https://www.iffhs.com/legends/18

Marcel "Marco" van Basten?(Dutch pronunciation: [?mɑrko? vɑn ?bɑst?(n)] (About this soundlisten); born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and former professional football player, who played for Ajax and A.C. Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He scored 300 goals in a high-profile career, but played his last match in 1993 at age 28 due to an injury which forced his retirement two years later. He was later the head coach of Ajax and the Netherlands national team. Known for his close ball control, attacking intelligence, impeccable headers, and spectacular strikes and volleys, Van Basten was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992 and won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1988, 1989 and 1992.?At club level, he won three Eredivisie titles and the Cup Winners' Cup with Ajax, and three Serie A titles and two European Cups with Milan. With the Netherlands, Van Basten won UEFA Euro 1988 where he earned the Golden Boot, scoring five goals, including a memorable volley in the final against the Soviet Union. In 1998, Van Basten was ranked sixth in the FIFA Player of the Century internet poll, tenth in the European player of the Century election held by the IFFHS and 12th in the IFFHS' World Player of the Century election. He was also voted eighth in a poll organised by the French magazine France Football, consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. In 2004, a poll for the 100 greatest Dutch people was held in the Netherlands: Van Basten ranked number 25, the second highest for a football player, behind Johan Cruyff. In 2007, Sky Sports ranked Van Basten first on its list of great athletes who had their careers cut short.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/18/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/19

Ruud Gullit (Dutch pronunciation: [?ryt ?x?l?t] (About this soundlisten);?born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch football manager and former footballer who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a midfielder or forward.Highly regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he captained the Netherlands national team that was victorious at UEFA Euro 1988 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and Euro 1992. At club level, in 1987 he moved from PSV to Milan for a world record transfer fee.?He was part of a Dutch trio at Milan which included Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard. Gullit won three Serie A titles and two European Cups with Milan. In 1996, he signed for Chelsea and a year later was appointed the club's player-manager. In his debut season, he led Chelsea to FA Cup success, the club's first major title for 26 years, and in so doing became the first overseas manager to win the FA Cup. Gullit won the Ballon d'Or in 1987 and was named the World Soccer Player of the Year in 1987 and 1989. Normally an attacking midfielder, he was a versatile player, playing in numerous positions during his career. In 2004, he was named one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/19/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/20

Wynton Alan Whai Rufer CNZM (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired footballer who played as a striker. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at Werder Bremen, where he won a total of four major titles and finished the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League 1993–94 season. He was also a member of the New Zealand national team in its first FIFA World Cup appearance in 1982. He was named the Oceania Footballer of the Century by the Oceania Football Confederation. Rufer was born in Wellington to a Swiss father and a New Zealand Māori mother. He affiliates to the Ngāti Porou iwi.?After leaving the city's Rongotai College, he played his first football for Wellington Diamond United, Stop Out and Miramar Rangers. After being voted New Zealand's Young Player of the Year in 1981 and 1982, Rufer attracted the attention of Norwich City manager Ken Brown, who invited the player and his older brother Shane Rufer to Norfolk for a trial. He impressed and signed a professional contract on 23 October 1981, becoming the first Kiwi to do so. However, he was denied a work permit to play in England, so he joined Fussballclub Zürich in May of the following year.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/20/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/21

Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé?(Spanish pronunciation: [al?f?eeo ei es?tefano]; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentinian born professional footballer and coach. He is regarded as one of the best footballers of all time, and is best known for his achievements with Real Madrid, where he was instrumental in the club's domination of the European Cup and La Liga during the 1950s. Along with Francisco Gento and José María Zárraga, he was one of only three players to play a part in all five victories, scoring goals in each of the five finals. Di Stéfano played international football mostly for Spain after moving to Madrid, but he also played for Argentina and Colombia. Di Stéfano, nicknamed "Saeta rubia" ("Blond Arrow"),?was a powerful, quick, skillful, and prolific forward, with great stamina, tactical versatility, creativity, and vision, who could also play almost anywhere on the pitch. He is currently the sixth highest scorer in the history of Spain's top division, and Real Madrid's third highest league goalscorer of all time, with 216 goals in 282 league matches between 1953 and 1964. He is Madrid's leading goalscorer in the history of El Clásico, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. He began his career at Argentina's River Plate aged 17, in 1943. For the 1946 season he was loaned to Club Atlético Huracán, but he returned to River in 1947. Due to a footballers' strike in Argentina in 1949, Di Stéfano went to play for Millonarios of Bogotá in the Colombian league. He won six league titles during the first 12 years of his career in Argentina and Colombia. Following his signing by Real Madrid he was an integral part of one of the most successful teams of all time. He scored 216 league goals in 262 games for Real (then a club record, since surpassed by Raúl and Cristiano Ronaldo), striking up a successful partnership with Ferenc Puskás. Di Stéfano's 49 goals in 58 matches was the all-time highest tally in the European Cup. The record has since been surpassed by several players, with Real Madrid's Raúl the first in 2005. Di Stéfano scored in five consecutive European Cup finals for Real Madrid between 1956 and 1960, including a hat-trick in the last. Perhaps the highlight of his time with the club was their 7–3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 European Cup Final at Hampden Park, a game many consider to be the finest exhibition of club football ever witnessed in Europe. He was awarded the Ballon d'Or for the European Footballer of the Year in 1957 and 1959.[14] He moved to Espanyol in 1964 and played there until retiring at the age of 40. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Spain by the Royal Spanish Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players (in September 2009, he said Di Stéfano was the best Argentinian player "ever"). He was voted fourth, behind Pelé, Diego Maradona, and Johan Cruyff, in a vote organized by France Football magazine which consulted their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. In 2008 Di Stéfano was honoured by both UEFA and Real Madrid with a special Presidents award issued by FIFA at a ceremony in Madrid, where a statue was also unveiled. Then UEFA President Michel Platini called Di Stéfano "a great amongst the greats" while contemporaries Eusébio and Just Fontaine suggested that he was "the most complete footballer in the history of the game".

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/21/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/22

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (Brazilian Portuguese: [?o?nawdu ?lwis n??za?ju d?i ???m?]; born 18 September 1976),?commonly known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian business owner, president of La Liga club Real Valladolid, and a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Popularly dubbed in Portuguese O Fen?meno ("The Phenomenon"), he is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time. As a multi-functional striker who brought a new dimension to the position, Ronaldo has been the influence for a generation of strikers that have followed. His individual accolades include being named FIFA World Player of the Year three times, and winning two Ballon d'Or awards. Ronaldo started his career at Cruzeiro and moved to PSV in 1994. He joined Barcelona in 1996 for a then world record transfer fee, and at 20 years old he was named the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year, making him the youngest recipient of the award. In 1997, Inter Milan broke the world record fee to sign Ronaldo, making him the first player since Diego Maradona to break the world transfer record twice. At 21 he received the 1997 Ballon d'Or, and he remains the youngest recipient of the award. By the age of 23, Ronaldo had scored over 200 goals for club and country, however after a series of knee injuries and recuperation he was inactive for almost three years. Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2002 and won the 2002–03 La Liga title. He had spells at A.C. Milan and Corinthians before retiring in 2011 having suffered further injuries. Ronaldo played for Brazil in 98 matches, scoring 62 goals, and is the second-highest goalscorer for his national team, trailing only Pelé. At age 17, he was the youngest member of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament, helping Brazil reach the final where he suffered a convulsive fit hours before kick-off. He won the 2002 FIFA World Cup where he starred in a front three with Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Ronaldo scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as the tournament's top goalscorer. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th FIFA World Cup goal, a FIFA World Cup record at the time. He also won the 1997 Copa América, where he was player of the tournament, and the 1999 Copa América, where he was top goalscorer. One of the most marketable sportsmen in the world during his playing career, the first Nike Mercurial boots–R9–were commissioned for Ronaldo in 1998. He was named in the FIFA 100 list of the greatest living players compiled in 2004 by Pelé, and was inducted into the Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame, Italian Football Hall of Fame, Inter Milan Hall of Fame and Real Madrid Hall of Fame. In retirement from sport, Ronaldo has continued his work as a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, a position to which he was appointed in 2000. He served as an ambassador for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Ronaldo became the majority owner of Real Valladolid in September 2018, after buying 51% of the club's shares.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/22/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/23

Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE (born Wilson; 29 November 1973)?is a Welsh football coach and former player. He is the manager of the Wales national team and a co-owner of Salford City. Giggs played his entire professional career for Manchester United and briefly served as the club's interim manager after the sacking of David Moyes in 2014. The son of rugby union and Wales international rugby league footballer Danny Wilson, Giggs was born in Cardiff but moved to Manchester at the age of six when his father joined Swinton RLFC. Predominantly a left winger, he began his career with Manchester City, but joined Manchester United on his 14th birthday in 1987. He made his professional debut for the club in 1991 and spent the next 23 years in the Manchester United first team. At the end of the 2013–14 season, he was named as Manchester United's interim player-manager following the sacking of David Moyes. He was named as assistant manager under Moyes' permanent replacement, Louis van Gaal, on 19 May 2014; he retired from playing the same day. He holds the club record for competitive appearances. At international level, Giggs played for the Wales national team 64 times between 1991 and 2007 and was named as the captain of the Great Britain team that competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is one of only 28 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances. Giggs is one of the most decorated footballers of all time.?During his time at United, he won 13 Premier League winner's medals, four FA Cup winner's medals, three League Cup winner's medals, two UEFA Champions League winner's medals, a FIFA Club World Cup winners medal, an Intercontinental Cup winner's medal, a UEFA Super Cup winner's medal and nine FA Community Shield winner's medals. Manchester United and Liverpool are the only clubs in English football history to have won more league championships than Giggs. Giggs captained United on numerous occasions, particularly in the 2007–08 season when regular captain Gary Neville was ruled out with various injuries. Giggs also has many personal achievements. He was the first player in history to win two consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards (1992 and 1993), though he did not win the PFA Player of the Year award until 2009. He was the only player to play in each of the first 22 seasons of the Premier League, as well as the only player to score in each of the first 21 seasons. He was elected into the PFA Team of the Century in 2007, the Premier League Team of the Decade in 2003, as well as the FA Cup Team of the Century. Giggs holds the record for the most assists in Premier League history, with 162. He was named as BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2009. In addition to the many honours Giggs has received within football, he was appointed an OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours List for his services to football.

Legend Video:?https://www.iffhs.com/legends/23

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/24

Lucas Valeriu Radebe OIS (born April 12, 1969) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, before transferring to Leeds United, where he played 256 matches for the Yorkshire side. During his spells at these clubs, he picked up the nicknames "Rhoo" and "The Chief". He became captain of Leeds United and also of the South African national team, most notably at World Cup 2002. Nelson Mandela said of Radebe: "This is my hero."?He also captained Kaizer Chiefs during his time at Chiefs. Radebe was born to Emily and Johannes Radebe in the Diepkloof section of Soweto, near Johannesburg, as the fourth of 11 children. He attended the local Bopasenatla Secondary School?until he was 15 years old. His parents sent him to one of the former homelands in Grade 10, Bophuthatswana, as a way to keep him safe from the violent neighbourhood of Diepkloof Zone Four in Soweto. There he attended Ngotwane High School near Zeerust. There he joined the ICL Birds in the now-defunct Bophuthatswana Soccer League, and was spotted by Patrick Ntsoelengoe who recruited him to one of South Africa's top clubs, the Kaizer Chiefs, in 1989.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/24/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/25

Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American retired professional soccer player who is currently the manager of USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC. A former forward, he holds numerous individual records in Major League Soccer (MLS) and for the United States national team and is regarded as one of the greatest U.S. men's soccer players of all time.[3][4] A native of Southern California, Donovan was a member of the inaugural class of the U.S. Soccer youth residency program in Bradenton, Florida. He was named Player of the Tournament for his role in the United States under-17 squad that finished fourth in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship before signing with German club Bayer Leverkusen later that year. In 2005, after six years with Leverkusen, the majority of which were spent on loan with the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS, Donovan moved back to the United States permanently to sign with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He later returned to Germany for a loan with Bayern Munich, and twice went on short loans to English Premier League club Everton in 2010 and 2012. He retired as a player in 2014, but made a brief comeback with LA Galaxy late in the 2016 season and then in 2018 to play for Club León. In MLS, Donovan won a record six MLS Cups and is the league's all-time assists leader with 136.[5] The Major League Soccer MVP Award has been renamed the Landon Donovan MVP Award in his honor.[6][7] For the United States men's national team, Donovan is the all-time leader in assists and tied with Clint Dempsey as all-time leader in scoring, and is the second-most-capped player of his country.[8][9] Donovan is the only American player to reach the 50 goals/50 assists mark.[10] He is a four-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award (the only man to do so and the first man to win in consecutive years),[11] as well as the only seven-time winner of the Honda Player of the Year award.[12] Donovan starred in the U.S. team that reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup where he received the Best Young Player Award. His three goals in the 2010 World Cup made Donovan the highest-scoring male American player in World Cup history and one of the three male American players to score in more than one World Cup, along with Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey. In March 2017, Donovan joined a private ownership group seeking to bring the next MLS expansion team to San Diego, California.[13] In June 2019, it was announced that Donovan would be bringing a new USL Championship club to San Diego[14] and later that year he was named the team's manager.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/25/legend.mp4