This week marks 100 days until the World Cup kicks off in Brazil.To celebrate the milestone, Sportsmail has been counting down the 100 greatest stars in the tournament’s history.
Now this list is not necessarily the best players – hence there is no Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo – nor is it a collection of the most decorated.
Rather, this is a line-up of those who are World Cup icons, the players whose names are synonymous with the greatest competition on earth.
Each day this week we have revealed 20 players, counting down through stars such as Paul Gascoigne, Carlos Valderrama, Michael Laudrup and Dennis Bergkamp, players who have illuminated those summer months.
But the day has arrived to crown our No 1 World Cup hero.
Who will it be? Scroll down through the 20 greatest players in the history of the competition to find out...
And here is the final countdown
20: Romario (Brazil) - 1990 and 1994
The pint-sized predator made USA 94 his own and was the Golden Ball winner (player of the tournament) as Brazil overcame Italy following a penalty shootout in the final. He scored five times along the way and netted his spot-kick in the shootout. Toe-poked finishes were his trademark but it was a bullet header which saw off Sweden in the semi-final. He has since been included in FIFA’s World Cup Dream Team.
19: Just Fontaine (France) - 1958
Every football fan knows the name Just Fontaine. Why? He remains the scorer of the most goals at a single tournament, 13 in 1958. Injury was to cut short his career at just 27 but his goalscoring exploits in helping France to third in Sweden had assured his legend.
18: Michel Platini (France) - 1978, 1982 and 1986
Captained France to successive third-placed finishes in 1982 and 1986 and was an All Star XI member at both. The talismanic No 10 played through the pain barrier at Mexico 86 but nonetheless scored twice – including a deft chip in the second-round defeat of Italy – en route to the semi-final where they were again beaten by eventual runners-up West Germany.
17: Miroslav Klose (Germany) - 2002, 2006 and 2010
Only Brazil’s Ronaldo has scored more in World Cup history than Klose’s 14 across three tournaments. He announced his arrival on the global stage with a hat-trick of headers during an 8-0 hammering of Saudi Arabia in 2002 and finished the tournament on five, second behind that man Ronaldo. He added another five back in his homeland four years later and this time it was enough to earn the Golden Boot.
The Polish-born hitman was included in the All Star sides of ‘02 and ‘06 but he wasn’t done there, finding the back of the net a further four times at South Africa 2010 as the Germans made it to the last four before defeat by eventual champions Spain.
16: Geoff Hurst (England) - 1966 and 1970
He only played six matches across two tournaments, scoring five times. But when one of those matches is the World Cup final at Wembley and three of those goals are scored in that very game, your place in tournament folklore is guaranteed for eternity. It is often forgotten that he headed the crucial winning goal against Argentina in the quarter-final, but it was his hat-trick in the 4-2 victory over West Germany which cemented his legend.
15: Paolo Maldini (Italy) - 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002
With 2,217 to his name, no player has clocked up more World Cup minutes than the Italy defender. The closest he came to lifting the trophy was the penalty shootout defeat in the final of USA 94, but still his influence over four tournaments was enough to win a place in FIFA’s all-time World Cup Dream Team and he was named in the All Star XIs of ‘90 and ‘94.
14: Cafu (Brazil) - 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006
The only player to appear in three World Cup Finals and the only man since 1970 to twice finish on the winning side. And, while we’re at it, his 16 victories at the finals is also a record. By the time Brazil lifted the trophy in 2002, Cafu was captain of his country and is considered one of the greatest full backs in the history of the game.
13: Bobby Charlton (England) - 1962, 1966 and 1970
How England could have done with a Bobby Charlton at recent World Cups. His goals made the difference as Alf Ramsey’s hosts made it through to the 1966 final at Wembley. He belted a stunner from distance in a crucial group-stage victory over Mexico before bagging a match-winning brace against Portugal in the semi-final. Having then defeated West Germany to take the Jules Rimet Trophy, Charlton was crowned the tournament’s best player ahead of team-mate Bobby Moore and Portugal’s Eusebio.
12: Roberto Baggio (Italy) - 1990, 1994 and 1998
He will always be remembered for the penalty miss in Pasadena as his skied effort condemned Italy to defeat in the ‘94 final. That they were there in the first place, however, owed everything to the Divine Ponytail. Italy were heading home with just two minutes remaining of their last-16 tie with Nigeria when Baggio slid home an equaliser to force extra-time before bagging a winner from the penalty spot.
