Who do you think is the best footballer ever?

Answer 1

In reply to Arsenalfox2000 - I agree that we apply the word great to too many modern players today. I also agree that Pele was a great GOALSCORER - However, he participated in 2 world cup wins, the first in 58 which he was a young reserve who was brought in late on in the world cup and scored some good and VERY important goals, at 17 this made him a star the first real superstar footballer. in 62 he was injured and in 66 he was injured and retired. He came back in 1970 and had a very good world cup scoring great goals in a great team however the star of the show was Jarzinho. So in reality he was a great young player in 58 and then did very little on the world stage until 1970 - Of course in the meantime he was banging goals in for fun with Santos and obviously this was against some fantastic Brazilian defences????? (yeah right) - he was a great goalscorer with a some flair and vision; just like Van basten, Muller, Greaves etc. True he was an ambasador but does that make George best a bad player??? is Lineker better than Maradona because he is a nice guy????? I dont think so, Maradona came from the slums of Argentina and he was never going to be Mother Teresa, especially when he was surrounded by the wrong crowd all along just like Mike Tyson, Brazil won the world cup in 62 without Pele and they would have won it without him in 70 too. Maradona with Napoli and Argentina took these teams to another level, He scored great goals, created goals, led and inspired those around him to be winners and they would not have won their titles without him!!!! He was not just a goalscorer but a GENIUS and Genius is not a word you hear associated with Pele. If he was, you would not have to point to the fact that he was great ambasador and all the other rubbish outside of the actual football on the pitch. As a goalscorer he was great, but so was Lineker, would you call Lineker a Genius - NO you would not. The other factor that you have to consider, is the standard of football when Pele played - It was very poor, teams would get beat by many goals regularly and the fitness and skill levels was poor. The lesser teams today are of a certain standard, all compenet footballers; back in the day except from a few....... the rest made the numbers up.

Genius is:- Maradona, Roberto Baggio, Platini, Bergkamp, Cantona, Ronahldinho, Henry, Zidane, Rooney, Beardsley.

Great goalscores - Pele, Shearer, Lineker, Greaves, Muller, Van Basten, Rush, Schevchenko, Raul, Fowler, Fontaine and many more.

There are few GENIUS but MANY Goalscores - Genius in football is not jus the ability to finish - but it is the ability to create the unexpected, vision, composure, flair, style, grace, fantasy, art and skill.

You can apply this to any sport or position in football. Tennis, Genius = Agassi Great = Sampras

Centre Half - Genuis Legend = Baresi - Great Legend = Tony Adams

Full Back - Genius Legend = Maldini - Great Legend = Cafu

Boxing - Genius Legend = Ali, Great = Tyson

Golf - Genius Legend = Tiger Woods - Great = Nicholas

Formula One - Genius Legend = Airton Senna - Great Legend = Schumaker


To be a Genius you need the X FACTOR you need GRACE and in front of the Camera Pele does have grace, on the pitch however he is a DEMON GOALSCORER, a Legendary goalscorer but not a GENIUS Footballer!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes the Legend beats the Genius eg, Sampras considered better than Agassi on the other hand Ali is considered better than Tyson - In sport the professional legend gets more recognition than the rough around the edges Genius and this is the case with Pele and Maradona - althouthgh Maradona is also a Legend, the Legend of Pele beats Maradona becasue of other areas that people judge outside of the football pitch. But Pele is not a Genius and Maradona is - Maradona is the single most gifted footballer ever along with my personal favourite Roberto Baggio.

Answer 2

Anyone that picks a modern player like Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo, is just showing their ignorance of the history of "The Beautiful Game". Pele (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) has got to be the unanimous choice. Brazil won 3 World Cups while he played for them (Maradona only has 1), more goals (1281 in 1363 matches) in the modern era than any other footballer, he's the all-time leading scorer in Brazilian history, he scored 97 goals in 92 caps for Brazil, he was voted (easily) the "Athlete of the Century" by the I.O.C. in 1999 (beating out a list of very good competitiors), people wear #10 in tribute to him, he's a fantastic ambassador to the sport (unlike that coke head dildo Maradona), he helped bring more support to football (soccer) in America by playing there at the end of his career, a civil war in Nigeria called a 48 hour ceasefire to allow Pele to go there and play a friendly match.....the list goes on and on....so to all those out there that think there's any disputing that Pele is the greatest footballer of all time, go ahead and try to prove me wrong.

Answer 3

Pele, Beckenbauer, Eusebio, Cruyff, Mueller, Yashin, Garincha, Best, Van Basten, Platini, Baggio, Maldini, plus the Hungarian guy from 54, forgot his name.....


Most overrated ever: MA(RA)DONNA

Baggio10: you have to be kidding. This is one of the worst drivel I've read in quite a while. ROONEY, Fowler , Cantona and Shearer shouldn't be even allowed to be mentioned in the same breath as Pele or Beckenbauer. Your list is obviously written by an English fan as nobody else would include those guys. I'm certain that if you asked fans around the world to name their top 10 of all time, Rooney or Fowler wouldn't be included anywhere but in England.

Answer 4

Sir Bobby Charlton

Answer 5

easy one ME,
yet to be defeated in his own backyard. :0)

When you watch Pele, Marradonna Zidane Ronaldinho, spare a thought for all the millions that are never seen. When the "superstars" can play football in their bare feet 10 hours a day 7 days a week on hot gravel, then maybe we can begin to admire them. Until then they remain Nike puppets. !!

Answer 6

Diego Armando Maradona.

Answer 7

Pele

Answer 8

Pele

Answer 9

Pele

Answer 10

Super Bobby Taylor!