Greatest Players
Everyone has heard of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo spoke of the greatest players of all time, but as this is a history list, we will be ignoring them altogether. It is also hard to determine who is the best soccer player of all time in and of itself, given the great advances in sports science since the 1990s, which gives Messi and Ronaldo a rather unfair advantage over players who lived at a time when smoking was recommended by doctors and a heap of steak and fries was thought to be suitable pre-match meal. Nonetheless, let’s have a go…
Pelé is a name that is deservedly familiar even amongst people who hate soccer. Born in 1940, he grew up in impoverished conditions in the city of Bauru, São Paulo, and was so poor that he learned to play soccer with a grapefruit and a sock stuffed with newspaper. Aged 15, Pelé was taken by his father, a former soccer player, to try out for the famous Brazilian team, Santos, and the rest is history. A year later, he was the top scorer in the Brazilian league, and went on to score 1,000 career goals, winning 3 World Cups.
The most serious contender for Pelé’s title as greatest of all time comes from Brazil’s greatest rivals, Argentina. Diego Maradona was short, fat, and only effective with one foot, but was also undeniably brilliant. His position as a creative midfielder meant that he did not score anywhere near as many goals as Pelé, but his incredible skill, range of passing, and habit of scoring incredible solo goals have secured his legendary status. Like Pelé, Maradona grew up in poverty and made his professional debut in his mid-teens, but went on to play in Europe for Barcelona, Napoli, and Sevilla.
Comparing the two is hard, given their differing positions, and often the debate comes down to the pair’s contrasting personalities. Where Pelé was known to be a gentleman on the pitch and has been praised for his humanitarian work since retiring, Maradona was known for employing dirty tricks to win games. At the 1986 World Cup, for instance, he scored a blatant handball to knock England out of the tournament, which he cheekily nicknamed ‘the Hand of God‘. At Napoli, Maradona also fraternized with the Mafia and picked up a cocaine habit that earned him a 15-month ban.
Another true gentleman, Bobby Moore captained England at the 1966 World Cup. Despite an incredible drinking habit, Moore was the model professional and is seen by many, including Pelé, as the greatest defender of all time. He made his name at West Ham (along with Geoff Hurst, scorer of the hat-trick in the final, and England’s other goal-scorer, Martin Peters). He is remembered as an elegant central defender who used his innate understanding of the game to compensate for his lack of pace. Tragically, Bobby Moore died of testicular cancer in 1993, all but forgotten by the football world.
Also worth mentioning is the great Hungarian playmaker, Ferenc Puskás, captain of the ‘Mighty Magyars’ (Hungarian national team) of the 1950s. Before a game against England in 1953, Puskás overheard the opposition referring to him as a ‘little fat chap’. He responded by scoring twice in a 6-3 victory. The game is known as ‘The Match of the Century’, because Hungary’s forward-thinking tactics, to which Puskás was fundamental, changed how teams played football. He later played for Real Madrid, becoming one of their greatest players, and Spain, having taken Spanish Citizenship due to the perilous conditions in Soviet-ruled Hungary.