Greatest Player Ever

There is a lot of talk who is the greatest player ever. time to put it to a vote, below are the best players that have graced the football pitch choose for who you believe without a shadow of a doubt is the best football player there ever will be!!!

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There is a lot of talk who is the greatest player ever. time to put it to a vote, below are the best players that have graced the football pitch choose for who you believe without a shadow of a doubt is the best football player there ever will be!!!

Michel Platini Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was voted the best player and top goalscorer. He participated in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cups, reaching the semi-finals in the latter two. Platini, Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana together made up the "carré magique" (French for "magic square"), the group of midfield players that formed the heart of the French national team throughout the 1980s. He is also widely regarded as one of the best passers in football history as well as one of history's greatest free kick specialists and finishers. He holds the record for most goals (9) scored in European Championship final tournaments despite only appearing in one such tournament (1984). Despite being a midfielder, he held the national team top scorer record until striker Thierry Henry surpassed the 41 goals mark in 2007. Platini was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honour on 29 April 1985 and became Officier in 1988. He was the French national team coach for four years, and was the co-organizer of the 1998 World Cup in France.

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE (born 11 October 1937 in Ashington, Northumberland) is an English former professional football player who won the World Cup and was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1966. He played almost all of his club football at Manchester United, where he became renowned for his attacking instincts from midfield and his ferocious long-range shot. His elder brother Jack, who was also in the World Cup-winning team, was a former defender for Leeds United and coach. He began to play for United's first team in 1956, and over the next two seasons gained a regular place in the team, during which time he survived the Munich air disaster of 1958. After helping United to win the Football League in 1965, he won a World Cup medal with England in 1966 and another Football League title with United the following year. In 1968, he captained the Manchester United team that won the European Cup, scoring two goals in the final to help his team be the first English side to win the competition. He has scored more goals for England and United than any other player. He had made more appearances for Manchester United than any other player (758),[1] a record superseded by Ryan Giggs at the Champions League Final in Moscow on 21 May 2008. However, Charlton still owns the club record for most league appearances with 606, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest English players of all time. At the time of his retirement from the England team in 1970, he was the nation's most capped player, having turned out 106 times at the highest level. This record has since been eclipsed by Bobby Moore, Peter Shilton and then David Beckham. He left Manchester United in 1973, becoming player-manager of Preston North End,[2] but decided management was not for him and left after one season. After assuming the post of the director at Wigan Athletic for some time, he became a member of Manchester United's board of directors in 1984[3] and remains one as of May 2010. He set goalscoring records for both the England team and Manchester United, with both records remaining intact some 35 years after the end of his playing career. He was knighted in 1994.

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾɨʃˈtiɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]; born 5 February 1985),[2] commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid and serves as captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo currently holds the distinction of being the most expensive player in football history after having transferred to Real Madrid from Manchester United in a deal worth £80 million (€94m, US$132m). His contract with Real Madrid is believed to have made him the highest-paid football player in the world.[3] Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, then moved to Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting CP. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and he signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup, and reached the Euro 2004 final with Portugal, in which tournament he scored his first international goal. In 2008, Ronaldo won his first Champions League title, and was named player of the tournament. He was named the FIFPro World Player of the Year[4] and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years.[5] Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."

Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (born 10 May 1969 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch former professional footballer. At club level he played for Ajax, Internazionale, Arsenal and also represented the Netherlands at international level. Bergkamp played most of his best games as a support striker, where his tactical awareness and deft passes made him a great exponent of the game from the 'hole'. He was selected by Pelé as one of the FIFA 125 greatest living players and is widely regarded as one of the English Premier League's all-time greatest players. In 2007 he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, the first and thus far only Dutch player ever to receive the honour. He has also finished third in the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice.

