Skip to main content

The Top 250 Players of All-Time: 200-191

In February 2013 up in the attic bedroom of our student house, Gareth ThomasBen Jones and Ollie Jackson after another prolonged football debate decided it was time we did something about the question, 'Who is the best player in the World?'. Housemate Liam suggested setting out to find the greatest 50 players of all time, this swiftly grew to 100, 150 and 200 before we settled on 250. Our original website www.top250.webs.com is still there to answer the debate but we furthered our work to blogging about the beautiful game starting up www.thefootballhistoryboys.blogspot.com.

Here's where you can catch 210-201.



200. Emilio BUTRAGUENO


POSITION: Forward;

NATION: Spain (69/26);

CLUB(s): Castilla (SPA), Real Madrid (SPA), Club Celaya (MEX)

CLUB HONOURS: 6x La Liga, 2x Copa del Rey, 1x Copa de la Liga, 4x Supercopa de Espana, 2x UEFA Cup, 1x Copa Iberoamericana

"Emilio Butragueño went on to become one of the most lethal strikers in the Europe in the 1980s. He was a smart player and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time scoring most of his goals from inside the penalty box." 
www.planetworldcup.com


199. Alessandro COSTACURTA



POSITION: Defender; 

NATION: Italy (59/2); 

CLUB(s): AC Milan, AC Monza (Both ITA)

CLUB HONOURS: 7x Serie A, 5x UEFA European Champions Cup, 1x Coppa Italia, 4x Supercoppa Italiana, 1x UEFA Super Cup

"Costacurta, along with Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini was part of one of the strongest back lines in the history of the game. A wonderful defender with great tactical intelligence, excellent technique and a real competitive streak, he formed a terrific partnership with Franco Baresi. As a main player in the Berlusconi era he won everything as a footballer." 
AC Milan Hall of Fame


198. Paul BREITNER 


POSITION: Defender / Midfielder; 

NATION: West Germany (48/10); 

CLUB(s): Bayern Munich (GER), Real Madrid (SPA), Eintracht Braunschweig (GER), Bayern Munich (GER)

CLUB HONOURS: 5x Bundesliga, 2x DFB-Pokal, 1x UEFA European Cup, 2x La Liga, 1x Copa del Rey

 INTERNATIONAL HONOURS: 1x FIFA World Cup, 1x UEFA European Football Championship, 1x FIFA World Cup Runner Up

"Paul Breitner was a world-class footballer in his day, but his place among the legends of the game owes as much to an extraordinary, multifaceted and often contrary personality. Cast in the mould of a classic midfield general, Breitner actively sought responsibility on and off the field, and rates as one of the most straight-talking individuals in football." 
www.FIFA.com


197. Luigi RIVA


POSITION: Forward;

NATION: Italy (42/35);

CLUB(s): Legnano, Cagliari (Both ITA)

CLUB HONOURS: 1x Serie A

INTERNATIONAL HONOURS: 1x UEFA European Championship

"There are many over-used and misleading phrases in football and 'one-man team' is surely right up there. In 1969-70, Cagliari had a quality side. Players such as Ricky Albertosi, Pierluigi Cera, Comunardo Niccolai and Angelo Domenghini all played for the Azzurri. And yet, the simple and remarkable fact remains – Gigi Riva won the Scudetto for Cagliari. It was just one of the many stunning achievements in the extraordinary career of Cagliari and Italy’s highest ever goalscorer. A legend and a hero for both club and country." 
www.ghostgoal.co.uk 


196. Sándor KOCSIS Peter


POSITION: Forward; 

NATION: Hungary (68/75); 

CLUB(s): Kobanyai TC (HUN), Ferencvaros TC (HUN), EDOSZ (HUN), Honved (HUN), Young Fellows Zurich (SUI), Barcelona (SPA)

CLUB HONOURS: 4x Hungarian Champions, 2x La Liga, 2x Copa del Rey, 1x UEFA Cup

INTERNATIONAL HONOURS: 1x FIFA World Cup Runner Up, 1x Olympic Gold Medal, 1x Central European Champions

"Known as ‘Golden Head’ due to his amazing abilities in the air, Kocsis escaped from Hungary in 1956 following the Soviet intervention in his country... Apart from his terrific head, he also had a rifling shot with either foot and was an adept dribbler. He was also an intelligent player with an excellent ability to read the play. And he was a noted gentleman, and was admired wherever he went for his noble attitude to the sport." 
FC Barcelona


195. Telmo ZARRA


POSITION: Forward; 

NATION: Spain (20/20); 

CLUB(s): SD Erandio Club, Athletic Bilbao, SD Indautxu, Barakaldo CF (All SPA) 

CLUB HONOURS: 1x La Liga, 5x Copa del Rey

"Telmo Zarra is Athletic Bilbao's most famous player and record goalscorer with 252 goals in 278 La Liga games as the team won the top flight in 1943 and the Copa del Rey five times between 1943 and 1955... Zarra was awarded his first Pichichi Trophy in 1944-45, the first of six during his 14-year spell with Bilbao... He remains the top goalscorer in La Liga history, with Spanish newspaper Marca now naming the season's top goalscorer award, the Zarra Trophy, after the striker."
www.goal.com




194. VAVA


POSITION: Forward;

NATION: Brazil (20/15);

CLUB(s): Sport Recife (BRA), Vasco da Gama (BRA), Atlético Madrid (SPA), Palmeiras (BRA), Club América (MEX), Toros Neza (MEX), San Diego Toros (USA), Portuguesa (BRA)

