Top 20 footballers

19. Roberto Carlos

2011-11-13T15:26:00.000-08:00

Personal information
Full name	Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha
Date of birth	10 April 1973 (age 38)
Place of birth	Garça, São Paulo, Brazil
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position	Left Back

He has played for Spanish club Real Madrid for eleven years, winning four leagues, three UEFA Champions League trophies, and two Intercontinental Cups. He is also one of only six players to have played more than one hundred matches in the Champions League. He is especially famous for a free kick against France on June 3, 1997, where he shot from 35 m (110 ft) from the centre-right channel, and scored.

Club career:

União São João

Roberto Carlos began his professional career playing for União São João, a football club based in Araras (São Paulo state). Despite playing at what was seen as a lesser club, he was called up for the Brazil national football team.

Palmeiras

At Palmeiras, Roberto Carlos was recognized as one of the greats of Brazilian football of all time, winning two consecutive Brazilian Leagues.

Internazionale

After almost signing for Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough side in 1995, Roberto Carlos chose a move to F.C. Internazionale Milano, in the Serie A, playing one season for the Nerazzurri. He scored a 30 yard free-kick on his debut vs Vicenza. Javier Zanetti also made his debut in this game alongside former England international Paul Ince.The then-coach of Inter, Roy Hodgson, wanted him to play as a left winger, but Carlos preferred to play only as a left back.

Real Madrid

Roberto Carlos played at Real Madrid for 11 seasons, playing a total of 584 matches and scoring 71 goals in all competitions. 370 of them were league matches, in which he scored 46 goals from his left-back position. He famously set up Zinedine Zidane to score the winner for Real Madrid to win the Champions League in 2002. His consistently high standard and dynamic displays saw him voted into the uefa.com users' UEFA Team of the Year in 2002 and 2003.

On 2 August 2005, he received dual Spanish and Brazilian citizenship. This proved important for Real Madrid, as it meant that he now counted as a European Union player. In January 2006, he set a club record for the most league matches played by a non-Spanish born player by making his 330th appearance for Madrid. He broke the previous mark of 329 held by Alfredo di Stéfano.

Having played 30 or more league matches for ten consecutive seasons and being one of the most consistent players in the squad, he was heavily criticized for conceding the ball early during the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Bayern Munich, which led to Roy Makaay's goal, the quickest goal in the tournament's history. On 9 March 2007, he announced his decision to not renew his contract with Real Madrid. In the dying seconds of one of the last few games of the season against Recreativo de Huelva, Fernando Gago played a beautiful pass and Roberto Carlos slotted it home. As a result, Real Madrid were on course for their 30th La Liga championship. He was linked with a move to Chelsea in the summer of 2006.

Fenerbahçe

On 19 June 2007, Roberto Carlos signed a two-year contract and one year optional with the Turkish Super League champions Fenerbahçe at the stadium in front of thousands of fans.

In the first official match he played with the team, Fenerbahçe won the Turkish Super Cup against Beşiktaş by a score of two goals to one. During a league match against Sivasspor, he scored his first goal for Fenerbahçe on 25 August 2007 on a diving header, which was only the third headed goal of his career.

He was injured during the final period of the same season and missed the title race between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray. His team eventually lost the title to their rivals, while guaranteeing a place for themselves in Champions League knockouts for the next season. He announced that he was unhappy about the final result and would do his best to carry the domestic trophy back to the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.

On 7 October 2009 Roberto Carlos announced that he would leave Fenerbahçe upon the expiration of his contract in December 2009. He offered to return to Real Madrid and play for free, though he also said return to the Brazilian domestic leagues was a possibility and announced on 25 November 2009 his departure.

He played in his last match for the Turkish club when he came on in the 89th minute as a substitute against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League on 17 December 2009. Team-mates gave Carlos a goodbye shower after the match as Fenerbahçe fans chanted "I love you Carlos," giving him a standing ovation.

Corinthians

After 15 years away from Brazil, Roberto Carlos returned to his country in 2010 to play for Corinthians. He joined his friend and former Real Madrid and Internazionale teammate Ronaldo.

On 4 June 2010, Roberto Carlos scored a goal against Internacional and helped Corinthians to move to the top of the Brazilian Championship table. The Timão won the game with the score of 2–0.

On 16 January 2011, Roberto Carlos scored an impressive goal directly from a corner kick against Portuguesa. Concerned with his safety after being threatened by fans after the Copa Libertadores da América defeat to Tolima, Roberto Carlos requested his release by the club, and was promptly released by Corinthians.

Anzhi Makhachkala

On 12 February 2011, Roberto Carlos signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Russian Premier League club Anzhi Makhachkala, worth approximately €10 million.

Roberto Carlos — team captain

Playing in a defensive midfield position, Carlos has been captain of Anzhi since 8 March 2011. On 25th April 2011, Roberto Carlos scored his first goal for Anzhi in a 2-2 draw Dynamo Moscow, converting a 58th minute penalty.

On 30 April 2011, Roberto Carlos scored his second goal, converting a penalty in a 1-0 win over FC Rostov. On 10 June 2011, Roberto Carlos then scored his third goal on a 20th minute in a 2-0 win over Spartak Nalchik.On 11 September 2011, Roberto Carlos scored his fourth goal in a 2-1 win over Volga. As of his first season for Anzhi, Roberto Carlos made 28 appearance and scoring 5. On 30th September 2011, Carlos became the caretaker coach of Anzhi following the sacking of Gadzhi Gadzhiyev, before Andrei Gordeyev assumed the role also in a caretaker capacity.

Roberto Carlos has announced his plans to extend his playing career until 2014.

International career:

Roberto Carlos amassed 125 caps, scoring 11 goals for the Brazilian national team. At the 1998 World Cup, he played seven matches, including the final loss to France. After a qualifying game for the 2002 World Cup, Paraguay goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert spat on Roberto Carlos, an action which caused FIFA to give Chilavert a three-match suspension and forced him to watch the first game of the World Cup from the stands. Roberto Carlos also played seven matches in the finals, scoring a goal from a free kick against China. He also was a starter in the final against Germany, with Brazil winning 2–0. After the tournament Carlos was also included in the World Cup's All Star team.

He is especially famous for a free kick against France in the inaugural match of Tournoi de France 1997 on 3 June 1997. He shot from 35 m (115 ft) from the centre-right channel, and scored. The ball curved so much that the ball boy 10 yards to the right ducked instinctively, thinking that the ball would hit him. Instead, it eventually curled back on target, much to the surprise of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, who just stood in place. In 2010, a team of French scientists produced a paper explaining the trajectory of the ball.

Roberto Carlos' next international tournament was 2006 World Cup. In July 2006, after Brazil's 1–0 defeat to France in the World Cup quarter-finals, Roberto Carlos announced his retirement from the national team, saying, "I've stopped with the national team. It was my last game.

He said he no longer wanted to play for Brazil because of the criticism he faced from fans and Brazilian media for his failure to mark goalscorer Thierry Henry on France's winning goal.

Upon signing with Corinthians in January 2010, Roberto Carlos told TV Globo that he hoped to play at the 2010 World Cup and believed his return to Brazilian football may help him return to the national team, as manager Dunga had yet to settle on a left back.

However, he was left off the 30-man provisional squad that was submitted to FIFA on 11 May 2010, along with Ronaldinho and Ronaldo.

Despite his deep desire to do so, Roberto Carlos was not named in Coach Dunga's final squad of 23 for the Brazilian squad in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. Instead, Brazil newcomer Michel Bastos earned a spot for the left wingback position.

Bonus: Claudio Gentile

2011-11-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Date of birth	27 September 1953 (age 58)
Place of birth	Tripoli, Libya
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Central Defender, Full back

Considered by many as football’s greatest ever man marker, Gentile’s finest hour came on 11 July 1982 when he produced an immaculate defensive display alongside fellow defender Gaetano Scirea, as Italy defeated West Germany 3-1 to lift the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Gentile came to international acclaim in the 2nd phase match against the title-holders Argentina, when he man-marked Diego Maradona out of the game by kicking and flooring him constantly throughout the game. In Italy’s next match against the favorites, Brazil, he first performed a violent tackle from behind on Zico and later ripped the Brazilian’s shirt in half during a tussle

Club career:

In 1972–73 he played in Serie B with Varese.

He then moved to Juventus and first played for them in a Coppa Italia match against Ascoli Calcio on 29 August 1973, with his Serie A debut following on 2 December 1973 against Verona. In all he played 414 senior matches for Juventus, including 283 in Serie A. In over a decade in Turin, Gentile won two major European club competitions (1976-77 UEFA Cup and 1983–84 European Cup Winners' Cup), six Serie A championships, and two Coppa Italias.

In 1984 he moved to Fiorentina where he spent three further years in Serie A, and he then played a final season in Serie B with Piacenza before retiring.

International career:

Gentile was capped on 71 occasions by Italy between 1975 and 1984.

He man-marked Diego Maradona in a match at the 1982 World Cup, after which he famously quipped, "Football is not for ballerinas!"

20. Lillian Thuram

2011-11-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

Personal information
Full name	Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien
Date of birth	1 January 1972 (age 39)
Place of birth	Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11¹⁄₂ in)^[1]
Playing position	Right back / Centre back

One of the best defenders of all time from France, he is famous for his 2 goals in the 1998 world cup semi final against Croatia when France came from behind to win 2-1. France eventually won the world cup beating Brazil 3-0. At club level.

Club career:

Thuram's football career began with AS Monaco of the French Ligue 1 in 1991. He then transferred to Parma FC (1996–2001) and then to Juventus FC (2001–2006) for £25 million, and eventually to FC Barcelona in 2006.

AS Monaco
Thuram started his professional career with AS Monaco in 1991. He only made 1 appearance that season, but was officially promoted to the first team the following season, when he would go on to make 19 appearances. He was inserted into the starting eleven by the end of 1992 and would go onto make 155 league appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit, before transferring to Parma FC in the summer of 1996. He made his national team debut in 1994, while at Monaco.

Parma FC
In July 1996, Thuram made a highly watched transfer to Italy, with Serie A club, Parma. In his first season with the club, he made over 40 appearances for the club, in all competitions, scoring 1 goal. He maintained starting position throughout his time with Parma, and racked up 163 Serie A appearances, scoring the lone league goal. In all, he made over 200 appearances for the club, really making a name for himself, also earning caps for France. Following another overly impressive season in 2000–2001, Thuram along with teammate Gianluigi Buffon transferred to Juventus FC, one of the European giants, and Italian Scudetto holders. His transfer cost the club reported £22 million.[2] While at Parma, he won the UEFA Cup in 1998–99, along with eventual Juventus teammate Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro.

Juventus FC
In the summer of 2001, Thuram made a high profile transfer to Juventus FC, along with Buffon. During this period, under coach Marcello Lippi, Juventus was considered as one of the strongest teams in the world, also containing what was considered as one of the best defences in the world by many, and teams strongly regretted ever going down a goal to the club, as they knew how hard it would be to score one back for themselves. Thuram formed impressive defensive partnerships with the likes of Ciro Ferrara, Paolo Montero, Gianluca Pessotto, Mark Iuliano, Alessandro Birindelli, Igor Tudor, Gianluca Zambrotta, Nicola Legrottaglie, Fabio Cannavaro, Giorgio Chiellini, Federico Balzaretti, and Jonathan Zebina during his 5 year tenure with the club. During his time with the club Thuram won the Scudetto two times with Juventus. During the seasons 2004–05 and 2005–06 Thuram, along with Gianluigi Buffon in goal, Gianluca Zambrotta at left back, he and Fabio Cannavaro in the center of defence, and Jonathan Zebina at right back formed one of the most expensive, but also most feared, defenses in Italy. After 5 years with the Italian giants, Thuram transferred to FC Barcelona in La Liga, in the wake of the calciopoli scandal. He managed over 200 total appearances for the club, with 2 goals.

FC Barcelona
On 24 July 2006, Thuram signed with Spanish club FC Barcelona[3] for 5 million[4] after Juventus were relegated to Serie B due to the Calciopoli scandal. Sadly, after his contract expired in the 2007–2008 season, Thuram was forced to call time on his illustrious career due to a rare heart condition which had a few years prior taken the life of his brother. In the season before his announced retirement (the 2007–08 season), he was the third/fourth choice centre back after Carles Puyol, Gabriel Milito, and Rafael Márquez.[5]

International career:

After becoming world champion in 1998, Thuram was an integral part of France's triumph at Euro 2000, which led to the team being ranked by FIFA as number one from 2001–2002. He also played in the 2002 World Cup, 2006 World Cup, Euro 96, Euro 2004, and Euro 2008

1998 World Cup
Thuram scored only two international goals, both of which came in one game – the 1998 World Cup semi-final against Croatia, in which France came back to win 2–1 and advance to the final. France defeated Brazil 3–0 to capture their inaugural World Cup and Thuram won the Bronze Ball as the third most valuable player in the tournament. He, Bixente Lizarazu, Laurent Blanc and Marcel Desailly formed the backbone of the French defence that conceded only 2 goals in seven games.