And so on to the quarters versus Spain where again, with just two minutes left on the clock and the game at 1-1, Baggio intervened, rounding the goalkeeper having been sprung clear and somehow steering in from the narrowest of angles. His best goal, though, came in the semi-final against Bulgaria, drifting by two opponents on the edge of the area before locating the bottom corner with unerring ease. He doubled his side’s lead soon after and that was enough to see them through to the final where penalty heartache against Brazil lay in wait.
Baggio, do not forget, had also scored twice in Italy four years earlier, including one mesmerising dribble and cool finish against Czechoslovakia in the group stage. He was back again in 1998 where he added a further two goals and exorcised the demons of his ‘94 penalty miss with a successful conversion in the quarter-final shootout defeat by eventual winners France.
11: Johan Cruyff (Holland) - 1974
Our highest-ranking star to only have appeared in one tournament and that serves to highlight the impact he had. Cruyff was inspirational as he led the famous Dutch team of 1974 to the final in West Germany. He’d scored three times along the way and given birth to the piece of skill we know today as the ‘Cruyff turn’.
In the final against the hosts he was chopped down inside the first minute after a daring raid, earning his side a penalty which was duly converted by Johan Neeskens. The Germans, though, recovered to win and Cruyff was never seen at the finals again. His influence had been so great, however, that he was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament.
10: Paolo Rossi (Italy) - 1978 and 1982
Without a doubt his country’s greatest World Cup hero. Rossi had already scored three times at Argentina 78 - helping Italy to the semi-finals and being voted the tournament’s second-best player behind Mario Kempes - when he took the world stage by storm at Spain 82. Amplifying his legend is the fact that Rossi had only returned from a two-year suspension for his part in a bribery scandal one month before the tournament.
Perhaps expectedly he had a slow start and it wasn’t until the fifth match with Brazil that he bagged a quite magnificent hat-trick to send the Azzurri through the last four. There he scored both in a 2-0 win over Poland and was again on target in the final as West Germany were defeated 3-1. Rossi was top goalscorer and player of the tournament, later to be crowned European and World Player of the Year.
9: Bobby Moore (England) - 1962, 1966 and 1970
Having already played in all six matches as England reached the quarter-finals in Chile in 1962, Moore captained his country to victory in his homeland four years later. The No 6 was imperious, with England not conceding a goal until Eusebio’s penalty in the semi-final victory over Portugal.
At Mexico 70 he produced one of the most iconic tackles of all time, stopping Brazil great Jairzinho in his tracks with a perfectly-timed challenge. After that game, he embraced Pele, their mutual respect evident. Indeed, following his untimely death at the age of 51, another footballing legend, Franz Beckenbauer, said: ‘Bobby was my football idol. I looked up to him. I’m so proud to have played against him’.
8: Gerd Muller (West Germany) - 1970 and 1974
His winning goal in the 1974 final against Holland was everything Muller was about; a close-range finish not pretty in picture but predatory in its instinct. ‘Der Bomber’, as he was known, could blow holes in defences, always ready to detonate when inside his favoured domain, the penalty area.
While ‘74 saw him collect his winners’ medal, it was arguably Mexico 70 for which he is best remembered. There he scored 10 times from six matches to take the Golden Boot as the Germans were beaten by Italy in the semis and, to this day, only Ronaldo has more World Cup goals.
7: Lothar Matthaus (West Germany/Germany) - 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998
He is the only outfield player to appear in five tournaments, debuting as a 21-year-old and signing off at 37. His 25 appearances are also a World Cup record. But don’t be distracted by the numbers, this was a player of star quality. Indeed, the overriding memory of West Germany’s victory at Italia 90 is the drive of Matthaus from midfield and his ability to marry flair and determination.
He scored four goals en route to the final and was the Silver Ball recipient behind Toto Schillaci. He had been a runner-up in Mexico four years earlier and made it to the last eight in ‘94 and ‘98.
6: Garrincha (Brazil) - 1958, 1962, 1966
His story is all the more remarkable given that he was born with severe defects and played his entire career with a distorted left leg. His first tournament was in Sweden in 1958 where two assists in the final against the hosts saw Brazil land the trophy. Four years later and with Pele injured, Garrincha took on the mantle of talisman and was player of the tournament as the South Americans defended their title. His four goals were enough to tie for the Golden Boot and he did not lose a World Cup match until the quarter-final defeat by Portugal in England in 1966.
