The Best x Players of the Century/All-Time

With the 20th century coming to an end, all kind of experts are publishing their selection of best football players of all time or of this century (which, after all, is essentially the same).

The start was made by the IFFHS in their continental "player and keeper of the century" elections. (In fact, there is at least one earlier selection, a German booklet called "Die 100 des Jahrhunderts - Fußballer", published in 1996 (!) and containing all players with at least 100 international matches, all players ever topscorer at a World Cup, all players ever chosen as European footballer of the year, a host of fairly insignificant German players, and all in all rather biased towards European and against South American players.)

Below some other selections as published in football magazines are listed.

  • 100 Magnifici (Venerdì Magazine 1997)
  • World Soccer's Selection of the 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time
  • France Football's Football Player of the Century
  • Guerin' Sportivo's I 50 Grandi del Secolo by Adalberto Bortolotti
  • Placar's 100 Craques do Século
  • Planète Foot's 50 Meilleurs Joueurs du Monde
  • Voetbal International's Wereldsterren by Raf Willems
  • Voetbal International's Elftal van de Eeuw

  • World Soccer's Selection of the 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time

    An alphabetical list of players. Readers were to choose a top-10 which will then lead to a selection to be published in the final World Soccer issue of 1999. Players could also be chosen outside the 100 chosen by the magazine; for this purpose World Soccer also published a second list of 100 players which they apparently consider 101-200; choices outside those 200 were accepted as well. Names are listed as printed in the magazine.

    The list eventually chosen (in order from 1 to 100) is given in the second column.