2006 World Cup
After a brief international retirement, France coach Raymond Domenech convinced Thuram to return to the French team on 17 August 2005, along with fellow "Golden Generation" teammates Zinedine Zidane and Claude Makélélé, as Les Bleus struggled to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Thuram's centre-back partnership with William Gallas was to be the foundation for France's progression to the final. Thuram earned his 116th cap for France in the group stage match against South Korea in Leipzig on 18 June 2006. In that game he equalled Desailly's record number of caps, which he broke in the final group stage match, a 2–0 win over Togo in Cologne on 23 June 2006, winning his 117th cap. He was named the Man of the match in France's semi-final 1–0 victory against Portugal, coincidentally the same distinction he had earned eight years earlier at the semi-finals of the 1998
World Cup.

Euro 2008
On 9 June 2008, Thuram took the field against Romania in a group match, and became the first player to make 15 UEFA European Championship finals appearances. The former record of 14 appearances was held by Zinedine Zidane, Luís Figo and Karel Poborský.[6] He played one more game during the tournament, raising the number of his appearances to 16, which record was then equaled a few days later by Edwin van der Sar from the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Thuram was the captain of France in the tournament. He, along with Claude Makélélé, announced his retirement from international football on 17 June 2008, after France's 2–0 loss to Italy.[7] He finished his career with the national team as France's most capped player with 142 caps.

1. Zinedine Zidane

2011-11-09T13:10:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Zinedine Yazid Zidane
Date of birth	24 June 1972 (age 39)
Place of birth	Marseille, France
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Midfielder

Popularly nicknamed Zizou, he is a French former football midfielder. His career accomplishments include winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000, in addition to the 2002 UEFA Champions League. He is also one of only two three-time FIFA World Player of the Year winners. Zidane won the Golden Ball as the MVP in the World Cups of 1998 and 2006. Zidane played his first professional First Division game for Cannes and quickly rose through the professional ranks. He sealed his reputation by scoring two goals in the World Cup finals of 1998, helping France defeat Brazil to claim its first-ever World Cup championship. Extremely passionate and a leader by example, he came first in an online poll conducted by UEFA.

Club career:

Cannes

Zidane went to Cannes for a six-week stay, but ended up remaining at the club for four years to play at the professional level. Having left his family at the age of fourteen to join Cannes, the youngster was invited by Cannes director Jean-Claude Elineau, to leave the dormitory he shared with 20 other trainees and to come and stay with him and his family. Zidane later said that it was in living with the Elineaus that he found equilibrium.

Zidane made his professional debut with Cannes on 18 May 1989 at the age of seventeen in a Ligue 1 match against Nantes.He scored his first goal for the club on 8 February 1991 also against Nantes in a 2–1 win. After the match during a party for all the Cannes players, Zidane was gifted a car by Cannes chairman Alain Pedretti, who had promised him one the day he scored his first goal for the club. In his first full season with Cannes, the club secured its first ever European football berth by qualifying for the UEFA Cup after finishing 4th in the league. This remains the club's highest finish in the top flight since getting relegated for the first time from the first division in the 1948–49 season.

Bordeaux

Zidane was transferred to Girondins de Bordeaux in the 1992–93 season, winning the 1995 Intertoto Cup and finishing runner-up in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup in four years with the club. He played a set of midfield combinations with Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry, which would become the trademark of both Bordeaux and the 1998 French national team. In 1995, Blackburn Rovers coach Ray Harford had expressed interest in signing both Zidane and Dugarry, to which team owner Jack Walker reportedly replied, "Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?"

Juventus

In 1996, Zidane moved to UEFA Champions League winners Juventus for a fee of £3.2 millionand won the 1996–97 Serie A and the 1996 Intercontinental Cup, but lost the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final 3–1 to Borussia Dortmund. The following season, Zidane netted 7 goals in 32 matches in the league to help Juventus win the 1997–98 Serie A and thus retain the Scudetto. In Europe, Juventus made their third consecutive UEFA Champions League Final appearance, but lost the game 1–0 to Real Madrid, a club Zidane would later join. Juventus finished second in the 2000–01 Serie A, but were eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League after Zidane was banned for headbutting Hamburger SV player Jochen Kientz. However Zidane was named Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year for the second time.

Real Madrid

In 2001, Zidane joined Real Madrid for a then world record fee of 150 billion Italian lire(about €75 million) and signed a four-year contract. 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.

While Zidane's final season of club football ended trophyless, he enjoyed success on a personal note recording the maiden hat-trick of his career, scoring thrice against Sevilla FC in a 4–2 win in January 2006. He ended the season for Real Madrid as their second highest goal scorer and assists provider behind teammates Ronaldo and Beckham respectively, with 9 goals and 10 assists in 28 games.On 7 May 2006, Zidane, who had announced his plans to retire after the 2006 World Cup, played his last home match and scored in a 3–3 draw with Villarreal CF. The squad wore commemorative shirts with ZIDANE 2001–2006 below the club logo.

International career:

Both France and Algeria consider Zidane a citizen, but he was ineligible to play for the Algerian national team. There was a rumour that coach Abdelhamid Kermali denied Zidane a position for the Algerian squad because he felt the young midfielder was not fast enough. However, Zidane dismissed the rumour in a 2005 interview, saying that he would have been ineligible to play for Algeria because he had already played for France.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the first World Cup that Zidane participated in. It was held in his home country France. The French team won all three games in the group stage but Zidane was sent off in the second match against Saudi Arabia for a stamp on Fuad Anwar, becoming the first French player to receive a red card in a World Cup finals. Without their suspended playmaker France proceeded to win 1–0 in the last sixteen game against Paraguay and, on his return to the side, defeated Italy 4–3 on penalties after a goalless draw in the quarter finals. France then defeated Croatia 2–1 in the semi final. Zidane played a major role in the team's accomplishment, though he had yet to score a goal at the World Cup.

Zidane and France went on to play against defending champions and favourites Brazil at the Stade de France in the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final. France dominated Brazil from the kick-off, with Zidane scoring two identical goals, both headers from corner kicks taken by Emmanuel Petit and Youri Djorkaeff. Courtesy of Zidane's brace, France went into the break 2–0 up at half-time with one hand already on the World Cup trophy. Emmanuel Petit added a third goal deep in stoppage time to seal the 3–0 win and France's first ever World Cup. Zidane became an instant national hero and his image was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe.

Two years later France won Euro 2000, becoming the first team to hold both the World Cup and the European Championship since West Germany in 1974. Zidane finished with two goals, a memorable free kick against Spain in the quarter final and the golden goal in the semi final against Portugal, and was named player of the tournament by UEFA.

As reigning world and European champions, France entered the 2002 World Cup as favourites but a thigh injury prevented Zidane from playing in France's first two matches and without their talisman the French team failed to score in either match. He was rushed back prematurely for the third game despite not being fully fit, but could not prevent France from being ignominiously eliminated in the group stage without scoring a single goal; the worst performance by a defending champion in the history of the competition.

At Euro 2004, France topped their group with wins over England and Switzerland, before being knocked out in the quarter finals by eventual champions Greece in a surprise 1-0 loss. In the opening match against England, Zidane scored a free kick and penalty in stoppage time to turn defeat into a 2–1 victory for France. After France's elimination Zidane announced his retirement from international football.

Before the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final in Berlin, Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the competition. Having already announced he was to retire after the expiration of his Real Madrid contract at the end of the 2005–06 season, the world of football already knew Zidane's second World Cup final was to be the last match of his career. Seven minutes into the match Zidane put France ahead with a penalty kick and became only the fourth player in World Cup history to score in two different finals, along with Pelé, Paul Breitner, and Vavá, in addition to being tied for first place with Vavá, Pelé and Geoff Hurst with three World Cup final goals apiece. He almost scored a second goal during the first period of extra time but his header was saved by Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Zidane was then sent off in the 110th minute of the game after headbutting Marco Materazzi (who had just insulted his sister) in the chest, so he did not participate in the penalty shootout which Italy won 5–3 courtesy of David Trezeguet's shot rattling the crossbar. Neither Fabien Barthez nor Gianluigi Buffon made a single save in the penalty shootout. In 2010, Zidane said that he "would rather die" than apologize to Materazzi for the headbutt in the final, but also admitted that he “could never have lived with himself” had he been allowed to remain on the pitch and help France win the match.

Following his red card in the final, Zidane retired from professional football, and confirmed that he would not go back on his decision. He was sentenced by FIFA to a three game suspension for his red card, but since he had retired from professional football, he agreed to complete three days of community service with children as part of FIFA’s humanitarian projects.

2. Pele

2011-11-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Edison Arantes do Nascimento
Date of birth	23 October 1940 (age 71)
Place of birth	Três Corações, Brazil
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Forward

Pele – called “the Black Pearl,” was the greatest soccer player in the history of the game. With a career total of 1280 goals, he may have been the world’s most popular athlete after he was named Athlete of the Century by the world’s combined National Olympic Committees in 1999, though he never played in the Olympics himself. In March of 2002, the jersey Pelé wore in the 1970 World Cup final sold at auction for $220,850. Pelé became Brazil’s minister of sports in 1995, serving until 1998.

Club career:

Santos

In 1956, de Brito took Pelé to Santos, an industrial and port city in the state of São Paulo, to try out for professional club Santos Futebol Clube telling the directors at Santos that the 15-year-old would be "the greatest football player in the world.

Pelé won his first major title with Santos in 1958 as the team won the Campeonato Paulista; Pelé would finish the tournament as top scorer with an incredible 58 goals, a record that stands today. A year later, O Rei would help the team earn their first victory in the Torneio Rio-São Paulo with a 3–0 over Vasco da Gama. However, Santos was unable to retain the Paulista title. In 1960, Pelé scored 33 goals to help his team regain the Campeonato Paulista trophy but lost out on the Rio-São Paulo tournament after finishing in a disappointing 8th place. Another 47 goals from Pelé saw Santos retain the Campeonato Paulista. The club went on to win the Taça Brasil that same year, crushing Bahia in the finals; Pelé finished as top scorer of the tournament with 9 goals. The victory allowed Santos to participate in the Copa Libertadores, the most prestigious club tournament in the Western hemisphere

Pelé states that his most beautiful goal was scored at Rua Javari stadium on a Campeonato Paulista match against São Paulo rival Juventus on 2 August 1959. As there is no video footage of this match, Pelé asked that a computer animation be made of this specific goal. In March 1961, Pelé scored the gol de placa (goal worthy of a plaque), against Fluminense at the Maracanã. Pelé received the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, and ran the length of the field, eluding opposition players, and fired the ball beyond the goalkeeper. The goal was regarded as being so spectacular that a plaque was commissioned with a dedication to the most beautiful goal in the history of the Maracanã.

Pelé’s electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals made him a star around the world. His team Santos toured internationally in order to take full advantage of his popularity. In 1967, the two factions involved in the Nigerian Civil War agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos. During his time at Santos, Pelé played alongside many gifted players, including Zito, Pepe, and Coutinho; the latter partnered him in numerous one-two plays, attacks, and goals.

New York Cosmos

After the 1972 season (his 17th with Santos), Pelé retired from Brazilian club football although he continued to occasionally suit up for Santos in official competitive matches. Two years later, he came out of semi-retirement to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1975 season. Though well past his prime at this point, Pelé is credited with significantly increasing public awareness and interest in soccer in the United States. He led the Cosmos to the 1977 NASL championship, in his third and final season with the club.

On 1 October 1977, Pelé closed out his legendary career in an exhibition match between the Cosmos and Santos. Santos arrived in New York and New Jersey after previously defeating the Seattle Sounders 2–0. The match was played in front of a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium and was televised in the United States on ABC's Wide World of Sports as well as throughout the world. Pelé's father and wife both attended the match, as well as a number of his friends in sport such as Muhammad Ali and Bobby Moore. Pelé gave a brief pre-match speech during which he asked the crowd to say the word "love" with him three times. He played the first half for the Cosmos and the second half for Santos. Pelé scored his final goal on a direct free kick, driving the ball past the diving Santos goalkeeper. At halftime, the Cosmos retired Pelé's number 10. Pelé presented his Cosmos shirt to his father, who was escorted to the field by Cosmos captain Werner Roth. During the second half, Cosmos striker Ramon Mifflin, who had replaced Pelé when he switched sides at halftime, scored on a deflected cross, and the Cosmos won the match 2–1. After the match, Pelé was embraced by the Cosmos players, including longtime rival Giorgio Chinaglia, and then ran around the field while holding an American flag in his left hand and a Brazilian flag in his right hand. Pelé was soon lifted by several Cosmos players and carried around the field.

In 1977, Cosmos came to India to play an exhibition match with Mohun Bagan Athletic Club, the National Club of India. The match was held in Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India. The match ended in 2-2 draw and Pele scored one goal for Cosmos.

National team career:

Pelé's first international match was a 2–1 defeat against Argentina on 7 July 1957 at the Maracanã. In that match, he scored his first goal for Brazil aged 16 years and 9 months to become the youngest player to score in International football.

1958 World Cup

His first match in the World Cup was against the USSR in the first round of the 1958 FIFA World Cup, on the third game of the Cup, alongside Garrincha, Zito and Vavá.He was the youngest player of that tournament, and at the time the youngest ever to play in the World Cup.

It was in the 1958 World Cup that Pelé began using a number 10 t-shirt that immortalized him. Recently it is known that the event was the result of disorganization: the leaders didn't send the shirt numbers of players and it was up to FIFA to choose the number 10 shirt to Pele, who was a substitute on the occasion. The press of the time cataloged Pelé as the greatest revelation of the 1958 Cup who was also given retroactively the Silver Ball as the second best player of the tournament, behind Didi.

