Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo was
signed at 18 by Manchester United after impressing in a pre-season friendly and
would go on to inspire the club to three league titles and a European Cup win
in 2008. He is also a great free-kick and penalty taker. After moving to Real
Madrid he would continue his astonishing goal record, despite mostly starting
from wide positions, and he continues to perform with remarkable consistency.
Becoming the key player in a great side he lit up La Liga with a personal
rivalry with Lionel Messi, leading his club to a tenth European Cup win in 2014.
Zinedine Zidane
One of the
greatest midfielders the game has ever known. Zidane played with such elegance,
vision and sublime technique that when a film was made consisting solely of
slow motion footage of him playing in one game it was taken entirely seriously
as piece of art. In the 1998 World Cup
Zidane succeeded where Platini had previously failed, winning the trophy to
become a unifying symbol for his country. In 2001 Zidane joined Real Madrid's
Galaticos line-up in a 75 million Euro
deal. There he would become arguably the team's most important player,
scheming from midfield, passing with incredible vision, setting up assists and
scoring exquisite goals.
Ronaldo
Ronaldo is a
player with a great story, one that is interwoven with the history of the World
Cup. His pace, dribbling and goalscoring ability was incredible, accompanied by
a masterful close control gained from his early career as a futsal player. This
was the best form of his career and he won the FIFA World Player in 1996 at the
age of just 20.
Lionel Messi
The player playing today and the
star of a remarkable Barcelona team for almost ten years. Messi is a creative
forward that can play from wide or central positions, drifting from deep,
beating players and setting up and scoring goals seemingly out of nowhere. He
has shown remarkable consistency in La Liga, scoring 278 goals in 309 games,
and scoring more goals than the number of games played in three seasons,
including an astonishing record 73 goals
in all competitions 2011/12. He has won the European Footballer of the Year five times, more than anyone else ever.
Pele
Pele is and always will be the
greatest footballer ever. It is a role he wears very comfortably. His play, full
of joy and exuberance, seems to sum up everything that the world loves about
the game and as he travels the globe acting as its greatest ambassador his own
legend is reinforced. He remains the only player ever to inspire his country to
win the World Cup twice: in 1958 and 1970.
