World Soccer's reader poll: the top 200 players of all time [1999]

 

1. Pelé : 5499 points
2. Diego Maradona : 3949
3. Johan Cruyff : 3388
4. Franz Beckenbauer : 2780
5. Michel Platini : 1854
6. Alfredo Di Stéfano : 1541
7. Ferenc Puskás : 1537
8. George Best : 1190
9. Marco van Basten : 1026
10. Eusébio : 1022
11. Lev Yashin : 821
12. Bobby Charlton : 680
13. Ronaldo : 541
14. Bobby Moore : 539
15. Gerd Müller : 498
16. Roberto Baggio : 486
17. Stanley Matthews : 429
18. Zico : 390
19. Franco Baresi : 371
20. Garrincha : 361
21. Paolo Maldini : 345
22. Kenny Dalglish : 334
23. Gabriel Batistuta : 300
24. Éric Cantona : 299
25. Gheorghe Hagi : 293
26. Romário : 257
27. Jairzinho : 248
28. Zinédine Zidane : 238
29. Ruud Gullit : 221
30. John Charles : 212
31. Lothar Matthäus : 202
32. Gordon Banks : 178
33. Jürgen Klinsmann : 168
34. Dennis Bergkamp : 150
35. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge : 149
36. Gary Lineker : 134
37. Giuseppe Meazza : 132
38. Rivelino : 124
39. Didi : 123
40. Ian Rush : 109
41. Peter Schmeichel & Paolo Rossi : 104
43. George Weah : 99
44. Michael Owen : 90
45. Just Fontaine : 88
46. Duncan Edwards : 86
47. Dino Zoff : 80
48. Hristo Stoichkov : 77
49. David Beckham : 74
50. Tom Finney : 72
51. Rivaldo : 71
52. Claudio Caniggia : 64
53. Tostão : 63
54. Frank Rijkaard : 62
55. José Luis Chilavert : 61
56. Kevin Keegan : 60
57. Paul Gascoigne : 57
58. Roger Milla : 56
59. Michael Laudrup : 55
60. Andriy Shevchenko : 54
61. David Ginola, Glenn Hoddle & Sócrates : 53
64. Roberto Carlos & Alan Shearer : 52
66. Daniel Passarella : 51
67. Davor Suker : 50
68. "Dixie" Dean, Sándor Kocsis, Christian Vieri & Juan Schiaffino : 49
72. Mario Kempes, Johan Neeskens & Gigi Riva : 47
75. José Nasazzi & Günter Netzer : 46
77. Alessandro Del Piero & Carlos Valderrama : 43
79. Ricardo Zamora : 42
80. Enzo Francescoli : 41
81. Edgard Davids & Paco Gento : 40
83. Jim Baxter, Falcão, Ryan Giggs & Sepp Maier : 38
87. Zbigniew Boniek, Pat Jennings & György Sárosi : 37
90. Giacinto Facchetti : 36
91. Alan Hansen, Raymond Kopa, Bryan Robson & Mattias Sammer : 34
95. László Kubala & Neville Southall : 33
97. Gerson : 32
98. Paulo Futre & Preben Elkjær : 31
100. Bebeto : 30
101. Mattias Sindelar, Jaap Stam, Luis Suárez [Spain], Gianni Rivera, Andoni Zubizarreta, Ariel Ortega, László Détári & Jürgen Kohler : 29
109. Teófilo Cubillas, Sunday Oliseh, Nílton Santos, Gaetano Scirea & Steve McManaman : 28
114. Giuseppe Bergomi, Marcelo Salas, Bernd Schuster & Oleh Blokhin : 27
118. Fernando Hierro, Gianfranco Zola & Gianluca Vialli : 26
121. Thomas Hässler, Nwankwu Kanu, Ronald Koeman, Sandro Mazzola & Liam Brady : 25
126. Dragan Džajić, Billy Bremner, Marius Lăcătuş, Brian Laudrup, Jimmy Greaves & Zoltán Czibor : 24
131. John Barnes, Edwin van der Sar, Jimmy Johnstone, Dejan Savičević & Claudio López : 23
136. Claudio Gentile & Geoff Hurst : 22
138. Ángel Amadeo Labruna, Sol Campbell, Diego Simeone & Nándor Hidegkuti : 21
142. Danny Blanchflower & Luis Hernández : 20
144. Leônidas, Ciro Ferrara, Hugo Sánchez & Denílson : 19
148. Emilio Butragueño, Obdulio Varela, Dwight Yorke & Salvatore Schillaci : 18
152. Dunga, Mario Basler, Silvio Piola, Rudi Völler, Ray Wilson, Gheorghe Popescu, Djalma Santos, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Roberto Mancini & Colin Bell : 17
162. Ray Clemence, Wolfgang Overath, Karlheinz Förster, Juan Sebastián Verón, Oliver Bierhoff, Peter Shilton & Jozsef Boszik : 16
170. Gilmar, Rob Rensenbrink, Billy Wright & Alan McInally : 15
174. Éder, Lawton, Domingos da Guia, I. Wright, Krol, Giles & Ardiles : 14
181. Ademir, L. Sánchez, van Hanegem, Ugarte, Thuram & Köpke : 13
187. Roy Keane, Kluivert, H. Larsson, McCoist, Moreno, Rui Costa, Seeler, Haller & Cafu : 12
196. Jorginho, Juninho Paulista, Pearce, Plánička, Vavá & Friedenreich : 11.