1962 World Cup

In the first match of the 1962 World Cup, against Mexico, Pelé assisted the first goal and then scored the second one, after a run past four defenders, to go up 2–0. He injured himself while attempting a long-range shot against Czechoslovakia. This would keep him out of the rest of the tournament, and forced coach Aymoré Moreira to make his only lineup change of the tournament. The substitute was Amarildo, who performed well for the rest of the tournament. However, it was Garrincha who would take the leading role and carry Brazil to their second World Cup title.

1966 World Cup

The 1966 World Cup was marked, among other things, for the brutal fouling on Pelé, by the Bulgarian and Portuguese defenders.By this stage Pelé was the most famous footballer in the world, and the expectation was that Brazil, at the very least, would reach the final. Brazil was eliminated in the first round, playing only three matches. Pelé scored the first goal from a free kick against Bulgaria, becoming the first player to score in three successive FIFA World Cups, but due to his injury, a result of persistent fouling by the Bulgarians, he missed the second game against Hungary. Brazil lost that game and Pelé, although still recovering, was brought back for the last crucial match against Portugal. In that game João Morais brutally fouled Pelé, but was not sent off by referee George McCabe, of whom it is acknowledged let "the Portuguese get away with murder". Pelé had to stay on the field limping for the rest of the game, since substitutes were not allowed at that time. After this game he vowed he would not play again in the World Cup, a decision he would later change

1970 World Cup

Pelé was called to the national team in early 1969, he refused at first, but then accepted and played in six World Cup qualifying matches, scoring six goals. The 1970 World Cup in Mexico was to be Pelé's last. Brazil's squad for the tournament featured major changes in relation to the 1966 squad. Players like Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Valdir Pereira, Djalma Santos and Gilmar had already retired, but the team, with Pelé, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Gérson, Carlos Alberto Torres, Tostão and Clodoaldo, is often considered to be the greatest football team in history.

Brazil played Italy in the final, with Pelé scoring the opener, with a header over Italian defender Tarcisio Burgnich. He then made assists on Jairzinho's and Carlos Alberto's goals, the latter one coming after an impressive collective play. Brazil won the match 4–1, keeping the Jules Rimet Trophy indefinitely, and Pelé was named player of the tournament.Burgnich, who marked Pelé during the final, was quoted saying "I told myself before the game, he's made of skin and bones just like everyone else — but I was wrong.

Pelé's last international match was on 18 July 1971 against Yugoslavia in Rio de Janeiro.With Pelé on the field, the Brazilian team's record was 67 wins, 14 draws and 11 losses, .Although Pelé lost many international games, Brazil never lost a match while fielding both Pelé and Garrincha.The only international match Garrincha lost was against Hungary in 1966, 1–3, which Pelé did not play in because of injury.

South American Championship

Pelé also played in the South American Championship. In the 1959 competition he was top scorer with eight goals, as Brazil came second in the tournament.

3. Diego Maradona

2011-11-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Diego Armando Maradona
Date of birth	30 October 1960 (age 51)
Place of birth	Lanús, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder Second Striker

Maradona is an icon in Argentina. As a soccer player, he took his team to new heights and became a hero to sports fans – many of whom referred to him as “San Diego.” He also took sports paychecks to new heights, claiming unheard of salaries in trade after trade. Maradona was plagued by cocaine addiction, though, and his career came to an early end. His performance included two memorable goals against England, one scored with his hand (the referee mistakenly thought the ball struck his head) and now remembered as the “Hand of God,” and another that saw him dribble through a pack of defenders.

Club career:

Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors

On 20 October 1976, Maradona made his professional debut with Argentinos Juniors, ten days before his sixteenth birthday. He played there between 1976 and 1981, scoring 115 goals in 167 appearances before his £1m transfer to Boca Juniors. Having joined the Boca squad midway through the 1981 season, Maradona played through 1982 earning his first league championship medal. Whilst playing for Argentinos Juniors, English club Sheffield United put in an offer of £180,000 for his services but the bid was rejected.

FC Barcelona

After the 1982 World Cup, in June, Maradona was transferred to Barcelona in Spain for a then world record £5m.In 1983, under coach César Luis Menotti, Barcelona and Maradona won the Copa del Rey (Spain's annual national cup competition), beating Real Madrid, and the Spanish Super Cup, beating Athletic de Bilbao. However, Maradona had a difficult tenure in Barcelona.First a bout with hepatitis, then a broken ankle caused by an ill-timed tackle by Athletic's Andoni Goikoetxea threatened with jeopardizing Maradona's career, but after treatment and therapy it was possible for him to soon be back on the pitch. At Barcelona, Maradona got into frequent disputes with the team's directors, especially club president Josep Lluís Núñez, culminating with a demand to be transferred out of Camp Nou in 1984. He was transferred to Napoli in Italy's Serie A for another record fee, £6.9m.

Napoli

At Napoli, Maradona reached the peak of his professional career. He quickly became an adored star among the club's fans, and in his time there he elevated the team to the most successful era in its history. Led by Maradona, Napoli won their only Serie A Italian Championships in 1986/87 and 1989/1990, placing second in the league twice, in 1987/88 and 1988/89. Other honors during the Maradona era at Napoli included the Coppa Italia in 1987, (second place in the Coppa Italia in 1989), the UEFA Cup in 1989 and the Italian Supercup in 1990. Maradona was the top scorer in Serie A in 1987/88.

Later on, in honor of Maradona and his achievements during his career at Napoli, the #10 jersey of Napoli was officially retired.

Sevilla, Newell's Old Boys and Boca Juniors

After serving a 15-month ban for failing a drug test for cocaine, Maradona left Napoli in disgrace in 1992. Despite interest from Real Madrid of Spain and Olympique Marseille of France, he signed for Sevilla of Spain, where he stayed for one year.

In 1993 he played for Newell's Old Boys and in 1995 he returned to Boca Juniors for two years.

Maradona also appeared for Tottenham Hotspur in a friendly match against Internazionale, shortly before the 1986 world cup. The match was Osvaldo Ardiles' testimonial, who insisted his friend Maradona played, which Tottenham won 2–1. He played alongside Glenn Hoddle, who gave up his number ten shirt for the Argentine. Maradona would go on to dribble past Hoddle during his "goal of the century" against England in the world cup that year.

International career:

1982 World Cup

Maradona played his first World Cup tournament in 1982. In the first round, Argentina, the defending champions, lost to Belgium. Although the team convincingly beat Hungary and El Salvador to progress to the second round, they were defeated in the second round by Brazil and by eventual winners Italy. Maradona played in all five matches without being substituted, scoring twice against Hungary, but was sent off with 5 minutes remaining in the game against Brazil for serious foul play.

1986 World Cup

Maradona captained the Argentine national team to victory in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, winning the final in Mexico against West Germany. Throughout the 1986 World Cup Maradona asserted his dominance and was the most dynamic player of the tournament. He played every minute of every Argentina game, scored 5 goals and made 5 assists. After scoring two goals in the 2–1 quarter-final win against England his legend was cemented.

1990 World Cup

Maradona captained Argentina again in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. An ankle injury affected his overall performance, and he was much less dominant than four years earlier. Argentina was almost eliminated in the first round, only qualifying in third position from their group. In the round of 16 match against Brazil, Claudio Caniggia scored the only goal after being set up by Maradona.

In the quarter final, Argentina faced Yugoslavia, the match ending 0–0 after 120 minutes, and Argentina advancing on penalty kicks, despite Maradona missing one of the penalties in the shootout with a weak shot at the centre of the goal. The semifinal against the host nation Italy was also resolved on penalties after a 1–1 draw; this time, Maradona was successful with his effort, daringly placing the ball at exactly the same spot as his missed penalty in the previous round. In the final, Argentina lost 1–0 to West Germany, the only goal being a penalty by Andreas Brehme in the 85th minute after a controversial foul on Rudi Völler.

1994 World Cup

At the 1994 FIFA World Cup Maradona played in only two games, scoring one goal against Greece, before being sent home after failing a drug test for ephedrine doping. In his autobiography, Maradona argued that the test result was due to his personal trainer giving him the power drink Rip Fuel. His claim was that the U.S. version, unlike the Argentine one, contained the chemical and that, having run out of his Argentine dosage, his trainer unwittingly bought the U.S. formula. FIFA expelled him from USA '94 and Argentina were subsequently eliminated in the second round. Maradona has also separately claimed that he had an agreement with FIFA, on which the organization reneged, to allow him to use the drug for weight loss before the competition in order to be able to play. According to Maradona, this was so that the World Cup would not lose prestige because of his absence. This allegation has never been proven.

4. Franz Beckenbauer

2011-11-09T12:49:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Franz Anton Beckenbauer
Date of birth	11 September 1945 (age 66)
Place of birth	Munich, Germany
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Sweeper

German football (soccer) player. He is credited with inventing the modern attacking sweeper position. Nicknamed “Der Kaiser,” Beckenbauer is the only man to both captain and manage World Cup-winning teams (1974 and 1990, respectively). He spent most of his career with Bayern Munich, leading the team to three European Cup championships and four national titles. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1972 and 1976. He is generally regarded as the greatest German footballer of all time and also as one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game.

Club career:

Beckenbauer made his debut with Bayern in the Regionalliga Süd ("Regional League South") on the left wing against Stuttgarter Kickers on 6 June 1964. In his first season in the regional league, 1964–65, the team won promotion to the recently formed Bundesliga, the national league.

Bayern soon became a force in the new German league, winning the German Cup in 1966–67 and achieving European success in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1967. Beckenbauer became team captain for the 1968–69 season and led his club to their first league title. He began experimenting with the sweeper (libero) role around this time, refining the role into a new form and becoming perhaps the greatest exponent of the attacking sweeper game.

During Beckenbauer's tenure at Bayern Munich, the club won three league championships in a row from 1972 to 1974 and also a hat-trick of European Cup wins (1974–76) which earned the club the honour of keeping the trophy permanently.

Interestingly, since 1968 Beckenbauer, has been called Der Kaiser by fans and the media. The following anecdote is told (even by Beckenbauer himself) to explain the origin: On the occasion of a friendly game of Bayern Munich in Vienna, Austria, Beckenbauer posed for a photo session right beside a bust of the former Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. The media called him Fußball-Kaiser (football-emperor) afterwards, soon after he was just called Der Kaiser. However, according to a report in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, this explanation is untrue, though very popular. According to the report, Beckenbauer fouled his opposite number, Reinhard Libuda from Schalke 04, in the cup final on 14 June 1969. Disregarding the fans' hooting, Beckenbauer took the ball into the opposite part of the field, where he balanced the ball in front of the upset fans for half a minute. Libuda was commonly called König von Westfalen (king of Westphalia), so the press looked for an even more exalted moniker and invented Der Kaiser.

Beckenbauer's popularity was such that he was included as a character in Monty Python's sketch "The Philosophers' Football Match" as being a surprise addition to the German team. However, instead of actually playing football, all the "players" walk in circles thinking, much to the confusion of Beckenbauer.

In 1977, Beckenbauer accepted a lucrative contract to play in the North American Soccer League with the New York Cosmos. He played with the Cosmos for four seasons up to 1980, and the team won the Soccer Bowl on three occasions ('77, '78, '80).

Beckenbauer retired after a two-year spell with Hamburger SV in Germany (1980–82) with the win of the Bundesliga title that year and one final season with the New York Cosmos in 1983. In his career in domestic leagues, he made 587 appearances and scored 81 goals.

International career:

Beckenbauer won 103 caps and scored 14 goals for West Germany. He was a member of the World Cup squads that finished runners-up in 1966, third place in 1970, and champions in 1974. Beckenbauer's first game for the national team came on 26 September 1965.

1966 World Cup

Beckenbauer appeared in his first World Cup in 1966, playing every match. In his first World Cup match, against Switzerland, he scored twice in a 5–0 win. West Germany won their group, and then beat Uruguay 4–0 in quarter-finals, with Beckenbauer scoring the second goal in the 70th minute. In the semi-finals, the Germans faced the USSR. Helmut Haller opened the scoring, with Beckenbauer contributing the second of the match, his fourth goal of the tournament. The Soviets scored a late goal but were unable to draw level, and West Germany advanced to the final against hosts England. The English won the final and the Jules Rimet Trophy in extra time. The Germans had fallen at the final hurdle, but Beckenbauer had a notable tournament, finishing tied for third on the list of top scorers—from a non-attacking position. The team returned to a heroes' welcome in their homeland.

1970 World Cup

West Germany won their first three matches before facing England in second round on a rematch of the 1966 final. The English were ahead 2–0 in the second half, but a spectacular goal by Beckenbauer in the 69th minute helped the Germans recover and equalise before the end of normal time and win the match in extra time. West Germany advanced to the semi-finals to face Italy, in what would be known as the Game of the Century. He fractured his clavicle after being fouled, but he was not deterred from continuing in the match, as his side had already used their two permitted substitutions. He stayed on the field carrying his dislocated arm in a sling. The result of this match was 4–3 (after extra time) in favour of the Italians. Germany defeated Uruguay 1–0 for third place.

