Thread: Soccer legends of all time!!!!!!!!

Roberto Baggio
(Italy)

Baggio's best World Cup was in 1994 in the United States. After a slow start he woke up in the second round, scoring twice against Nigeria, then once against Spain in the quarterfinal, and two more in the semifinal against Bulgaria. In the final against Brazil he missed a penalty in the shoot-out which saw Brazil win the World Cup for the fourth time.




Pelé
(Brazil)

Pele has achieved more than any other player in the World Cup history. Surprisingly he hasn't been topscorer in either of the four World Cups he played in, but he is on third place of the all-time topscorers table with his 12 goals. His proudest record must be the fact that he is the only player who has won three World Cups.



Diego Maradona
(Argentina)

He was caught for drug abuse in a match against Nigeria, and the World Cup story of Diego Armando Maradona got a sad ending. That match meant that Maradona equaled the record of matches played in the World Cup of 21, held by Uwe Seeler and Wladislav Zmuda (Later beaten by Lothar Matthäus). Maradona retired from international football after that with a gallery of good and bad memories. But he is by neutral football lovers regarded alongside Pelé as the greatest player of them all.




Zinedine Zidane
(France)

n 1998, France hosted the 16th World Cup for soccer. The French team were given an outside chance of winning but to everyone's surprise they made it through to the finals. In the final, France faced a head on clash with the defending World Champions, Brazil.

Zinedine Zidane's two headers stunned Brazil in the first half of their championship match on July 12 at the Stade de France just outside Paris. These goals gave the French a 2-0 lead. A third goal was added by the team in the second half to win. the French team had beaten the strongest team in the world!

Roberto Baggio was indeed a very good football player but hardly a legend - even for our times. I used to like him also.

But there are many better players, Here are a few modern legends (post 1980s) in random order (to add to the above list):

1. Michel Platini, France
2. Zico, Brazil
3. Socrates, Brazil
4. Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina
5. Lothar Matthaus, Germany

Of course, the list may be endless.