FOOTBALL LEGENDS

One of the finest ever players in the game, Ferenc Puskas never was able to fulfil his true potential in a World Cup, despite being silvermedalist in 1954. He began his career in 1943 in Kispest a suburb of Budapest, and at the age of 18 in 1945 he made his debut for Hungary against Austria in his country's first post-war international match. Puskas played in the fabulous Hungary side that trashed England 6-3 at Wembley in 1953, the first team outside Britain to beat England at home.


Born in 1927, Puskas was an odd looking footballer. He was short, stocky, barrel-chested, overweight, couldn't head and only used one foot. Known as "The Galloping Major", a reference to the fact that he was an army officer playing for an army team, he had huge success in Hungarian football with Kispest Honved. He won four league championships with them before moving to Real Madrid. He would enjoy even more success in the Spanish capital. Partnering the great Alfredo di Stefano up front, they formed the most feared duo in international football. Puskas was topscorer four times in the Spanish league, helping his team to win six domestic trophies and three European Cups. In the 1960 European Cup final he hammered home four goals in Madrid's 7-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Puskas and Hungary were unbeaten in four years of international football when they arrived in Switzerland to play in the World Cup in 1954. It looked like their record would remain after beating South Korea 9-0 and the strong Germans 8-3! Puskas missed the quarter- and semifinal through injury, but his teammates took care of the business beating Brazil 4-2 in the "Battle of Berne" where fighting seemed more interesting than football for the players. Defending champions Uruguay were beaten after extra-time and the stage was set for a final against West Germany. Puskas insisted on playing in the final despite not being fully fit. The Galloping Major took over the captaincy and after only eight minutes Hungary were two goals up, with Puskas getting one of the goals. However, The Germans characteristically came back and won 3-2. It was a shock result and Hungary's four year unbeaten record came to an end. The team broke up a couple of years later during the revolution in Hungary. Puskas later played four times for Spain in his time in Real Madrid but failed to score. For Hungary he played 84 times and scored a world record 83 goals! No player, not even Pelé, has scored that many goals for a national team.

Born at September 11th 1945 in the post-war ruins of Munich, Germany. His full nane is Franz Anton Beckenbauer. He is a former football pleyer, manager and a coach. He is famous by the name "Kaiser" which means emperor. He pleyed his early career with Bayern Munchen and made the team promoted to the upper league of Germany. He is also famous by his position as a sweeper and he is recognized as the modern sweeper inventor.

He then played for New York Cosmos after the debut made by Beckenbauer in the world cup and also in the European cup. Then he transferred to Hamburger SV and then retired with the win of Bundesliga title. In his International career he appeared 103 times and scored 14 goals for West Germany. West germany won the world cup in 1974, the 1974 world cup was hosted by West Germany and beaten Italy just by the slight win of 2-1.

After his retiremant as a professional footballer he began to coach Germany for the international competitions. He also managed Marseille in the League 1 France and his old team Bayern Munchen.

He was the former Dutch footballer and Dutch manager. He is one of the greatest strikers in history of football. He scored the total of 277 goals during his career. Who is he? He is Marcel van Basten, also known as Marco van Basten. Marco van Basten was the former player for Ajax,Milan and Netherlands, he also the former manager of Jong Ajax,Netherlands and Ajax. During his career he was named European Footballer of the Year three times in 1988,1989 and 1992,he was also named FIFA World Player of the Year and ranked 8th in Footballer of the Century.

In his playing career,he only plays two clubs. The two clubs are AC Milan from Italy and Ajax from Netherlands. First, i am going to talk about his career in Ajax where he scored 128 goals from just 133 appearances. He signed for Ajax in 1981/82 season and made his debut in April 1982 and also scored during his debut. He became top scorer during 1983/84, 1986/87 scoring 117 in just 112 matches. In 1985/86 season he won European Golden Boot scoring 37 goals in 26 league matches. The next year, he scored winning goal in UEFA Cup Winners Cup.

In 1987, he signed for AC Milan. He played alongside his Dutch friends that are Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard. His first season in Milan, he won Scudetto(Serie A Italian Championship). In 1989/90 season, he become Capocannoniere, Serie A leading goal scorer. In November 1992, he created history becoming the first player to score 4 goals in Champions League. Due to injury setback, he retired in 1995 at age of 29.

His international career, he won 58 capped and scored 24 goals. Made his debut in 1983.

Now he is remembered as football legend and icon.