1974 World Cup

The 1974 World Cup was hosted by West Germany and Beckenbauer led his side to victory, including a hardfought 2–1 win over the hotly favoured Netherlands side featuring Johan Cruyff. Beckenbauer and fellow defenders man-marked Cruyff so well that the Dutch were never quite able to put their "Total Football" into full use.

Beckenbauer became the first captain to lift the new FIFA World Cup Trophy after Brazil had retained the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1970. This also gave West Germany the distinction of being the first national team to hold both the Euro and World Cup titles simultaneously (two other countries have done it since: France in 2000, and Spain in 2010).

European Championships

Beckenbauer became captain of the national side in 1971. In 1972, West Germany won the European Championship, beating the Soviet Union 3–0 in the final. In 1976, West Germany again reached the final, where they lost on penalties to Czechoslovakia.

5. Johann Cruyff

2011-11-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Personal information
Full name	Hendrik Johannes Cruijff
Date of birth	25 April 1947 (age 64)
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder/Forward

Cruyff is a former Dutch football player and manager/coach. He was named European Footballer of the Year three times. In 1999, Cruyff was voted European Player of the Century in an election held by the IFFHS, and came second, behind Pelé in their World Player of the Century poll. Cruyff was known for his technical ability, speed and acceleration, but his greatest quality was vision, based on an acute sense of his team-mates’ positions as an attack unfolded. He is believed Cruyff superior to any previous player in his ability to extract the most from others.

Club career:

Ajax

Cruyff joined Ajax youth system on his 10th birthday. He made his first team debut on 15 November 1964 in the Eredivisie, against GVAV, scoring the only goal for Ajax in a 3–1 defeat. That year Ajax finished in their lowest position since the establishment of professional football, 13th. Cruyff really started to make an impression in the 1965–66 season. Cruyff established himself as a regular first team player after scoring two goals against Door Wilskracht Sterk in the Olympic stadion on 24 October 1965 (in a 2–0 victory). In the seven games that winter he scored eight times and in March 1966, he scored the first three goals in a league game against Telstar (6–2 win). Four days later, in a cup game against Veendam (7–0 win), he scored four goals. In total that season, Cruyff scored 25 goals in 23 games, and Ajax won the league championship.

In the summer of 1973, Cruyff was sold to Barcelona for 60 million guilder (approx. US$ 20 million, c. 1973). On 19 August 1973, he played his last match for Ajax (Ajax — Amsterdam 6–1), the 2nd match of the 1973–74 season.

Barcelona

At Barcelona, Cruyff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name Jordi for his son. He helped the club win La Liga for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5–0 at their home of Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year.

Note that Cruyff played two games with Paris Saint-Germain in 1975 during the Paris tournament. He had only agreed because he was a fan of designer Daniel Hechter, who was then president of PSG.

United States

At the age of 32, he signed a lucrative deal with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League (NASL). He had previously been rumored to be joining the New York Cosmos but the deal did not materialize. However, he did play exhibition games for the Cosmos. He stayed at the Aztecs for only one season, but was voted NASL Player of the Year in that time. The following season, he moved to play for the Washington Diplomats. He played the whole 1980 campaign for the Diplomats, even as the team was facing dire financial trouble at the time. In May 1981, Cruyff played as a guest player for Milan in a tournament, but was injured. As a result, he missed the beginning of the 1981 NASL soccer season thereafter, which ultimately led to Cruyff choosing to leave the team.

Levante

In January 1981, Cruyff played three friendly matches for FC Dordrecht. Also in January 1981, manager Jock Wallace of English club Leicester City made an audacious attempt to sign Cruyff. Despite negotiations lasting three weeks, in which Cruyff expressed his desire to play for the club, a deal could not be reached as he instead chose to sign with Spanish Segunda Division side Levante. In March 1981, Cruyff took the field for the first time for Levante. Injuries and disagreements with the administration of the club would blight his spell in the Segunda Division, as he was only able to amount 10 appearances after his signing, scoring two goals. Having failed to secure promotion to the first division, Levante did not keep the financial agreements that were specified in Cruyff's contract.

Back in the Netherlands

After his spell in the USA and a short-lived stay at UD Levante in Spain, Cruyff returned to play in his homeland, rejoining Ajax on 30 November 1980 as "technical advisor" of trainer Leo Beenhakker, Ajax being 8th in the ranking of the table of the Dutch League then after 13 games. Ajax would finish 2nd in 1980–81 in June 1981 after 34 games. In December 1981, Cruyff signed a new contract as player for Ajax.

Feyenoord

At the end of the 1982–83 season, Ajax decided not to offer Cruyff a new contract. This angered Cruyff, who responded by signing for Ajax's archrivals Feyenoord. dCruyff played his last game in Saudi Arabia, bringing Feyenoord back into the game with a goal and an assist.

International career:

As a Dutch international, Cruyff played 48 matches, scoring 33 goals. The national team never lost a match in which Cruyff scored. In his second Dutch national team match, a friendly against Czechoslovakia, Cruyff was the first Dutch international to receive a red card. He received a one-year suspension from the Royal Dutch Football Association.

Cruyff retired from international football in October 1977, having helped the national team qualify for the upcoming World Cup. Without him, the Netherlands finished runners-up in the World Cup again. Initially the reason given for missing the 1978 World Cup were political reasons given a military dictatorship was in power in Argentina at that time. In 2008, however, Cruyff stated to the journalist Antoni Bassas in Catalunya Ràdio that he and his family were involved in a kidnap attempt in Barcelona a year before the tournament, and that this had caused his retirement. "To play a World Cup you have to be 200% okay, there are moments when there are other values in life

6. Gerd Müller

2011-11-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Gerhard Müller
Date of birth	3 November 1945 (age 66)
Place of birth	Nördlingen, Germany
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Striker

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. He could turn quickly and with perfect balance in small spaces at speeds that would cause other players to fall over. He also had a knack of scoring in unlikely situations. With national records of 68 goals in 62 international appearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games, he was by far the most successful striker of his day.

club Career:

Bayern Munich

Born in Nördlingen, Germany, Müller began his football career at the TSV 1861 Nördlingen. Müller joined FC Bayern Munich in 1964 where he teamed up with future stars Franz Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier. The club, which would go on to become the most successful German club in history was then still in the Regionalliga Süd (Regional League South), which was one level below the Bundesliga at the time. After one season, Bayern Munich advanced to the Bundesliga and started a long string of successes. With his club, Müller amassed titles during the 60s and 70s: He won the German Championship four times, the German Cup four times, the European Champions' Cup three times, the Intercontinental Cup once, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup once. A supremely opportunistic goal-scorer, he also became German top scorer seven times and European top scorer twice. Müller scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches for Bayern Munich, almost 100 goals more than the second most successful Bundesliga scorer, Klaus Fischer. He holds the single-season Bundesliga record with 40 goals in season 1971–72. He scored 68 goals in 62 German Cup games. His record of 66 goals in 74 appearances at European Cups was just recently surpassed by Raúl González of Schalke 04.

International career:

Müller scored 68 goals in 62 games for West Germany. His international career started in 1966 and ended on 7 July 1974 with the win of the World Cup at his home stadium in Munich. He scored the winning goal for the 2–1 victory over the Netherlands in the final. His four goals in that tournament and his ten goals at the 1970 World Cup combined made him the all-time highest World Cup goalscorer overall at the time with 14 goals; his record stood until the 2006 tournament, coincidentally held in Germany, when it was broken by Brazilian forward Ronaldo on 27 June 2006 playing against Ghana and was equalled by his countryman Miroslav Klose in 2010. As of the end of the 2006 tournament, Ronaldo has scored 15 goals in four World Cups. Müller also participated in the 1972 European Championship, becoming top scorer with four goals (including two in the final) and winning the Championship with the German team.

7. Ronaldo

2011-11-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima
Date of birth	18 September 1976 (age 35)
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	1.83 metres (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Striker

A brilliant and fluid forward, Ronaldo became one of international soccer’s great stars of the 1990s and Brazil’s biggest soccer hero since Pele. Nicknamed “The Phenomenon,” the talented forward has played for Cruzeiro, Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan, amassing numerous records, championships, and cups. An international superstar, Ronaldo has been on the Brazilian national team since 1994 and was part of World Cup–winning teams in 1998 and in 2002, when he was the tournament’s top scorer

Club career:

1993: Cruzeiro

In 1993, Ronaldo began his football career playing for Cruzeiro which was already going on to become a successful club. In his first and only year with Cruzeiro, he amassed 12 goals in 14 appearances and led them to their first Copa do Brasil championship. Prior to this, he was turned down by his boyhood favourite team Flamengo, but Brazilian World Cup legend Jairzinho saw Ronaldo's potential and helped get him the move to Cruzeiro.

1994–1996: PSV Eindhoven

Ronaldo chose to join PSV after the 1994 World Cup, for he was selected despite being just 17, but did not play. It was Romário who advised Ronaldo to start his European career at PSV; Romário being a former striker of the team from 1988–1993. Ronaldo scored 30 league goals in his first season in Holland. His second season was marred by a knee injury which kept him out of most of the campaign, but he still averaged nearly a goal a game in the league, with 12 in his 13 appearances. With PSV, Ronaldo won the Dutch Cup in 1996 and he was Eredivisie top scorer in 1995.

1996–1997: Barcelona

During his spell at PSV, Ronaldo attracted the attention of notably Inter Milan and FC Barcelona. It was Barcelona that was willing to pay the then record fee of $17 million. During the 1996–97 season Ronaldo scored an incredible 47 goals in 49 games (in all competitions) for Barça, leading the Catalan side to UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph (where he capped the season with the winning goal in the cup final itself) and to Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España wins. He also won La Liga top scorer award in 1997 with 34 goals in 37 games. Until the 2008–09 season, Ronaldo remained the last player to score more than 30 goals in La Liga. At the age of 20, Ronaldo became the youngest player to win FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996. He also finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or.

1997–2002: Inter Milan

Ronaldo's time at Barça was brief, as there were problems with the renegotiation of Ronaldo's contract. Ronaldo's unhappiness became evident and at the end of the season, by paying the buy out clause fee in his contract, Inter Milan signed him the following year for a then world record fee of £19 million. Ronaldo duly helped them repeat his former side's cup-winning run, this time in the UEFA Cup, in which he scored their third goal in the final itself.

2002–2006: Real Madrid

Having signed for Real Madrid C.F. for €46 million, his jersey sales broke all records on the first day, such was the obsession and hype surrounding him. He was sidelined through injury until October 2002 but the fans kept on chanting his name. Ronaldo scored twice in his debut for Real Madrid. He received a standing ovation at the Stadium Bernabéu. That same reception was observed on the night of the final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, where Ronaldo scored again to seal his first season with 23 league goals and the La Liga Championship title for 2003, which Ronaldo had previously failed to win while with FC Barcelona. With Madrid, he also won an Intercontinental Cup in 2002 and Spanish Super Cup in 2003.

In the second leg of Real Madrid's Champions League quarter-final, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Manchester United at Old Trafford, knocking the English team out of the competition. Madrid was on track to win the treble until Ronaldo was injured towards the end of the 2003–04 season; they subsequently lost the Copa del Rey final, were knocked out of the Champions league quarter-finals, and suffered a league form breakdown. That season, he finished as the league's top scorer with 24 goals and was awarded the Pichichi Trophy, despite Madrid losing the league title to Valencia CF. With the acquisition of Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006, Ronaldo grew more and more out of favour with the manager Fabio Capello due to injuries and weight issues.

2007–2008: AC Milan

On 18 January 2007, it was reported that Ronaldo agreed terms with A.C. Milan for a transfer of €8.05 million. Ronaldo was forced to pay for the remaining period on his contract which tied him to Real Madrid, only because the latter did not agree to release him, while AC Milan were not ready to pay such a sum.On 13 February 2008, Ronaldo suffered a severe season-ending knee injury while jumping for a cross in AC Milan's 1–1 draw with Livorno, and was stretchered off and taken to a hospital. The club confirmed after the match that Ronaldo had ruptured the kneecap ligament in his left knee. It marked the third such occurrence of this injury, which he suffered twice to his right knee in 1998 and 2000. He was released by AC Milan at the end of the season, as his contract expired and was not renewed.

2009–2011: Corinthians

Ronaldo trained with Flamengo during his recovery from knee surgery, and the club's board of directors said that the doors were open for him to join. On 9 December, however, Ronaldo signed a one-year deal with Flamengo's league rival Corinthians.The announcement received high publicity in the Brazilian press about his favouring Corinthians over Flamengo, since Ronaldo publicly declared himself a Flamengo lover and had promised to defend the club.In February 2011, after Corinthians were eliminated from the 2011 Copa Libertadores by the Colombian team Deportes Tolima, Ronaldo announced his retirement from football. In an emotional press conference on 14 February 2011, he admitted his body had finally succumbed to the crippling litany of injuries that have blighted his career. "It's very hard to leave something that made me so happy. Mentally I wanted to continue but I have to acknowledge that I lost to my body," he stated.

