Greatest soccer players past and present

[RBNY123]

For me it has to be Alessandro Del Piero. I mean weather it is scoring amazing free kicks, cutting through defenses with awesome moves, captaining the national team, or dominating the seria a in scoring at the age of 34 this guy just does it all. Type in his name on youtube and you will be overwhelmed with a plethora of amazing highlights. 182 goals for juve in 422 appearances is nothing short of amazing. And while i can consider maradona to be white since Almost all Argentinians are of Italian ancestry i still would choose Del Piero over Diego any day. Anyone else have any comments or suggestions.

 

[Europe]

I have only been watching soccer for 3 years, so I don't know that many older players. I have seen highlights of George Best and he was a great player. Pele, who I hate, said that Best was the greatest player of all time. I think Rooney could break out and be world player of the year if he is unshackled by Ferguson or Ronaldo leaves. It seems there is a disrespect for English players, even by some English people. It's all this Argentinian and Brazilian nonsense. I hate the South American players coming up and taking the spots from the Europeans.I think there is almost a bias against British players in favor of South Americans like there is among black and whites is the US.It's almost a caste in people's minds. I am realy disappointed in Europe letting too many foreign players in. Vidic seems to be a great defender. I think Berkamp was a great player from the highlights I've seen. Owen was great in his prime. It's really hard to tell who the "best" player is. There are many great players. I wish I saw Cruyff and Zidane and Platini in there prime.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

when i first got exposed to the beautiful game, i had a chance to watch a couple of games where Dennis Bergkamp just destroyed people.

needless to say, he was my first favorite soccer player.

 

[SoberWF]

Dennis Bergkamp, no doubt Chitwood! One of my favorite goals is Dennis Bergkamp's goal against Argentina during the WC- 3 touches from a 50 yard airborne pass to deliver a pinpoint strike around a guarding defender... priceless!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exlBHTyB1R0

As for current players, Fernando Torres is my favorite at the moment. A Spaniard who possesses amazing touch while still having the power and aggressiveness to dominate in the rough and tumble EPL.

 

[RBNY123]

Fernando Torres is definitely going to be one of the best of all time, i could be argued that Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi will also be legends in there own right. Only time will tell but the future of white football is looking stronger than ever

 

[j41181]

Zico, "The White Pele", is my favorite ever.

Wayne Rooney is by far the best White Footballer present.

Kaka is also very good, so is Cristiano Ronaldo.

George Best if often is often described (even by Pele) as the MOST GIFTED and SKILLED player ever in the sport. It's just a shame he was a drunkard.

Maradonna is a drug addict.

Van Istelrooy is another great player.

David Beckham, I really admire his family man image more than his game.

Edited by: j41181

 

[RBNY123]

u have to be crazy to think wayne rooney is the best player. Ronaldo is miles better than him, hell even del piero at 33 is doing better than him. Rooney is good but not on that caliber, at least not yet.

 

[j41181]

u have to be crazy to think wayne rooney is the best player. Ronaldo is miles better than him, hell even del piero at 33 is doing better than him. Rooney is good but not on that caliber, at least not yet.

Well maybe, but Rooney has scored the most goals by any White footballer present, and he and C. Ronaldo are about the same age (23 years). C. Ronaldo maybe a better individual and skilled player, but Rooney has scored more goals. And yes, it's not always how many goals are scored.

 

[Solomon Kane]

Well here are a few:


George Best; Alan Shearer; Trevor Brooking; Johan Cruyff; Gerd Muller; Franz Beckenbauer; Paul Van Himst; Kevin Keegan; Diego Maradona;

 

[Europe]

u have to be crazy to think wayne rooney is the best player. Ronaldo is miles better than him, hell even del piero at 33 is doing better than him. Rooney is good but not on that caliber, at least not yet.

Well maybe, but Rooney has scored the most goals by any White footballer present, and he and C. Ronaldo are about the same age (23 years). C. Ronaldo maybe a better individual and skilled player, but Rooney has scored more goals. And yes, it's not always how many goals are scored.

I think Rooney could be as good or better than ronaldo. It seems he is not the feature player at Man United. Ronaldo is. I hope Ronaldo goes to Real. That will open it up for Rooney to take over the team. I see him getting the ball about 25 -30 yards out in the middle of the field and then running at people. I think Rooney has geat skills. I think he might be a better passer. He can run at people. He can chip. I think he is more agressive at tackling. That got me thinking about him being a central mid-fielder rather than a forward. He needs the ball in front of him to be at his best. He certainly is not a back to the goal type of player. What about him and Gerrard in the middle for England with Joe Cole on the left and Walcott on the right. That would be a heck of a mid- field. Owen and Agbonlahor or Ashton or Defoe up front. Maybe Hargreaves could be the holding midfielder and Owen could play up front by himself. Owen is still 29.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

there are so many talented and skilled white footballers, that it is possible to list a LOT of players who are truly great.

it's a shame American football and basketball have decided to throw talented whites out with the garbage.

