who's the greatest soccer player of all times?
369853
PELE\nNO CONTEST, KIDS
668538
Pele, without doubt. I met him in 2000 while working at one of the major sponsors and he is a really great bloke. So not only was he unbelievable on the pitch, he was a great bloke too. \n\nCompare that to Maradona (junkie), George Best (drunk womaniser) and even Paul Gascgoine (wife-beater, drunk, fake-breast wearer). \n\nI've seen old video of Eusebio too and he was pretty special, but for me the greatest is definitely Pele.
441003
My vote goes to Peter Shilton. \nHon'ble mentions: Eric Cantona, "Pelé" Nascimento," and "Dixie" Dean.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Shilton
1009247
There have been so many great players in the history of football, and everyone will have a different criteria in their determination of what makes a player ‘iconic’, but there are a few names who I think must surely be in the hat…\n\nAside from Pele and Maradona, who are penned in already, I’d say the most obvious would be the great George Best, who sadly passed away last year.\nPele himself once described Best as ‘the greatest footballer in the world’, and for pure, unadulterated talent he’s certainly up there with finest proponents of the game. He had a unique genius that made him one of the most exciting players of his, or any other generation, as well as one of the first ‘celebrity’ footballers. The cheeky character so evident in his football was mirrored in his personality and the young Best was a star on and off the pitch, but he also had a self-destructive streak that controlled much of his life.\n\nAfter Best, I’d have to consider a good few others:\n\nPuskas – The Hungarian that showed England that rest of the world were actually quite good at football. Fearsomely powerful and one of the finest international goal scorers of all time.\n\nGordon Banks – Seemingly super-human English goalkeeper that made that unbelievable stop from Pele’s close range header in ’70. To my mind the best keeper ever, and in that sense a football icon.\n\nJohan Cruyff – The original Dutch master, he invented half the skills you see today off the top of his head. Wickedly creative, strong and skilful, Cruyff brought something new to the game and was at the heart of one of the most gifted World Cup sides ever.\n\nZidane – In my opinion the greatest player in modern football. Powerful and skilful with ridiculous vision, Zidane is a French playmaker that creates and scores goals that no one else can even imagine, let alone actually realise.\n\nPhew! And I haven’t even mentioned Van Basten, Eusebio, Ronaldo, Henry, Muller, Beckenbauer, Platini, Charlton, Garrincha, Zoff, Di Stefano, Maldini etc, etc…
385142
right now its Ronaldinho\nbefore that it was Eric Cantona\nand before that Maradona\nand then it was George Best\nbut Pele was the first true great
376564
THE BEST OF THE BESTEST IS\nPELE\n\n\nBEST Players:\nAndriy Shevchenko "#7 Ukraine"\nZinedine Zidane "#10 France"\nSaeed Owairan "#10 Saudi Arabia"\nRafael Márquez "#4 Mexico"\nDiego Armando Maradona "#10 Argentina\nRonaldo "#9 Brazil"\nRivaldo "#10 Brazil"\nPele "O Rei" "#10 Brazil"\nEusebio "The Black Panther" "#10 Portugal" \nBastian Schweinsteiger "#7 Germany"\nDavid Beckham "#7 England"\n\nNew players 2Cheer:\nAndres Guardado "#19 Mexico"\nMabrouk Zaid "#1 Saudi Arabia\nSota Hirayama "#5 Japan"\nAndrey Rusol "#8 Ukraine\n\nBEST GOALCH "GoalKeeper":\nOleksander Shovkovsky "#1 UKRAINE"\nOliver Kahn "#1 Germany"\nOswaldo Sanchez "#12 Mexico"\nFabien Barthez "#16 France"\nLee Woon-jae "#1 South Korea"
804145
Pele. He is the all-time top scorer in the history of the Brazil national team and is the only footballer ever to win three World Cup trophies (it should be noted that, due to injury, he did not participate in Brazil's World Cup triumph in 1962 and did not recieve a medal). \n\nEnjoy!!!
346760
RONALDO!  To put it plain and simple, he is just amazing.
373430
Pele of course!  For any question asked about the greatest game on earth you can answer with the greatest player on earth, Pele.
388367
was...Ronaldhino Gaúcho!!! Great Brazilian soccer player.
473681
Nobody ever will be as good as him. He is just the best soccer player in the world from all time.
337863
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira aka Ronaldinho Gaucho.\n\nWorld Player of the year 2004 and 2005. European Footballer of the Year 2005.\n\nBest in the world.
865732
Muhammed Ali\n  \nPelé\n\n(I have met somebody who played against Pelé, and against Garrincha, and all the famous footballers of that era, Stanley Matthews etc. I don't think he would have voted for a footballer as the best sportsman!)\n\nJesse Owens (well before my time)
356821
Pele actually retired in 1977. That was a little longer than 25 years ago. Best player since then A) Maradona or B) Zidane...followed up by C)Romario
1087230
pele, maradone, u know... the greats\n\nas of the current generation, kahn, ronaldihno, and christiano ronaldo
569680
In a poll conducted a couple of years ago by FIFA, audience the world over rated Diego Maradona (Argentina) as the best player ever by giving him the maximum votes. On the other hand, critics rated Pele (Brazil) as the best.\n\nWhereas there exists some element of doubt, Pele is often considered as the best player by players and critics alike.
397151
No one...not one player can be compared to Ronaldinho.  He is the absolute best player in the world. If any club could select one player, it would be Ronaldinho.  His style is bar none, his skills are bar none, he raises his team to another level....whether it be Barcelona or Brasil.  Pele's status of all-time best player could have it's days numbered if Ronaldinho continues his ways.