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June 07, 2006

Best Soccer Players Ever

With the World Cup coming up and given that most Americans don't really know the game's history that well, I figured I'd do my part to help out.

AskMen.com has a nice article running down their picks for the 20 best soccer players of all time. Give it a read. It's a nice primer on not just the great players, but also some of the great teams of all time and some past World Cup champions.

Along with that, how about revisiting that great video of some great soccer goals?

And, thanks to the awesome site that is YouTube.com, some cool vids of some of those great players.

George Best didn't make that list of top 20 players, but any Brit would claim that he was robbed. This video makes a great argument on their behalf.

Of course, you know Pele, but his prime was long ago. I had actually seen very few clips of his game action, so this video really opened my eyes. Incredible. Seriously, don't skip that one.

And speaking of flashy South Americans, you can't forget Maradona. Unfortunately, no clips are quite as well done as the Pele one, but I'll make it up with two good ones. The first is just an amazing clip of him juggling a ball while warming up for a game. Check the stuff he does while seemingly not even trying. And now some clips of him actually playing, including one the most famous goals of all time, his 2/3 field run against England in the '86 World Cup.

How about a modern player who will likely crack the top-20 list when he's done? Brazil's Ronaldinho is not a handsome man, but damn can he do some things with the ball. The flat-footed goal is just sick. This Nike commercial is pretty cool too.

Enjoy.

Comments
 
(1) by Zizou? (unregistered) on 07/02/2006 03:43 am
where was the best french player ever zinedine zidane

 
(2) by Dave on 07/02/2006 08:16 pm
Zizou? wrote:
where was the best french player ever zinedine zidane


If he keeps playing like he did the last two games, against Brazil in particular, he'll be a shoo-in for the top 20 ever. He probably should have been there anyway.

 
(3) by Mike (unregistered) on 08/06/2006 11:38 am
Zidane, is the best!

 
(4) by nasra (unregistered) on 08/06/2006 12:22 pm
wat about Ronaldo,Miroslav Klose,Lukas Podolski,Hernan Crespo,David Beckham,Luis Figo,Cristiano Ronaldo,Zalatan Ibrahimovic,and Theirry Henry you guys there is other very good soccer players not only Zidane and Ronaldinho think of ther others personally i have named my favorites

 
(5) by Dave on 08/08/2006 09:50 am
nasra wrote:
wat about Ronaldo,Miroslav Klose,Lukas Podolski,Hernan Crespo,David Beckham,Luis Figo,Cristiano Ronaldo,Zalatan Ibrahimovic,and Theirry Henry you guys there is other very good soccer players not only Zidane and Ronaldinho think of ther others personally i have named my favorites


This is the best players ever, not today. Ronaldo was already in the list, but only other guy you listed who even has a shot of making the list is Henry.

 
(6) by ken (unregistered) on 10/05/2006 11:18 pm
"George Best didn't make that list of top 20 players, but any Brit would claim that he was robbed. This video makes a great argument on their behalf."

not nessisarily any brit but any one who knows anything about football

 
(7) by baggio (unregistered) on 10/31/2006 05:16 pm
what about Baggio??? or Gainluigi Buffon? or Cannavaro, Nesta, Gattuso, Pirlo...WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! =D

 
(8) by Dave on 10/31/2006 05:26 pm
baggio wrote:
what about Baggio??? or Gainluigi Buffon? or Cannavaro, Nesta, Gattuso, Pirlo...WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! =D


Like this shot ...



Baggio's career isn't quite good enough to make this list. Close, certainly, but not quite.

 
(9) by yas its me (unregistered) on 11/11/2006 04:15 pm
henry is good but cant shoot worth a damn in my opion andriy shevechenko was the best in the last world cup becasue he lead a terrible team into the world cup for the 1st time and brought them to the quarter finals!!!!

 
(10) by yas its me (unregistered) on 11/11/2006 04:18 pm
Also David Beckham is an insult to soccer and if ANYONE thinks he is worthy to even be considered one of the top 20 best players they obviously dont know soccer.

