

Revolutionizing the Gameīeing a legend isn’t always about winning tons of championships, earning numerous awards, or scoring a pile of goals. Awards and honors are also important, whether they be season-long accolades (such as the Ballon d’Or) or tournament-specific awards (like the World Cup’s Golden Ball). Records are another way of identifying players who dominated in a way that had never been done before, especially if those records stand for a lengthy period of time. And though it’s not always fair to judge an athlete’s career by the number of trophies they lifted over their heads (even the greatest superstars need help from their teammates to win titles), championships are part of what separates legendary players from great ones.
#Soccer legends professional
Ultimately, the goal of professional and international sports is to win championships. Otherwise, this list of soccer legends would simply be comprised of strikers and forwards. Instead of just looking at the top goal scorers from each generation, we’ve tried to highlight players who excelled in other areas as well, such as midfielders, defenders, and keepers. But there’s a lot more that goes into the beautiful game, such as moving the ball up the field to generate scoring opportunities for teammates or defending your own net.

Don’t get us wrong, the ability to put the ball in the opposition’s net is very important since the only way to win a game is by scoring more goals than the other team. That is much more of an apples-to-apples comparison. Rather than compare players from across different eras, we prefer to identify players who were the best of their peers for a sustained period. Today’s game is played more fluidly and with less rigidity than it was 100 years ago, making it easier for midfielders to contribute offensively. Also, the way a sport is played goes through various changes and evolutions over the years, and soccer is no exception. Regardless of the sport, it isn’t fair to judge players purely based on their statistics.Īdvancements over the years in technology, nutrition, training, and even transportation (traveling long distances is a heck of a lot more comfortable now than it used to be) have given modern-day athletes advantages that their predecessors never had. With that in mind, let us explain what we looked at when coming up with this list of soccer legends. After all, we all have varying criteria and opinions about what makes an athlete a true legend of their sport, so we’re bound to have varying opinions about which players should have made a particular list and which players shouldn’t have. The first thing to note about any list of legendary athletes is that it is completely subjective. What Separates Soccer Legends from Other Greats of the Game? In this article, we’ve identified 20 players who have had the most profound impact on the game in its contemporary history.

However, the mass of talent that has participated in soccer over the years isn’t enough to deter us from “tackling” the task of compiling the greatest legends to play the sport.

The origins of the game go back several centuries, and the simplicity of soccer and its lack of socio-economic and cultural barriers means that it has truly been enjoyed by millions of players across the world. Of all the sports in the world, soccer may be the most difficult when compiling a list of the most legendary players to ever take the pitch.
