A player needs to accomplish a lot in a career to become a football legends. There are trophies, records and awards, but there’s also the way a player has impacted the game beyond the pitch.
A pioneer of total football learned from Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff left a legacy with both Ajax and Barcelona. His philosophy still influences clubs to this day.
Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema is one of the most complete strikers in football. He is not just a pure goal scorer but also knows how to create and finish the big chances that other players are unable to turn into goals. He is also unselfish and a great team player, which has led to his success at Real Madrid over the last decade.
He is now one of the most respected forwards in Europe and has a strong claim to being the best player in the world right now. Despite a difficult start to the season, he is still on course to win the Champions League again this year and has scored over 30 goals in the league this season. In fact, he has already passed the 300-goal mark for Real Madrid, which is a fantastic achievement for any player.
Benzema is renowned for his ability to score in big games and is one of the best finishers in the history of La Liga. He has a number of records to his name including most assists in a season, most goals for a club in the league and most successful through-balls. He has also been instrumental in helping the French national side to major tournament success, scoring over 35 goals for Les Bleus.
Following the departure of Gonzalo Higuain, Benzema has become Real Madrid’s main striker. He is the team’s most prolific goalscorer and has won several major trophies during his time at the club. He was a key member of the French national team that won the 2021 UEFA Nations League and was named as the tournament’s best player.
In spite of his success on the pitch, Benzema is known for being quite a private person off it. He rarely speaks to the media and prefers to spend his free time with his family. He is a great role model for younger players and his humility has made him very popular amongst the fans. He is a true legend of the game and deserves to be remembered for his incredible achievements. This year he will hope to add another piece of silverware to his collection and can hopefully lead the French national side to a second successive World Cup victory.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi is one of the best footballers in history. He has won more than 60 major trophies and is known for his prolific goal scoring record. The diminutive Argentinian has also won five FIFA world player of the year awards. Despite his small size, Messi is a brilliant dribbler who can take on and beat players twice his size. He has been compared to Diego Maradona due to his attacking style and prolific goal scoring.
During the 2008-09 season, Messi led Barcelona to a historic treble, winning the La Liga championship, the Copa del Rey (Spain’s national cup), and the Champions League title. He was named the world player of the year for the first time that season, and has since won the award four more times. In 2012, he set a new record for most goals scored in a calendar year, surpassing the previous records of 85 by Germany’s Gerd Muller and 75 by Brazil’s Pele.
On the club level, Messi has been the leading scorer in five of the last six seasons, and has won the European Golden Shoe six times. He is the all-time leading goal scorer for FC Barcelona with 292 career goals and has scored at least 47 times in each of the past 12 seasons. He also plays for the Argentina national team.
Off the field, Messi is an active philanthropist who supports education, healthcare, and sports for underprivileged children through his foundation. He is also a prominent product pitchman and earns one of the highest salaries in professional sport. In 2013 Messi and his father, who handled his finances, were accused of tax evasion in Spain, but the pair denied wrongdoing.
While it is impossible to say whether Ronaldo or Messi are better, there is no doubt that both men are among the greatest soccer legends in history. Their unrivaled talent and dedication to their craft is what sets them apart from the rest of the field. They have both demonstrated the importance of uncompromised hard work and the power of determination to succeed.
Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Anton Beckenbauer, better known as Der Kaiser, is one of the most important players in the history of soccer games. He was a German football player and manager. He was a versatile defender and he is often credited with inventing the modern sweeper (libero) position. He also played midfield and forward and was considered to be a brilliant passer of the ball. He is a member of the FIFA Hall of Fame.
The Kaiser played in several World Cups and he led the West Germany team to win the 1972 European Championships and 1974 World Cup. His club career also spanned over 40 years, during which he won numerous league titles with Bayern Munich. He even enjoyed success in the North American Soccer League with the New York Cosmos during his two spells there.
Despite his immense talent, Beckenbauer was a humble man who always put the team first. He was a highly respected leader and he was very good at managing his team. He became a great influence on young footballers who wanted to be like him. He was also very popular with fans because he was a very charismatic player.
Beckenbauer grew up in the same neighborhood as the other great soccer games legend Johan Cruyff and he would often play one-twos with him on his front lawn. These practice matches were the perfect way for the future greats to develop their skills and to learn about the game of soccer.
When the Kaiser was just 14 years old, he resigned from his job as a trainee insurance salesman so that he could devote himself to becoming a professional footballer. His determination paid off and he soon started to win many trophies.
In 1984, Beckenbauer retired from playing and he took over as the manager of the West German national team. He led them to the 1986 World Cup final where they were pushed by Diego Maradona’s Argentina to a hard-fought defeat. Beckenbauer then moved on to manage Olympique de Marseille and Bayern Munich. He later served in various executive positions with both the Bundesliga and FIFA, football’s governing body.
Johan Cruyff
One of the most influential players in the history of football, Johan Cruyff was a player-coach and manager whose innovative style of play changed the way we view the game. He was a hugely influential figure both as a player for Ajax and Barcelona, and as a coach with the Netherlands and Feyenoord. He was renowned for developing Total Football, a fluid tactical playing theory that allows any outfield player to adopt the role of any other in the team.
Although he only started his professional career at Ajax in 1964, he quickly became one of their key players. He made his debut for the first team in November of that year, but it wasn’t until the 1965-66 season that he really made a name for himself. That season he played eight times, scoring three goals in the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup.
During this time, Cruyff’s ability to read the game and create opportunities for his teammates made him one of the most valuable players in the world. His ability to make decisions on the fly and adjust his own position without losing control of the ball was the epitome of skill. It has been said that for a great player, a second lasts longer than it does for a mortal; these players can perform more calculations and adjustments within a given time frame than anyone else.
After his retirement as a player, Cruyff went on to have a successful management career with Ajax and the Netherlands. He helped Ajax win a league title, two KNVB cups and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1987-88, and later managed Feyenoord to a league title and a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
Cruyff was also an accomplished author and wrote several books on his philosophy of the game. His principles and views about the game were influential in shaping the understanding of the modern game as we know it. His legacy is alive today in the philosophies of managers like Pep Guardiola, Txiki Begiristain, Arsene Wenger, Ronald Koeman and Michael Laudrup, and it is evident in the quick interchangeable movement of players and one- and two-touch football of all of the best teams in Europe.
