In this article titled “The Greatest Football Players Of All Time”, we shall look at some football players that have accomplished a lot in the world of football. We cannot talk about this topic with touching these subtopics: Top 5 Greatest Football Players, Overview Of The Term ”GOAT”, The God Of Football and Best Aged But Active Soccer Players.
Now, let’s study the topic ”The Greatest Football Players Of All Time”, squarely.
Overview Of The Term ”GOAT”
In the football world, they make use of the acronym “G.O.A.T” to describe players that have accomplished a lot in football. You could be confused by the name if you’re not familiar with sports, but it has nothing to do with a domesticated animal.
Users of social media may have heard the acronym ‘GOAT’ bandied about in reference to the greatest athletes in history.
Names like Roger Federer, Usain Bolt, Tom Brady, and LeBron James have all been called the greatest of all time.
Also in the aspect of football, we have some active athletes like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who bear the title ”GOAT”.
The term “GOAT” (or “G.O.A.T.” for short) refers to the “greatest of all time” in a particular field.
This title is associated to the athlete that people universally recognized as the best in their field.
Being the GOAT requires not only outstanding talent, but also a consistently high level of achievement.
Top 5 Greatest Football Players
Many world-famous athletes got their start in football. It remains the most popular sport in the world.
In the game of football, players consistently try to outperform each other as the game progresses.
Now let’s take a look at the top five football players that have left an indelible mark on the sport’s history.
1. Pele
Country: Brazil
Position: Forward / Attacking Midfielder
Club Goals: 541 (560 Matches)
International Goals: 77 (92 Matches)
Pele, the legendary Brazilian football player, started his career as the striker at Bauru.
Many people widely accord him the ”G.O.A.T” title because of his versatility.
Furthermore, he is among the highest scorers in FIFA World Cup history.
Pele got the honor of “Athlete of the Century” by the International Olympic Committee back in 1999.
There aren’t many athletes with a Guinness World Record, but Pelé is one of them.
Not only is he a prominent figure in the world’s media and sports scenes, but he is also widely regarded as one of the most accomplished former football players.
Meanwhile, he has individual awards like: South American Footballer of the Year, Ballon d’Or, and Golden Ball from the FIFA World Cup.
Also, he scored a total of 1363 goals over his 1279 career games.
In terms of his specialty, his reputation rests on his formidable kicking prowess, pinpoint precision, and uncanny ability to read the game play.
With all these qualities, he is worthy to be amongst the greatest soccer player of all time.
2. Diego Maradona
Country: Argentina
Position: Attacking Midfielder / Second Striker
Club Goals: 259 (491 Matches)
International Goals: 34 (91 Matches)
Former professional footballer and manager from Argentina, Diego Maradona, holds the title of the ”G.O.A.T”.
He went down in football history as the sport’s best player. When Diego was still an active player, everyone around him do feel pumped up.
That is why, he is unquestionably one of the all-time best forwards in the world of football.
One of his specialty is in free-kick. Meanwhile, his infamous “hand of God” brought so many mixed feelings towards him.
The “Hand of God” goal he scored is still spoken about as one of the biggest sports scandals ever.
In 1976, he began his professional career with Argentinos Juniors, where he stayed for the next five years.
In the subsequent year, he moved to Boca Juniors club and helped them win promotion to the top flight of Argentine soccer.
Eventually, he continued to bring home trophies for Barcelona, including trophies like the Copa del Rey, Copa de la Liga, and Supercopa de Espana.
When you think of Diego’s vision, passing, ball control, and dribbling abilities, you being to marvel.
Without mincing words, he deserves to be among the greatest soccer players of all time.
3. Lionel Messi
Country: Argentina
Position: Forward
Jersey Number: 10
Ballon d’Or: 7
Lionel Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who debuted in 1992 with Grandoli.
He achieved a remarkable feat by winning seven Ballon d’Ors and six Golden Shoes.
In addition, he ranks amongst the highest-paid soccer player ever with PSG paying him a net annual salary of $41 million.
There is no soccer discussion without Messi. Leo has earned a place among the greats. For over a decade, he has been a member of the Dream Team of the Ballon d’Or.
For a greater part of his career, he played for Barcelona. This continued to play there until August of 2021.
When he signed with French club PSG on August 11, 2021, he made headlines all over the world.
When talking about his achievements, they Include four UEFA Champions Leagues, seven Copa del Reys, and ten La Liga titles. In total, he has a total of 35 major trophies throughout his time at Barcelona.
For him and his club, this is a major triumph. Now, people widely regard him as one of the sport’s all-time greats.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
Country: Portugal
Position: Forward
Jersey Number: 7 (club & Country)
Ballon d’Or: 5
Cristiano Ronaldo, or CR7 as he is sometimes referred to, is practically a machine on the soccer field.
