Pele, Mardadona & Messi, three of the greatest players of all time
What makes a world class footballer? Here FootieBugs choose their top five players of all time. The amount of dedication it takes to be one of the best players of all time is huge, and practise definitely makes perfect.
5) Bobby Moore. – Moore captained England to World Cup glory in 1966 and is often described as the best defender of all time. To make the FootieBugs top five players of all time, Moore beat off stiff competition from other legendary defenders Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini and Franz Beckenbauer. Moore played over 500 games for West Ham United before transferring to Fulham where he made 124 appearances for the Craven Cottage side. Moore finished his career in Denmark following a successful and glamorous spell in the United States. In the 1970 World Cup Moore, made what is thought to be the greatest tackle of all time, when he went down on one knee, took the ball cleanly from Pele, stood with the ball, dribbled it out and played a wonderful long range pass. Tragically Moore passed away from cancer aged 51 in 1993.
4) Zinedine Zidane. – Another World Cup winner who has made FootieBugs top five players of all time. Zidane was the complete midfielder. Never has the phrase midfield maestro been more apt. Zizou began his career with Cannes before transferring to Bordeaux where he finished runner up in the 1995/1996 UEFA cup final. After being crowned Ligue 1Player of the Year he moved to Juventus. Whilst with Juventus, Zidane won two Serie A titles, was named FIFA World Player of the Year, and won the Ballon D’Or in 1998 and twice finished on the losing side in the Champions League Final. In 2001 Zizou joined Real Madrid in Spain. He scored a famous match-winning goal, a volley hit with his weaker foot, in Madrid’s 2–1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final completing his personal quadruple. The next season, Zidane helped Real Madrid to win the 2002–03 La Liga and was named the FIFA World Player of the Year for the third time. In 2004, fans voted him as the best European footballer of the previous 50 years in UEFA’s fiftieth-anniversary Golden Jubilee Poll. Zidane played over 100 times for France and was part of the World Cup winning side in 1998. He famously head butted Italian defender Marco Matterazzi in the 2006 World Cup Final and was sent off as France lost to Italy on penalties. Zidane is now Sporting Director at Real Madrid.
3) Lionel Messi. – The Barcelona forward is probably the most exciting player in world football at the moment. Born in Argentina, Messi moved to Barcelona at the age of 11, to join their famous youth academy. Messi just edges Cristiano Ronaldo out of this list. In just over 250 appearances for Barcelona, Messi has already scored 240 goals. Messi is also an Olympic Gold medallist having helped the Argentinean football squad overcome Nigeria in the Gold Medal match. Leo Messi has helped Barcelona win 6 La Liga tittles, 3 Champions Leagues and 2 Copa Del Rey’s. The list of personal awards won by the Argentine is endless and he has broken many records including, the most goals scored in a La Liga season (50), most consecutive La Liga matches scored in (21) and the most La Liga hatricks in a season (8).
2) Diego Maradona. – In any list of the top players of all time Maradona is always in the top two. The Argentine had a controversial career that included a drugs ban at the 1994 World Cup in the USA and the infamous ‘hand of God goal’ against England in 1986. A World Cup winner with Argentina in 1986 and runner up in 1990, Maradona was an influential figure in the lates 80’s early 90’s. He also enjoyed much success at club level including winning the Argentine Primera Division in 1981 with Boca Juniors, a Copa Del Rey win with Barcelona in 1983 and two Serie A titles with Napoli in 1987 and 1990. Maradona has since held several managerial positions, most notably as manager of the Argentine national team for the 2010 Word Cup. Maradona scored what is arguably the greatest goal of all time when dribbled past half the England team to shoot past Peter Shilton to secure a 2-1 win in the 1986 World Cup finals.
1. Pele. – As with most such lists, Pele just pushes Maradona into second spot. Generally thought of as the greatest player of all time, his sublime skill, natural goal scoring ability and reputation as an honest sportsman are the reasons why Pele tops the FootieBugs top five players of all time list. Pele won the World Cup on three occasions, 1958, 1962 and 1970. Pele spent the huge majority of his career at Santos. Santos and Pele won a cabinet full of trophies including two Copa Libertadores. Santos realised the commercial value of Pele and would often tour the world playing exhibition matches. This included a match in Lagos, Nigeria where the two factions involved in a civil war agreed to hold a 48 hour ceasefire in order to watch Pele play. In 1974, Pele left Santos to play for the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League. Pele is now probably the games greatest ambassador.