    First List (alphabetical)                                                     Second List (classified)
    ADEMIR Marques de Menezes                                                       1. Pelé (Brazil)
    Jose Leandro ANDRADE                                                            2. Diego Maradona (Argentina)
    Roberto BAGGIO                                                                  3. Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
    Gordon BANKS                                                                    4. Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
    Franceschino 'Franco' BARESI                                                    5. Michel Platini (France)
    Franz BECKENBAUER                                                               6. Alfredo Di Stéfano (Argentina/Spain)
    George BEST                                                                     7. Ferenc Puskás (Hungary/Spain)
    Franz 'Bimbo' BINDER                                                            8. George Best (Northern Ireland)
    Danny BLANCHFLOWER                                                              9. Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
    Oleg BLOKHIN                                                                   10. Eusébio (Portugal)
    Jozsef BOZSIK                                                                  11. Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)
    Antonio CARBAJAL                                                               12. Bobby Charlton (England)
    John CHARLES                                                                   13. Ronaldo (Brazil)
    Bobby CHARLTON                                                                 14. Bobby Moore (England)
    Hector CHUMPITAZ                                                               15. Gerd Müller (Germany)
    Mario Esteves COLUNA                                                           16. Roberto Baggio (Italy)
    Gianpiero COMBI                                                                17. Stanley Matthews (England)
    Johan CRUYFF                                                                   18. Zico (Brazil)
    Teofilo CUBILLAS                                                               19. Franco Baresi (Italy)
    Zoltan CZIBOR                                                                  20. Garrincha (Brazil)
    Kenny DALGLISH                                                                 21. Paolo Maldini (Italy)
    William 'Dixie' DEAN                                                           22. Kenny Dalglish (Scotland)
    Alfredo DI STEFANO                                                             23. Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina)
    DIDI (Waldyr Pereira)                                                          24. Eric Cantona (France)
    DOMINGOS Antonio DA GUIA                                                       25. Gheorghe Hagi (Romania)
    Duncan EDWARDS                                                                 26. Romário (Brazil)
    Arsenio ERICO                                                                  27. Jairzinho (Brazil)
    EUSEBIO da Silva Ferreira                                                      28. Zinedine Zidane (France)
    Giacinto FACCHETTI                                                             29. Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
    Bernabe FERREYRA                                                               30. John Charles (Wales)
    Tom FINNEY                                                                     31. Lothar Matthäus (Germany)
    Just FONTAINE                                                                  32. Gordon Banks (England)
    Enzo FRANCESCOLI                                                               33. Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany)
    Arthur FRIEDENREICH                                                            34. Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands)
    GARRINCHA (Manoel Francisco dos Santos)                                        35. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany)
    Francisco GENTO                                                                36. Gary Lineker (England)
    GERSON de Oliveira Nunes                                                       37. Giuseppe Meazza (Italy)
    GILMAR dos Santos Neves                                                        38. Rivelino (Brazil)
    Gyula GROSICS                                                                  39. Didi (Brazil)
    Ruud GULLIT                                                                    40. Ian Rush (Wales)
    Nandor HIDEGKUTI                                                               41. Peter Schmeichel (Denmark)
    JAIRZINHO (Jair Ventura Filho)                                                 41. Paolo Rossi (Italy)
    Alex JAMES                                                                     43. George Weah (Liberia)
    Sandor KOCSIS                                                                  44. Michael Owen (England)
    Kalman KONRAD                                                                  45. Just Fontaine (France)
    Raymond KOPA                                                                   46. Duncan Edwards (England)
    Ladislav KUBALA                                                                47. Dino Zoff (Italy)
    Angel Amadeo LABRUNA                                                           48. Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
    Denis LAW                                                                      49. David Beckham (England)
    Tommy LAWTON                                                                   50. Tom Finney (England)
    LEONIDAS da Silva                                                              51. Rivaldo (Brazil)
    Nils LIEDHOLM                                                                  52. Claudio Caniggia (Argentina)
    Paolo MALDINI                                                                  53. Tostão (Brazil)
    Diego MARADONA                                                                 54. Frank Rijkaard (Netherlands)
    Silvio MARZOLINI                                                               55. José Luis Chilavert (Paraguay)
    Josef MASOPUST                                                                 56. Kevin Keegan (England)
    Lothar MATTHAUS                                                                57. Paul Gascoigne (England)
    Stanley MATTHEWS                                                               58. Roger Milla (Cameroon)
    Alessandro 'Sandro' MAZZOLA                                                    59. Michael Laudrup (Denmark)
    Valentino MAZZOLA                                                              60. Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
    Giuseppe MEAZZA                                                                61. David Ginola (France)
    Roger MILLA                                                                    61. Glenn Hoddle (England)
    Luisito MONTI                                                                  61. Sócrates (Brazil)
    Bobby MOORE                                                                    64. Roberto Carlos (Brazil)
    Juan Manuel MORENO                                                             64. Alan Shearer (England)
    Gerd MULLER                                                                    66. Daniel Passarella (Argentina)
    Jose NASAZZI                                                                   67. Davor Šuker (Croatia)
    Gunnar NORDAHL                                                                 68. Dixie Dean (England)
    Ernst OCWIRK                                                                   68. Sándor Kocsis (Hungary)
    Wolfgang OVERATH                                                               68. Juan Alberto Schiaffino (Uruguay)
    Daniel PASSARELLA                                                              68. Christian Vieri (Italy)
    Adolfo PEDERNERA                                                               72. Mario Kempes (Argentina)
    PELE (Edson Arantes do Nascimento)                                             72. Johan Neeskens (Netherlands)
    Silvio PIOLA                                                                   72. Luigi Riva (Italy)
    PIRRI (Jose Martinez Sanchez)                                                  75. José Nasazzi (Uruguay)
    Frantisek PLANICKA                                                             75. Günter Netzer (Germany)
    Michel PLATINI                                                                 77. Alessandro Del Piero (Italy)
    Ferenc PUSKAS                                                                  77. Carlos Valderrama (Colombia)
    Roberto RIVELINO                                                               79. Ricardo Zamora (Spain)
    Gianni RIVERA                                                                  80. Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay)
    Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE                                                          81. Edgar Davids (Netherlands)
    Hugo SANCHEZ                                                                   81. Francisco Gento (Spain)
    Loenel SANCHEZ                                                                 83. Jim Baxter (Scotland)
    Jose Emilio SANTAMARIA                                                         83. Falcão (Brazil)
    Djalma SANTOS                                                                  83. Ryan Giggs (Wales)
    Nilton dos SANTOS                                                              83. Sepp Maier (Germany)
    Gyorgy SAROSI                                                                  87. Zbigniew Boniek (Poland)
    Juan Alberto SCHIAFFINO                                                        87. Pat Jennings (Northern Ireland)
    Uwe SEELER                                                                     87. György Sárosi (Hungary)
    Matthias SINDELAR                                                              90. Giacinto Facchetti (Italy)
    Omar Enrique SIVORI                                                            91. Alan Hansen (Scotland)
    Marco VAN BASTEN                                                               91. Raymond Kopa (France)
    Paul VAN HIMST                                                                 91. Bryan Robson (England)
    Obdulio VARELA                                                                 91. Matthias Sammer (Germany)
    Fritz WALTER                                                                   95. Ladislao Kubala (Hungary/Spain)
    Lev YASHIN                                                                     95. Neville Southall (Wales)
    Ricardo ZAMORA                                                                 97. Gérson (Brazil)
    ZICO (Artur Antunes Coimbra)                                                   98. Paulo Futre (Portugal)
    Zinedine ZIDANE                                                                98. Preben Elkjær (Denmark)
    Dino ZOFF                                                                     100. Bebeto (Brazil)
    