International career:

1998 FIFA World Cup

Voted the FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997, he scored four goals and made three assists during the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The night before the final, he suffered a convulsive fit. At first, Ronaldo was removed from the starting lineup 72 minutes before the match, but he requested to play and was later reinstated by coach Mario Zagallo. Ronaldo did not perform well and he was injured in a collision with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Brazil lost the final to hosts France 3–0. Adrian Williams, professor of clinical neurology at Birmingham University, said that Ronaldo should not have played, saying that he would have been feeling the after effects of the seizure and that "there is no way that he would have been able to perform to the best of his ability within 24 hours of his first fit – if it was his first fit."

2002 FIFA World Cup

During the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo again led the national team to their record fifth championship and won the Golden Shoe as top scorer with eight goals and was runner-up to the Golden Ball as most valuable player in the tournament. He also scored against every opponent in the tournament except in the quarter-finals against England. In the final match against Germany, Ronaldo scored his 11th and 12th goals to a round of applause and tied Pelé's Brazilian record of 12 career World Cup goals.

2006 FIFA World Cup

At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although Brazil won their first two group games against Croatia and Australia, respectively, Ronaldo was repeatedly jeered for being overweight and slow. Nonetheless, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira kept him in the starting lineup in face of calls to have Ronaldo replaced. With his two goals against Japan in the third match, he became the 20th player ever to score in three different FIFA World Cups and also equalled the all-time World Cup finals scoring record of 14, held by Gerd Müller (Ronaldo scored at France 98, Korea/Japan 2002 and Germany 2006). and then broke Müller's record in the Round of 16 match against Ghana by scoring his 15th World Cup goal. He also equalled a much less talked about mark: with his third goal of the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo became only the second player ever, after Jürgen Klinsmann, to score at least three goals in each of three World Cups. Brazil, however, were knocked out by France 1–0 in the quarter-finals.

Ronaldo and Klinsmann's record of at least three goals in each of three World Cup finals has now been both equalled and bettered by the German Miroslav Klose, who now has a record of at least four goals in each of three tournaments, having netted five at both the 2002 and 2006 finals, and four at the 2010 tournament.

Farewell match

In February 2011 it was announced that Ronaldo will be given one very last match for Brazil, five years after his last match with the national team, a friendly against Romania was held in São Paulo on 7 June 2011.

8. Carlos Alberto Torres

2011-11-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Carlos Alberto Torres
Date of birth	July 17, 1944 (age 67)
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Right back

is a former Brazilian footballer, one of the most highly regarded defenders of all time. He captained Brazil to victory in the 1970 World Cup and is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century, as well as the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame. Carlos Alberto’s goal against Italy in the final of the Football World Cup 1970 is considered one of the greatest goals ever scored in the history of the tournament.

Club career:

Carlos Alberto joined Fluminense at the age of 19. He made a name for himself in his first season, not only because of his great tackling and reading of the game, but also for his outstanding ball control, dribbling and playmaking abilities, which were quite rare at the time for a defender. In 1966, he moved to Santos, where he became Pelé's teammate. In 1974, he returned to Fluminense and helped the team capture two consecutive Campeonato Carioca championships. In 1977, he moved to Fluminense's arch-rivals Flamengo.

NASL

In 1977, despite a great career in Brazil, Carlos Alberto Torres decided to move to the New York Cosmos. He arrived on the day of the New York City blackout where he was reunited with his friend and partner Pelé and helped the Cosmos capture two consecutive NASL titles in 1977 and 1978. After spending one year with the California Surf, he returned to the Cosmos in 1982 where he won his third NASL title. He played his farewell game on September 28, 1982 in an exhibition match between the Cosmos and his former club Flamengo. In 119 regular season games and 26 playoff games, Carlos scored a total of 8 goals and was an NASL All-Star five times.

International career:

Carlos Alberto Torres is considered a legend among football insiders for his massive contributions to Brazil as an attacking right-back. From 1964 to 1977, Torres was capped 53 times and scored 8 goals. He was included in the 44 man training squad for the 1966 FIFA World Cup but did not make the final 22, a decision which hugely disappointed him and surprised most commentators at that time. As it turned out, Brazil performed pitifully in England, and when Joao Saldanha was tasked with restoring pride and passion to the selecao, he recognised the natural flair for leadership that Carlos Alberto was consistantly demonstrating at Santos, and made him national captain. Thus, Carlos Alberto will always be remembered holding aloft the Jules Rimet trophy after the greatest team of the modern era secured the cup for good after an impressive victory over Italy in the final of the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. This legendary squad also included Clodoaldo, Gérson, Jairzinho, Roberto Rivelino, Tostão and Pelé. Carlos Alberto's goal against Italy in the 1970 FIFA World Cup Final is considered one of the greatest goals ever scored in the history of the tournament. Given the influence he had demonstrated throughout the 1970 tournament, it is tragic that it would prove to be the only time he would play at that level. He was unable to participate in the 1974 World Cup due to a persistant knee injury. When he eventually regained match fitness, his penchant for galloping down the flanks had been compromised. However, his ability to read the game compensated for his loss of pace and when he moved to centre back he found the form to warrant a recall to the national team. In 1977 he was selected by Claudio Coutinho to captain the national team for the first three qualifiers for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. He acquitted himself well despite these being the first competative internationals Carlos Alberto had played for almost 7 years. He was approaching 33 years of age, he had nothing else to prove, and thus chose that moment to retire from the Brazil National Team, immediately prior joining New York Cosmos in the NASL. Today he is considered one of the finest Brazilian footballers of all time, with the likes of Pelé, Zico, Ronaldo, Garrincha, Romário and fellow defenders Roberto Carlos and Nilton Santos.

9. Michael Platini

2011-11-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

Personal information
Full name	Michel François Platini
Date of birth	21 June 1955 (age 56)
Place of birth	Jœuf, France
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder

Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was voted the best player and top goalscorer. Platini, Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana together made up the “carré magique” (magic square), the group of midfield players that formed the heart of the French national team throughout the 1980s. He is also widely regarded as one the best passers in football history as well as one of history’s greatest free kick specialists and finishers. He holds the record for most goals scored in European Championship final.

Club career:

Nancy (1972–1979)

Platini was quick to make a big impression at his new club, scoring a hat-trick in a reserve team match against Wittelsheim. Further outstanding displays put him in contention for a place in the Nancy first team. His introduction to the first-team squad was inauspicious. On the substitutes' bench for a match against Valenciennes, Platini was spat on and hit by various objects thrown from the crowd when a fight broke out in the stands. Playing for the reserves a few days later, a hefty challenge from an opponent left Platini with a bad ankle injury. His season would finish on a more positive note, and he would go on to make his league debut against Nîmes on 3 May 1973.

Although Platini was not disgraced by his performances at his first World Cup, fans held him responsible for the French team's failure to progress in the tournament, and in the season that followed he was a target of jeering crowds. The situation came to a head in a match away to Saint-Étienne. Spurred on by booing fans, Platini competed for every ball, and he picked up a bad ankle injury in a tackle. As a result, he was ruled out of Nancy's Cup Winners' Cup campaign. His contract with the club expired in June 1979, and Internazionale, Paris Saint-Germain, and Saint-Étienne emerged as the clubs most likely to sign him, although the Nancy club president had been unwilling to let Platini leave the club. Having set his mind on a transfer to Saint-Étienne, he signed a three-year contract with les Verts.

In spite of his injuries and the boos that would greet him, Platini maintained his pranksterish sense of humour. On away trips, he would set off firecrackers in public places and then pretend to be dead, inevitably drawing a crowd. While in Argentina for the World Cup, he would squeeze tubes of toothpaste into his team-mates' beds.

Saint-Étienne (1979–1982)

Platini's three years at Saint-Étienne were a mixed success. The club had signed him with a view to success in the European Cup, but despite some excellent results (including a 6–0 win over PSV in the 1979–80 UEFA Cup and a 5–0 win at Hamburger SV in the UEFA Cup the following season), the club were unable to surpass the feats of the Saint-Étienne side that had reached the final of the 1976 European Cup.

Platini won the French league title in 1981 with Les Verts, but was on a losing Saint-Étienne side in two French Cup finals, against Bastia in 1981 and against Paris Saint-Germain in 1982, in what was his last match for the club before joining Juventus. He left for a nominal transfer fee (under UEFA regulations) despite being out of contract and no fee being necessary under French regulations at the time.

Juventus (1982–1987)

At Juventus, in a team featuring numerous members of Italy's victorious World Cup squad, Platini had a difficult introduction to Italian football. He was a target in the demanding Italian sports media, and even came close to leaving Italy in the winter of his first season. Platini and teammate Zbigniew Boniek successfully called for a change in tactics, and in the second half of the season Juventus saw an upturn in their fortunes. They reached the European Cup final, losing to Hamburger SV, but won the Italian Cup, the first of many club honours to follow for Platini in the coming seasons. He won the Italian championship with Juventus in 1984 and 1986, the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1984, the 1984 European Super Cup, the European Cup in 1985 and the 1985 Intercontinental Cup. He finished top scorer in Serie A for three consecutive seasons (1982–83, 1983–84, and 1984–85), and won a hat-trick of European Footballer of the Year awards (1983 through 1985). Platini was also voted Player of the Year by World Soccer magazine in 1984 and 1985.

Following the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Platini spent another season at Juventus before retiring from football in June 1987.

International career:

1976 Olympics

Platini was a member of the French football team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Their tournament began on 19 July with an easy 4–0 win over Mexico. They registered another 4–0 win in their next match against Guatemala, with two goals from Platini. The French team completed the group stage with a draw against Israel, Platini scoring from a penalty. France progressed to the quarter-final stage, where they would face a full-strength East German team. Hindered by some dubious refereeing,[citation needed] France lost 4–0 and finished the match with nine men.

1978 World Cup

In retrospect, this match may have been a Pyrrhic victory because Platini's brilliance drew the attention of Italy coach Enzo Bearzot, who devised a successful plan to contain him in a match-up that really mattered—the first round of the 1978 World Cup four months later. Platini was kept in check by Marco Tardelli's implacable marking and Italy won 2–1. Drawn in a difficult group with Italy as well as hosts (and eventual winners) Argentina, France did not survive the first round.

Euro '84

In 1984, Platini captained France to success in the European Championship on home soil. His individual impact on the tournament was huge with nine of France's 14 goals in just five games (the top goal scorer in Euro). He scored the winner in France's opening match against Denmark, and scored two "perfect" hat-tricks (one header and one goal with each foot) against Belgium and Yugoslavia, as France topped their first-round group with three wins out of three. In the dramatic semi-final in Marseille against Portugal, Platini scored the final goal of the match for a memorable 3–2 win in the last minute of extra time. In the final against Spain, he opened the scoring with a free kick-goal, helped by a monumental blunder from Spain goalkeeper Luis Arconada. A second goal from Bruno Bellone in injury time at the end of the match secured France's first major title in international football.

Mexico '86

Suffering from groin pain and playing under injection, Platini was not in peak physical condition for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Nonetheless he contributed two important goals. The first contributed to their 2–0 defeat of defending champions Italy. The second came during the quarterfinal match against Brazil. After Careca scored for Brazil, Platini scored the equalizer, his 41st on his 31st birthday, which sent the game into a penalty shoot-out. France won 4–3, with Platini famously sending his over the bar. This goal was to be the last of his international career. After losing a second World Cup semi-final in a row to West Germany, France had to settle for third place. Platini did not take part in the 1982 or 1986 World Cup third-place matches.

Retirement

Platini made his last appearance for France on 29 April 1987, in a European Championship qualifier at home to Iceland, a few weeks before announcing his retirement from all football.

10. Raul Gonzalez

2011-11-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Raúl González Blanco
Date of birth	27 June 1977 (age 34)
Place of birth	Madrid, Spain
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Forward

Called the ‘Angel of Madrid’ and simply known as Raúl, he is a Spanish football striker who plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid. Also the three-time winner of the UEFA Champions League and is the second all-time leading scorer in official UEFA competitions after Filippo Inzaghi with 64 goals. He took over the captaincy of Real Madrid when Fernando Hierro departed in 2003, and has since shown himself to be a natural and respected leader.

club career:

Real Madrid

He started his professional career in the 1994–95 season with Real Madrid C, he scored 13 goals in just 7 games and swiftly promoted to the first team by coach Jorge Valdano, replacing the legendary figure of Emilio Butragueño in a highly symbolic "passing of the crown". He became the youngest player (17 years and 124 days) ever to play for the senior side, (even though the record was finally broken by Alberto Rivera, at the late of that season) and on 29 October 1994 in an away game against Real Zaragoza in La Romareda, he created a goal for strike partner Iván Zamorano and impressing observers with all-round play of startling precocity, and heralding the demise of Butragueño in the process. The very next week, Raúl scored his first goal in his second senior game on a home debut against the rival and also Raúl's former youth club, Atlético Madrid in a bitter derby match. Duly establishing himself as a fixture in the first team, Raúl registered a total of nine goals in 28 appearances to help Real Madrid win the 1994–95 league championship in his first season.

Raúl's last touch with the ball as Real Madrid player before an injury ruled him out of action for the rest of that season was to score his last goal, an opening goal scored on 24 April 2010 in a 1–2 away victory against Real Zaragoza in La Romareda (the stadium where he made his first debut back in 1994). It was scored on 50' minutes after Raúl (himself only on the pitch as a substitute for Rafael van der Vaart on 15' minutes) had signalled that he could not physically continue and was prepared to be substituted by Karim Benzema one minute after the goal. Before the substitution could be made, Real Madrid launched a counter-attack to create a goal. Though Raúl ran to a slow hobble, he shuffled into the box and was able to poke the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo's cross.