Per nation:
1. Brazil : 27
2. England : 26
3. Italy : 21
4. Germany : 19
5. Holland : 14
6. Argentina : 13
7. Hungary : 8
8. Scotland, France & Spain : 7
11. Uruguay, Wales & Denmark : 4
14. Yugoslavia, Romania, Portugal, Ireland & Northern Ireland : 3
19. Cameroon, Nigeria, Chile, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Mexico : 2

Meglio Johan Cruyff o Michel Platini? (Gazzetta dello Sport, 1985)

 

Italian poll 'Campione Mio', 1986

 

Who's best: Maradona or Platini?

 Guerin Sportivo, November 1985.

Guerin Sportivo, December 1985

Tops & Flops of the Euro 2012

 

Corriere della Sera (Italy):

What was the best page of the Euro 2012?
39,2% Pirlo's cucchiaio penalty vs England
24,4% Balotelli with mum
11,5% The passion of the Irish fans
8,7% Spain's triplete 
4,5% Karagounis celebrating with his children
4,2% Shevchenko's two goals vs Sweden
2,8% Ibrahimovic's volley vs France
2,5% The fix that never happened (Croatia-Spain)
1,4% Casillas' save
0,8% Welbeck's heal flick

And the worst?
38,1% Russian and Polish fans beating each other up
22,9% Italy's fiasco in the final
13,8% The Croatian bananas thrown at Balotelli
12,3% The "phantasm" goal in England-Ukraine
4,1% The German fan with the (recorded) tears
2,9% Nasri to a journalist: "I'll smash your face"
2,3% Cristiano Ronaldo and the penalty
2,3% Sneijder-Robben: who saw them?
2,3% Bendtner and his sponsorized strip
0,9% Rooney disappearing

Most popular football clubs.

Source: Sport+Markt  (sample of 1000 people from 34 countries).

1. Manchester United : 354 million supporters
2. Barcelona : 270 million
3. Real Madrid : 174 million
4. Chelsea : 135 milljoner
5. Arsenal : 113 million
6. Milan : 99 million
7. Liverpool : 71 million
8. Inter : 49 million
9. Bayern Munich : 24 million
10. Juventus : 20 million
11. Manchester City : 18 million
12. Tottenham : 11 million
13. Newcastle : 6 million.  

