Football Legends

Ronaldo

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima commonly known as Ronaldo,popularly dubbed "the phenomenon", is considered to be one of the greatest football players of all time.He is one of only four players to have won the FIFA World Player of the Year award three times or more, along with Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo He also won the Ballon d'Or twice, in 1997 and again in 2002. Ronaldo played for Brazil in 98 matches, scoring 62 goals, and is the second highest goalscorer for his national team.Aged 17, he was a part of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup.He won a second World Cup in 2002 where he scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as top goalscorer. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th World Cup goal, which was a World Cup record at the time.Having suffered a string of serious injuries throughout his career, Ronaldo retired on 14 February 2011.Quoted from Wiki



Paolo Maldini

Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former footballer who played as a left back or central defender. The legend of Paolo Maldini, however, never revolved around his exploits with the Azzurri. It was always about Milan, and only about Milan. He spent all 25 seasons of his career at Serie A club A.C. Milan during which he won 5 Champions League titles,7 Serie A,1 Coppa Italia,5 Supercoppa Italiana,5 UEFA Supercup,2 Intercontinental cup & 1 FIFA Club World Cup. Maldini retired at the age of 41, in 2009. Il Capitano, as he was lovingly called, was no pushover at that age. Milan retired Maldini’s No.3 shirt upon retirement.Quoted From HistoryofSoccer & Sportskeeda

Edwin Van Der Sar

Despite having won no national honours with the Netherlands, who he won a record 130 caps for, Edwin van der Sar’s glittering club career still elevates him onto this list. Van der Sar represented Ajax, Juventus,Fulham and Manchester United with distinction—not a small feat.
Highlights include winning the Champions League with Ajax in 1995 and then United in 2008, when he was named man of the match, making him one of a select group of players to have won Europe’s premier club competition with two different clubs. He also claimed the Uefa Cup and multiple league titles in the Netherlands and England, the last of which at Old Trafford in 2011 made Van der Sar the oldest-ever player to win the Premier League at 40 years and 205 days.The keeper who was perhaps the best ever with the ball at his feet, a vital skill in the modern game following the abolition of the back-pass rule, also holds the world record for the most amount of time without conceding a league goal at 1,311 minutes during the 2008-09 season at United.Quoted from bleacherreport

Zinedine Zidane

Zidane is often considered to be the best footballer of his generation and one of the greatest of all time. A midfielder, his elegant dribbling, balance, passing ability, shot accuracy, shot selection, and well-placed free kicks have made him one of the game's finest players.Zidane received international attention with his two headed goals in the 1998 World Cup final against Brazil that essentially won his country's first ever title.He has been elected FIFA World Player of the Year three times (1998, 2000, 2003) and once as European Footballer of the Year (1998). In 2004, Zidane was added to the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. Zidane retired from international football after the 2006 World Cup Final on 09 July 2006.Quoted from Bonjourlafrance



Michael Owen 

Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is a former English footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City as well as the England national team. Internationally, Owen first played for the senior England team in 1998, becoming England's youngest player and youngest goalscorer at the time.He is the only player to have scored in four major tournaments for England.Owen is one of seven players to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League. He is also the youngest player to have reached 100 goals in the Premier League. On 19 March 2013, Owen announced his retirement from playing at the end of the 2012–13 season.Quoted from Wikipedia



Clarence Seedorf

The only player to have won the UEFA Champions League with three different teams – AFC Ajax, Real Madrid CF and AC Milan – Clarence Seedorf considers himself to have a special bond with Europe's premier club competition.Quoted From UEFA.com




Raul Gonzalez

Raúl made his first team debut for Real when only 17 years and 4 months old, the youngest player to do so, and he quickly became a sensation in La Liga. Always a natural goalscorer, he was also blessed with the vision that marks out the really outstanding players, and he soon became a key player. Raúl has helped Real to five domestic championships, three Champions’ league victories – scoring in the 2000 and 2002 games. Indeed, Raúl has played more Champions’ league matches than any other player and is competing with team mate Van Nistlerooy to be top goalscorer of all time. In addition, he has helped win La Liga five times, been the league’s Pichichi – top goalscorer – twice, and been runner-up for European Player of the Year in 2001.Quoted from Spanish-fiestas

David Beckham

David Beckham is more than one of England's best soccer player. He is a celebrity, treated as near-royalty, hounded by the press who dwell on his every move.Despite playing under constant pressure and ongoing booing from the crowd, Beckham had an excellent year and lead Manchester United to an unprecedented triple crown, winning the Premier League championship, the FA Cup, and the European Cup. Beckham had another good year during the 1999-2000 season, winning his fourth Premier League championship. He was runner-up in the voting for both best player in Europe and the best player in the world, and was second in voting for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.Beckham's undeniable talent to score on free kicks drew a team of international researchers to study how he literally bends the plane of the ball over defenders and into the goal. A great footballer with an even greater public persona, Beckham continues to fuel the frenzy through his rich-and-famous lifestyle and his exceptional play on the field.Quoted from encyclopedia



Filippo Inzaghi

One hundred and fifty-six goals in Serie A, the highest-scoring Italian striker in the Champions League with 50 goals, 57 times capped by Italy scoring 25 goals, World Cup winner in Berlin in 2006. Filippo Inzaghi was a wonderful striker who took centre stage, deciding two finals by bagging two goals in each game, first in the Champions League final in Athens and then in the Club World Cup against Boca Juniors. He today holds the record, which can only be matched but never bettered, of being the only player who has managed to score in all international club competitions. In 2014 Inzaghi, after a brief experience running the youth teams, took over the position of head coach at AC Milan, thus starting what will be his new career as a predestined winner. For now, with the World Cup victory and the second place at the European Championships, the two Champions Leagues won with AC Milan (2003 and 2007) together with the Club World Cup (2007), and three Italian championships (Juventus 1998, AC Milan 2004 and 2011), he has already made his mark in footballing history.Quoted From Globesoccer

Batistuta

He participated in three FIFA World Cups, scoring 10 goals, making him Argentina's all-time top scorer in the competition, and the joint eighth-highest World Cup goalscorer of all time.Gabriel Omar Batistuta is the only player in football history to score two hat-tricks in different World Cups. With the Argentina national team he won two consecutive Copa América titles (1991 and 1993), the 1993 Artemio Franchi Trophy, and the 1992 FIFA Confederations Cup.The prolific striker played most of his club football with Serie A club Fiorentina in Italy; he is their all-time top scorer in Serie A with 152 goals.Quoted from wikipedia