    France Football's Football Player of the Century

    The French weekly magazine France-Football consulted their former "Ballon D'Or" winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. Among the 34 former "Ballon D'Or" winners (from 1956 to 1999) only 30 voted: Matthews, Sivori and Best refused to vote, and Yashin was already dead at the time.

    Each of the 30 voters chose 5 players: 5 points for the 1st place, 4 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd, 2 points for 4th and 1 point for 5th. But Di Stefano only choose a 1st place, Platini a 1st and 2nd place, and Weah 2 players for 5th place (giving ½ point to each one). After each player points, between brackets is the number of votes for every place.

     1. Edson Arantes do Nascimento "PELÉ" (Brazil)        122 pts     (17 - 5 - 4 - 2 - 1)
     2. Diego MARADONA (Argentina)                          65         ( 3 - 6 - 5 - 5 - 1)
     3. Johan CRUYFF (Netherlands)                          62         ( 1 - 4 - 7 - 9 - 2)
     4. Alfredo DI STEFANO (Argentina/Spain)                44         ( 4 - 3 - 3 - 1 - 1)
     5. Michel PLATINI (France)                             40         ( 1 - 5 - 1 - 3 - 6)
     6. Franz BECKENBAUER (Germany)                         35         ( 2 - 1 - 3 - 3 - 6)
     7. Ferenc PUSKAS (Hungary)                             12         ( 0 - 3 - 0 - 0 - 0) 
     8. Marco VAN BASTEN (Netherlands)                      11         ( 0 - 0 - 3 - 1 - 0)
     9. Artur Antunes Coimbra "ZICO" (Brazil)                7         ( 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0)
    10. Gerd MÜLLER (Germany)                                5         ( 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0)
        Lev YASHIN (Soviet Union)                            5         ( 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1)
    12. Enzo FRANCESCOLI (Uruguay)                           4         ( 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0)
        Manoel Francisco dos Santos "GARRINCHA" (Brazil)     4         ( 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1)
        George BEST (Northern Ireland)                       4         ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0)
    15. Rafael GORDILLO (Spain)                              3         ( 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0)
    16. Bobby CHARLTON (England)                             2.5       ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 3)
    17. ROMÁRIO de Souza Faria (Brazil)                      2         ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0)
    18. Roberto BAGGIO (Italy)                               1         ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1)
        Oleg BLOKHIN (Soviet Union)                          1         ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1)
        Just FONTAINE (France)                               1         ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1)
        Raymond KOPA (France)                                1         ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1)
        Fritz WALTER (Germany)                               1         ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1)
        Dino ZOFF (Italy)                                    1         ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1)
    24. Roger MILLA (Cameroon)                               0.5       ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1) 
    


    Guerin' Sportivo's I 50 Grandi del Secolo by Adalberto Bortolotti

    The Guerin' Sportivo (Italy) gave their eminence grise space to publish his personal top-50 of the 20th century. One player was highlighted every week, and by the end of the year 1999 the top-50 was complete. Names are listed as printed in the magazine; so are the titles of the stories.

