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Best one of the Best Your Take: Who should have made our Top Eight?
Posted: Monday May 17, 1999 11:06 AM
CNN/SI asked users who should have made the Top Eight list for the Century's Best Soccer players. Many of you expressed your support of George Best, who played for Manchester United from 1963 to 1972. Best was known for his exceptional ball handling skills and ability to improvise offensive opportunities. Here's a sampling of your responses... I believe Bobby Charlton was easily one of the world's best. His skill showed in the 1966 World Cup Final against West Germany when England won 4-2. And what about Geoff Hurst, what a game he had. And Gordon Banks -- what a great goalie. England's 1966 squad had a team of great players and it showed on the field when they won the Cup. -- Roger Mallett, Seminole, FL
Kenny Dalglish -- greatest player to ever play for Liverpool. Supreme vision on the field, intelligent, fearless, a great provider and goal scorer. A relentless will to win. His goal against Belgium is arguably the finest scored in a Scottish jersey. He won everything possible during his playing days at Celtic and Liverpool, including scoring the only goal in the 1978 European Cup final. As player manager for Liverpool he scored the goal which wrapped up the championship then led the team to an FA Cup victory to seal the double. Acknowledged by Beckenbauer as one of the greatest he had ever seen -- his exceptional talent and extreme mental and physical talent would have made him the focal point for any team. He should not be disregarded simply for being born Scottish and therefore not having the ability to shine on the international front. -- Marc Wagner, Atlanta, GA Although he is one of the brightest young stars, no one can knock the pure talent for playing soccer that Ronaldo possess. Still young in his career, it's hard to make an argument against the talent and impact that he has had on the game. He flair has revitalized the interest of the younger audiences, an interest that had dwindled and almost died out. He has not yet had the opportunity to leave the kind of legacy as the likes Pelé and the Maradona, but he will... -- Mike Towsey, Ashland, VA George Best should have made your list on the basis of his sheer talent and ability. Although his career was not as long or complete as the eight worthy players you selected, he nevertheless achieved a great deal in a short time. He was European footballer of the year, won the European Cup and was generally acknowledged as the most outrageously gifted player of his era. If you can rate another flawed genius -- Maradona -- in your Top Eight, then I cannot see how you can justify leaving out Best. -- Alex Biasin, Perth, Australia I believe that your list is on target. If you exclude any of the players that are on your Top Eight list to make room for others, it would probably be unfair. I don't think it is possible to pick the greatest player in soccer history. If you only take into consideration statistics, Pelé would be the obvious choice. But if you realy think about it, you would find that Maradona was as good or even better than Pelé. He played in the best league in the world -- the Italian Serie A -- and with a team that was not loaded with superstars as was Santos. He made a team of mediocre players almost unbeatable. Not only with Napoli, but also the 1986 Argentine national team that won the World Cup. -- Ulises Pichardo, Miami, FL Zico? The guy was a tremendous player, but he never even made it to a World Cup Final... No British players in the Top Eight? There were some tremendous players on Enlgand's 1966 World Cup champion. How about Lothar Matthaeus of Germany? He was on five World Cup teams, three of which made the final, and was captain of the 1990 champions. He was a true warrior. He also played on the European champion team of 1996. And no goalies? C`mon, there's got to be a goalie somewhere! -- Todd Hallier, Kanazawa, Japan I'm gonna go with Ferenc Puskas. The Magical Magyar scored goals at an unbelievable rate, and had a very long, productive career (played until he was 40.) I think he gets penalized somewhat because of where he was from (Hungary) and when he played (1950s -- pre-Pelé) but if I'm picking my Top Eight, he's right there (probably at the expense of Platini). Puskas was Platini, just for a longer period of time. -- Stan Collins, Austin, TX I think the first five players selected were obvious choices, but the next three were dubious. Michel Platini and Zico were great players, but Puskas, Matthews, Garrincha, Charlton, Eusebio, and Best were all significantly better. And certainly Bobby Moore and Franco Baresi were better defensive players than Carlos Alberto. -- Michael Hopkins, Annapolis, MD Stanley Matthews of Stoke City and England was an international right winger and played on every England team from 1936 till 1956. Whole team strategies were formed to stop him. I remember in Scotland there were heated comments and arguments as to who would be able to stop him in the next International match with England. -- Brendan Roberts, Maturin, Venezuela George Best, helped establish soccer in Manchester and in the U.S. He came from a small country, in Ireland and was still able to establish himself as one of the greatest player of all time. He helped United to countless amounts of trophy's, and left for the U.S. -- near the top of his game -- at a time when he could of still played in England. George also performed like a true player, while having a number of personal problems off the pitch. George battled many battles, but always managed to come out on top. -- Dalvir Samra, Maple, Ontario
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