Having spent the rest of the season recovering from that injury, the club confirmed on 25 July 2010 that Raúl would be leaving the club, a day after his teammate Guti confirmed he was leaving too after 15 years. Although new coach José Mourinho wanted Raúl to continue, Raúl did not want to spend another season as third or fourth choice striker and he thought that it was better if he left as he was still able to deliver a good performance in another club.

Schalke

Raúl signed a two-year contract with FC Schalke 04 on 28 July 2010. Schalke coach Felix Magath hailed the signing and told the club website,"It's great news for FC Schalke 04, I am pleased that we have succeeded in signing such an exceptional footballer and world-class striker switching to the Bundesliga for Schalke 04." He scored his first goal for the club during his first match on 1 August 2010 with a brace in a 3–1 victory over Bayern Munich in the final match pre-season competition LIGA total! Cup 2010. One week later, he made his official match debut in the 2010 DFL-Supercup on 7 August 2010 against Bayern Munich again, but this time he failed to score in the 2-0 defeat match. Raul made his official Bundesliga debut on 21 August 2010, in a 2–1 defeat against Hamburg. and scored his first goal for Schalke in Bundesliga against Mönchengladbach on 25 September 2010 in a 2–2 draw. After a quiet start he has rediscovered his goalscoring form in the Bundesliga with a brace against St. Pauli on 5 November 2010 in a 3–0 win, and on 20 November 2010 he scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 4–0 win over Werder Bremen. On 18 December 2010 he scored his second hat-trick for Schalke in a 3–0 win against Köln.

In European play, Raul has since become the highest goal scorer in all UEFA competitions with 73 goals, ahead of A.C. Milan veteran Filippo Inzaghi with 70 goals. He scored 71 goals in UEFA Champions League (66 goals with the Castilian and 5 others with Schalke 04) and addition his two goals with the capital side, one goal in 2000 UEFA Super Cup and the other one in 1998 Intercontinental Cup (also commonly referred as known as EUSA Cup). On 22 October 2010, the former Spanish international scored twice against Hapoel Tel Aviv in a 3–1 win, which tied him with German legend Gerd Müller for the most number of European goals. Raúl duly broke this record on 15 February 2011 on his return to Spain, with a crucial away goal in the last 16 tie against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium in a 1–1 draw. In the quarter-finals, Raúl scored two goals against Inter Milan. He scored one goal in the first leg, a 2–5 away win in San Siro and one goal in the second leg, a 2–1 home win in Veltins-Arena. Schalke progressed to the semi-finals of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history, where they played against Manchester United. Schalke lost the first game 0–2, which was their first home defeat this season in this tournament and lost again 4–1 in Old Trafford.

International career:

Raúl began his Spain career at youth level and represented the nation at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 1995, scoring three goals from five matches. In total, Rául scored 17 goals at the various youth levels for Spain. With the senior team, Raúl went on for many years to score a national record 44 goals in 102 caps for Spain. Though David Villa later equaled Raúl's record in 2010, and surpassed it on 25 March 2011 in the Euro 2012 qualifier.

Of his 44 international goals, Raúl scored 32 goals in competitive games, 6 of which were in the finals of major tournaments and 12 others on friendly games. On 27 March 1999, in Euro 2000 qualifier, Raúl scored four goals, one of his only two international hat-tricks, during Spain's 9–0 rout of Austria. He scored another international hat-trick four days later, against San Marino during the same qualifying tournament.

Raúl is the most-capped outfield player for Spain, with 102 appearances.

Raúl took over the team captaincy following the retirement of Fernando Hierro in 2002 and skippered the national side for four years.

Curiously, Raúl's international career would begin and end with omissions from Spanish squads for European Championships tournaments. In spite of a successful first two seasons of senior football, Raúl was not chosen by then-coach Javier Clemente for Euro 1996 in England. Instead, Raúl had to wait until October 1996 to earn his first senior cap against the Czech Republic, before opening his international goal tally with a strike on his second appearance against Yugoslavia. Raúl went on to participate in three World Cups from 1998 to 2006, along with Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, scoring at least one goal in each of the three World Cup competitions. At 2002 FIFA World Cup, he scored 3 goals in the group phase before injuring himself against the Republic of Ireland in Spain's fourth game and missing the remainder of the tournament.

Raúl has not been chosen for the national team since September 2006, following a 3–2 defeat against Northern Ireland in Belfast (a game in which Raúl hit the post late on), including the UEFA Euro 2008 final tournament, as Luis Aragonés preferred Fernando Torres and David Villa as his first choice strike force. Raúl's clubmate and goalkeeper Iker Casillas succeeded him as captain and also lifted the FIFA World Cup in 2010, which Spain also won.

Sid Lowe of The Guardian wrote in 2004 that Raúl had tried to undermine Michael Owen during his period with Real Madrid, exerting his influence on then manager José Antonio Camacho, whilst Nicolas Anelka and Cicinho were also critical of Raúl's influence. However, all of Raúl's other teammates have always spoken of their high regard for him, as both player and man. The utter dignity and professionalism Raúl has displayed when dropped by first Spain and then Real Madrid also undermine the theory that Raúl as a back-stage plotter. Indeed, two months before Euro 2008, when the clamour for Raúl's return to the Spain squad was at a crescendo, Rául agreed to publicly meet with Luis Aragones to scotch rumours of a fall-out between the two and to plead for the squad to be allowed to get along with their preparations in peace.

11. Alfredo di Stefano

2011-11-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé
Date of birth	4 July 1926 (age 85)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder, Forward

Nicknamed Saeta rubia (Blond arrow), was a powerful forward with great stamina and tactical versatility. He could also play anywhere on the pitch and despite being well-known as a forward, was great in defense. He is currently the 3rd highest scorer in the history of Spain’s top division, with 228 goals in 329 games. Di Stéfano is also Real Madrid’s highest league goalscorer of all time, with 216 goals in 282 league matches.

Club career:

Alfredo Di Stéfano born into a family of Italian immigrants from Nicolosi, near Catania. Began his career at Argentina's River Plate aged 17, in 1943. For the 1946 season he was loaned to Club Atlético Huracán, but he returned to River in 1947. Due to a footballer's strike in Argentina in 1949, Di Stéfano went to play for Millonarios of Bogotá in the Colombian league. He won six league titles during the first 12 years of his career in Argentina and Colombia.

He moved to Espanyol in 1964 and played there until hanging up his boots at the age of 40.

Controversy surrounding transfer to Spain

Di Stéfano's transfer to Spain would prove controversial. The mission to secure the signing of Di Stéfano to Barcelona had first been given to Ramón Trias Fargas, who, besides being a lawyer and expert in commercial law, was the son of one of the share-holders of Millonarios, where Di Stéfano was playing at the time. According to Trias Fargas, Barcelona's own management effectively obstructed the transfer when club president Marti Carreto also involved Barcelona chief scout Josep Samitier in the negotiations. Samitier, in his turn, brought in his Colombian friend, Joan Busquets, to speed up the talks with the Colombian club. Busquets, a director of Millonarios' rivals Santa Fé, seem to have tried more to sabotage the deal than to secure it. After issuing a harsh ultimatum to Millonarios to accept a modest offer for the player he organized Di Stéfano's defection from Colombia when the ultimatum was rejected, despite Di Stéfano owing the club money. River Plate, who owned the rights of the player from 1955 onwards, had accepted the transfer on the condition that Millonarios also agreed upon the transfer, which they, after what they perceived as Busquets' bullying tactics, weren't interested in doing. Trias Fargas' negotiations with the Colombians regarding a transfer sum were also breaking down when Carreto, despite assurances to Trias Fargas that he would pay whatever price Trias Fargas thought necessary, rejected a figure whenever it was agreed between the lawyer and the Colombians. Trias Fargas blamed Carreto claiming Barcelona directors had allowed him to spend $20,000 but Carreto only accepted to offer $10,000 plus the player's debts.

During the parallel negotiations between the two Spanish clubs and Millonarios, the Spanish Federation issued a ban on foreign players in the Spanish league. On 15 September, the Spanish Federation made public the decision, which club presidents Carreto and Bernabéu had signed, to allow Di Stéfano four seasons in Spain – two for each team, to be played alternately. The agreement created such a storm of protests by the rest of the Barcelona management and the fans that Carreto resigned a week later. The reasons for Barcelona's decision to let the player go to Madrid are disputed by the two clubs.This incident exacerbated the traditional enmity between the two clubs.

International career:

Di Stéfano played with three different national teams during his career: he played six times with the Argentine national team, twice with Colombia (not recognized by FIFA) and 31 times with the Spanish national team. However, he never played in the World Cup Finals.

World Cup absence

The first World Cup in which he would have been able to participate was the 1950 tournament. As Argentina refused to participate, Di Stéfano (aged 24) missed his first chance at playing in the World Cup.

For the 1954 World Cup, Argentina did not enter and FIFA declared Di Stéfano was not eligible to play because he had previously been capped by both Argentina and Colombia.

He acquired Spanish citizenship in 1956, and played four World Cup qualifying matches for Spain in 1957, but the team failed to qualify for the 1958 World Cup.

In 1961, Di Stéfano who had already won 5 European Cups, helped Spain qualify for the World Cup of 1962. A muscular injury just before the competition prevented him from playing in the finals. He retired from international football afterwards.

12. Alvaro Recoba

2011-11-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Álvaro Alexander Recoba Rivero
Date of birth	March 17, 1976 (age 35)
Place of birth	Montevideo, Uruguay
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Supporting striker Attacking midfielder Winger

Recoba’s strengths are his dribbling, technique, pace and a strong, accurate left-foot shot. He is a free-kick specialist, and has scored goals of great quality, examples of which were his two goals during his debut with Inter, and basically all the goals scored during his time at Venezia. It is said that few, if any, have been born with Recoba’s ability; however, his mentality continues to fail him at the most crucial moments.

Club career:

Internazionale

Recoba made his debut for Internazionale on the same day as Ronaldo (August 31, 1997), against Brescia in San Siro, scoring two goals in the last ten minutes of the match: one, a powerful 30-yard shot that flew past the keeper, the next, a free kick into the top corner after a Cristiano Doni foul. The goals allowed Internazionale to come back and win the match 2–1. In the same season, he scored a lob from only a short distance into the opponent's half.

Loan to Venezia

After two seasons with Internazionale, he was eventually loaned out to relegation-battling Venezia.It was there that he proved he could play at the highest level, as he was involved in the majority of the goals that the Venice side scored during his time there; he scored 11 times and made 9 assists in 19 matches. His efforts helped Venezia escape relegation that season.

Return to Internazionale

After his tenure at Venezia, which lasted less than one season, Recoba returned to Inter. In January 2001, he renewed his contract with the club until June 30, 2006. But during the same month he faced problems with a fake passport, losing the Italian nationality he received in 1999. He was punished with a one-year ban, which was later reduced to four months on appeal.

On March 16, 2007 Recoba confirmed to SKY Italia that he wanted to leave the team at the end of the 2006–07 season citing lack of appearances with the first team. Though he did score 1 goal for the team including a goal direct from a corner , He was initially linked with Internazionale's scudetto rivals A.S. Roma after he claimed that if the opportunity arose and Inter president Massimo Moratti approved he would join the capital club immediately. On August 31, 2007 he was loaned to fellow Serie A club Torino F.C. where he rejoined Walter Novellino, his previous boss at Venezia. He has played for Italian champions Internazionale in the Italian Serie A for ten seasons from 1997.

Torino

Recoba scored his first goal for the club in the second match of the season, a 1–1 draw with Palermo, after a good combination between himself and Alessandro Rosina.On December 19, 2007 Recoba gave a top-class performance against A.S. Roma in the Coppa Italia, scoring two excellent goals in Torino's 3–1 win. However, his performances have been disappointing due to injuries and lack of playing time; he has not made the expected impact despite a good start and finished the season out of the starting formation.

Panionios

Recoba signed for Panionios of the Greek Super League on the September 5, 2008, making him one of the clubs biggest signings in recent history. There he joined former Inter team mate and close friend Lampros Choutos as well as Uruguay national team player Fabián Estoyanoff. He made his debut by the p.t. Fabio Martella against Aris on October 18, 2008 in a 2–1 win for Panionios F.C. He proved his quality by assisting both goals for his teammates Maniatis and Gonzaga. In his next match, he inspired Panionios to a 5–2 away win against Ergotelis where he scored two goals, and dominated as an attacking midfielder with his brilliant passing skills. He finished the season with five goals and seven assists, though had several injury problems.

Back to Uruguay

After nine days without a club it was announced on December 24, 2009 that he would sign with Danubio F.C. The former Uruguayan international has already played for Danubio from 1993 to 1995.

International career:

Recoba played for Uruguay at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and has earned over 50 caps for his country. His only goal at the tournament came against Senegal in Uruguay's final group game, but it was not enough as the match finished in a 3–3 draw and eliminated Uruguay in the first round.

In September 2005, he scored the winning goal against Argentina in a World Cup qualifier. This helped Uruguay qualify as South America's fifth placed team and put them in position to play for the intercontinental playoff against Oceania champions Australia. However, Uruguay was unsuccessful in its bid for World Cup 2006; losing 4–2 in a penalty shootout after a draw in aggregate score.