Eusebio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM (Portuguese pronunciation: [ewˈzɛbiu dɐ ˈsiɫvɐ fɨˈʁɐjɾɐ]; born 25 January 1942), commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Portuguese football forward of Mozambican origin. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time,by the IFFHS.[4] He helped the Portuguese national team reach third place at the 1966 World Cup, being the top goalscorer of the tournament with nine goals (six of which were scored at Goodison Park) and was elected the European Footballer of the Year in 1965. He played for Benfica for 15 years, and is the team's all-time top scorer. Nicknamed "The Black Panther", or "The Black Pearl", Eusébio scored 727 goals in 715 games. He is also known for his speed and his powerful, accurate right-footed strike. He is considered Benfica's and Portugal's most renowned player and the first world-class African striker.[5] He was elected the 10th best footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the IFFHS.[4] Pelé named Eusébio as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004 FIFA 100 list. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Portugal by the Portuguese Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional football player, best known for his years with Manchester United. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders.[1] In 1968, his annus mirabilis, he won the European Cup with Manchester United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year. When fit, he was an automatic choice for the Northern Ireland team, but he was unable to lead them to the World Cup qualification, despite being capped 37 times and scoring nine goals. In 1999, he was voted 11th at the IFFHS European Player of the Century election, and 16th in the World Player of the Century election.[2] Pelé named him as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004 FIFA 100 list and Best was named 19th, behind Gerd Müller, at the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In his native Northern Ireland, the admiration for him is summed up by the local saying: "Maradona good; Pelé better; George Best."[3] He was one of the first celebrity footballers

George Weah At the pinnacle of success, Weah moved hid to Europe in 1988 when he was signed by Arsène Wenger,[6] the manager of Monaco, who Weah credits as an important influence on his career.[7] At Monaco, Weah was a member of the team that won the French Cup in 1991. In the 1990s Weah subsequently played for Paris Saint Germain (1992–95), with whom he won the French league in 1994 and became the top scorer of the UEFA Champions League 1994–95; and AC Milan (1995–1999), with whom he won the Italian league in 1996 and 1999. In 1995 he was named European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year. After leaving Milan in January 2000 Weah moved to Chelsea, Manchester City and Olympique Marseille in quick succession, before leaving Marseille in May 2001 for Al Jazira FC, in the United Arab Emirates. Weah's time in England was deemed a success, especially at Chelsea where he instantly endeared himself to their fans by scoring the winner against rivals Tottenham Hotpsur on his debut,[8] and scored further league goals against Wimbledon[9] and Liverpool.[10] He also scored twice in Chelsea's victorious 1999/2000 FA Cup campaign, netting crucial goals against Leicester City[11] and Gillingham.[12] This led to him starting in the final, which Chelsea won 1–0. At Manchester City he scored once in the league against Liverpool again,[13] and three times against Gillingham again, this time in the League Cup, once in the first leg[14] and twice in the second.[15] As successful as he was at club level, Weah was not able to bring over that success to the Liberian national team. He has done everything with the squad from playing to coaching to financing it, but failed to qualify for a single World Cup, falling just a point short in qualifying for the 2002 tournament. This has all led to Weah being known as one of the best footballers never to have played in a World Cup. [edit]World Fifa Player 1995 Weah was named world Fifa for 1995, becoming the only African player to win the award. He was the fifth recipient of the award. The Silver trophy was won by Paolo Maldini, and the Bronze by Jürgen Klinsmann. The other four recipients were: Lothar Matthaus '91, Marco Van Basten '92, Roberto Baggio '93, and Romario in '94. Weah also won the silver trophy the following year which was won by Brazilian striker Ronaldo. [edit]African Player of the Year 1989, 1994 and 1995 Weah won the African player of the year in 1989 when he was with AS Monaco and 1995 with AC Milan. That year he won almost every award a footballer could win. When he won the award in 1989, it was his first major award and he took it back home for the entire country to celebrate, similar to what he did when he won the world best title and the Onze Mondial title. And was a great and wonder ful player at that time in the world of football. [edit]European Player of the Year 1995 Weah won the European Player of the Year in 1995, becoming the only African to win the award. Sports writers from all over Europe voted and awarded Weah as the best player in Europe for the year. [edit]Onze Mondial 1995 The French Magazine name Weah as the top player in Europe for 1995 Fifa Fair Play Award 1996 [edit]African Player of the Century Weah was voted the African player of the Century by sport journalists from all around the world. This award puts Weah in the company of some of the greatest players to have ever played the game. Pelé won the same award as the South American player of the Century and Johan Cruijff as the European player of the century.