Total:
England : 708 million (7 clubs)
Spain : 444 million (2 clubs)
Italy : 168 million (3 clubs)
Germany : 24 million (1 club)

The Players' Poll, Serie A.

Poll among 500 players. Votes for players/coaches of their own team were not allowed.

The most overrated Serie A player
8% Schelotto, Icardi, Balotelli
4% Giaccherini, El Shaarawy, Osvaldo, Vucinic, Chiellini, Ogbonna

The best Serie A referee
18% Rizzoli
12% Giacomelli
8% Romeo, Bergonzi
6% Rocchi, Giannoccaro, Orsato

The toughest defender
44% Chiellini
12% Barzagli
4% Mexès, Aronica, Campagnaro, Portanova

Who would you prefer to coach your team?
32% Conte
18% Montella
12% Allegri
10% Mazzarri
8% Petkovic

The best fans
18% Torino
14% Atalanta
12% Sampdoria, Genoa
8% Roma, Fiorentina
6% Palermo, Lazio, Napoli

Did you ever have a depression?
76% No
18% Yes, but not a severe one
6% Yes, a severe one

Are depressions a problem among professional footballers?
42% No
34% Yes, but not a big problem
24% Yes, a big problem

Did a team mate of yours ever tell you in private that he is gay?
94% No
6% Yes

Would a gay footballer risk to have is carreer shattered?
66% No
32% Yes, partly
2% Yes, severely

[Gazzetta dello Sport]

Italian poll: the best & worst of Serie A 2012/13.

Rate the Serie A teams
8,5 Juventus
7,5 Napoli
7,2 Fiorentina
7,0 Udinese
6,7 Milan
6,4 Lazio
6,3 Catania & Roma
5,9 Cagliari & Chievo
5,8 Atalanta, Parma & Bologna
5,7 Sampdoria & Torino
5,1 Genoa
4,8 Siena
4,4 Inter
4,1 Palermo
4,0 Pescara

The best player
23% Cavani
11% Balotelli
10% Di Natale
8% Buffon, El Shaarawy, Totti & Vidal
4% Marchisio
3% Barzagli & P. Cannavaro
2% Hamsik, Marchetti & Sau

The best coach
42% Conte
17% Montella
12% Mazzarri
11% Guidolin
10% Allegri
4% Petkovic & Maran

The positive surprise
25% Fiorentina
14% Napoli
12% Catania
11% Juventus
8% Udinese

The negative surprise
45% Inter
14% Palermo
7% Milan
4% Genoa
3% Juventus, Lazio, Pescara, Roma

Current web poll (Marca): Who do you want in Real Madrid 2013/14?

Percentage answerong "yes" in a web poll with 131.000 partecipants.

89,1% Bale
72,4% Carvajal
64,8% Gündogan
59,8% Agüero
52,2% Verratti
38,0% Ancelotti
36,1% Kondogbia

Current poll (Marca): Atlético's All Time XI.

Goalkeeper
27,2% Abel
19,9% Courtois
19,2% Reina
18,4% Molina
9,2% De Gea
3,5% Marcel Domingo
2,6% Madinabeytia

Right back
37,1% Aguilera
28,1% Marcelino
15,8% Rivilla
13,7% Tomás
5,3% Melo

Central defenders
26,0% Pereira
18,4% Arteche
10,8% Heredia
9,4% Griffa
7,9% Santi
7,4% Ovejero
6,7% Solozábal
6,2% Perea
5,2% Aparicio
2,0% Jayo

Left back
37,9% Filipe Luis
19,3% Toni
16,6% Calleja
13,8% Panadero Díaz
12,4% Capón

Midfielders
21,4% Luis Aragonés -photo-
19,6% Schuster
18,3% Simeone
14,2% Pantic
7,3% Caminero
7,0% Adelardo
2,9% Irureta
2,7% Arda Turan
2,2% Alemão
1,5% Dirceu
1,0% Leal
0,8% Vizcaíno
0,4% Marina, Glaría
0,2% Alberto

