cup and 1 European Cup being the top scorer also finishing runner-up with Juve in 83.
With the NT , Platini became the all-time french top scorer with 41 goals , record held until 2007. His first good stint for France came at the 82 WC were he reached the semis and was ranked 10th best player of the tournament. His best moment came at the 84 EURO where he won the tournament being named the MVP as he finished top scorer with 9 goals , enough to make him the competitions all time top scorer. He also reached the semis in the 86 WC being ranked as the 4/5th best player of the tourney. He scored a career total of 353 goals in all competitions.

He has won the Ballon d'Or 3 times consecutively in 83,84 and 85 and was nominated 8 more times:5th in 76 , 3rd in 77 , 21/30th in 78 , 5th in 79 , 3rd in 80 , 4th in 81 , 9th in 82 and 11th in 86.
He was named 9th best player of the century by Guerin' Sportivo , 8th by Placar , 7th by IFFHS , 6th by FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote , 5th by France Football , 5th by World Soccer and was voted All-Time Greatest European Footballer by the English Football Hall of Fame.


Zico called the "White Pelé", was a creative player, gifted with excellent technical ability and vision, and he is considered one of the most skilled finishers and best passers ever. Arguably the world's best player of the late 1970s and early 80s, he is regarded as one of the best playmakers and the greatest free kick specialists of all time, able to bend the ball in all directions.His fame is damaged due too lack of World Cup tryumph.

He played most of his career at Flamego where he won 7 times the Rio State Championship , 4 times the Brazilian Série A , 1 Copa Libertadores and 1 Intercontinental Cup and has 8 seasons with over 30 goals in club competitions alone.
With the national team he scored a total of 48 goals and had his best moment during the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He finished as Bronze Boot with 4 goals being named in the All-Star team and ranked 5th best player of the tourney despite being eliminated in the quarters.

In 1983 he was named World Soccer Player of the Year and in 1981 World Footballer of the Year by Guerin Sportivo , El Mundo , El Balón and Placar Magazine. He most notably was ranked 9th best player of the century by France Football and 8th best player of the century by FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote.


Di Stéfano is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He was a powerful forward with neverending stamina, tactical versatility, and vision, who could also play almost anywhere on the pitch.Pelé, Eusébio, Luis Suárez, Sandro Mazzola and John Charles described Di Stéfano as "the most complete footballer in the history of the game".

He started his career at River Plate winning 2 league titles and then moved to Colombia during their Golden Age at Millonarios winning 3 league titles. He later on moved to Real Madrid becoming the clubs greatest player ever. He won at Real 8 La Liga titles being the top scorer 5 times , 1 Copa del Rey , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 5 European Cups scoring at least 1 goal in all 5 Finals.
His NT career was damaged due to political issues and injuries and thus he never played in a World Cup. His best moment tough came at the 47 Copa America where he won the tournament being his team's top scorer with 6 goals. He hwas scored over 500 goals in his career.

With the Ballon d'Or being first awarded when he was already 30 years old , he still managed to win it 2 times in 57 and 59 , finished runner-up in 56 and was nominated 2 more times being ranked 4th in 60 and 6/7th in 61. He had a phenomenal year in 8 aswell but wasn't counted at the Ballon d'Or due to various reasons.
He was ranked 6th best player of the century by World Soccer , 6th best player of the century by Placar , 4th best player of the century by France Football , 4th best player of the century by IFFHS , 3rd best player of the century by Guerin' Sportivo , and 2nd best player of the century by FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote.
In 83 he was included in Placar Magazine's best XI of all time , in 96 he was included in Planète Foot Magazine's best XI of the century , in 97 he was listed in Venerdì Magazine's dream team of the century , was named in the FIFA Century Selection and also was included in 2004 in A Tarde Newspaper's best XI of football history


Beckenbauer is the greatest defender and the greatest german player in football history aswell as one of the most decorated footballers of all time.He was a versatile player with legendary leadership , who started out as a world-class midfielder, but made his name as a defender. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper or libero.

He played most of his career at Bayern Munchen becoming the club's and also the german leagues greatest player ever. He won with the club 4 Bundesliga titles , 4 DFB-Pokal cups , 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 3 times the European Cup. Beckenbauer was rated by Kicker magazine in 10.5 world-class seasons and 2.5 international-class seasons wich is the all-time record.

With Germany , Franz had a superlative career. His first tournament was the 1966 WC where they reached the Final and he was named the tournament's best young player. The next WC , Germany finished 3rd with Franz being included in the All-Star XI. In the 1972 ERUO , Germany emerged victorious with Franz being the star player. In the 1974 World Cup , Germany once again emerged victorious with Beckenbauer being rated as the 2nd best player of the tournament. His last tournament was the 76 EURO where Germany reached the Final and Beckenbauer was named in the Team of the Tournament. He holds the all-time record for most WC all-star XI's with 3 inclusions.

Beckenbauer has won the Ballon d'Or on 2 times in 72 and 76 , finished runner-up 2 times in 74 and 75 and was nominated 8 more times:17/22nd in 65 , 3rd in 66 , 4th in 76 , 4th in 68 , 7th in 69 , 4th in 70 , 5th in 71 and 4th in 73. He holds the record for most placing in top 3 with 5 inclusions and most places in top 5 being included 10 times. The International Olympic Committee named him Best European Player of the Season in 1974.