     1.Pelé
     2.Diego Armando Maradona            "Splendori e cadute del Pibe de Oro"
     3.Alfredo Di Stefano                "La freccia bionda"
     4.Johan Cruijff                     "Il campione della nuova frontiera"
     5.Giuseppe Meazza                   "Il Balilla, fra gol e magie"
     6.Ferenc Puskas                     "Il colonnello Bum Bum"
     7.Valentino Mazzola                 "L'uomo simbolo del Grande Torino"
     8.Juan Alberto Schiaffino           "Il Pepe del Diavolo"
     9.Michel Platini                    "Regista e solista, Michel le Roi"
    10.Franz Beckenbauer                 "Tutti ai piedi di Kaiser Franz"
    11.Marco Van Basten                  "Il bomber degli Anni '90"
    12.Eusebio                           "Il graffio della pantera nera"
    13.Garrincha                         "Il passerotto con le ali spezzate"
    14.Gianni Rivera                     "L'abatino più forte del mondo"
    15.Zico                              "Contro il fantasma di Pelé"
    16.Omar Sivori                       "Omar, genio ribelle"
    17.Ricardo Zamora                    "``El Divino'' fra storia e leggenda"
    18.Silvio Piola                      "Il bomber senza scudetto"
    19.Ronaldo                           "Fenomeno o meteora?"
    20.Dino Zoff                         "Quel monumento chiamato Dino"
    21.Bobby Charlton                    "Il campione che visse due volte"
    22.José Altafini                     "Il coniglio mannaro del gol"
    23.Gunnar Nordahl                    "Il pompiere del gol"
    24.Gigi Riva                         "L'implacabile Rombo di tuono"
    25.Paolo Rossi                       "Pablito, il reflesso che uccide"
    26.Leonidas                          "La magia del diamante nero"
    27.Roberto Baggio                    "Fragile e inditruttibile"
    28.Lev Jascin                        "La leggenda del ragno nero"
    29.Didì                              "Inventò la ``foglia secca''"
    30.Paolo Maldini                     "Un campione predestinato"
    31.Stanley Matthews                  "La leggenda del baronetta"
    32.Mumo Orsi                         "Violinista di tango e di gol"
    33.Lothar Matthäus                   "Provaci ancora, Lothar"
    34.Gaetano Scirea                    "Campione in punta di piedi"
    35.Gerd Müller                       "Il cacciatore di gol"
    36.Matias Sindelar                   "La tragedia di Cartavelina"
    37.Laszlo Kubala                     "Un geniale zingaro del gol"
    38.Franco Baresi                     "Forse l'ultimo bandiera"
    39.P. Roberto Falcão                 "L'ultimo re di Roma"
    40.Karl H. Rummenigge                "Un bomber forte e gentile"
    41.Giampiero Boniperti               "Un film tutto in bianco e nero"
    42.Gabriel O. Batistuta              "Con il gol sempre in canne"
    43.Nils Liedholm                     "La leggenda dell'astuto barone"
    44.John Charles                      "Il gigante (troppo) buono"
    45.Nilton Santos                     "Un terzino chiamato enciclopedia"
    46.Luis Suarez                       "L'architecto del mago"
    47.Roberto Rivelino                  "Un sinistro coi baffi"
    48.Daniel Passarella                 "Classe e grinta del Caudillo"
    49.Nandor Hidegkuti                  "L'uomo che reinventò il centravanti"
    50.Kurt Hamrin                       "L'uccellino che incantò l'Avvocato"
    


    Placar's 100 Craques do Século

    In November 1999, Placar (Brazil) published a list of the best 100 players of all time, ranked from 1 to 100. The list as published follows.