Despite the lack of appearances for Internazionale, he was again picked for the Uruguayan national team. This allowed Recoba to play in most of the Uruguay matches for which he was healthy. He scored his 12th goal with the Uruguayan national team in a 2–1 victory on June 2, 2007 in a friendly match against Australia.

Recoba also played for Uruguay in Copa América 2007. He made his debut on January 18, 1995 in a friendly match against Spain (2–2) in the Estadio Riazor in La Coruña, substituting Enzo Francescoli in the 65th minute

13. Luis Figo

2011-11-09T11:51:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo
Date of birth	4 November 1972 (age 39)
Place of birth	Almada, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder / Winger

Figo is a football hero who began his professional career in Portugal, his native land, then made his name in Spain playing for powerhouse teams FC Barcelona and Real Madrid before switching to Inter Milan in 2005. With his deft stop-and-go dribbling and aggressive style, the midfielder is known more as a playmaker than as a pure scorer. His breakthrough year was 2000, when he led Portugal to the semifinals of Euro 2000 and was named European Footballer of the Year. The same year he moved from FC Barcelona to rival Real Madrid for a then-record fee of $56 million.

Club career:

Sporting CP

Figo started his career at Sporting CP. He won his first senior international cap in 1991. Prior to that, he won the Under-21 World Championships and Under-16 European Championships with Portugal junior sides, alongside Rui Costa, João Pinto and he was also a significant part of Portugal's "Golden Generation".

FC Barcelona

In 1995, Figo looked poised to join one of the big clubs of Europe, but a dispute between Italian clubs Juventus and Parma, with Figo having signed contracts with both clubs, resulted in an Italian two-year transfer ban on Figo, effectively stopping any moves to Italy. However, the situation was eventually resolved for Figo, with a move to Spanish club FC Barcelona for a £2.25 million fee, under Dutch coach Johan Cruyff.

It was with Barcelona from 1995 that his career really took off: Figo won a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996–97, successive Primera División titles and went on to appear 172 times for Barcelona, scoring 30 goals.

Real Madrid

In 2000, Figo made a hugely controversial move to Barcelona's bitter rivals Real Madrid. Many Barcelona fans felt betrayed by his transfer and turned against him, despite Figo having many years of success with Barcelona and having been a fan favourite for over five years. When he returned three seasons later in a league match (2002), he got a heated reception from the crowd and many started throwing objects at him as he took corners and throw-ins, including a pig's head.

Figo's arrival signaled the beginning of Florentino Pérez's "Galáctico era". With Madrid Figo won La Liga in 2001 and 2003 as well as the 2001-02 Champions League.

Internazionale

Figo left Real Madrid to join Internazionale in the summer of 2005 on a free transfer after his contract with Real Madrid had expired. This meant that Figo would finally be able to play for a club in Italy, something he had the chance to do before his move to Barcelona, but was scuppered due to a dispute between the two clubs interested, Juventus and Parma. During the summer of 2008, Figo's compatriot José Mourinho joined Inter on a managerial level. This has been said to please Figo, as he would have several Portuguese teammates during the remainder of his stay at Inter. On 16 May 2009, Figo announced his retirement from football, the same day Internazionale won the 2008–09 title, and re-confirmed this on 30 May; his final game was on 31 May against Atalanta at the San Siro. At Javier Zanetti's insistence, Figo captained the side for his very last match. He received a standing ovation from the crowd as he was substituted by Davide Santon. The freekick he scored in extra time against Roma during the Supercoppa Italiana was undisputedly his most memorable part of his time in Italy.

Figo said, "I am leaving football, not Inter." He was interviewed by Inter Channel after his last game against Atalanta and also said, "I hope to be able to help this club to become even greater also after my retirement. I will certainly work for Inter in the future in the club board. I never imagined that I was going to remain here for such a long time. What I will never forget is the love that I have received since my first day here from my teammates and president Massimo Moratti. I will never forget it; Inter have given me the chance to start a winning cycle with some extraordinary people." Luis Figo was on the sidelines when Internazionale Milano won the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League on 22 May 2010.

International career:

The leader of Portugal's "Golden Generation," Figo won a FIFA World Youth Championship in 1991, the same year he made his senior debut against Luxembourg on 16 October 1991, in a friendly match that ended 1–1 when he was only 18 years old. He has performed at the highest level ever since, making appearances at Euro 1996, Euro 2000, Euro 2004 and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. He announced his retirement from international football following the Euro 2004 final upset-defeat by Greece. It was believed because there was a rift between him and national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari although this was denied. However, in June 2005, he reversed his decision and returned for the 2006 World Cup qualifying wins against Slovakia and Estonia under Scolari.

Figo captained the squad during the 2006 World Cup, leading the team to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by France courtesy of a penalty from his former club-mate and French captain Zinedine Zidane. This was Portugal's best finish in 40 years. The third place playoff caused some controversy as Figo did not start; Pauleta captained the team in his place. However, Portugal fell behind 2–0 to hosts Germany and Figo replaced Pauleta in the 77th minute, who handed him back the captain's armband, to cheers from both Portuguese and German fans. Although Germany scored another goal shortly after Figo's entrance, he ended his final cap for his country on a high note by setting up Nuno Gomes to head in an 88th minute consolation goal. Despite having no trophies to show for the "Golden Generation," Figo managed to captain the team to their best World Cup performance since the Eusébio era in 1966. He finished his international career with 127 caps and scoring 32 goals.

14. Ronald Koeman

2011-11-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Date of birth	21 March 1963 (age 48)
Place of birth	Zaandam, Netherlands
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Defender (1985–1997) Midfielder (1980–1985)

Besides being a defender at the centre back position, Koeman was also known for his powerful right-footed free kicks and dead ball ability where he scored many vital goals for the team, and it was from a free-kick that he scored FC Barcelona’s winning goal in the 1992 European Cup final. Ronald Koeman scored 193 league goals in 503 matches (ahead of Daniel Passarella who netted 182 goals in 556 matches) during his career, more than any other defender in the history of football.

Club career:

In 1980 Koeman started his professional career at Groningen. After playing for Ajax, PSV and FC Barcelona, he finished his career in Feyenoord. During his career he won two UEFA European Cup titles, five Dutch championships, three Dutch Cups, four Spanish championships, one Spanish Cup and he was also in the winning Dutch national team at the UEFA Euro 1988.

Besides being a defender at the centreback position, Koeman was also known for his powerful right-footed freekicks and deadball ability where he scored many vital goals for the team, and it was from a free kick that he scored Barcelona's winning goal in the 1992 European Cup final.[4] His nickname while playing for Barcelona was Floquet de Neu, after the famous albino gorilla in the Barcelona Zoo.

International career:

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He represented his nation in the 1990 World Cup and World Cup 1994 and picked up a total of 78 caps for The Netherlands, scoring 14 goals. During the 1988 European Championship, after the semi-final against Germany 2–1 in Hamburg, he, in front of German supporters, provocatively pretended to wipe his backside with the shirt of Olaf Thon, an action Koeman later regretted.

After scoring the winning free kick goal in the 1992 European Cup final, he became the first player to score a goal in two consecutive Cup Finals of different European competitions, having earlier scored Barcelona's consolation goal against Manchester United in the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup Final.

Koeman scored 193 league goals in 533 matches (ahead of Daniel Passarella, who netted 182 goals in 556 matches) during his career, more than any other defender in the history of football.

15. Lev Yashin

2011-11-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Lev Ivanovich Yashin
Date of birth	22 October 1929
Place of birth	Soviet Union
Date of death	20 March 1990 (aged 60)
Place of death	Soviet Union
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper

A superb goalkeeper, perhaps the best in the history of the game, he was a Soviet sports hero. Yashin spent his playing career with the Moscow Dynamo club, and after retirement was a coach there. Dynamo won five league championships and three cups due in large part to Yashin’s domination of the goal. Yashin’s playing was an important element in the Soviet national team’s gold medal win at the 1956 Olympics, and he tended goal for the team in three World Cups. He became the only goalkeeper to be named European footballer of the year, and was awarded the title of world goalkeeper of the 20th cent. Fondly known as the black spider (after his Black Goal keeper uniform..

Playing career:

He spent his entire professional football career with Dynamo Moscow, from 1950 to 1970, winning the USSR football championship five times and the USSR Cup three times. Yashin’s club team-mate, rival and mentor was Alexei ‘Tiger’ Khomich, the keeper of the Soviet national team, who had become famous for his role in Dynamo Moscow’s British tour.

In 1954, Yashin was finally called up to the national team, and would go on to gather 78 caps. With the national team he won the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1960 European Championship. He also played in three World Cups, in 1958, 1962 and 1966. The 1958 World Cup, played in Sweden, put Yashin on the map for his performances, with the Soviet Union advancing to the quarter-finals. In a group stage match against the eventual Cup winners Brazil, which the Soviet team lost 2:0, Yashin’s performance prevented the score from becoming a rout. He was selected into the All-Star Team that World Cup. In 1962, despite suffering two concussions during the tournament, he once-again led the team to a quarter-final finish, before losing to host country Chile.That tournament showed that Yashin was all too human, having made some uncharacteristic mistakes. In the game against Colombia, which the Soviet Union was leading 4:1, Yashin let in a few soft goals, including an Olympic goal scored by Marcos Coll directly from a corner kick (the first and the only Olympic goal scored in FIFA World Cup history). The game finished in a 4:4 tie, which led the French newspaper l'Equipe to predict the end of Yashin’s career. But he would bounce back to win the Ballon d'Or the following year and to lead the Soviet team to its best showing at the 1966 World Cup, a fourth place finish. Always ready to give advice to his comrades, Yashin even made a fourth trip to the World Cup finals in 1970 as the third-choice back-up and an assistant. The Soviet team again reached the quarter-finals. Yashin is credited with four clean sheets out of the 12 games he played in the World Cup finals.

Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper ever to win the European Footballer of the Year Award (1963). He is also believed to have stopped around 150 penalty kicks during his career, far more than any other goalkeeper in history. When asked what his secret was, he would reply that the trick was "to have a smoke to calm your nerves, then toss back a strong drink to tone your muscles."

Lev Yashin died in 1990 of complications caused by an amputation of one of his legs following a knee injury in 1986.

Still, his reputation as a brilliant keeper, a true sportsman, and an innovator of the game lives on. Yashin would always organize the defensive game of his team, often so fiercely that even his wife accused him of yelling too much on the pitch. He rarely captained his teams, as the accepted custom of appointing a goalkeeper captain was virtually unheard-of in that era, but his leadership on the field was always evident. Yashin was one of the goalkeepers that began the practice of punching balls out in difficult situations instead of trying to catch them. Other novel practices he developed were the quick throw of the ball to begin a counterattack, coming out of the penalty area to anticipate danger, and the command and organization of the defenders—practices now quite common among goalkeepers. In 1994, FIFA established the Lev Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper at the World Cup finals. FIFA polls named Yashin as the sole goalkeeper in World Team of the 20th Century. World Soccer Magazine named him in their The 100 Greatest Players of the 20th Century. Many commentators still consider Yashin the best keeper in the history of football, which resulted in the fact he was chosen to be the goalkeeper in most of the world-all-time teams ever written (including the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team and the FIFA Dream Team)

16. Zico

2011-11-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

Personal information

Full name	Arthur Antunes Coimbra
Date of birth	3 March 1953 (age 58)
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder Playmak

Often called the White Pelé, he is commonly considered one of the most skilled dribblers and finishers ever and possibly the world’s best player of the early 80′s. He was also known as one of history’s greatest free kick specialists, able to bend the ball with pace and accuracy as well as having an extremely powerful shot.

Playing career:

Flamengo

Physically Zico was not strong, and his history of determination and discipline began with a hard muscle and body development program conducted by the Physical Education teacher José Roberto Francalacci. A combination of hard work and also a special diet sponsored by his team enabled him to develop a strong body and become an athlete. This later proved to be essential for his success.

In 1971, he had some appearances in the professional team but only one year later, after 116 matches and 81 goals in the youth team, Zico was promoted to Flamengo's professional squad.

In the 1978 World Cup against Sweden, Zico headed a corner kick into the goal in the final minute of the match, apparently breaking a 1–1 tie. However, in a call that became infamous, the Welsh referee Clive Thomas disallowed the goal, saying that he had blown the whistle to end the match while the ball was still in the air.

1982 World Cup would see Zico as part of a fantastic squad, side by side with Falcão, Sócrates, Cerezo and Júnior. In spite of his 4 goals and great skills by that squad, the team was defeated by Paolo Rossi and Italy in the second round.

Italy

After receiving offers from AS Roma and AC Milan, it seemed right to move to Italy, and in a multi-million dollar transaction he was hired to play for Udinese Calcio. Though leaving Flamengo fans in sadness, he caused a commotion in Udine by making fans to dream about better days for the city's club. In the 1983–84 Serie A, his first in Italy, his partnership with Franco Causio took Udinese to a higher level, gaining respect from giants Juventus and Roma. His personal top scorer dispute against Juventus's Michel Platini was exciting – Zico scored 19 goals, one fewer than top scorer Platini, having played 6 fewer matches than the French footballer. His following season would be punctuated by injuries, suspensions due to openly attacking referees, and a great match against Napoli's Diego Maradona – his last one as a bianconero.