 
(11) by emym (unregistered) on 11/14/2006 01:33 pm
You guys, if you think that Zidane is not one of the best player in the world..... Well than I habe to tell you guys that you suck and you don't know anything about soccer. Eben my granpa knows more than you do. Ronaldinhoo.....ehhhh he is good...but he is stuckup... Well let me tell you some good players...my opinion... Robinho; Hagi; Maradona; Patrick Kluivert; Overmars; Pele; Inzaghi; and ofcource Theirry Henry!!!1

 
(12) by KANTONE (unregistered) on 11/14/2006 01:36 pm
lol......look at this what he said......Maradona? he took drugs. Well but he's right about Hagi thats player.....yeaa. nobody did to Galatasaray what he did sooo....plople shhhhh

 
(13) pele is best soccer player ever by fly (unregistered) on 11/18/2006 09:48 pm
If you think that anyone besides PELE is best EVER to play the game of futbol then u are a retard....there is no one that even comes close to his ball handling skill....speed...endurance.....shooting....heading..kicking with either feet...passing...dribbling...driblling....dribbling...dribbling...o yea did i mention hes an awesome dribbler....that can go around anyone and NEVER ever get stumbled up....zidane cannot do what pele does in his sleep ...zidane is very good..but sucks ball sack when u set him next to pele...maradonna would be second...BUT when u put maradona up next to pele...hes nothing more than a miget with afro.

 
(14) by football king (unregistered) on 12/08/2006 02:41 am
top 3 players now
1Ronaldhinio
2the great Thierry Henry
3c.ronaldo

 
(15) by ronaldo (unregistered) on 12/13/2006 07:56 pm
Ronaldo is the best, many people seem to forget what he used to do in his prime because he doesnt do so well now, well then those of u with short memmories, search him on youtube.com and look at his barca highlights...maybe that will remind u. and dont forget that he lost 2.5 years due to the injury...came back became best on the planet again...no biggie

 
(16) by Nanek on 12/26/2006 08:45 pm
If Pele was just the best player ever we would be all dommed.He isn't just the greatest player ever.There are people like Maradonna,Yashin,Zico,Puskas and many more.

 
(17) by RAMSEY (unregistered) on 01/06/2007 12:30 am
Nobodey is better than zizou

 
(18) by soccer21casanova (unregistered) on 01/13/2007 02:08 pm
ok ok ok. I'm here to set the record straight. Pele is the GREATEST ever. Period. End of story. But ok ok there seems to be a little controversy over the rest of the list. Anyone who said that Henry is amazing should be punted in the testicles. Zidane...ehh he's good. Amazing even. But his antics in his last World Cup show you he's not worthy to be on a list of the greatest players ever. Ronaldinho is good too, but nowhere near one of the greatest ever. Ronaldo...he's good. He used to be amazing. I would consider tossing him on the list. But speaking of great players that are a tad past their prime, how bout a one David Beckham?? I don't care what any of you morons think, he is by far one of the greatest players in the history of the game. I mean what he can do with the ball is simply amazing. The way he dribbles, the way he shoots. And I don't think there's anyone, not even Pele, that can compare on free kicks. The only reason you idiots say he's not great is because of the simple fact that he never won the big dance. He never won a championship. Well if that was the basis, let me tell you that most of the athletes in all of the halls of fame for any sport wouldn't be there. Throughout sports history, there have been great players that just couldn't win a championship. So let's not let that be the basis of our opinion. David Beckham, by far, deserves to be on the list.

 
(19) by futbol fan (unregistered) on 02/16/2007 04:36 am
its a joke zidane isnt in the top five! zizou should only rank behind maradona and pele.