      1.Édson Arantes do Nascimento - PELÉ (Brazil)
      2.Diego Armando MARADONA (Argentina)
      3.Johann CRUYFF (Netherlands)
      4.Manoel Francisco dos Santos - GARRINCHA (Brazil)
      5.Franz BECKENBAUER (Germany)
      6.Alfredo DI STEFANO (Argentina)
      7.Ferenc PUSKAS (Hungary)
      8.Michel PLATINI (France)
      9.EUSÉBIO Ferreira da Silva (Portugal)
     10.ROMÁRIO de Souza Farias (Brazil)
     11.Lev YASHIN (Russia)
     12.Roberto RIVELLINO (Brazil)
     13.Valdir Pereira - DIDI (Brazil)
     14.Just FONTAINE (France)
     15.Daniel Alberto PASSARELLA (Argentina)
     16.Arthur Antunes Coimbra - ZICO (Brazil)
     17.Franchescino BARESI (Italy)
     18.Robert "BOBBY" CHARLTON (England)
     19.Elias Ricardo FIGUEROA Brander (Chile)
     20.Lothar MATTHÄUS (Germany)
     21.Gordon BANKS (England)
     22.NÍLTON SANTOS (Brazil)
     23.Josef Dieter MAIER (Germany)
     24.Sandor KOCSIS (Hungary)
     25.Angel Amadeo LABRUNA (Argentina)
     26.Marco VAN BASTEN (Netherlands)
     27.GEORGE BEST (Northern Ireland)
     28.LEÔNIDAS DA SILVA (Brazil)
     29.Hristo STOICHKOV (Bulgaria)
     30.Francisco GENTO (Spain)
     31.Ruud Dil GULLIT (Netherlands)
     32.FRITZ WALTER (Germany)
     33.Luigi RIVA (Italy)
     34.Gerhardt "GERD" MÜLLER (Germany)
     35.Arthur FRIEDENREICH (Brazil)
     36.Paulo Roberto FALCÃO (Brazil)
     37.Robert "BOBBY" Frederick MOORE (England)
     38.GÉRSON de Oliveira Nunes (Brazil)
     39.Paul BREITNER (Germany)
     40.DOMINGOS Antônio DA GUIA (Brazil)
     41.Dino ZOFF (Italy)
     42.Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE (Germany)
     43.Laszlo KUBALA (Hungary)
     44.Uwe SEELER (Germany)
     45.VALENTINO MAZZOLA (Italy)
     46.CARLOS ALBERTO TORRES (Brazil)
     47.OBDULIO Jacinto VARELA (Uruguay)
     48.Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade - TOSTÃO (Brazil)
     49.STANLEY MATTHEWS (England)
     50.Raymond Kopaszewski "KOPA" (França) 
     51.DJALMA SANTOS (Brazil)
     52.George WEAH (Liberia)
     53.Jürgen KLINSMANN (Germany)
     54.PAOLO MALDINI (Italy)
     55.HUGO SÁNCHEZ Márquez (Mexico)
     56.Amadeo Raúl CARRIZO (Argentina)
     57.Albert-Roger MILLA (Cameroun) 
     58.Zoltan CZIBOR (Hungary)
     59.Leovegildo Lins Gama JÚNIOR (Brazil)
     60.MICHAEL LAUDRUP (Denmark)
     61.Josef MASOPUST (Czechoslovakia)
     62.Antônio de Oliveira Filho - CARECA (Brazil)
     63.Juan Alberto SCHIAFFINO (Uruguay)
     64.ADEMIR DA GUIA (Brazil)
     65.PAOLO ROSSI (Italy)
     66.Jair "JAIRZINHO" Ventura Filho (Brazil)
     67.Mário Esteves COLUNA (Portugal)
     68.ADEMIR Marques DE MENEZES (Brazil)
     69.Enzo FRANCESCOLI Uriarte (Uruguay)
     70.Teófilo CUBILLAS (Peru)
     71.Gaetano SCIREA (Italy)
     72.Alain GIRESSE (France) 
     73.Júlio "JULINHO" BOTELHO (Brazil)
     74.Luis "LUISITO" SUÁREZ Miramontes (Spain)
     75.Giacinto FACCHETTI (Italy)
     76.PEDRO Virgilio ROCHA Franchetti (Uruguay)
     77.SÓCRATES Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (Brazil)
     78.Guillermo STÁBILE (Argentina) 
     79.Thomaz Soares da SIlva - ZIZINHO (Brazil)
     80.Gheorghe HAGI (Romania)
     81.Antônio "TONINHO" Carlos CEREZO (Brazil)
     82.Ricardo ZAMORA Martínez (Spain)
     83.RONALDO Luís Nazário de Lima (Brazil)
     84.Antonio CARBAJAL (Mexico)
     85.Silvio PIOLA (Italy)
     86.Giuseppe MEAZZA (Italy)
     87.Carlos Alberto GAMARRA Pavón (Paraguay)
     88.Gabriel Omar BATISTUTA (Argentina)
     89.Paul John GASCOIGNE (England)
     90.Frantisek PLANICKA (Czechoslovakia)
     91.ROBERTO BAGGIO (Italy) 
     92.Zinedine ZIDANE (France) 
     93.Johan NEESKENS (Netherlands)
     94.Julio César Romero "ROMERITO" Insfrán (Paraguay)
     95.Davor SUKER (Croatia)  
     96.José Luís Félix CHILAVERT (Paraguay)
     97.Jean Amadou TIGANA (France)
     98.Mario Alberto KEMPES (Argentina)
     99.Zbigniew BONIEK (Poland)
    100.Franklin Edmundo RIJKAARD (Netherlands)
    