Forwards
18,1% Futre
16,7% Falcao
9,3% Kiko, Gárate
8,4% Fernando Torres
8,1% Hugo Sánchez
7,7% Agüero
6,1% Forlán
2,9% Ben Barek
2,5% Ufarte
1,8% Ayala
1,4% Collar
1,3% Baltazar
1,2% Peiró
1,1% Leivinha
1,0% Vavá, Escudero
0,8% Manolo
0,4% Mendonça, Pruden
0,2% Juncosa, Jones

Coach
50,4% Luis Aragonés
35,8% Simeone
6,2% Helenio Herrera
4,3% Quique Sánchez Flores
1,0% Marcel Domingo
0,9% Zamora
0,6% Max Merkel
0,4% Villalonga
0,3% Balmanya


Encuesta (Marca):  el mejor once de la historia del Atlético de Madrid.

Current web poll: the best goal of 2012.

Web poll in La Repubblica: Vote the best goal of the year.
 
42,1% Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden-England)
14,1% Gastón Mealla (Nacional Potosí-The Strongest)
9,0% Falcao (América Cali-Atlético Madrid)
5,0% Lionel Messi (Argentina-Brazil)
4,4% Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle-Blackburn Rovers)
3,1% Agyemang Badu (Ghana-Guinea)
2,6% Olivia Jiménez (Mexico-Switzerland)
2,4% Neymar (Santos-International)
2,3% Erci Hassli (Vancouver-Toronto)
1,5% Miroslav Stoch (Fenerbahçe-Gençlerbirliği)
1,3% Moussa Sow (Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray)
12,2% None of the mentioned.

Current web poll: Italy's best player.

Web poll in today's La Repubblica: Who is Italy's best footballer right now?

42,3% Marchisio
16,6% Pirlo
12,7% Totti
6,0% Balotelli
5,1% Verratti
4,4% El Shaarawy
3,4% Cassano
2,8% De Rossi
1,9% Buffon
0,4% Montolivo
4,5% I don't know

Current web polls.

Gazzetta dello Sport:
Serie A looking for new aces. Who is tha main candidate to become the number one?
20,3% El Shaarawy (Milan)
20,0% Coutinho (Inter) 
18,4% Jovetic (Fiorentina)
10,1% Insigne (Napoli)
8,5% Destro (Genoa-Siena)
7,2% Muriel (Udinese) 
5,8% Immobile (Genoa) 
3,3% Ramírez (Bologna)
1,9% Ogbonna (Torino) 
1,5% Cuadrado (Udinese)
1,4% Gabbiadini (Atalanta) 
0,8% Faraoni (Udinese)
0,7% Nastasic (Fiorentina) 


El Mundo Deportivo:
Tito [Vilanova] doesn't exclude the possibility of signing a striker. Who would you prefer?
55,1% Neymar 
16,7% Van Persie 
10,4% Adrián 
5,0% Klose 
4,9% Nilmar 
4,4% Tevez 
3,6% Dzeko 

Current web polls, Spain.

El Mundo (Madrid)


Which is the best national team of all times?
84,3% The current Spanish team
13,4% Brazil of 1970
1,3% Germany of Beckenbauer 
1,1% Zidane's France 




Vote the Ideal XI of Euro 2012:


Goalkeeper:
95,0% Casillas
3,3% Buffon
0,8% Neuer 
0,4% Rui Patrício 
0,4% Someone else


Right wingback:
40,5% Arbeloa 
22,5% Chiellini
15,8% João Pereira
7,5% Gebre Selassie
7,1% Debuchy 
6,7% Someone else


Central back (right):
55,0% Piqué
34,7% Pepe 
9,1% Hummels 
1,3% Someone else


Central back (left):
95,1% Sergio Ramos
1,8% Bruno Alves
1,2% Rami 
1,1% Badstuber
0,8% Someone else