 
(20) by chris259 (unregistered) on 02/17/2007 06:32 pm
well id say thierry henry is the best i mean ou of all these players u talk bout not one player has mre awards then him and hes second in the list cause hes the second most scorer or 3rd i think maradona is in front of him

 
(21) by Best Footballers (unregistered) on 03/31/2007 06:43 pm
i think best players are (Pele,Zico,Socrates,Garrincha,Falcao,Rivelino,Tostao,Careca,Romario,Rivaldo, Ronaldo,Ronaldinho,kaka)from Brazil ...(Maradona,Kempos,Batistuta,Messi)Argentina....(Beckenbauer,Muller,Klinsman,Mathaus,Rummenigge,Breitner)Germany.....(Platini,Papin,Cantona,Zinedine Zidane,Henry)France ..........(De Rossi,Baresi,Totti,Nesta,Maldini,R.baggio) Italy.....(van Basten,Gullit,Cruyff,Rijkaard,Klivert,bergkamp,Van Nistelrooy)from Holland........(Charlton,................,gerrard ,lampard,.......)england im not a fan of england
Abedi Pele from Ghana
Boniek from Poland
Stoichkov from Bulgaria
George Weah from Liberia
Yashin from Russia
Schmeical from Denmark
Chilavert from Paraguay

 
(22) by ItalianJack (unregistered) on 04/08/2007 11:44 am
Zidane does with the ball what Maradona did with the lemons..Maradona and Pelè are the contenders for the first place and nobody else..other players are nothing compared to them..after them there is roby baggio,the greatest italian player of all time..and don't forget about the irreplaceable franco baresi..I think you have never seen anything about them..if you say that zidane is the best you don't know anything about football

 
(23) by The King (unregistered) on 04/08/2007 02:30 pm
I think that Zidane has been a great player thanks to his football team Juventus, because of the dna of a team which is structured only for the victory; this is demonstrated with the final match of the German world football championship, where 20 of 42 players played or have played in this team. If someone plays in a great team, like Napoli (not only Maradona, but also Careca, Giordano, Crippa, Bagni and Ciro Ferrara were phenomena...) is easier to show his skill. Edson Arantes do Nascimento won his match by himself, not only in the greatest team of the history, that was PELE's Brazil, but also in a "small" team like Santos... He's better than everyone.

 
(24) by ur idiots (unregistered) on 06/03/2007 06:37 pm
Zidane is the best hands down

 
(25) by shake (unregistered) on 06/25/2007 02:16 am
if you say that beckham is not top 20 all time your being ingnorant. its not his fault no one on england cared and thats whey they never went anywhere. He did all he could do im not a fan of him off the field but on the field hes dominant. Zidane is sick as well. but Pele the best followed by Maradona

 
(26) by tibby_no1 (unregistered) on 08/07/2007 02:26 pm
people do you know HAGI???HE PLAYED AT GALATASARAY IN TURKEY.EVERYBODY LOVED HIM

 
(27) by kik (unregistered) on 08/10/2007 01:33 pm
guys get serious,talk about rivaldo tooo

 
(28) by kik (unregistered) on 08/10/2007 01:33 pm
guys get serious,talk about rivaldo tooo

 
(29) by Totti (unregistered) on 08/14/2007 04:11 pm
One word. Totti!

 
(30) by klevis (unregistered) on 08/21/2007 08:03 pm
you mothafuckas are crazy have u forgotten about francesco totti!!!!
u should all be ashamed of yourselves

 
(31) by BrendonKas (unregistered) on 08/24/2007 03:45 pm
You all can say whatcha wanna say but THE BEST SOCCER
PLAYER EVER IS DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA put the drugs aside (which I still cannot understand what the man personal life had to do with the brilliance he displayed on the field). RONALDO, C RONALDO, RIVALDO, HENRY, KAKA and the likes
is not good enough to even smell his ass after a shit. C'mon people be real this man never dived like these new players
who actually makes the game very childlike in that even a simple thug on their shoulder they are on the ground looking at the referees fuck that shit MARADONA IS STILL THE BEST EVER

 
(32) by BrendonKas (unregistered) on 08/24/2007 03:50 pm
FUCK PELE who had all the help in the world, FUCK the folks who say he had one foot( if he did all of this with one leg what would have happen if he had the two) there are many goal he scored with his right leg, MARADONA IS THE BEST EVER, he used the right leg when it was necessary I can go on and on but
MARADONA IS THE BEST EVER.