5: Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany) - 1966, 1970 and 1974
‘Der Kaiser’ has the distinction of finishing first, second and third at the three World Cups he played in. Fittingly, his final tournament saw him raise the trophy in front of his home crowd in 1974. By then, however, the world was well aware of this elegant sweeper.
He had scored four times in England as a 20-year-old in 1966 before defeat in the final. Following that tournament he was named as the best young player and included in the All Star XI. That was again the case four years on in Mexico as he guided the West Germans to the semi-finals where they were ousted in a seven-goal thriller with Italy, Beckenbauer playing the entire 120 minutes with a heavily-strapped shoulder. But in ‘74 his crowning moment arrived and once more he was included in the tournament’s best XI.
After West Germany's victory at Italia 90, he joined Mario Zagallo in an exclusive club as men to win the World Cup as player and coach.
4: Zinedine Zidane (France) - 1998, 2002 and 2006
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are yet to replicate their star talent on the biggest stage but the same accusation can not be levelled at Zidane. Having been sent off in the group stage of France 98, he returned for the quarter-finals and was sublime as the hosts made it through to the final with Brazil. In the Stade de France in Paris his World Cup legend was secured, a pair of first-half headers putting his side in control before Emmanuel Petit saw home a 3-0 victory.
He was included in the All Star XI and that was again the case eight years later in Germany. This time, though, he was winner of the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player having been majestic in France’s journey to the final, scoring the winner against Portugal in the semis.
What unfolded in Berlin, however, is the stuff of infamy, Zidane giving his side an early lead from the penalty spot – nonchalantly chipping in via the underside of the crossbar – only to be sent off in extra-time following an outrageous headbutt on Marco Materazzi, after which France were beaten on penalties.
3: Ronaldo (Brazil) - 1998, 2002 and 2006
Brazil surprised many when they took a teenage Ronaldo to USA 94 ‘just for the experience’; it was to prove a prudent ploy. Fifteen goals later he is the tournament’s greatest-ever goalscorer and his eight in 2002 – including a match-winning brace in the final – saw him bestowed with his first Golden Boot as well as the Silver Ball as the competition’s second-best player.
Four years earlier, however, he had taken the Golden Ball following his mesmerising performance in firing Brazil to the final of France 98. His appearance in that match with the hosts, though, was shrouded in controversy amid rumours of illness and seizures before the game. But his moment came in Yokohama with that devastating double against Germany. He returned in 2006 but, despite three goals and a Bronze Boot award, Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
2: Pele (Brazil) - 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970
Where to start? Well, becoming the youngest-ever winner of a World Cup at 17 in 1958 is as good a point as any. The teenager had scored six at the finals in Sweden, including a treble in the semi-final and another strike against the hosts to claim the trophy. Injuries plagued his next two tournaments, although he did collect a winners’ medal in 1962.
But it was in 1970 that, as the iconic figure of the greatest-ever side in World Cup history, he enjoyed the finest four weeks of a career which spanned 21 years and more than 1,000 goals. In Mexico he was by some distance the best player at the finals, scoring four and playing a part in another 10 of Brazil’s 17 goals. He opened the scoring with a powerful header in the final as Italy were swept aside 4-1.
Afterwards his minder, Tarcisio Burgnich, said: ‘I told myself before the game, he’s made of skin and bones just like everyone else — but I was wrong.’
1: Diego Maradona (Argentina) - 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994
Pele, as suggested above, was the star of a great side. Maradona, in contrast, was the star of a good side. And that, in our eyes, is why the Argentine is deserving of No 1 billing in our list of World Cup heroes.
In the history of this greatest tournament on earth, no player has inspired his country to victory with as much skill, guts, cunning and charisma as Maradona did in 1986. In the long list of Golden Ball winners, his is by some distance the most iconic performance of one individual at a World Cup. He dragged his side to the final, a player at the very top of his game and on the biggest stage of all.
His five goals included his two against England in the quarter-final – one famous, one infamous – his ‘Hand of God’ opener followed by the most daring dribble in World Cup history, a spellbinding dash from his own half climaxed with the coolest finish. Again, in the semis and with his team toiling against Belgium, he seized the moment to score twice and send the South Americans through to the final where West Germany were defeated.
In 1990 he led Argentina to the final once more but the Germans turned the tables. Maradona, though, was still voted the tournament’s third-best player despite his star having faded. It just goes to show how brightly he’d burned four years earlier.
Video : Maradona dancing during warm up
0 comments:
Post a Comment