He is Manchester United‘s star forward and Portugal’s captain. Also, he got his start at Andorinha back in 1992.
As it stands, he is among the highest-paid players in football.
He is a principled player that dwells on the principles of diligence and integrity. They are his greatest strengths.
In terms of his accomplishments, he has four European Golden Shoes and five Ballon d’Or.
Then, in terms of the total awards he has, he holds 32 major titles throughout his career. This includes five FIFA Ballon d’Or, two PFA Players’ Player of the Year, and three Pichichi Trophies.
CR7 is still an active player that has featured in over 1100 games for both club and country. He has played for Real Madrid and Juventus respectively. His goal tally ranks to over 780 times.
Watching his statistics, it is unquestionably for him to be amongst the greatest players’ of all time.
5. Johan Cruyff
Country: Netherlands
Position: Forward / Attacking Midfielder
Club Goals: 291 (514 Matches)
International Goals: 33 (48 Matches)
Johan Cruff, a Dutch professional football player and coach, was a forward attacking midfielder.
In 1957, he began his professional career at Ajax, where he remained for the next seven seasons.
He was a star player for Ajax and helped them win eight Eredivisie championships, three European Cups, and one Intercontinental Cup.
However, Johan won three Ballon d’Or trophies and gets the recognition as one of the sport’s all-time greats.
After leaving Ajax, he took Barcelona to four La Liga titles, as well as the Copa del Rey, Supercopa de Espaa, and European Cup/UEFA Champions League.
Along with leading the Netherlands to the 1974 FIFA World Cup title, they named him the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (Golden Ball). This was a big accomplishment for him.
Fans of the sport continue to recognize him as a legendary figure from the FIFA World Cup.
In the football space, people popularly know him for his creative playmaking and adaptability.
As a result of this and his other accomplishments, he earned the right to be amongst the best soccer players of all time.
The God Of Football
There have been countless extraordinary players in the history of football, but very few have truly earned the right to be called “the god of football.”
Who, therefore, who is the god of football? The Argentine football player Diego Maradona is the most correct answer.
People may be looking at players like Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane, and others, because they have scored more goals, but it’s not so. Diego Maradona in his career, inspired awe in football fans whenever he had the ball at his feet.
The 5’5″ left-footed footballer could do everything so well that earned him the title: “the god of football“. His trademark ranges from dribbling past defenders to scoring goals in the sharpest corners of the goal to outmuscling the strongest of enforcers.
However, another player edging closer to this title is Lionel Messi.
Best Aged But Active Soccer Players
Entering your 30s is not necessarily a call to slow down in your football career.
However, there are those who improve with age, drawing on their accumulated wisdom to sharpen their performance. While, there are those who view becoming older as nothing more than an obstacle to be conquered on the path to becoming even more accomplished.
A large number of players aged 35 and up are now performing at a world-class level in Europe’s top five leagues.
Let’s take a look at two players performing well despite their age.
Luka Modric
Age: 35
Club: Real Madrid
Luka Modric has accomplished nearly everything there is to accomplish in soccer. To mention a few of them are; four Champions League titles with Real Madrid and reaching the World Cup final with Croatia.
You can find the highly valued Ballon d’Or award in his trophy cabinet.
As a 35-year-old, he isn’t showing signs of slowing down in his performance as they named him Real Madrid’s “Player of the Season” for 2020/21.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Age: 39
Club: AC Milan
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s human state is beginning to create concern to a lot of people. Due to his untiring football qualities, they wonder if he is actually of flesh and blood.
As at the time he was in Manchester United, he looked like his career was done. He left Manchester in March 2018.
Then, he signed with LA Galaxy and proved to everyone that he could still bully defenders and find the net with startling frequency.
At that time, he scored 53 goals in 58 games for the team, including some genuinely incredible strikes.
Seeing this records, AC Milan came calling. So, he moved to AC Milan.
Ibrahimovic scored 11 goals in 20 games across all competitions in 2019–20 and has continued that pace into 2020–21.
Despite being 39 years old, Ibrahimovic is currently performing at a level that rivals his best during his time with Paris Saint-Germain.
Conclusion
By going through this article titled “The Greatest Football Players Of All Time”, we are taking into account, some football players that has performed exceptionally well in the world of football.
If you wish to get more informations, you can research on these subtopics: Top 5 Greatest Football Players, Overview Of The Term ”GOAT”, The God Of Football and Best Aged But Active Soccer Players.
See also: https://sportsbrowser.net/greatest-soccer-players/