Left wingback:
92,8% Jordi Alba
3,8% Fábio Coentrão 
2,8% Lahm 
0,2% Clichy
0,4% Someone else


Central midfielder:
62,8% Xavi
31,4% Pirlo
4,4% Khedira
0,8% João Moutinho
0,3% Cabaye
0,3% Someone else


Defensive pivote:
63,3% Xabi Alonso
31,4% Busquets 
3,3% De Rossi 
0,8% Raul Meireles
0,6% Miguel Veloso
0,2% Thiago Motta
0,5% Someone else

Right winger:
70,6% Silva
10,9% Nani 
7,3% Jesús Navas
5,8% Marchisio
2,9% Walcott 
2,5% Someone else


Trequartista:
92,3% Iniesta
6,5% Özil
0,7% Cassano
0,2% Nasri
0,3% Someone else


Left wing: 
61,0% Cristiano Ronaldo
17,9% Pedro
13,5% Ribéry 
5,2% Montolivo
2,5% Someone else


Striker:
36,8% Fernando Torres
32,0% Mario Gómez
20,1% Balotelli
3,4% Mandzukic 
7,7% Someone else


Coach: 
79,8% Del Bosque
13,1% Prandelli
3,1% Löw 
2,8% Paulo Bento
1,2% Someone else

Poll: tops and flops of Euro 2012.

Corriere della Sera (Italy):

What was the best page of the Euro 2012?
39,2% Pirlo's cucchiaio penalty vs England
24,4% Balotelli with mum
11,5% The passion of the Irish fans
8,7% Spain's triplete 
4,5% Karagounis celebrating with his children
4,2% Shevchenko's two goals vs Sweden
2,8% Ibrahimovic's volley vs France
2,5% The fix that never happened (Croatia-Spain)
1,4% Casillas' save
0,8% Welbeck's heal flick

And the worst?
38,1% Russian and Polish fans beating each other up
22,9% Italy's fiasco in the final
13,8% The Croatian bananas thrown at Balotelli
12,3% The "phantasm" goal in England-Ukraine
4,1% The German fan with the (recorded) tears
2,9% Nasri to a journalist: "I'll smash your face"
2,3% Cristiano Ronaldo and the penalty
2,3% Sneijder-Robben: who saw them?
2,3% Bendtner and his sponsorized strip
0,9% Rooney disappearing

Recent web polls.

L'Equipe (France):
Should Samir Nasri be punished for his behaviour during the Euro?
66% No
32% Yes
2% Don't know


Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy):
Who should play on top with Balotelli vs Germany?
35% Di Natale
26% Diamanti
19% Cassano
16% Giovinco
4% Borini


Voetbal International (Holland):
Final teams of the Euro 2012?
62% Germany-Spain
16% Spain-Italy
11% Germany-Portugal
10% Portugal-Italy

Tipsbladet (Denmark):
Final teams?
68% Germany-Italy
13% Germany-Portugal
13% Italy-Spain
7% Portugal-Italy


Corriere dello Sport (Italy):
Who was the best azzurro vs England?
38% Pirlo
28% De Rossi
8% Buffon
6% Diamanti
4% Balotelli
3% Montolivo
2% Bonucci, Balzaretti, Marchisio, Maggio, Nocerino
1% Abate, Barzagli
0% Cassano


Aftonbladet (Sweden):
What do you think of Joe Hart's mind games? 
58% Objectionable
42% Okay


A Bola (Portugal):
Will Portugal beat Spain in the semifinal?
85% Yes
15% No

Corriere della Sera (Italy):
Rate the players vs England.
8,3 Andrea Pirlo
8,2 Gianluigi Buffon
7,9 Daniele De Rossi
7,5 Alessandro Diamanti, Antonio Nocerino
7,3 Claudio Marchisio
7,2 Ignazio Abate, Andrea Barzagli, Federico Balzaretti
7,1 Leonardo Bonucci
6,8 Riccardo Montolivo
6,7 Mario Barwuah Balotelli
6,5 Christian Maggio
6,4 Antonio Cassano

Recent web polls.