 
(33) by nonAME (unregistered) on 09/08/2007 01:44 am
i am the best player ever lmao nah seriously thierry henry is the best and the next legend will be cesc fabregas foo sure man peace out yall

 
(34) by nanek (unregistered) on 09/21/2007 05:23 pm
i think that Pele is the best player ever.But Johan Cruyff is a very close second and Beckenbauer third. peace out u retards

 
(35) by clenio (unregistered) on 10/12/2007 05:35 pm
ronaldinho best player ever now player has never been able to do the things he has done and hes not leaving soon the is no middfild like ronaldinho in this world and thats the bottom line because clenio says so.hahahahah more info contact me at clenio_cc@hotmail.com

 
(36) by edmac (unregistered) on 10/23/2007 11:10 pm
Get back to the forties and fifties of the previous century and then you'll find one of the best soccer payers the world has ever seen. His name was VALENTINO MAZZOLA, Italian, Torino player, father of Sandro Mazzola. Valentino died in a plane accident with everybody flying with him to Italy, from Portugal, where they had played a friendly game against Benfica, to honor one of the players of the Portuguese team: Francisco Ferreira. If I remember, 10 of the 11 players who died in that plane accident - the plane, flying in the fog, hit the tower of the Superga Cathedral - were members of the Italian National Team. Actually Torino was, in fact, the backbone of the Italian National Team, if not the Italian National Team. Valentino Mazzola, #10 of the squadra azzurra, one unforgettable soccer player.

 
(37) by arso (unregistered) on 10/24/2007 04:48 pm
top two soccer players should be number 1 ronaldinho no dought, his skills are amazing, number 2 cristiano ronaldo very fast player and has very good ball control.

 
(38) by Zico765 (unregistered) on 11/07/2007 03:28 pm
1) Ronaldinho
2)Pele
3)Zico
4) Beckenbaur
5)Voller
6)Maradona
7) Di Stefano
8) Ravelli
9) Baggio
10)Eto'o

 
(39) by bacardiiiii (unregistered) on 05/19/2008 02:32 pm
zidane then maradona then ronaldinho

 
(40) by isaac (unregistered) on 08/30/2008 05:43 pm
come on ronaldo is the best player that the people had seen.3 times world best player. he has more goals than anybody in world cups.when he was in his prime he was better than maradona and pele.

 
(41) by go ronaldo (unregistered) on 08/30/2008 05:44 pm
hands down for ronaldo nazairo

 
(42) by RONALDO (unregistered) on 08/31/2008 02:09 pm
ronaldo R9 is the greatest football player of all time..............

 
(43) by Alex Dennis (unregistered) on 09/12/2008 02:13 am
Why George Weah does not make up the first five BEST SOCCER PLAYERS IN THE WORLD?IS IT BECAUSE HE DID NOT PLAY IN THE WORLD CUP?HE SHOULD BE AMONG THE FIRST FIVE OR FIRST TEN BEST SOCCER PLAYERS IN THE WORLD.LET THE WORLD ACKNOWLEGDE HIS ACCOMPLISHMENT.SURELY,HE IS ONE OF THE BEST SOCCER PLAYERS TO EVER PLAYED THE GAME.

 
(44) by ranta (unregistered) on 09/20/2008 10:55 am
i think ronaldinho has a better ability everybody knows that than the soccer heros pele,maradroga, franz bekenbauer,and i think ronaldinho will eliminate maradroga (maradona)from the second place.

 
(45) by ranta best dribblers ever (unregistered) on 09/20/2008 11:04 am
1.garrincha 11.robinho
2.ronaldinho 12.zlatan
3.pele 13. kaka
4.maradona
5.ronaldo
6.zidane
7.john cruyff
8.zico
9.c.ronaldo
10.leonel messi

 
(46) by sadqwe (unregistered) on 12/29/2008 07:55 pm
c.ronaldo is the worst player ever

