You want to know why PELE was the greatest???

[persianbruin]

and yet FIFA named Zidane the greatest player of all time in their list of top 50 footballers 2 years ago.

I'm also interested in seeing your list.

yeah and I have also seen fifa's team rankings too!!

In no particular order:

mathaus, zico, cantona, baggio, ronaldo, ronaldinio, cryuff, gulitt, van basten, beckham

[Amir H F]

Zidane isnt HALF the player PELE was!!! Im sorry but he just wasnt its obvious, although he is one of the best France has had.

[khabalood]

yeah and I have also seen fifa's team rankings too!!
In no particular order:
mathaus, zico, cantona, baggio, ronaldo, ronaldinio, cryuff, gulitt, van basten, beckham

the problem with your list is Zidane is better than all those players. The only real competition is Ronaldo (in the few years prior to his leg injury), Ronaldinho (in the past few years and present), Cryuff and Mauthaus (although it is hard to compare defencemen and midfielders.)

I suggest you download this http://persianfootball.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=23371 to get a better sense of Zidane.

[persianbruin]

the problem with your list is Zidane is better than all those players. The only real competition is Ronaldo (in the few years prior to his leg injury), Ronaldinho (in the past few years and present), Cryuff and Mauthaus (although it is hard to compare defencemen and midfielders.)

I suggest you download this http://persianfootball.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=23371 to get a better sense of Zidane.

Sorry dude, I am old enough to see all of them play. I dnot care what fifa says, I HAVE SEEN them play MYSELF!

Cryuff wasnt a defender!! Matthaus was the ULTIMATE midfielder when he won fifa world player of the year. this just shows how much you dont know about football. He was the best midfielder of his generation.The story was after augentaller, the bayern captain who was the sweeper on defense retired the germans made the 22 year old phenom Ziege their sweeper. Just before the 94 WC he went down with injury. An injury that might have cost them the 94 WC creating a big hole in their defense. Mathaus was FORCED to become a defender and then because of old age and his experience and lack of german talent he stayed there.

Also my appologies I forget to mention platini Between zidane and platini there is really no comparison! Platini was much better. Van basten, Cryuff and platini each won the european golden ball 3 times. van basten could have won more barring injury. I wonder why your buddy didnt.

[khabalood]

i never said Cruyff was a defender. Matthaus is also better known for his defensive abilities.

The reason why Zidane didn't win the european golden ball more is simply that in 1995 the rules were changed to allow non europeans to be eligible for the award. I wonder if platini would have really won three in a row if he had to put up with competition from lets say Maradona. I doubt he would.

You see the level of competition and football has increased over the years and one cannot really compare the exploits of a player in the 60's to what Zidane is still doing presently, because Zidane is going up against a much tougher opposition.

And to end this I would just like to say that the majority of 6 million people believe Zidane is the best footballer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Golden_Jubilee_Poll

[persianbruin]

i never said Cruyff was a defender. Matthaus is also better known for his defensive abilities.

The reason why Zidane didn't win the european golden ball more is simply that in 1995 the rules were changed to allow non europeans to be eligible for the award. I wonder if platini would have really won three in a row if he had to put up with competition from lets say Maradona. I doubt he would.

You see the level of competition and football has increased over the years and one cannot really compare the exploits of a player in the 60's to what Zidane is still doing presently, because Zidane is going up against a much tougher opposition.

And to end this I would just like to say that the majority of 6 million people believe Zidane is the best footballer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Golden_Jubilee_Poll

Only the younger generation might think matthaus was known for his defensive abilties. If you were around when matthaus fired pas morroco in the 88th minute the 86 WC round of 16 advancing the team to the quarters, or if you had seen him score 2 magnificant goal against real madrid in the semis of 87 champions league as a MIDFIELDER and if you were around when as a midfielder he went to Inter milan broke the italian record in points with inter an later on captain the germans to WC 1990 championship while scoring 5 goals as a central midfilder then you would not have called him a defender!