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff ( pronunciation (help·info); born 25 April 1947 in Amsterdam), is a retired Dutch footballer and current manager. He has won the Ballon d'Or three times—in 1971, 1973 and 1974, which is a record jointly held with Michel Platini and Marco van Basten. Cruyff was the most famous exponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football explored by Rinus Michels, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. After his retirement from playing in 1984, Cruyff became highly successful as manager of Ajax and later Barcelona; he remains an influential advisor to both clubs. His son Jordi has also gone on to play football professionally. In 1999, Cruyff was voted European Player of the Century in an election held by the IFFHS, and came second behind Pelé in their World Player of the Century poll.[1] He came third in a vote organised by the French weekly magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect their Football Player of the Century.[2] On 2 November 2009, Cruyff was named as manager of the Catalonian national team in place of Pere Gratacòs.[3] This is his first coaching job in thirteen years.

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi]; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for Barcelona and the Argentine national team. Considered as one of the best football players of his generation[3][4][5] and frequently cited as the world's best contemporary player,[6] Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21 and won both by the age of 22.[6][7][8][9] His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to the football legend Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi his "successor."[10][11] Lionel Messi began playing football at a young age and his potential was quickly identified by Barcelona. He left Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 2004–05 season, he broke the La Liga record for the youngest footballer to play a league game, and also the youngest to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in 2006–07; he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Perhaps his most successful season was the 2008–09 season, in which Messi scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign. Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals, including two in the final game. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of Argentina's senior international team. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América tournament the following year. In 2008, in Beijing, he won his first international honour, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team.

Lothar Matthaus In 1990, he was named European Footballer of the Year and World Soccer Player of the Year after captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup. One year later, he was also named the first ever FIFA World Player of the Year. He has played in five World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998) more than any other outfield player, and holds the record for the most World Cup matches played (25 games). He also won Euro 80, and played in Euro 84, Euro 88, and Euro 2000. In 1999, he was again voted German Footballer of the Year. He is the most capped German player of all time, retiring with a total of 150 appearances (83 of them when the team was called West Germany) and 23 goals for the German national team. Matthäus is a member of the FIFA 100 – a list of 125 of the greatest living football players chosen by Pelé. Maradona said about Matthäus "he is the best rival I've ever had. I guess that's enough to define him" in his book Yo soy el Diego (I am the Diego). During his career, he usually played as an Attacking Midfielder or Defensive Midfielder, although later in his career he played as a Sweeper. He was renowned for his perceptive passing, positional sense, and well-timed tackling, as well as his explosive shot.

Maradona Diego Armando Maradona ( Lanús , October 30 1960) is a football coach and former player Argentine , who played midfielder and striker , captain of the Argentine national football team winning the 1986 World Cup . Participated in four different editions of the World: 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, scoring in all except in 1990 [2]. His 91 match and 34 goals with Argentina were a record later broken by Javier Zanetti, , Ayala Roberto , Diego Simeone and Oscar Ruggeri for appearances by Gabriel Omar Batistuta and Hernan Crespo for the goal [3]. The Argentina Football Association (AFA) has also awarded him the title of "Best Argentine Footballer of all time" in1993[4]. Also known as El Pibe de Oro ( Golden Boy ), considered among the most talented players of all time, he played in ' Argentinos Juniors , in Boca Juniors , in Barcelona , in Naples , in Seville and Newell's Old Boys in a professional career more than twenty years. At the end of 2000was elected by a popular poll organized by FIFA best player of all time with 53.6% of the votes [5][6]. He was elected Footballer of the Year in 1986the British magazine World Soccer [7]and occupies the second in a special position in the ranking of the best players of the twentieth century published by this journal [8]. In a vote held in 2000's IFFHS attended by journalists and former players, Maradona was the 5th best player of the twentieth century Pele , Johan Cruyff , , Franz Beckenbauer and Alfredo di Stefano[9]. Considered one of the most controversial figures in football history, was suspended twice for a positive doping tests in 1991(for use of cocaine ) and the World in 1994 (for use of ephedra ) after his official retirement from football in 1997, it suffered a excessive increase in weight (solved with the help of a gastric bypass) and the consequences of drug addiction, from which it is released after lengthy stays in rehabilitation centers. It was subsequently posted by Pele in the FIFA 100 , a list of 125 best living footballers disclosed on March 4 2004, during the centenary of federation [10]and became the 2005star of a TV with Argentina on the show La Noche 10 . Despite little experience in the role in November 2008was appointed CT 's Argentina [11]with the task of leading the national team in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup , goal finally reached in October 2009. The AFS (Association of Football Statisticians'), ranking the 100 greatest players of all time according to a purely statistical criterion, included him in 6th place[12].

