[Sempre]

The great players have a certain 'silhouette', a certain posture as
they handle the ball, run, score a goal.

I think it would be nice to have a thread for such images, a thread
capturing these classic images of great players. I don't mean their
goal celebrations, I mean their unique playing demeanors, caught
in media res, on the field.

I'll start with Maradona, and I hope others will add more photos. It is
not easy to find the perfectly iconic image though.

Maradona:



This is pure Diego for me: the chest swollen in pride, the stocky figure,
the look of wild concentration, bursting forward, ball ready to be played
with the left foot.

[Real Ray]

The Dutch boys on Big Soccer are going to kill me, but...




When I think of Johan Cruijff, the first image is of him pointing his fingers, giving directions and talking/yelling. There are other images of him that show his athletic prowess, but if we are honest, if you were painting a collage of him an image like this would be prominent in the piece.

[Real Ray]

[argentine soccer fan]

This picture of Florian Albert is one of my favorites.

I think if we were to believe in the existence of Plato's world of forms, and we were to look for the perfect form which defines the meaning of 'striker', this is exactly what we would find.

[Ombak]

Come on. No Pelé yet? Or is it heresy to post images of God himself?

The perfect bicycle kick:


Pelé & Moore:

[lanman]

Enough of the style, let's go for some substance.



Simply put, don't mess with Dave Mackay.



You don't get much closer to actually wearing your heart on your sleave.

[lanman]

A couple of Sir Stanley Matthews in full flight.

[lanman]

Gordon Banks

[Mr. Bee]

Difficult to get good pictures... but this (or something like this) would be the iconic image of Johnny Haynes - best passer of the ball that England (and among the best the world) has ever seen.

[Bertje]

Originally Posted by Real Ray

The Dutch boys on Big Soccer are going to kill me, but...




When I think of Johan Cruijff, the first image is of him pointing his fingers, giving directions and talking/yelling. There are other images of him that show his athletic prowess, but if we are honest, if you were painting a collage of him an image like this would be prominent in the piece.

I like this one better:



He hasn't even gotten onto the pitch yet, but he's started already. That's my hero!