To me and people from my generation and most soccer experts he was a midfielder with great scorong ablity, unfortunately i dont have a link for you to see his goals but ifyou dont remember him as a midfielder then i dont blame you for taking zidane over him.

If you red more stuf in wikipedia then you see how much crap they say. I stopped reading it long time ago. EVEN french people think of platini as a better player. Poor guy didnt play when his team HOSTED the WC. the 82-86 french team was much better and had many more talented players than the 98 team. AGAIN I saw 82 and 86 and 98 WC's myself, most of the games live.

[khabalood]

This isn't a question of wikipedia because in this instance it is merely being used as a medium for reporting factual statistical information.

Moreover, I do not believe that the population of France would choose Platini over Zidane, because Zidane matched and surpassed the achievements of platini and against a stiffer competition. Yet even if a statistic is brought o my attention, that they do think Platini is better I would call you attention to the average age of the french populaiton http://www.nationmaster.com/country/fr/Age_distribution and that the majority of the population would have watched Platini whereas they would have been busy with the demands of raising a family ect. during Zidanes years. Again there is no proof that anyone would choose platini over Zidane as my first statistic proves.

Once again the level of competition in the 80's cannot be compared to the level of competition of the 90's and especially not the present. Zidanes dominance in these years is proven by his three world player of the year awards, among other achievements.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

You see the level of competition and football has increased over the years and one cannot really compare the exploits of a player in the 60's to what Zidane is still doing presently, because Zidane is going up against a much tougher opposition.

WRONG!!!






whilst it is true that in Pele's time football was slower and defenders were not as good as today but if you consider the quality of the pitch, the unsuitable shoes, and the very heavy ball Pele was doing magic with, was by far a much more a difficult task than Zidane is doing today!

Give that very heavy black ball to todays players and see whether they can make a decent cross!!!

Platini said once: "What Zidane can do with a ball, that Maradona could do with a banana peel" and I do agree on that!

[khabalood]

the present day has:

stronger players
players with better technique
players with better conditioning
players who are faster
players who play a more intelligent game
better defensive strategies and technique

excuse me if I don't find a harder ball or field conditions to be a set back when faced with the aforementioned. Moreover, if you give any player in the world a harder ball or different field conditions they adapt to them. You cannot adapt to better players. The end result is that their play will suffer.

btw, why are you yelling?

[Adesor Vafaseya]

the present day has:

stronger players
players with better technique
players with better conditioning
players who are faster
players who play a more intelligent game

Sorry, maybe I am just too old for todays football BUT simply CANNOT AGREE on none of the above!

[khabalood]

your entitle to your opinion. I don't agree however, football has changed.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

From your posts I can easily assume that you haven't seen World Cup 1966 in England - the game between Argentina vs England??? or Portugal vs Brazil??? (In todays football the referee would have given 3 red cards to Portugeese and call off the game, at that time they tolerated everything)!
I can also assume you never saw Italy vs Germany in WC 1970 in Mexico???

I have seen both Pele playing, also Eusebio, as well as Cruyff and George Best, Bobby Charlton and Paltini and also Maradona!
And I am still watching football and have also seen Zidane playing!
The game has changed but the basics of football have not changed!

From what I have seen through the years, even if I push myself very hard I just cannot accept what you say!
To me all the palyers I listed above were way better than the so called "superstars" of today!

But OK oppinions differ and you are 100% entitled to your oppinion!

[Kaveh Ahangar]

Players in Pele's era were really brutal and savage in their tackling. Most people seem to forget how Pele was targetted and hacked down viciously in many games he played....however, a testament to the man and his character - he wasn't often provoked and just got on weaving his magic.

Maradonna had much greater protection from the ref in terms of yellow/red cards given to the opposition and so he was more able to express himself creatively.

Just my two cents, and I think Pele was greater

[khabalood]

The game has changed but the basics of football have not changed!

please elaborate on this point

[Amir H F]

Na baba football has not changed that much, dont always go with what you hear watch and see yourself!!! Mr.Adesor has experience watching these games back in the day AND today (same with my grandpa) so they would know better, thanks.