    Planète Foot's 50 Meilleurs Joueurs du Monde

    In December 1996, Planète Foot (France) published a list of the best 50 players of all time, on the occasion of its 50th edition. The list, in alphabetical order, follows below.

    Gordon BANKS (England)
    Franceschino "Franco" BARESI (Italy)
    Franz BECKENBAUER (Germany)
    Oleg BLOKHIN (USSR)
    Robert "BOBBY" CHARLTON (England)
    Robert "BOBBY" MOORE (England)
    Zbigniew BONIEK (Poland)
    Paul BREITNER (Germany)
    Johann CRUYFF (Netherlands)
    Alfredo DI STEFANO (Argentina)
    EUSÉBIO Ferreira da Silva (Portugal)
    Just FONTAINE (France)
    Enzo FRANCESCOLI (Uruguay)
    Manoel Francisco dos Santos "GARRINCHA" (Brazil)
    Francisco GENTO (Spain)
    GEORGE BEST (Northern Ireland)
    GERD MÜLLER (Germany)
    GIANNI RIVERA (Italy)
    Ruud GULLIT (Netherlands)
    Jair Ventura Filho"JAIRZINHO" (Brazil)
    Mario Alberto KEMPES (Argentina)
    Kevin KEEGAN (England)
    Sandor KOCSIS (Hungary)
    Raymond KOPA (France)
    Denis LAW (Scotland)
    Diego Armando MARADONA (Argentina)
    Joseph MASOPUST (Czechoslovakia)
    Lothar MATTHÄUS (Germany)
    Johan NEESKENS (Netherlands)
    PAOLO MALDINI (Italy)
    PAOLO ROSSI (Italy)
    Édson Arantes do Nascimento "PELÉ" (Brazil)
    Michel PLATINI (France)
    Ferenc PUSKAS (Hungary)
    Pieter Robert RENSENBRINK (Netherlands)
    Roberto RIVELINO (Brazil)              
    ROBERTO BAGGIO (Italy)
    ROMÁRIO de Souza Farias (Brazil)
    Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE (Germany)
    Alan SIMONSEN (Denmark)
    Omar Enrique SÍVORI (Argentina)
    Josip SKOBLAR (Yugoslavia)
    STANLEY MATTHEWS (England)
    Hristo STOICHKOV (Bulgaria)
    Marco VAN BASTEN (Netherlands)
    Paul VAN HIMST (Belgium)
    George WEAH (Liberia)
    Lev YASHIN (USSR)
    Artur A. Coimbra "ZICO" (Brazil) 
    Dino ZOFF (Italy)
    


    Voetbal International's Wereldsterren by Raf Willems

    Voetbal International (Netherlands) let Raf Willems present an all-time great every week in an avalanche of alliterations (as demonstrated by the subtitles). His selections were clearly biased towards Belgian and Dutch players, as was to be expected. The gallery was presented in alphabetical order and did not pretend to be exhaustive (or so at least one probably should construe the fact that Zubizarreta (rather than Zamora) is the only Spanish 'keeper appearing). Names listed as printed in the magazine.

