One of the Best Defenders of All Time From France

7/28/2019 One of the Best Defenders of All Time From France

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One of the best defenders of all time from France, he is famous for his 2 goals in the 1998world cup semi final against Croatia when France came from behind to win 2-1. Franceeventually won the world cup beating Brazil 3-0. At club level, he has played in AS Monaco,Juventus and FC Barcelona.

19Roberto CarlosLWB

He has played for Spanish club Real Madrid for eleven years, winning four leagues, threeUEFA Champions League trophies, and two Intercontinental Cups. He is also one of only six

players to have played more than one hundred matches in the Champions League. He isespecially famous for a free kick against France on June 3, 1997, where he shot from 35 m(110 ft) from the centre-right channel, and scored.

18David BeckhamRMF, CMF
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David Beckham is a leading English footballer whose popularity extends beyond the fieldand into international celebrity. Beckham was already a crowd-pleasing star for ManchesterUnited when he married Spice Girls star Victoria Adams in July of 1999; the combination

proved irresistible to the press and public, and they became one of Britains most famouscouples. As a player Beckham is particularly known for his free kick expertise andspectacular long-range shots while his right foot is the national treasure of England.

17Oliver KahnGK

One of the most successful German players in recent history, having won eight Germanchampionships, six German cups, the UEFA Cup (1996), the UEFA Champions League andthe Intercontinental Cup (both 2001). His individual contributions have earned him fourconsecutive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards, three IFFHS Worlds Best Goalkeeper

of the Year awards and two German Footballer of the Year trophies.
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16ZicoOMF

Often called the White Pel, he is commonly considered one of the most skilled dribblers andfinishers ever and possibly the worlds best player of the early 80s. He was also known asone of historys greatest free kick specialists, able to bend the ball with pace and accuracy aswell as having an extremely powerful shot.

15Lev YashinGK
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A superb goalkeeper, perhaps the best in the history of the game, he was a Soviet sports hero.Yashin spent his playing career with the Moscow Dynamo club, and after retirement was acoach there. Dynamo won five league championships and three cups due in large part toYashins domination of the goal. Yashins playing was an important element in the Sovietnational teams gold medal win at the 1956 Olympics, and he tended goal for the team inthree World Cups. He became the only goalkeeper to be named European footballer of theyear, and was awarded the title of world goalkeeper of the 20th cent. Fondly known as the

black spider (after his Black Goal keeper uniform..

14Ronald KoemanDMF
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Besides being a defender at the centre back position, Koeman was also known for hispowerful right-footed free kicks and dead ball ability where he scored many vital goals forthe team, and it was from a free-kick that he scored FC Barcelonas winning goal in the 1992European Cup final. Ronald Koeman scored 193 league goals in 503 matches (ahead ofDaniel Passarella who netted 182 goals in 556 matches) during his career, more than anyother defender in the history of football.

13Luis FigoRW

Figo is a football hero who began his professional career in Portugal, his native land, then

made his name in Spain playing for powerhouse teams FC Barcelona and Real Madrid beforeswitching to Inter Milan in 2005. With his deft stop-and-go dribbling and aggressive style,
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the midfielder is known more as a playmaker than as a pure scorer. His breakthrough yearwas 2000, when he led Portugal to the semifinals of Euro 2000 and was named EuropeanFootballer of the Year. The same year he moved from FC Barcelona to rival Real Madrid fora then-record fee of $56 million.

12Alvaro RecobaOMF, LW

Recobas strengths are his dribbling, technique, pace and a strong, accurate left -foot shot. Heis a free-kick specialist, and has scored goals of great quality, examples of which were histwo goals during his debut with Inter, and basically all the goals scored during his time atVenezia. It is said that few, if any, have been born with Recobas ability; however, hismentality continues to fail him at the most crucial moments.

11Alfredo di StefanoFW, OMF
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Nicknamed Saeta rubia (Blond arrow), was a powerful forward with great stamina andtactical versatility. He could also play anywhere on the pitch and despite being well-known asa forward, was great in defense. He is currently the 3rd highest scorer in the history ofSpains top division, with 228 goals in 329 games. Di Stfano is also Real Madrids highestleague goalscorer of all time, with 216 goals in 282 league matches.