CLUB HONOURS: 1x Campeonato Pernambucano, 3x Campeonato Carioca, 1x Campeonato Paulista, 1x Torneio Rio-Sao Paulo, 3x Oswaldo Cruz Cup, 1x Quadrangular Tournament, 1x Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer's Tournament, 1x Santiago de Chile, 1x Paris Tournament, 1x Theresa Herrera Trophy, 1x Guadalajara Tournament

INTERNATIONAL HONOURS: 2x FIFA World Cup

"Hawk-nosed, stocky and brave, Vava was an instinctive goal scorer par excellence. He was not perhaps the most elegant of footballers, but he rarely wasted chances, possessing both a ferocious shot and immense strength - his nickname was "peito de aco" or "chest of steel" - which allowed him to hold off defenders. He also had the knack of converting important opportunities."
The Telegraph


193. Billy BREMNER


POSITION: Midfielder; 

NATION: Scotland (54/3); 

CLUB(s): Leeds United, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers (All ENG)

CLUB HONOURS: 1x UEFA CUP, 2x Football League First Division, 1x Football League Second Division, 1x FA Cup, 1x Football League Cup, 1x FA Charity Shield

"Billy Bremner was one of Britain's most fiery, skilful and industrious footballers of the post-war years. An essential cog in the pragmatic, often over-robust yet frequently wonderfully entertaining Leeds United team of the Sixties and Seventies, he was also the red-haired dynamo in Scotland's international side, winning 54 caps... As with many players of his time, he mixed a hard, enthusiastic attitude to the game with an almost equally dedicated approach to enjoying the pleasures that comparative riches brought, yet he remained astonishingly fit into his mid-thirties."
 The Independent


192. Jan MOLBY



POSITION: Midfielder; 

NATION: Denmark (33/2); 

CLUB(s): Kolding (DEN), Ajax (NED), Liverpool (ENG), Barnsley (ENG), Norwich City (ENG), Swansea City (ENG)

CLUB HONOURS: 1x Eredivisie, 1x KNVB Cup, 3x Football League First Division, 3x FA Cup, 1x Football League Cup, 4x FA Charity Shield


"Jan Molby, more commonly known to Liverpool fans as Big Jan or the Great Dane, is widely regarded as the finest passer of a football to ever pull on the red shirt. Despite spending most of his Anfield career in the centre circle, his vision and technique more than made up for his lack of mobility and negligible turning circle. In his 12 years with Liverpool he split defences for fun on his way to making 292 appearances and notching 60 goals."
Liverpool FC

191. Arie HAAN


POSITION: Defender / Midfielder; 

NATION: Netherlands (35/6); 

CLUB(s): Ajax Amsterdam (NED), Anderlecht (BEL), Standard Liège (BEL), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Seiko (HKG) 

CLUB HONOURS: 3x Eredivisie, 3x Dutch Cup, 3x UEFA Champions League, 1x Intercontinental Cup, 2x Jupiler League, 1x Belgian Cup, 2x UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 2x UEFA Super Cup

"There are a handful of players in history that can rightfully claim the distinction of being called the 'total footballer'. An individual totally comfortable in various roles on the football pitch and executing its requirements effortlessly with ease. One such product was arguably the most flexible. His name, forgotten in time in certain circles, is Arie Haan." 
La Croqueta

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Crest Dissected - AS Roma

It’s been a good while since I’ve done a Crest Dissected but after a bit of a summer break and time at the BBC ( Cardiff and Swansea pieces) it’s time to get back down to TFHB writing! So following FC Barcelona , PSG , AS Monaco  and US Women’s Soccer this week I’m going to take a look at AS Roma and their intriguing history.   In the summer of 1927 an Italian Fascist, Italo Foschi , was behind the merger of three older Italian Football Championships clubs all based in Rome, Alba-Audace , Roman and Fortitudo . The purpose of the move was to compete with the well established clubs, especially in the Northern cities but Lazio were not behind the move meaning the Derby della Capitale rivalry was there from the beginning and Associazone Sportiva Roma was born. AS Roma immediately endeared themselves to the masses by taking on the capital’s colours, red and yellow, something Lazio did not consider as they favoured the greek myth of Olimpia and the colour blue. Romulus a

Extra-Time | The Rise and Fall of Silver Goal

The trials and tribulations of golden goal are well documented in football histories, and although not favoured at the time, the concept has seen a wealth of nostalgic sentiment in recent years. Its short-lived successor, ‘silver goal’, however, has seen nothing of the sort. Only in existence for a year, the innovation by UEFA was designed to ‘encourage positive football’ and ‘produce a sensible and fairer ending to a game’. Used just once in a major international competition, the result of the experiment was a confusing, complicated and calamitous exercise of which football was quick to distance itself from. Silver goal was effectively designed to limit extra-time to 15 minutes. If a deciding goal was scored in the first period, or if a team was ahead at the break, then the game would end at half-time in extra-time. Unlike, golden goal 's sudden death approach, this would theoretically gave losing sides at least an opportunity to comeback after falling behind. Furthermore, it pr

The 1978 World Cup: The Most Controversial Competition in History?

In a recent poll on our Twitter feed, we asked our followers, "Which World Cup shall we write about next?" - the response was unanimous - the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Admittedly, before starting this blog, this tournament was probably the one we knew least about - perhaps due to the general negativity which surrounds it. The second World Cup in succession without English involvement, Scotland would be the sole British representative. Taking place in Argentina, the South American nation had seen a ruthless military coup just two years before. As the opening game approached, the 1978 World Cup was to be about far more than just football. Taking place during the Cold War, the tournament's preparations were overshadowed by the removal of President Isabel Peron by the right-wing Argentine military. Supported by the US, the 'junta' would ruthlessly imprison and even kill thousands of left-wing activists which were seen as a threat to the new government. Global