One of the recurring controversies in football is about who was the best player in the history of this sport. Two names always appeared in those lists: that of the Brazilian Pele and the Argentine Diego Armando Maradona.
The controversy has been so difficult to decipher that even Fifa, in 1999, when it wanted to choose the best in history, ended up making a political decision and gave the award to both Maradona and Pelé.
In recent years, other players have appeared who have received all the attention and all the specialized awards, the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and the Argentine Lionel Messi. And his extraordinary level, now, means that the consideration may be different, despite the fact that neither of them was a world champion.
CR7 did not even reach the World Cup final with Portugal and Messi reached that stage in 2014, but Argentina lost the title against Germany.
Those who were ahead of Pelé, who was left off the podium
However, the English magazine Four Four Two (4.4.2) updated its ranking of the 100 best players in history, after drawing up a first ranking five years ago. At that time, the top 3 was made up, in order, by Maradona, Messi and Pelé.
Now, the result of that ranking was completely different. Pelé was left out of a podium headed by Messi, followed by Maradona and completed by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Zinedine Zidane, Johan Cruyff, George Best, Franz Beckenbauer, Ferenc Puskas and Ronaldo Nazario complete that top ten list among the best in history.
“Frankly, we could do another list of 100 great players and not even make the cut. But in the end, we had to choose the players that we felt were the most influential in their particular era, the most memorable, the players that amazed us with their talent and achievements.
Four Four Two wanted to explain why he made the decision to put Messi in first place. “In 20 years, young soccer fans will be reading about a messianic figure whose brilliance astonished the world, broke a litany of records and ushered in an era of dominance…but until they see the videos they won’t have a clue what they’ve become. lost. The amount of his goals pales in comparison to the beauty of him,” the note reads.
“He has been voted in the top three players in the world for 10 years and in the top two for nine. It is one thing to reach the top and quite another to stay there. There are fans in their twenties who have never known a world where Messi does not captivate us on a weekly basis,” he adds.
The controversial defense of Maradona’s second place
The explanation for Maradona’s second place is very controversial: “Pelé scored more goals. Cristiano Ronaldo has won more trophies. Both have lived more stable lives than the overweight former cocaine addict second on this list, whose relationship with football became increasingly strained as his career continued. If you have seen Diego Maradona with a soccer ball at his feet, you will understand, ”he assures.
The hundred best in history, for Four Four Two
1.Lionel Messi
2. Diego Maradona
3. Cristiano Ronaldo
4. Pele
5. Zinedine Zidane
6. Johan Cruyff
7. George Best
8. Franz Beckenbauer
9. Ferenc Puskas
10. Ronaldo Nazario
11. Gerd Mueller
12. Alfredo Di Stefano
13. Michel Platini
14.Zico
15. Garrincha
16.Bobby Charlton
17.Paolo Maldini
18. Romario
19. Giuseppe Meazza
20. Andres Iniesta
21. Franco Baresi
22. Marco Van Basten
23. Eusebius
24. Xavi
25. Charles Albert
26. Ronaldinho
27. Ruud Gullit
28. Manuel Neuer
29. Socrates
30.Raymond Kopa
31. Lev Yashin
32. Lothar Matthaus
33.Stanley Matthews
34. Valentino Mazzola
35. Matthias Sindelar
36. Luis Suarez (the Spaniard)
37. Francisco Gento
38.Bobby Moore
39. Michael Laudrup
40. Roberto Baggio
41. Kenny Dalglish
42.Paolo Rossi
43. Nandor Hidegkuti
44. Gunther Netzer
45. Gianluigi Buffon
46. Didi
47. Rivellino
48.Kevin Keegan
49. Thierry Henry
50. Nilton Santos
51. Jose Manuel Charro Moreno
52. Oleg Blockhin
53. Jairzinho
54. Gaetano Scirea
55. Dino Zoff
56. Juan Alberto Schiaffino
57.Fritz Walter
58. Daniel Passarella
59. Gordon Banks
60. Gianni Rivera
61. Karl Heinz. Rummenigge
62. John Charles
63. Dixie Dean
64. Gunnar Nordahl
65. Johan Neeskens
66. Denis Law
67. Sandro Mazzola
68. Dennis Bergkamp
69. Jimmy Johnstone
70.Ronald Koeman
71. Omar Sivori
72. Teofilo Cubillas
73. Daniel Alves
74.Eric Cantona
75. Jose Andrade
76. Coffee
77.Frank Rijkaard
78. Florian Albert
79. Luka Modric
80. Just Fontaine
81. Josef Masopust
82. Jimmy Greaves
83. Hugo Sanchez
84.Wayne Rooney
85. Philipp Lahm
86. Alan Shearer
87. Allan Simonsen
88. Sergio Busquets
89. Hristo Stoichkov
90. Robert Charles
91. Giacinto Facchetti
92. Peter Schmeichel
93. Sandor Kochsis
94. Luis Figo
95. Djalma Santos
96. Javier Zanetti
97. George Weah
98.Kaka
99. Mario Kempes
100. George Hagi
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