Diego Armando Maradona was the former Argentine footballer. He was born in Lanus, Buenos Aires on the 30th October 1960. Now he is 49 years old. Now, he is the current coach of Argentine football team. He shared award with Pele from Brazil for International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Player of the Century. In his senior career, he played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, Newell Old Boys. His nickname is 'El Pibe de Oro' which means the golden boy.

During his career, Napoli was where he has won many trophies and reached the peak of his professional career. He made Napoli the most successful team during the era. At Napoli, he scored 81 goals from 188 appearances. In Napoli, he won Serie A Italian Championships in 1986/87 and 1989/1990, finished second in 1987/1988 and 1988/89, Coppa Italia in 1987 and second place in 1989, UEFA Cup in1990, Italian Supercup in 1990, in 1987/88 he was the top scorer in Serie A. Maradona personal problems during his career in Italy where he used cocaine and his reason was because of stress. He was banned for 15 months and left Napoli for Sevilla in 1992. Maradona played for Tottenham Hotspurs during testimonial for his friend Ossie Ardilles.

In his international career, he won 91 capped and scored 34 goals. On the 27th February 1977, it was historical day for Maradona, it was his debut for Argentina where he was just sixteen years old. In 1982, he played his first World Cup, played five matches and scored twice. 1986 World Cup was the memorable year for Maradona where he led Argentina to triumph. They won the World Cup against West Germany in final , at Mexico. Mexican fans and football fans were so lucky to see incredible perfomance by Maradona. During the quarter final, he scored two great goals. First, he scored with his hands, referee must thought he used his head so the goal was allowed, leaving the England fans in anger. This goal was also known as 'Hand of God'. The second goal, he showed his quality in dribbling where he go past six men and scored. That goal was voted by FIFA for the greatest goal in history of World Cup.

Now I am going to talk about his playing style. Standing at just 165cm tall, he has low center of gravity to give him an advantage in short sprints. Eventhough he looked small but he could withstand pressure. Maradona was a strategist and team player and highly technical on the ball. He was also a free-kick spcialists.

Now Maradona has a chance to win trophy again but this time as a manager. This 2010 World Cup will be his chance to lift Argentina again.

Eusebio was born 25 January 1942.He is a retired Portuguese footballer.He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time.Eusebio helped the Portuguese national team reach third place at the 1966 World Cup, being the top goalscorer of the tournament with nine goals a year before he was elected as the European Footballer of the Year.He played for Benfica for 15 years and he is the club's all time top scorer.

Eusebio was nicknamed 'The Black Panther' or 'The Black Pearl' for his speed and his powerful, accurate right-footed strike.Eusébio scored 727 goals in 715 games for Benfica.He is considered Benfica's and Portugal's most renowned player and the first world-class African striker.He was elected the 10th best footballer of the 20th century in a poll and Pelé named Eusébio as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004 FIFA 100 list. In November 2003,he was selected as the Golden Player of Portugal by the Portuguese Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.

Eusébio was the all-time leading scorer for his country with 41 goals. He made his debut for the Portuguese national team against Luxembourg on 19 October 1961.He was the leading scorer in the 1966 World Cup where he scored nine goals.His last game for the national team was a 2–2 draw against Bulgaria on 19 October 1973 in a World Cup qualifier.Despite being retired, Eusébio is a constant presence among the Portuguese national team.

Edison Arantes do Nascimento or better known as Pele was born on 23th October 1940.He is a retired Brazilian football player.He is widely regarded by the fans,football experts and players as the greatest footballer of all time.He was spotted by football star Waldemar de Brito and he began playing for Santos at 15.Pele made his debut for the Brazilian national team at age 16 and he won his first World Cup at 17 scoring 6 goals.He was the only player to have three world cup winning medals.

He played for Santos alongside many gifted players,including Zito,Pepe and Coutinho.Pele made his debut for Santos in 7 September 1956 scoring a goal against Corinthians.He was given a starting place when the 1957 season started and he became the league's youngest top scorer at the age 16.Ten months after signing professionally,he was called up to the Brazilian national team and after the 1962 world cup many european giants tried to sign him but the Brazil government declared Pele as an 'official national treasure' to prevent him from being transferred out of country.

He played for the New York Cosmos for a short while after he came out of semi-retirement.He played his last game against his old team Santos at Giants Stadium.He played the first half for Cosmos and second half for Santos.After the match,he ran around the stadium holding the American flag in his left hand and Brazilian flag in his right hand.He scored his 1000th goal against Vasco da Gama on 19 November 1969.He scored from a penalty kick at Maracana Stadium,the largest stadium in the world.