When Brazil faced Argentina in the 1982 World Cup, Socrates played.
A deep thinker in many facets of life and a fearsome midfielder for one of the greatest Brazilian teams ever, he is possibly the ultimate bohemian legend in football history. He became known for his famous no-look backheel pass, making him unquestionably the best player to ever represent Garforth Town.
9. Carlos Alberto
In a 1978 NASL soccer match at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Carlos Alberto #5 of the New York Cosmos dribbles the ball up field. Between 1977 and 1982, Alberto was a player for the Cosmos.
The Brazilian captain paved the way for a new breed of more aggressive full backs, including Cafu, Roberto Carlos, and others. At the 1970 World Cup, his leadership was crucial, and he and Pele had success together at Santos.
Many consider his incredible goal in the World Cup final versus Italy to be the best ever scored because it capped off an outstanding team play.
8. Ronaldinho
Brazilian striker Ronaldinho of Barcelona celebrates after defeating Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final on May 17, 2006 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, northern Paris. Barcelona triumphed 2:1.
He became one of football's most recognizable faces thanks to his buck-tooth smile. Ronaldinho was an exceptional example of a player who could make the unexpected look routine on the field. In the middle of the 2000s, he was unquestionably the best player in the world, winning the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice.
If greatness was measured in joy, Ronaldinho would leave the others by some distance during his five seasons at Barcelona, which delivered two league titles and a Champions League crown. He would later emulate his best days at Atletico Mineiro in their victorious Copa Libertadores campaign.
Winning the 2002 World Cup as part of a formidable trio with Ronaldo and Rivaldo dubbed by Brazilian commentator Galvao Bueno as ‘the three Rs’ cemented his place as a national hero forever.
7. Garrincha
signing signatures in the 1960s was Garrincha
Early in the 1962 World Cup, the Selecao lost Pele to injury. Garrincha assumed control of the team and finished the competition as the undisputed standout player.
“In the entire history of football no one made more people happy,” said Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano. He was speaking about an angel. Not an ordinary one, but an angel with bent legs (in Portuguese, um anjo de pernas tortas).
Garrincha had several birth defects. His spine was crooked. His right leg bent inwards. His left leg was six centimeters (more than two inches) longer than the right, and curved outwards following childhood surgery.
Garrincha’s favorite trick was to run off, leaving the ball behind but taking his marker with him. He would return and do it again and again, before eventually going forward with the ball, leaving the duped defender stood still.
Struggling with his knees at the end of his career, his drinking caught up with him. He died at the age of just 49, leaving three ex-wives and 14 different children – one of them in Sweden – behind. Yet in Brazil, the angel is best remembered by his other nickname: Alegria do Povo. The Joy of the People.
6. Zico
In action at the 1982 World Cup was Zico.
He is the greatest Brazilian who has never taken home the trophy. Zico was the player who, in Pele's opinion, played the most like him. He led Flamengo to four league championships, one Copa Libertadores, and another Club World Cup in the 1980s while scoring 333 goals at the storied Maracana stadium alone.
Zico scored four goals in his five appearances, and he was selected for the tournament's all-star squad, even though Brazil's memorable World Cup campaign in 1982 came to an unsatisfactory conclusion. He also participated in the 1986 World Cup, but because to his poor physical condition, Brazil was defeated by France in the quarterfinals.
In spite of this, Brazilian supporters would greet one another a Merry Christmas to honor his birthday every March 3. You definitely don't get that for nothing, either.
5. Ronaldo
Ronaldo of Inter Milan celebrates during the Champions League match between Inter Milan and Spartak Moscow played at the "Giuseppe Meazza" in Milan.
The bald-headed, gap-toothed kid’s place in the pantheon of modern greats is now secure. He won his first FIFA World Player of the Year award at the tender age of 20 in 1996, went on to become the second footballer to be honoured three times, claimed the Ballon d'Or twice and became the World Cup’s greatest scorer in 2006 with his 15th strike (since surpassed by Miroslav Klose in 2014).
Has there ever been a more impressive debut season for a club anywhere in the world than R9 managed in Barcelona? The Brazilian scored 47 goals in 51 matches as the Catalans won the Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and narrowly missed out on La Liga – but Barça couldn't hang on to him for long, as the forward signed for Inter in 1997 and was the star attraction at the 1998 World Cup, where he won the Golden Ball and finished with four goals.
Yet the last chapter infamously didn't go as planned: he suffered a fit before the final against France and failed to perform after he was eventually named in the starting line-up, as Brazil lost 3-0 to the hosts. He later signed for Real Madrid and showed tantalising glimpses of his best form as one of the galacticos. Yet Ronaldo was never quite the same again and retired in 2011 – still scoring goals, but with his game necessarily reinvented thanks to his loose lifestyle and dodgy knees.
4. Alfredo Di Stefano
Alfredo di Stefano with five European Cup trophies
What's his name? He is in a position to receive the ball from wherever he is on the pitch. After watching Di Stefano play for Real Madrid in 1957, Bobby Charlton penned the following: "You can see his effect on everything that's happening.
Di Stefano may not have possessed the innate talent of players like George Best or Diego Maradona, but according to Charlton and Franz Beckenbauer, among others, he was likely the best all-around player to ever grace the game of football.