    Gordon Banks                         "De denkende doelman"
    Franco Baresi                        "Monument van Milan"
    Marco van Basten                     "Meest mishandelde midvoor"
    Franz Beckenbauer                    "Kaiser tussen kunst en kitsch"
    George Best                          "Tussen Busby en Beatles"
    Jan van Beveren                      "De kunst van het keepen"
    Oleg Blokhin                         "Briljant in bescheidenheid"
    Eric Cantona                         "Tussen Platini, punk en poëzie"
    Carlos Alberto                       "Aristocraat van de achterhoede"
    Jan Ceulemans                        "Kapitein en krachtmens"
    Bobby Charlton                       "De man van Manchester"
    Rik Coppens                          "Diamant en dondersteen"
    Johan Cruijff                        "Dichter en denker"
    Kenny Dalglish                       "King of the Kop"
    Eusebio                              "Lust en liefde in Lissabon"
    Garrincha                            "Goddelijke gek"
    Eric Gerets                          "Tegenstrijdige temperamenten"
    Ruud Gullit                          "Dutch dreadlocks"
    Wim van Hanegem                      "De Kromme en de kameraden van de Kuip"
    Ernst Happel                         "Weense Weltmeister"
    Jairzinho                            "Futebol uit de favela"
    Jimmy Johnstone                      "Vlo op de vleugel"
    Mario Kempes                         "Goleador van de generaals"
    Grzegorz Lato                        "Voetballen in vrijheid"
    Michael Laudrup                      "Deense dribbelkoning"
    Denis Law                            "Schutter en schelm"
    Diego Maradona                       "Tussen poëzie en perversie"
    Stanley Matthews                     "De droom van de dribbelaar"
    Sandro Mazzola                       "Mysterieuze meester van Milaan"
    Ladislau Mazurkiewicz                "Vreemdeling op het voetbalveld"
    Bobby Moore                          "Wijsheid en welvaart van West Ham"
    Gerd Müller                          "Bomber van Bayern"
    Johan Neeskens                       "Snijdende slidings"
    Günter Netzer                        "Muze van Mönchengladbach"
    Antonin Panenka                      "Praagse penalty's"
    Daniel Passarella                    "Krijger en keizer"
    Pelé                                 "Koninklijke kunst"
    Jean-Marie Pfaff                     "Clowneske klassekeeper"
    Michel Platini                       "Schepper van schoonheid"
    Ferenc Puskas                        "Magische Magyaar"
    Rivelino                             "Legendarische linkervoet"
    Frank Rijkaard                       "Bedaard boegbeeld"
    Uwe Seeler                           "Volksheld in Volkspark"
    Socrates                             "Dokter tegen dictatuur"
    Di Stefano                           "Man van de macht"
    Tostão                               "Brein van Brazilië"
    Lev Yashin                           "Mythe van Moskou"
    Zico                                 "Fluweel van Flamengo"
    Dino Zoff                            "Zelfverzekerde zwijger"
    Andoni Zubizarreta                   "Bask in Barcelona"
    


    Voetbal International's Elftal van de Eeuw

    Voetbal International (Netherlands) held an election (among its readers) to select a "Century XI", in 4-3-3 formation. For each position ten names were selected by the magazine as the all-time best, ten more were listed to give the readers additional choice.