Beckenbauer was voted 3rd, 4th , 5th and 6th World player of century by IFFHS, World Soccer , Placar and France football’s poll, respectively and alsa was ranked 4th by the FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury vote.
He is unanimously included in all the All-Star teams ever made.


Cruyff is widley regarded as the greatest European player in football history.The team orchestrator, Cruyff was a creative playmaker with a gift for timing passes. Nominally he played centre forward in this system and was a prolific goalscorer, but would drop deep to confuse his markers or move to the wing to great effect. Due to the way Cruyff played the game, he is still referred to as "the total footballer." He was known for his technical ability, speed, acceleration, dribbling and vision, possessing an awareness of his team-mates' positions as an attack unfolded.

He started his career at Ajax where he won 8 times the Eredivisie , 5 times the KNVB Cup , 1 Intercontinental Cup and 3 European Cups. Later on he moved to Barca for an all-time record fee. There he won 1 La Liga and 1 Copa del Rey.
With the National Team , his best moment came during the 1974 World Cup where he reached the Final with Holland being named the MVP of the tournament.

He was awarded with the Ballon d'Or 3 times(71,73 and 74) and was nominated 9 more times:27/34th in 67 , 21th 68 , 4th in 69 , 7th in 70 , 4th in 72 , 3rd in 75 , 7th in 76 , 5th in 77 and 15/16th in 78.
Cruyff has been included in all the Dream Teams ever made and is generaly rated as the 3rd best player in football history by official rankings.


Maradona is regarded by many experts, football critics, former players, current players and football fans as the greatest football player of all time. Maradona was renowned for his dribbling ability, vision, close ball control, passing and creativity, and is considered one of the most skillful players ever. He had a compact physique, and with his strong legs and low center of gravity he could withstand physical pressure well while running with the ball. To sumarize his skills iego was capable of things no one else could match. The things I could do with a football, he could do with an orange."—Michel Platini , "Even if I played for a million years, I’d never come close to Maradona. Not that I’d want to anyway. He’s the greatest there’s ever been."—Lionel Messi

Maradona started his career at Argentinos Juniors where he quickly established himslef as one of the best player in the world and played a season at Boca aswell. He was then bought by Barcelona for an all-time record fee where he stayed for 2 seasons before breaking his previos record fee with a transfer to Napoli.
It is here where he met his prime. Even tough he played at a relatively average team considering he was in one of the toughest leagues of all time , Serie A of the late 80's , he still managed to lead Napoli to 2 Serie A titles , 1 Coppa Italia , 1 UEFA Cup and also finished runner-up 2 times for the league title. Even tough he was a playmaker , Diego has scored a total of 346 career goals in all competitions.

Maradona's first major tournament with Argeentina was the 1982 WC where he was rated as the 9th best player of the tournament. His best moment came at the 1986 World Cup where he put up what is considered by many as the greatest performance ever of a football player at a tournament. He "single handedly" won the tournament being the only argie making the All-Star team and also scored The Goal of the Century in the QF against England. In 1990 he reached the WC Final and was ranked as the 3rd best player of the tournament.

He is usualy ranked as the 2nd best player in history by most associations but was also ranked as the best player of the century by a fan-pool in 99.


Pelé is widely regarded to be the greatest player of all time. Johan Cruyff stated; "Pelé was the only footballer who surpassed the boundaries of logic."Ferenc Puskás stated; "The greatest player in history was Di Stefano. I refuse to classify Pelé as a player. He was above that." Michel Platini said; "There's Pelé the man, and then Pelé the player. And to play like Pelé is to play like God." Cristiano Ronaldo said: "Pelé is the greatest player in football history, and there will only be one Pelé".Jose Mourinho commented; "I think he is football. You have the real special one - Mr Pelé." Just a few of legends running out of superlatives describing a complete player that had no flaws in his game.

He played most of his career at Santos where he most notably won 10 times the Campeonato Paulista being the top scorer 11 times , 4 times the Torneio Rio-São Paulo , 2 times Intercontinental Cup being the all time top scorer and 2 times the Copa Libertadores in 1962 and 1963 being the top scorer in 65. Pele has scored a total of 784 goals in his career making him the greatest goal scorer in football history. Until 2012 , he also held the 2 best goalscoring seasons of all time.

With Brazil , Pele has the most illustrious international career of all players. His first major tournament was the 1958 World Cup where Pele amazed the world already being called as the World's greatest. He won the tournament scoring 6 goals: 1 in the QF , 3 in the Semis and 2 in the Final. At the 59 Cope America , Pele finished as the tournament's top scorer and MVP with 8 goals. His next Wolrd Cup was a succes at the team level , with Brazil emerging victorious but Pele only scored a goal because of an injury in the group stage. His best moment came at the 1970 WC where he put up what many consider to be the greatest Word Cup performance ever. He won the tournament scoring 4 goals including the opner in the final and managing 5 assissts being named as the MVP of the tourney. Even his misses were legendary as he atempted to lob Ivo Viktor form the half-way line , patented the Pele runaround move against Uruguay , and was the antagonist in the save of the century made by Banks. He scored a total of 77 goals for Brazil and is the greatest player in World Cup history.

Pele is unanimously ranked as the greatest player of football history in all expert made rankings and is included in all dream teams ever made. He is also arguably the greatest athlete of all time being named by many associations as the sportman of the century:Athlete of the Century, by Reuters News Agency-1999 , Athlete of the Century, elected by world wide journalists, poll by French daily L'Equipe-1981 , Athlete of the Century, elected by International Olympic Committee-1999