Marco Van Basten Marcel van Basten said Marco ( pronunciation [? · info ], Utrecht, , October 31 1964) is a football coach and former player Dutch , who played striker. Considered one of the best strikers in football history, [4][5][6][7]has scored 300 goals in career [4](276 with club teams, 24 with the Dutch national team ), [8]which ended prematurely at age 28 because of some injuries, though the announcement was officially given the 1995age of 30.[1] Champion of Europe 's Holland in 1988, tournament where he was also top scorer , Van Basten is (along with Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini ) the player who has won more gold balls in the history of the sport: three ( 1988, 1989and 1992). He was elected FIFA World Player in 1992. Occupies the 9th position in the special list of the best players of the twentieth century, published by World Soccer and the 12th position in the ' homonymous rankings compiled by ' IFFHS. It is one of six players who have scored a quadruple in a single game of the Champions League . It shares the record with Andriy Shevchenko , Simone Inzaghi , Dado Pršo , Ruud van Nistelrooy and Lionel Messi.

Oliver Kahn Oliver Rolf Kahn (born 15 June 1969) is a former German football goalkeeper. He started his career at Karlsruher SC and in 1994 was transferred to Bayern Munich, his last professional club. He is one of the most successful German players in recent history, having won eight German championships, six German cups, the UEFA Cup (1996), the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup (both 2001). His individual contributions have earned him four consecutive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards, three IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year awards, the Golden Ball at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and two German "Footballer of the Year" trophies. He played for the German national team (from 1994 to 2006), where he was starting goalkeeper of the 2002 World Cup squad which reached the Finals and won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball for his performance. Kahn is nicknamed "King Kahn"[2] or "The Titan"[3] due to his formidable presence and influence. He made his last professional appearance for Bayern Munich on 27 May 2008 at the Salt Lake Stadium (Yuvabharati Krirangam), Kolkata in a friendly against Mohun Bagan of India during Bayern's Asian tour of 2008. Around 120,000 people turned up for the match. The match ended 0-3 in favour of Bayern and Michael Rensing substituted 'King Kahn' in the 55th minute.[4] He is considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time and is the only goalkeeper in the history of football to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (in World Cup 2002).

Pele Pelé's goalscoring record is often reported as being 1280 goals in 1363 games.[44] This figure includes goals scored by Pelé in non-competitive club matches, for example, international tours Pelé completed with Santos and the New York Cosmos, and games Pelé played in for armed forces teams during his national service in Brazil.[45] The tables below record every goal Pelé scored in major club competitions for Santos and the New York Cosmos. During much of Pelé's playing career in Brazil there was no national league championship. From 1960 onwards the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) were required to provide meritocratic entrants for the then-new Copa Libertadores, a South American international club competition broadly equivalent to the European Cup. To enable them to do this, the CBF organised two national competitions: the Taça de Prata and Taça Brasil. A national league championship, the Campeonato Brasileiro, was first played in 1971, alongside traditional state and interstate competitions such as the Campeonato Paulista and the Torneio Rio-São Paulo. The number of league goals scored by Pelé is listed as 589 in 605 games. This number is the sum of the goals scored by Pelé in domestic league-based competitions: the Campeonato Paulista (SPS), Torneio Rio-São Paulo (RSPS), Taça de Prata and Campeonato Brasileiro. The Taça Brasil was a national competition organised on a knockout basis.