Ultimately Udinese failed to win any relevant competition and Zico returned to Brazil and Flamengo, sponsored by a group of companies.

Back to Brazil

On his return, he suffered a knee injury after a violent tackle from Bangu's defender Marcio Nunes, which interrupted his career for several months. He played in the 1986 FIFA World Cup while still injured, and missed a penalty during regular time in the quarter-final match against France. The match ended in a tie which led to a shootout. Zico then scored his goal but after penalties missed by Sócrates and Júlio César, Brazil were knocked out. Recovered from injuries, things improved for Zico in 1987 when he led Flamengo to their fourth national title.

With 731 matches for Flamengo, Zico is the player with the 2nd most appearances for the club. His 508 goals make him the club's top scorer ever.

The achievements of the greatest idol in Flamengo's history inspired the Brazilian singer Jorge Benjor to write a song in his honour – Camisa 10 da Gávea – helping create the mystique of the club's number 10.

Zico also represented Brazil in the World Cup of Masters, scoring in the final of the 1990 and 1991 editions.

Brief retirement

After Brazil's first presidential election in many years, the new president Fernando Collor de Mello appointed Zico as his Minister of Sports. Zico stayed at this political assignment for about a year and his most important contribution was a piece of legislation dealing with the business side of sport teams.

Japan

In 1991, Zico interrupted his political assignment when he accepted an offer to join the Sumitomo Metal Industries Soccer Club in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, to help the club secure a place in Japan's first fully professional soccer league that was set to officially launch in 1993 – J. League. Zico played for Sumitomo in 1992, the last season before the old Japan Soccer League was disbanded, and finished as the league's top scorer. When the new league launched, the small town club, renamed Kashima Antlers, was not expected to compete with richer, more glamorous clubs like Yokohama Marinos and Verdy Kawasaki. Zico, however, helped the Antlers to win the J.League Suntory Series and a runners-up finish in its inaugural season, leading the club to cement its place among the league's elite.

His discipline, talent and professionalism meshed very well with Japanese culture, and his influence earned him the nickname, "God of Soccer" (サッカーの神様 sakkā no kamisama?) from Japanese soccer fans.

17. Oliver Kahn

2011-11-09T11:08:00.000-08:00


Personal information

Full name	Oliver Rolf Kahn
Date of birth	15 June 1969 (age 42)
Place of birth	Karlsruhe, West Germany
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper

One of the most successful German players in recent history, having won eight German championships, six German cups, the UEFA Cup (1996), the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup (both 2001). His individual contributions have earned him four consecutive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards, three IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper of the Year awards and two German “Footballer of the Year” trophies.

Club career:

Karlsruher SC

At the age of six, Kahn joined Karlsruher SC, where his father Rolf had played from 1962 to 1965. He started as an outfield player before becoming goalkeeper. He was included at the team's professional squad in the 1987–88 season of the first Bundesliga division, at first being the reserve goalkeeper behind Alexander Famulla. He was considered a key player and a motivator in the Karlruher squad which reached the semi finals in the 1993–94 UEFA Cup.During the round of sixteen the team accomplished a 7–0 rout of Valencia at its home field after losing the first match 1–3 at the Mestalla Stadium. The game was nicknamed the "Miracle at Wildparkstadion" by the German media. The team was defeated by the SV Austria Salzburg in the next round.

Bayern Munich:

Kahn's performance for Karlsruher SC prompted Bayern Munich to express interest in acquiring him. The team signed him as a replacement for Raimond Aumann at the beginning of the 1994–95 season, for the record fee of 4,600,000 DM (€2,385,000) for his position, and was established as Bayern’s starting goalkeeper.

In 1999, Bayern Munich reached the 1999 Champions League Final, facing Manchester United at Camp Nou. Although Bayern Munich player Mario Basler scored an early goal in the sixth minute of the game, two goals by Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær in injury time led to United's victory. The same year, he was named World Goalkeeper of the Year by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

After a twenty year-career, of which he played fourteen with Bayern, he had his professional farewell in a testimonial match versus the select Germany XI on 2 September 2008, which ended 1–1.His last appearance for Bayern Munich was on 27 May 2008 at the Salt Lake Stadium (Yuvabharati Krirangan), Kolkata in a friendly against Mohun Bagan of India during Bayern's Asian tour of 2008. Around 120,000 people turned up for the match. The match ended 0–3 in favour of Bayern and Michael Rensing substituted him in the 55th minute.

International career:

Kahn was initially called for the German national team as a late back-up for the 1994 FIFA World Cup;however he made his first international appearance in a 2–1 victory against Switzerland on 23 June 1995, two months after recovering from his cruciate ligament injury. Along with Oliver Reck, Kahn was a reserve keeper of the squad, which won the 1996 UEFA European Football Championship in England. He spent the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France on the bench, and it was not until Andreas Köpke announced his retirement at the end of the tournament that Kahn became the starting goalkeeper. Two years after the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, in which defending champions Germany made an embarrassing exit in the group stage, Kahn received the squad's captaincy, succeeding the striker Oliver Bierhoff.

Despite Germany's comparatively low expectations when for the 2002 FIFA World Cup,the team advanced to the finals; Kahn allowed only three goals in the course of the competition, two of which were in the Final.Playing the final match with torn ligaments in his right ring finger, Kahn allowed the first goal by fumbling a rebounded shot from Rivaldo to the feet of striker Ronaldo in the 67th minute. Once the game was over with Brazil as the new champion, he stood alone and disappointed in his goal; nevertheless he refused to blame his injury for his mistake.

"There is no consolation [...] it was the only mistake I made in seven games and it was brutally punished".

Germany's new manager Jürgen Klinsmann, who replaced Rudi Völler, adopted the strategy of rotating the number one spot between Kahn and his longtime competitor, Jens Lehmann of Arsenal, to stimulate competition between the two. On 7 April 2006, after two years of dispute for the position Klinsmann announced Lehmann was his first-choice goalkeeper for the 2006 World Cup. Kahn decided to stay on as a backup for the competition; despite their acrimonious pre-tournament battle for Germany’s starting role, Kahn openly accepted Klinsmann’s decision. Kahn and Lehmann embraced and shook hands as the former offered words of encouragement before the quarter-final penalty shootout against Argentina. In the postgame conference, Kahn publicly praised Lehmann for his two decisive penalty saves.

After Germany was eliminated in the semi-finals by Italy, Kahn was given the start for the third place play-off held on 8 July 2006, which Germany won 3–1 against Portugal. In what was his last international appearance for Germany, he also received the captaincy of the team in the absence of the injured Michael Ballack. Although overshadowed by Bastian Schweinsteiger’s game-winning performance in the match, Kahn played to a high standard, pulling off several saves. Kahn deflected a shot by Portuguese forward Pauleta after he beat the German defence, and later saved Deco's shot made from just inside the penalty area.Following the match, Oliver Kahn announced his retirement from the German National Team. Throughout his international career he earned 86 caps for Germany, including 49 as team captain. He never won a World Cup, but finished as runner-up in 2002 and third in 2006.

18. David Beckham

2011-11-09T10:42:00.000-08:00

Personal information
Full name	David Robert Joseph Beckham
Date of birth	2 May 1975 (age 36)
Place of birth	Leytonstone, London, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Midfielder

David Beckham is a leading English footballer whose popularity extends beyond the field and into international celebrity. Beckham was already a crowd-pleasing star for Manchester United when he married Spice Girls star Victoria Adams in July of 1999; the combination proved irresistible to the press and public, and they became one of Britain’s most famous couples. As a player Beckham is particularly known for his free kick expertise and spectacular long-range shots while his right foot is the national treasure of England.

Club career:

Manchester United

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had a great deal of confidence in the club's young players. Beckham was part of a group of young talents Ferguson brought in to United in the 1990s (known as "Fergie's Fledglings"), which included Nicky Butt and Gary and Phil Neville. When experienced players Paul Ince, Mark Hughes, and Andrei Kanchelskis left the club after the end of the 1994–95 season, his decision to let youth team players replace them instead of buying star players from other clubs (United had been linked with moves for players including Darren Anderton, Marc Overmars, and Roberto Baggio, but no major signings were made that summer), drew a great deal of criticism. The criticism increased when United started the season with a 3–1 defeat at Aston Villa, with Beckham scoring United's only goal of the game; however, United won their next five matches and the young players performed well.

In the 1998–99 season, he was part of the United team that won The Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, a unique feat in English football. There had been speculation that the criticism that he had received after being sent off in the World Cup would lead to him leaving England.

Real Madrid

Beckham (top) and Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid in August 2003

As the summer 2003 transfer window approached Manchester United appeared keen to sell Beckham to FC Barcelona and the two clubs even announced that they reached a deal to move the player to Barcelona,[but instead he joined reigning Spanish champions Real Madrid for €35 million (£25m) transfer fee on a four-year contract as the latest of the galáctico signings by club president Florentino Pérez. The news came as a bitter pill to the newly elected Barça president Joan Laporta who based much of his presidential campaign precisely on signing Beckham.[Though announced in mid-June, the transfer was completed on 1 July 2003,

On 3 December 2005, Beckham was sent off for the third time that season in a league match against Getafe CF. One day later Luxemburgo got the axe and was replaced with Juan Ramón López Caro. By the end of that season, Beckham led La Liga in number of assists.

Los Angeles Galaxy

. Beckham's actual deal with the Galaxy was a 5-year contract worth US$32.5 million in total or $6.5 million per year.

David Beckham became the Los Angeles Galaxy captain immediately upon joining the team

Beckham trained with Arsenal from 4 January 2008 for three weeks, until he returned to the Galaxy for pre-season training. Beckham scored his first league goal with the Galaxy on 3 April against the San Jose Earthquakes in the 9th minute. On 24 May 2008, the Galaxy defeated the Kansas City Wizards 3–1, giving the Galaxy their first winning record in two years and moving the club into first place in the Western Conference. In the match, Beckham scored an empty-net goal from 70 yards out. The goal marked the second time in Beckham's career that he had scored from his own half, the other being a 1996 goal from the half-way line against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park. Overall, however, the Galaxy had a disappointing year, failing to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs.

Loan to Milan

Return to Galaxy

After his return from Milan, many LA fans showed dislike and anger towards him as he missed the first half of the season and several held up signs saying "Go home fraud", and "Part time player". However, the Galaxy had a much more successful season than in previous years, rising from third to first in the Western Conference during Beckham's time with them. He remained a key part of the squad which saw Galaxy win the 2009 Western Conference final after a 2–0 overtime victory over the Houston Dynamo. In the final on 22 November 2009, the Galaxy lost to Real Salt Lake by 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw. Beckham also scored in the shootout.

International career:

Beckham as England captain

Beckham made his first appearance for the England national football team on 1 September 1996, in a World Cup qualifying match against Moldova.

Beckham had played in all of England's qualifying matches for the 1998 World Cup and was part of the England squad at the World Cup finals in France,[126] but the team's manager Glenn Hoddle publicly accused him of not concentrating on the tournament, and he did not start in either of England's first two matches. He was picked for their third match against Colombia and scored from a long-range free kick in a 2–0 victory, which was his first goal for England.

The abuse that Beckham was receiving from English supporters peaked during England's 3–2 defeat by Portugal in Euro 2000, a match where Beckham set up two goals, when a group of England supporters taunted him throughout the match. Beckham responded by raising his middle finger and, while the gesture attracted some criticism, many of the newspapers that had previously encouraged his vilification asked their readers to stop abusing him.

In England's opening game at the 2006 World Cup, against Paraguay on 10 June 2006, Beckham's free kick led to an own-goal by Carlos Gamarra as England won 1–0. In England's next match, played against Trinidad and Tobago on 15 June 2006, Beckham's cross in the 83rd minute led to a Peter Crouch goal, which put England into the lead 1–0. Beckham gave another assist to Steven Gerrard. In the end they won 2–0. He was named Man of the Match by tournament sponsor Budweiser for this game.

In the quarter-final against Portugal, Beckham was substituted following an injury shortly after half time and the England team went on to lose the match on penalties (3–1), the score having been 0–0 after extra time. After his substitution, Beckham was visibly shaken and emotional for not being able to play, being in tears at one point.

On 20 March 2008, Beckham was recalled to the England squad by Capello for the friendly against France in Paris on 26 March. Beckham became only the fifth Englishman to win 100 caps. Capello had hinted on 25 March 2008 that Beckham had a long term future in his side ahead of crucial qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.

During the 2010 World Cup Qualifier against Belarus in which England won 3–1 in Minsk, Beckham came off the bench in the 87th minute to earn his 107th cap making him England's 3rd highest capped player in history, over-taking Bobby Charlton in the process.

After a poor performance from England at the World Cup Capello remained as manager, but was under pressure to revamp the England squad for the imminent UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign. He unveiled a new team at the next England match, a home friendly game against Hungary on 11 August 2010, with Beckham still unavailable for selection but aiming for a return to playing in the MLS by the following month. He said that Beckham may be selected for one last friendly game, stating, "If he is fit, I hope we will play one more game here at Wembley so the fans can say goodbye". In response to the comments, Beckham's agent released a statement reiterating Beckham's position that he had no desire to retire from international football, and would always be make himself available for selection for England if fit and if needed.