Intense rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona fought tooth and nail for his signature. The Spanish Football Federation advised both clubs share the player during a contentious dispute between the two powerhouses, but controversially gave Real Madrid first dibs on him. Officials from Barcelona asserted that Francoist pressure had a major role in the federation's choice, but they ultimately agreed to transfer the player's rights to him.
Throughout the next 11 campaigns, Di Stefano won eight Spanish titles, plundered 218 goals in 282 matches and won five consecutive European Cups. Naturally, he scored in all five finals. On the final day of the league season in 1958/59, with both players level on goals scored, Ferenc Puskas passed to his team-mate rather than score himself. Nonetheless, the Hungarian said of him: “Di Stefano is the best there has been, or is ever likely to be.”
3. Diego Maradona
The Hand of God goal of Diego Maradona
How do you distinguish between the top three football players of all time? Although we can only choose one, any of them would have been deserving winners.
Lionel Messi and Pele may have a tiny advantage in terms of longevity, goals, and titles, but wow, was Maradona thrilling. In order to achieve perhaps the greatest World Cup victory of all time in 1986, the Argentine was the renegade who scored what is arguably the most famous individual goal ever. a person who is revered both in his native country and the Italian city of Naples.
El Pibe de Oro was only 5 feet 5 inches tall, but his dribbling prowess captivated an entire generation from the moment he made his Argentinos Juniors debut at the age of 15. his first touch. He scored 116 goals in 166 games then joined Boca, winning the league title after a solo goal against rivals River Plate.
Barcelona paid £5m a year later - within months, he’d taken Real Madrid apart at the Bernabeu, before injury and illness struck him down. He moved to Napoli for £6.9m in 1984, the first player transferred for a world record fee on two separate occasions. There came his finest days - inspiring his new club to the only two league titles of their history, after World Cup glory in Mexico. He captained Argentina to another final in 1990.
Yes, he never won the European Cup, or progressed beyond even the last 16, but Maradona was about so much more than mere trophies.
2. Pele
Pele, a Brazilian and Santos legend
Pele made history in 1958 by playing in a World Cup final at the age of 17. In Sweden, he scored six times, including a hat-trick in the semifinal and two more in the championship game. As a response to the tears he watched streaming down his father's face, he would bring back three World Cup medals.
Injury limited his impact in 1962, and repeated fouling in 1966 led him to promise that it would be his final World Cup. He did not adhere to it.. He was convinced into returning for a fourth tournament in 1970 and became part of one of the best attacks ever compiled – alongside Tostao, Jairzinho, Rivellino, Clodoaldo and Gerson. While Jairzinho top-scored, Pele added four more to his World Cup tally.
Pele traveled the globe with his club team Santos in the 1960s and 1970s. In order for both sides to see him perform, the conflict with Biafra in Nigeria was put on hold for two days. When he predicted an African nation would win the World Cup before the 2000s, local fans already anticipated it due to his enormous influence on Nigerian football culture.
"They wanted to touch him in some places and kiss him in others. They even kissed the ground he walked on in some cases, according to his former teammate Clodoaldo.
In 1974, the Brazilian played his final match for Santos before delaying his retirement to join the New York Cosmos. He made the decision to join the North American Soccer League because he was in debt and needed to get his finances back on track. He played his final game on a soggy New York day, having led the Cosmos to the NASL championship in 1977. However, how many days had he improved before that.
1. Lionel Messi
On December 18, 2022, in Lusail City, Qatar, Lionel Messi of Argentina takes a corner kick during the Argentina vs. France FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final game at Lusail Stadium.
Argentina's Lionel Messi takes a corner kick during the World Cup 2022 championship game.
Messi will be praised in the history books, but their restrictions will harm him. Young football lovers will learn about a messianic character whose genius astounded the globe, broke a long list of records, and inaugurated a period of domination in 20 years. They won't fully understand what they missed, however, until they watch the films.
His aspirations are not as numerous as they are beautiful. The monthly objective might not even be reached. make his top 20, be it a solo run, a bending free-kick, a cheeky lob, a golf putt finish or a thunderous missile.
Most people are already familiar with his tale: how he moved from Rosario, where he was born, to Barcelona due to the high cost of his growth hormone medication. His 2004 debut there marked the beginning of an era of greatness. He has spent ten years among the top three players in the world, and nine years in the top two.
Reaching the top is one thing, but staying there is quite another. Some fans, who are well into their 20s, have never known a time when Messi wasn't weekly spellbinding us.
Messi has only been able to retain his level through progression. The once-erratic dribbler has developed into an experienced playmaker who now controls the action while still being effective in the final third. Now in his 30s, Messi has never had a better balance between goal scoring, dribbling, and playmaking.
He is essentially three players in one, as Javier Mascherano has stated. There is ample evidence to support the assumption that one of the greatest goal scorers in history is also the best passer.
In the interim, commentators, followers, and writers will make an effort to capture his grandeur in words and analogies. All of them, including the piece you are reading right now, will fail. The best we can do is follow Pep Guardiola's advice, which is to avoid writing about or attempting to describe him. Keep an eye on him.
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