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972 in Paulista, Pernambuco, Brazil), commonly known simply as Rivaldo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who currently plays for Uzbek side Bunyodkor. He was widely considered one of the finest playmakers in the modern history of the game. An attacking midfielder, he is known for his play-making capabilities, as well as his goalscoring ability and bicycle kicks.[citation needed] He most notably played five years with Spanish club FC Barcelona, with whom he won the 1998 and 1999 Spanish La Liga championship and the 1998 Copa del Rey. Between 1993 and 2003, Rivaldo played 74 matches and scored 34 goals for the Brazil national football team and was a part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup winning Brazilian team. In 1999, Rivaldo was honoured as FIFA World Player of the Year and European Footballer of the Year. He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony in 2004. He is also the president of Mogi Mirim Esporte Clube in his native Brazil

Roberto Baggio Baggio played in 16 World Cup matches for Italy. Ireland is the only team against which Baggio played more than once in his 16 games of FIFA World Cup play. He is the highest Italian goalscorer of all-time in the World Cup, with 9 goals from 16 appearances (along with Rossi and Vieri). But Baggio is the only Italian to have scored in three World Cups. Baggio has scored 86 percent of his penalties in Serie A and International football, scoring 106 out of 122 penalties, more than any other player in Italian football history.[citation needed] When Baggio was in the national team, Italy always left the World Cup at penalties: in 1990 against Argentina, in 1994 against Brazil, and in 1998 against France. Therefore, In 16 world cup matches he played Italy lost only one, Italy's opening game of USA 94 against Ireland

Romario From very humble origins, Romário was spotted in childhood when playing for Olaria AC, a small club from the Rio de Janeiro suburb. He was taken to the junior team of Vasco da Gama where he won two state leagues (1987/88) and earned his first call-ups to the national team. Romário came to international attention when he became the top scorer at the 1988 Olympic football tournament. Shortly after he moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Dutch League in 1989, 1991 and 1992. Romário moved to Spain's FC Barcelona for the 1993-1994 season, in which, along with players like Hristo Stoichkov, José Mari Bakero, Josep Guardiola, Michael Laudrup and Ronald Koeman, he helped the club win the League, while becoming the season's top goalscorer with 30 goals in 33 matches. Romário was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994, after being the runner-up in 1993. In 1995 he returned to Brazil to play for Flamengo. He spent the next year in Valencia. In 1998, he missed the World Cup and then returned to Flamengo until 1999. He played for Vasco da Gama again in 2000, winning the Mercosur Cup, the Brazilian League, the South American and Brazilian Footballer of the Year award. From 2002 until 2004 he played for Fluminense. On October 21, 2004 he was fired from the club after a conflict with the coach. He then went back to play for the team he started at, Vasco da Gama. In 2005, at nearly 40 years of age, Romário scored 22 goals in the Brazilian Championship, making him the league's top goalscorer. In the beginning of 2006, he joined Miami FC along with former 1994 FIFA World Cup teammate Zinho. He helped Miami FC reach their first ever USL First Division Playoffs, scoring 19 league goals in 25 appearances for the team. In the biggest coup of the A-League's short history, Romário was signed by AUFC Board member Mel Patzwald to the Australian A-League club Adelaide United FC. He played his first match for Adelaide United FC on November 25, 2006 against the Central Coast Mariners FC. After his final game during his short stint on December 15, 2006 he finally scored a goal for Adelaide to end what many considered to be a disappointing spell with the club. In January 2007 he signed a new deal with Vasco da Gama.[4] [edit]One thousandth goal On May 20, 2007, Romário scored his 1000th goal, a penalty kick against Sport Recife, playing for Vasco da Gama. The brazilian press claimed him as the third player in professional football history to achieve this, after Pelé and Puskás[5] The 1000th goal drew much attention from both Brazilian and international press, with the game being stopped for over 20 minutes to allow for celebrations from his fans.[6][7][8][9] There is some controversy over the validity of the 1000 goals as it claim is somewhat inaccurate, because Romário's research team counted his goals in junior, friendly and non-official games.[10][11] FIFA congratulated Romário on his milestone goal[12] but stated he is still officially on 929 goals, as 77 came in youth football, with others being scored in friendly matches.[13] In 2008 Romário released a DVD with the best goals of his career totaling 900 goals in the disc.[14]

