The Ultimate Soccer Player to Walk the Earth

[de Berenboot]

Rep was probably one of the weakest links in the team,
I thought it was Jongbloed. If Schrijvers was not injured, the Netherlands would have better cards to win that final.

[Bertje]

I thought it was Jongbloed. If Schrijvers was not injured, the Netherlands would have better cards to win that final.

Jongbloed is underrated, but if anyone should have replaced him it should have been Van Beveren, obviously.

[Hansadyret]

1 Maradona
2 Pele
3 Zidane

[Val1]

Gotta be Beckenbauer. Two summers ago I saw all of Germany's 66WC games, and Beckenbauer showed he is a natural goalscorer, and more than that, scored at the highest level. Then he became a sweeper, which as has been posted here already (and far more lucidly than I could possibly do), is a far more demanding position than striker. No way Pele or Maradona or Cruyff or Zidane or Best had as much team responsibility on their shoulders.

[Seaside Mafia]

who was the best soccer player to ever walk the earth?


my opinion PELE

Tough one this. If you mean which player had the greatest mastery of his position and presence on the pitch, then to me it's a toss-up between Johan Cruyff, Maradonna, Pele, and Di Stefano.

If the question is who had the best all-round skills, then the winner is probably John Charles of Wales, Juventus, and Leeds. Simultaneously one of the best centre forwards and centre backs of his generation.

[Tony Dellbird]

It is starting to bug me how people are grading other players by how much they won and achieved. It means nothing. Like a player like David May, he got all the medals from Man Utds dominance in the late 90s including that of the treble, but that doesnt mean he's a better player than someone who wasn't as successful.

[TomClare]

I'll say it again - for all round ability - Duncan Edwards - nobody even comes close.

[deejay]

I'll say it again - for all round ability - Duncan Edwards - nobody even comes close.

The pity is that you might have been right but with his early death there's no way to say for sure.

[TomClare]

The pity is that you might have been right but with his early death there's no way to say for sure.

I know - I saw him often enough. He had more attributes to his game than any other player that I have ever seen - and that includes Pele, Maradonna etc etc.

[Seaside Mafia]

I know - I saw him often enough. He had more attributes to his game than any other player that I have ever seen - and that includes Pele, Maradonna etc etc.

So that makes you about 65 years old?

[TomClare]

So that makes you about 65 years old?


You are not far out.

[vinniebello]

Well on www.rankopedia.com, with around 1200 votes, the ranking is "Best soccer player ever":
1. Pelé
2. Zidane
3. Maradona
4. Ronaldinho
5. Henry
6. C. Ronaldo
7. Ronaldo
8. Best
9. Beckenbauer
10. Cruyff

And it's funny, people from Ireland vote:
1. Maradona
2. C. Ronaldo
3. Pelé
4. Shevchenko
5. Best
6. Maldini
7. Zidane
8. Gallagher Spencer
9. Kaka
10. Charlton

[spoonman]

C. Ronaldo better then Cruijff, Best and Beckenbauer???

[vinniebello]

C. Ronaldo better then Cruijff, Best and Beckenbauer???

Yeah, it's pretty weird....
But if it reaches around 2000 or 2500 votes, I don't think Ronaldo will be this high up (although he's having aa breakout year).

[lanman]

C. Ronaldo better then Cruijff, Best and Beckenbauer???

Even better is Beckham at 11, ahead of Puskas, Di Stefano, Platini and Muller. The ranking is a complete and utter joke.

[Ronaldob4hegotfat]

Yeah, people see a player who is exciting right now and think they are the best ever. C.Ronaldo and Ronaldinho don't even deserve a spot in the top 20 let alone the top 6!!! Henry shouldnt be in the top 10 either but he's cool :D

[Soccerballs]

Franz Beckenbauer of course! Great defenser, great midfielder and such an elegant player.

[United Pumps]

1. Pele
2. Maradona
3. Best
4. Baresi
5. Cruyff

[zenden]

1. Maradona
2. Pele
3. Cruyff
4. Best
5. Platini

[herewego]

The question is about the ultimate football player, but what is the definition for ultimate?

For footwork and scoring I would pick Pele over Maradonna.

For scoring alone, I would pick Gerd Müller over any other player ever put a foot on a ball.


But in a way, I am not sure if all of them great attackers and offensive midfielders are really the most important players of a team.

I mean, are they really complete players, as often stated in this thread?

In my opinion, the game is conducted several meters behind the strikers and also the defenders are very important.

To be a good striker, you need pace, footwork and must be cold blooded, but you not necessary need a top football brain. Most of the best strikers are not big tacticians, not big teamplayers and they use instinct more than vision.

For me, the ultimate footballer is the one, that realy makes the difference, that lifts the level of play of his teammates, that conducts the game. The leader of the team, the one who organizes the team, the one who talks about the strategy with the coach and is the coaches head. legs and mouth during the 90 minutes on the pitch.

It was not Beckham and it is not Rooney or Ronaldo who make the difference for ManU, it was Roy Keane and now it is Scholes.

A Beckenbauer or a Zidane may have one trick less than a Maradonna or a Pele and were not as fast as them, but aren't they much more complete footballers?

Especially Beckenbauer who, as I mentioned, was no top sprinter, but was fast enough for his defense or midfield work, but shurely had not less skill in both in his feet as a Maradonna or a Pele. That his dribbling was not needed as often as for a striker does not mean, that he could not do it if needed. But he did several things, that a Maradonna or a Pele never did or only rarely.

Why should we call Pele or Maradonna complete players, when they never tackled, never conducted a defense, rarely played 60 meter passes, but call Beckenbauer incomplete for not dribbling on the wings?

And this heroism about Maradonna's single handed carrying Argentina to World Cup winners and Napels to italian Champions and UEFA coup winners is not untrue, but what it is compared to an 18 year old guy that lifts a german second league team to Bundesliga promotion and European Cup Winners Champions in just three years and himself to a WorldCup runners up?

Beckenbauer invented the libero play and thereby is resposible for a revolutionary change of tactics that lasts about 30 years in world football.

He is responsible for Bayern Munich getting from a german second league club to one of the powerhouses in Europe.

He let Germany to European and World Championship.

Let´s have a look at Beckenbauers silverware:

Bayern Munich

* Bundesliga - 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974
* DFB Cup (German Cup) - 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971
* European Champions Cup - 1974, 1975, 1976
* UEFA Cup Winners' Cup - 1967
* Intercontinental Cup - 1976

Hamburger SV

* Bundesliga - 1982

New York Cosmos

* NASL Championship - 1977, 1978, 1980

INTERNATIONAL

* FIFA World Cup - 1974 1st, 1966 2nd, 1970 3rd

* EURO - 1972 1st, 1976 2nd




MANAGERIAL

* FIFA World Cup - 1990 1st, 1986 2nd
* Bundesliga - 1994
* UEFA Cup - 1996

2 time european player of the year, three time german player of the year, 10 consecutive years in the top ten of european player award.


In my opinion, any Pele, Maradonna, Van Basten would play second fiddle in a team with a leader, playmaker, midfield maestro like Di Stefano, Zidane, Netzer, Beckenbauer, even to a Roy Keane, an Effenberg, Gerrard or several more.

Think about a team build around Beckenbauer, with Pele as striker. What would be harder for the team, to substitute an injured Pele with, let me say, the 20th best forward, or Beckenbauer with the 20th best Libero or def midfielder?

I think, the game would be much more destroyed, if Beckenbauer would be injured.

So in my opinion, the ultimate footballer must not be the one with the best footwork, but the one who leads a team, because football is a teamsport.