                                     Jasjin
    Carlos Alberto       Beckenbauer       Rijkaard           Maldini
                 Di Stefano          Cruijff           Maradona
                 Garrincha           Pelé              Gento
    
    
    The alternatives were (names as listed in magazine):
        1 Jasjin  
     2-10 Zoff, Banks, Zamora, Beara, Gilmar, Grosics, Schroif, Carbajal, Maier
    11-20 Mazurkiewicz, Schumacher, Schmeichel, Van der Sar, Van Beveren, Dassajev,
          Iribar, Combi, Jennings, Shilton
    
        1 Carlos Alberto 
     2-10 Battiston, Burgnich, Geretz, Kaltz, Leandro, Neal, D. Santos, Suurbier, 
          Vogts
    11-20 Armfield, Van Binst, Dobias, Djorkaeff, Gentile, Janes, João Pinto,
          Josimar, McGrain, Szymanowksi
    
        1 Beckenbauer
     2-10 Baresi, Happel, Koeman, Krol, Moore, Olsen, Passarella, Scirea, Wright
    11-20 Hughes, Humberto Coelho, Israel, Meeuws, Nordqvist, Pirri, Rosato,
          Sisternev, Tresor, Zmuda
    
        1 Rijkaard
     2-10 Galvan, J. Charlton, K.H. Förster, Hanse, Kohler, Nielsen, Ondrus,
          Santamaria, Schwarzenbeck
    11-20 Ferri, Goicoechea, Hulshoff, Lorant, Luisinho, Miqueli, O'Leary, Pezzey,
          Picchi, Riggeri
    
        1 Maldini
     2-10 F. de Boer, Branco, Demianenko, Facchetti, Junior, Nilton Santos,
          Schnellinger, Tarantini, Wilson
    11-20 Bossis, Breitner, Cabrini, Camacho, Hapgood, Jusufi, Lantos, Marche,
          De Vecchi, Hilario
    
        1 Di Stefano
     2-10 Ardiles, Boszik, Didi, Di Stefano, Falcão, Hanappi, Jansen,
          Matthäus, Neeskens, Robson
    11-20 Andrade, Ball, Bremner, Clodoaldo, Edwards, Giresse, Michel, Van Moer,
          Souness, Tardelli
    
        1 Cruijff
     2-10 Charlton, Deyna, Kopa, Kubala, Platini, Rivera, Schiaffino, Sivori, Zico
    11-20 Antognoni, Boniek, Coluna, Hoddle, Liedholm, Mazzola, Panenka, Schuster,
          Socrates, Zizinho
    
        1 Maradona
     2-10 Gerson, Hagi, Van Hanegem, Masopust, Netzer, Puskas, Rivelino, Suarez,
          Walter
    11-20 Bardy, Coeck, Corso, Gordillo, Lerby, A. Mühren, Netto, Nygaard,
          Overath, Sigurvinsson
    
        1 Garrincha
     2-10 Boniperti, Fazekas, Gren, Gullit, Jairzinho, Keegan, Lato, Matthews,
          Rummenigge
    11-20 Amancio, Bene, Bonev, Causio, Dalglish, Haller, Hamrin, Littbarski,
          Rep, Simonsen
      
        1 Gento
     2-10 Best, Blochin, Czibor, Dzajic, Finney, Keizer, Lubanski, Moulijn, Riva
    11-20 Bastin, Bettega, Ceulemans, Cubillas, M. Laudrup, Rensenbrink, Six,
          Skoglund, Stoitchkov, Zagalo
    
        1 Pelé
     2-10 Altafini, Van Basten, Eusebio, Greaves, Kocsis, Gerd Müller, Nordahl,
          Romario, Seeler
    11-20 Fontaine, Hidegkuti, Van Himst, Kempes, Krankl, Lawton, Rossi, Rush,
          Hugo Sánchez, Tostão
    
    
    

    About this document

    Sources: [fra], [gue], [pla], [vi], [ws].

    Thanks to Marcelo Leme de Arruda (mlarruda@terra.com.br) for Placar's and Planète Foot's lists and the final World Soccer ranking; thanks to José Luis Pierrend (josepie@hotmail.com) for the France Football list.

    Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

    Author: Karel Stokkermans
    Last updated: 23 Dec 2015

    (C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 1999/2015
    You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.