 

[RBNY123]

Well i mean i agree that he can become a great player and he is still young but as of right now i can name plenty white players better than him, but i respect your opinion.

 

[j41181]

What I really want to know is, if a white player can score 1,000+ career goals?

I'm a stat freak! While stats are not everything of course, they do corroborate one's greatness.

Zico, by far has scored the most career goals by any white player: 826 goals overall

 

[Europe]

No way on the 1000. If someone played 30 years and scored 30 goals a year that would only be 900.

 

[j41181]

No way on the 1000. If someone played 30 years and scored 30 goals a year that would only be 900.

You do have a point, that would then mean that of Pele's 1,281 official goals scored, 381 were in exhibitions.

It's been said he scored 121 goals in one season.

 

[RBNY123]

Zico only has 198 recorded goals plus 66 national team goals were did you find the number 826. Pele has 501 goals plus 77 international goals were did you find 1,281. Del piero has 256 goals plus 27 international goals and probably near that same number for assists.

 

[Europe]

I checked Ronaldo's goals and he scored 42 in 49 games last year. The previous year he scored 23 in 53 games. This year he'll probably get 25 in about 50. Thierry Henry in 17 years only scored 30 or more in 5 of those years and only has 2 more years with 20 or more. It's extremely difficult to score goals with the concentration of world talent in Europe now.

 

[j41181]

Zico only has 198 recorded goals plus 66 national team goals were did you find the number 826. Pele has 501 goals plus 77 international goals were did you find 1,281. Del piero has 256 goals plus 27 international goals and probably near that same number for assists.

Look in Wikipedia.com, It's not the best site, but it's the biggest information website in the world.Edited by: j41181

 

[RBNY123]

that's wear i was looking for some of my information j41181 i still don't see those numbers, just the ones i found. And yea europe i believe that ronaldo will undoubtedly be one of the best all time just the fact that he can be that much more productive than henry at such a young age says alot.

 

[Europe]

Wikipedia has 2 sets of numbers that don't match. One says 198 in 347 senior, plus 66 national team. Which seems correct. The other has him scoring 508 for Flamengo. The 508 says they include friendly games. I think some of the other goals may have been in the copa america and other cup competitions in South America. It's says the 198 are only for goals in the domestic league, so that doesn't include continent wide competitons. If Zico were playing in England or Spain today he wouldn't have the same numbers because of the concentration of talent. Tevez doesn't even start regularly for Man United and he starts on the Argentinian national team. I am sure Zico is a great player though.

 

[accesscrimea]

For me it is Maradona. He took Argentina to the champions of the world when most of the rest of the team where only average. And the carnage he wreaked whilst playing for Napoli was just ridiculous. I used to watch him then and he pratically single handedly led them to several trophys. He would do stuff that ive never seen anyone do and it would just leave me breathless.

Zidane for me is the most exceptional player of the last ten years. Watching him play was like watching a beautiful woman undess (ok i probably shouldnt have said it like that!). Ive also always highly rated the underated Paul Scholes (who looks a bit like Zidane), a unique talent and model proffesional.

Messi is the brightest talent of the current crop - he is doing stuff that i havent seen since Maradona. He is so fast with his feet it is insane..and if he keeps it up he could become one of the best ever.

From non white players the greatest respect i have for is Tierry Henry. Dont know about Pele as hes before my time but have heard that he has been given an iconic status beyond what he ever did.

Fans of white players should know that in the last 20 years 90% of the best of the best have been white. This is indeed a sport in which they have had the opportunity to shine.

 

[j41181]

Zico's 826 goals

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zico

http://www.ml-shopping.com/wiki/Zico.html

[url]http://www.chicagolandsoccernews.com/worldcup/teams/japan6.p hp[/url]


Pele's 1,281 goals

http://www.360soccer.com/pele/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pel%C3%A9

http://www.wikipediaondvd.com/nav/art/a/b/0.html

The thing I never liked about football (soccer) is they never keep any accurate stats on the players. Stats in the sport vary very widely, and I'm a stat freak.

 

[Karl Baxter]

This is a hard one, because greatness has many forms. I've always fancied Maradona because he could play great soccer while getting kicked in the back. I also have great respect for Cruyff who's passing and vision and tactical trickery showed a real soccer brain.

When I see old clips of Pele, it's usually some guy just running into space and tapping it in, past a goalkeeper who's half asleep. No wonder he's got such a high tally.