Gazzetta dello Sport:

The best player in the first stage?
40% M. Gómez
22% Iniesta
13% De Rossi
8% Hummels
7% Cristiano Ronaldo
5% Shevchenko
2% Dzagoev
1% Karagounis, Mandžukić, Welbeck.


The biggest disappointment?
39% Robben
22% Van Persie
21% Ibrahimovic
13% Thiago Motta
3% Van Bommel
2% C. Eriksen
1% Afellay, Malouda, Evra.


The best team?
76% Germany
8% Italy
5% Greece
4% Portugal, France
2% Ukraine
1% England.


The biggest disappointment?
89% Holland
6% Russia
3% Sweden
2% Poland. 


How has the general quality been?
4% Great
50% Good
41% OK
4% Low
1% Awful.


Rate the Italian coach/players!
7,8 De Rossi
7,5 Marchisio
7,2 Buffon
6,9 Pirlo, Cassano
6,8 Barzagli, Balzaretti, Di Natale
6,6 Chiellini, Balotelli
6,5 Diamanti
6,4 PRANDELLI
6,2 Abate
6,0 Bonucci
5,1 Thiago Motta.

Current web polls.

Dagens Nyheter (Sweden):
Rate Sweden's performance against Ukraine.
30% 0
35% 1
23% 2
6% 3
1% 4
3% 5


Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy):
If Paris SG offer more than 40 milion euro for Thiago Silva, what should Milan do?
55% Say no
45% Sell him


El Mundo Deportivo?
Who should wear shirt nr 9 against Ireland?
41% Llorente 
33% Cesc 
17% Torres 
9% Negredo 


Kicker (Germany):
Germany vs Holland. Result?
60% We win
16% We lose
24% Draw 


Corriere dello Sport (Italy):
Without Thiago Silva, what would Milan's ambition be?
15% Scudetto
23% top three
25% qualify for Europa League 
37% They risk to remain outside European cups


Voetbal International (Holland):
Holland play Germany on Wednesday. How will the match finish?
60% Win
26% Defeat
14% Draw


O Jogo (Portugal):
Should (nat'l coach) Paulo Bento play the same start XI against Denmark as against Germany?
64% No
36% Yes.

Who will be the big star of the Euro 2012?

That's the question that Gazzetta dello Sport ask 100 footballers, coaches, experts and journalists - mainly Italian - in today's number. This is how they voted:


1. Balotelli : 27 votes
2. Iniesta : 16
3. Cassano & Van Persie : 13
5. Cristiano Ronaldo : 12
6. Sneijder & Özil : 9
8. Pirlo : 8
9. Fernando Torres & Robben : 7
11. Xavi & Buffon : 6
13. Silva : 5
14. Benzema, T. Müller & Di Natale : 3
17. M. Gómez, De Rossi, Chiellini, Ribéry, Ibrahimovic, Schweinsteiger & Montolivo : 2
24. Götze, Neuer, Eriksen, Rooney, Welbeck, Yarmolenko, Ogbonna, Giaccherini, Balzaretti, Xabi Alonso, Diamanti, Fábio Coentrão & Hummels : 1.

Web polls: Should Italy withdraw from the Euro?

Corriere della Sera:
Nat'l coach Prandelli says he's willing to withdraw the team from the European Ch'ships if it can help saving Italian football. Do you agree?
83% Yes
17% No


La Repubblica:
Prandelli says he may withdraw the Italian team from the Euro following the new match fixing scandal. Would that be the right thing to do?
45% Yes
41% No
13% I don't know.


La Stampa:
Should Gli Azzurri stay home?
76% Yes
24% No.