Ronaldinho Ronaldinho de Assis Moreira was born on 21st March, 1980 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He helped Brazil win the World under-17 Championship in Egypt. During the competition he was scouted by local club Gremio and signed his first professional contract. In 1999, after hitting 15 goals in 14 games for Gremio, Ronaldinho won his first senior cap for Brazil against Latvia. After shining in that match he made Brazil's Copa America squad and scored an incredible goal against Venezuela as Brazil won the trophy. Ronaldinho scored his first hat-trick for Brazil against Saudi Arabia in the Confederations Cup semi-finals later that year. In 2001 he left Gremio for Paris St. Germain (PSG) but was unable to make his debut because of contract rows, until 3 months later when FIFA stepped in. In 2002 Ronaldinho was voted France's player of the month for January after hitting 6 goals in 7 games for PSG. In June of that year he scored the famous free-kick against David Seaman in Brazil's World Cup Quarter Finals match against England (but was it a cross?), however later in that match he got a red card. After being suspended in the semis Ronaldinho won the World Cup with Brazil, playing in the final against Germany. In the 2003 summer transfer market he rejected Manchester United to join Spanish side Barcelona for £21m. After playing well for Barca Ronaldinho was named as one of the 11 greatest living footballers, announced by FIFA and chosen by Brazil legend Pele. Then, Ronaldinho scored 15 league goals to inspire an improved Barcelona to 2nd place in La Liga. Soon after he suffered the first major injury of his career and missed Brazil's Copa America campaign. Ronaldinho pleased Barcelona fans by turning down Chelsea and agreeing a new contract. In December he was named best player in the world for 2004 by FIFA beating Shevchenko and Henry to first place. Six months later Ronaldinho helped Barcelona to win La Liga 2005 easily outdoing rivals Real Madrid. In September 2005 Ronaldinho added to his bulging trophy cabinet when he won the FIFPro's World Player of the Year in a poll of 38,000 professional football players in 40 countries. Wayne Rooney won the young player award. In November 2005 Ronaldinho was named 2005 European Footballer of the Year - the award known as the Ballon D'Or is voted for by European football journalists selected by French magazine France Football. The 2005/2006 season ended in excellent fashion for Barca and Ronaldinho after they won both La Liga and the Champions League. Ronaldinho played in the Brazilian World Cup 2006 squad, however Brazil did not shine and went out in the quarter-finals.

Ronaldo Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁoˈnaɫdu luˈiz naˈzaɾiu dʒi ˈlimɐ]; born 22 September 1976), commonly known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays for Corinthians. Ronaldo was one of the most prolific scorers in the world in the 1990s and the early 2000s. He won his first Ballon d'Or as the European Footballer of the Year in 1997 and again won the award in 2002. Additionally, he is one of only two men to have won the FIFA Player of the Year award three times, along with French footballer Zinedine Zidane. In 2007, he was named as one of the best starting eleven of all-time by France Football and was named to the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest footballers compiled by fellow countryman Pelé. In 2010, he was voted Goal.com's 'Player of the Decade' in an online poll, gathering 43.63% of all votes[2] and was also included as Centre Forward in the 'Team of the Decade'.[3] On February 23, 2010, Ronaldo announced that he will retire after the 2011 season, signing a two-year contract extension with the Corinthians at the same time [4]. Ronaldo has played for Brazil in 97 international matches, amassing 62 goals. He was a part of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994, and 2002 World Cups. During the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup with his fifteenth goal, surpassing Gerd Müller's previous record of 14.

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (French pronunciation: [zinedin zidan]; born 23 June 1972 in Marseille, France) is a retired French World Cup-winning footballer. Widely regarded as one of the game's all-time greats, Zidane played for club teams in France, Italy and Spain, and was a member of the French national team. His career accomplishments include helping France win the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, in addition to winning the 2002 UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid. One of only two three-time FIFA World Player of the Year winners, the other being Ronaldo, Zidane also won the Ballon d'Or in 1998. He retired from professional football after scoring and being sent off in the final of the 2006 World Cup.

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