10Raul GonzalezFW, SS

Called the Angel of Madrid and simply known as Ral, he is a Spanish football striker whoplays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid. Also the three-time winner of the UEFAChampions League and is the second all-time leading scorer in official UEFA competitionsafter Filippo Inzaghi with 64 goals. He took over the captaincy of Real Madrid when

Fernando Hierro departed in 2003, and has since shown himself to be a natural and respectedleader.
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9Michael PlatiniOMF

Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 EuropeanChampionship, a tournament in which he was voted the best player and top goalscorer.Platini, Alain Giresse, Luis Fernndez and Jean Tigana together made up the carr magique(magic square), the group of midfield players that formed the heart of the French nationalteam throughout the 1980s. He is also widely regarded as one the best passers in footballhistory as well as one of historys greatest free kick specialists and finishers. He holds therecord for most goals scored in European Championship final.

8Carlos Alberto TorresWB
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is a former Brazilian footballer, one of the most highly regarded defenders of all time. Hecaptained Brazil to victory in the 1970 World Cup and is a member of the World Team of the20th Century, as well as the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame. Carlos Albertos goal againstItaly in the final of the Football World Cup 1970 is considered one of the greatest goals everscored in the history of the tournament.

7RonaldoFW

A brilliant and fluid forward, Ronaldo became one of international soccers great stars of the

1990s and Brazils biggest soccer hero since Pele. Nicknamed The Phenomenon, thetalented forward has played for Cruzeiro, Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid
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and AC Milan, amassing numerous records, championships, and cups. An internationalsuperstar, Ronaldo has been on the Brazilian national team since 1994 and was part of WorldCupwinning teams in 1998 and in 2002, when he was the tournaments top scorer

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Gerd MllerFW

Mller was short, squat, awkward-looking and not notably fast; he never fit the conventionalidea of a great footballer, but he had lethal acceleration over short distances, a remarkableaerial game, and uncanny goalscoring instincts. He could turn quickly and with perfect

balance in small spaces at speeds that would cause other players to fall over. He also had aknack of scoring in unlikely situations. With national records of 68 goals in 62 internationalappearances, 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and the international record of 66 goals in74 European Club games, he was by far the most successful striker of his day.

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Johann CruyffOMF, ST
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Cruyff is a former Dutch football player and manager/coach. He was named EuropeanFootballer of the Year three times. In 1999, Cruyff was voted European Player of the Centuryin an election held by the IFFHS, and came second, behind Pel in their World Player of theCentury poll. Cruyff was known for his technical ability, speed and acceleration, but hisgreatest quality was vision, based on an acute sense of his team-mates positions as an attackunfolded. He is believed Cruyff superior to any previous player in his ability to extract themost from others.

4Franz BeckenbauerSW, DMF
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German football (soccer) player. He is credited with inventing the modern attacking sweeperposition. Nicknamed Der Kaiser, Beckenbauer is the only man to both captain and manageWorld Cup-winning teams (1974 and 1990, respectively). He spent most of his career withBayern Munich, leading the team to three European Cup championships and four nationaltitles. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1972 and 1976. He is generallyregarded as the greatest German footballer of all time and also as one of the greatestfootballers in the history of the game.

3Diego MaradonaFW
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Maradona is an icon in Argentina. As a soccer player, he took his team to new heights andbecame a hero to sports fansmany of whom referred to him as San Diego. He also tooksports paychecks to new heights, claiming unheard of salaries in trade after trade. Maradonawas plagued by cocaine addiction, though, and his career came to an early end. His

performance included two memorable goals against England, one scored with his hand (thereferee mistakenly thought the ball struck his head) and now remembered as the Hand ofGod, and another that saw him dribble through a pack of defenders.

2Pele

born 1940
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Pelecalled the Black Pearl, was the greatest soccer player in the history of the game.With a career total of 1280 goals, he may have been the worlds most popular athlete after hewas named Athlete of the Century by the worlds combined National Olympic Committees in1999, though he never played in the Olympics himself. In March of 2002, the jersey Pelwore in the 1970 World Cup final sold at auction for $220,850. Pel became Brazils ministerof sports in 1995, serving until 1998.

1Zinedine ZidaneOMF, CMF
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Popularly nicknamed Zizou, he is a French former football midfielder. His careeraccomplishments include winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000, in addition tothe 2002 UEFA Champions League. He is also one of only two three-time FIFA WorldPlayer of the Year winners. Zidane won the Golden Ball as the MVP in the World Cups of1998 and 2006. Zidane played his first professional First Division game for Cannes and

quickly rose through the professional ranks. He sealed his reputation by scoring two goals inthe World Cup finals of 1998, helping France defeat Brazil to claim its first-ever World Cupchampionship. Extremely passionate and a leader by example, he came first in an online pollconducted by UEFA.

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One of the Best Defenders of All Time From France