 
(47) by sangwon park (unregistered) on 12/29/2008 08:21 pm
1.frank lampard 11.deco 21.ricardo carvalho 31.drogba
2.steven gertrard 12.mascherano 22.rudd van nisterooly 32.anelka
3.fernando torres 13.petr cech 23.robinho 33.beckham
4.john terry 14.ashley cole 24.juninho 34.HENRY
5.zinedine zidane 15.xabi alonso 25.pepe reina 35.del piero
6.michael ballack 16.jose boswinga 26.iker casillas 36.treguzet
7.jamie carragher 17.didier drogba 27.van buyton 37.nedved
8.arjen robben 18.luca toni 28.podolski 38.figo
9.raul gonalez 19.ribery 29.owen 39.park 10.joe cole 20.klose 30.santa cruz 40.woodgate

41.bentley 42.essien 43.hypia 44.babel 45.kuyt 46.shweinstiger
47.deisler 48.adriano 49.d.villa 50.malouda

999999999999999999999999999999999999999999.c.ronaldo(truly the worst)

 
(48) by koorosh (unregistered) on 03/05/2009 11:25 am
1.Zinedine Zidane (he is the best and he will remain the best) 2.Steven Gerrard 3.Ali karimi (the iranian wizard who never has been seen) 4.Michael Ballack 5.pier litbarski 6.Ronaldo nazaria 7.David Beckham 8.Thiery Henry 9.Marco Van Basten 10.Eric Cantona

 
(49) by koorosh (unregistered) on 03/05/2009 11:26 am
1.Zinedine Zidane (he is the best and he will remain the best) 2.Steven Gerrard 3.Ali karimi (the iranian wizard who never has been seen) 4.Michael Ballack 5.pier litbarski 6.Ronaldo nazaria 7.David Beckham 8.Thiery Henry 9.Marco Van Basten 10.Eric Cantona

 
(50) by R10 (unregistered) on 03/06/2009 01:26 pm
Ronaldinho is the greatest off all time, Pele, Maradona etc were very good but the game has changed now. I just hope we get too see Ronaldinho back on top form !

my top five off all time: 1.Ronaldinho 2.Zidane 3.Maradona 4.Messi 5.Beckham

Disagree about the others but Ronaldinho is the greatest there has ever been hands down :)

 
(51) by Bill (unregistered) on 03/18/2009 06:27 pm
Ive never came across such a bunch of clueless morons in my entire life, call yourselves football fans ?

Pele, Cruyff, Maradona, Van Basten & Best are the elite players ever.

Zidane, Beckenbauer & Platini come close as do Garrincha & Jimmy Johnstone.

 
(52) by Bill (unregistered) on 03/18/2009 06:32 pm
Anyone that thinks Ronaldo is top 10 needs a slap & anyone that puts Beckham in a top 30 needs shot.

 
(53) by hussain (unregistered) on 04/06/2009 12:55 pm
Zidane

 
(54) by Hussain Abdullah (unregistered) on 04/06/2009 12:57 pm
1. pele
2.maradona
3.zinedine zidane
4. ronaldo
4. ronadinho
5. classic soccer players
1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000th. C.ronaldo

 
(55) by MOST OF YOU DONT KNOW YOU (unregistered) on 05/22/2009 11:04 am
handle

 
(56) by robinho (unregistered) on 07/21/2009 07:58 pm
robinho one of the best now

 
(57) by DAVID (unregistered) on 07/21/2009 08:07 pm
1.robinho#10
2.c.ronaldo#7
3.messi#10
4.Kaka#22
5.ronaldinho#10
6.ronaldo#99
7.beckham#23
8.dejan stankovic#5
9.luis fabiano#9
10.shevchenko#7

 
(58) by DAVID KERYPOPS (unregistered) on 07/21/2009 08:18 pm
ROBINHO IS THE BEST

 
(59) by JAMES (unregistered) on 07/21/2009 08:21 pm
C.RONALDO SUCKS11111111111111111111111111119999999999999999999999999222222222228333333377744466666666666666666666666655555555555555555555

 
(60) by issaa (unregistered) on 11/27/2009 02:20 pm
ronaldo should be number one in his prime nobody like him hands down

 
(61) by eiwtrer (unregistered) on 11/27/2009 02:21 pm
i agree ronaldo should be number one

 
(62) by tetero23 (unregistered) on 11/27/2009 02:22 pm
zidane sucks go ronaldo'

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