https://www.iffhs.com/legends/39

Lev Ivanovich Yashin (Russian: Лев Ива?нович Я?шин; 22 October 1929 – 20 March 1990), nicknamed the "Black Spider" or the "Black Panther",?was a Soviet professional footballer, considered by many as the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the sport. He was known for his athleticism, positioning, stature, bravery, imposing presence in goal, and acrobatic reflex saves.?He was also deputy chairman of the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. Yashin earned status for revolutionising the goalkeeping position by imposing his authority on the entire defence. A vocal presence in goal, he shouted orders at his defenders, came off his line to intercept crosses and also ran out to meet onrushing attackers, done at a time when goalkeepers spent the 90 minutes standing in the goal waiting to be called into action. His performances made an indelible impression on a global audience at the 1958 World Cup, the first to be broadcast internationally. He dressed head to toe in apparent black (in truth very dark blue),[3] thus earning his nickname the 'Black Spider', which enhanced his popularity.[5]?Yashin appeared in four World Cups from 1958 to 1970, and in 2002 was chosen on the FIFA Dream Team of the history of World Cups. In 1994, he was chosen for the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team, and in 1998 was chosen as a member of the World Team of the 20th Century. According to FIFA, Yashin saved over 150 penalty kicks in professional football – more than any other goalkeeper. He also kept over 270 clean sheets in his career, winning a gold medal at the 1956 Olympic football tournament, and the 1960 European Championships.?In 1963, Yashin received the Ballon d'Or, the only goalkeeper ever to receive the award.?He was voted the best goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/39/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/40

Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo OIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [lu?i? ?fi?u]; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan before retiring on 31 May 2009. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a record at the time but later broken by Cristiano Ronaldo. Renowned for his creativity and ability to get past defenders as a winger, Figo is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation.?His 106 assists are the second-most in La Liga history, behind Lionel Messi. He won the 2000 Ballon d'Or, 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and in 2004 Pelé named him in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.?Figo is one of the few football players to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. His controversial transfer in 2000 from Barcelona to bitter rivals Real Madrid set a world record fee of €62 million. Figo had a successful career highlighted by several trophy wins, including the Portuguese Cup, four La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, four Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and three Italian Super Cups. On the international level, he scored 32 goals for Portugal, representing the nation at three European Championships and two World Cups, helping them reach the final but finish as runners-up at Euro 2004.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/40/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/42

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira GCIH GCM (European Portuguese: [ew?z?βju e? ?si?v? f????j??]; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014) was a Portuguese?footballer who played as a striker. Eusébio is considered by many as one of the greatest footballers of all time. During his professional career, he scored 733 goals in 745 matches (41 goals in 64 matches for Portugal). Nicknamed the Black Panther,?the Black Pearl, or o Rei (the King), he was known for his speed, technique, athleticism and his ferocious right-footed shot, making him a prolific goalscorer. He is considered S.L. Benfica's and the Portugal national team's greatest ever player and one of the first world-class African-born players. Eusébio helped Portugal reach third place at the 1966 World Cup, being the top goalscorer of the tournament with nine goals (including four in one match against North Korea)?and received the Bronze Ball award.?He won the Ballon d'Or award for European footballer of the year in 1965 and was runner-up in 1962 and 1966. He played for Benfica for 15 out of his 22 years as a footballer, thus being mainly associated with the Portuguese club, and is the team's all-time top scorer with 473 goals in 440 competitive matches. There, he won eleven Primeira Liga titles, five Ta?a de Portugal titles, a European Cup (1961–62) and helped them reach three additional European Cup finals (1963, 1965, 1968). He is the eighth-highest goalscorer in the history of the European Cup and the second-highest, behind Alfredo Di Stéfano, in the pre-Champions League era with 48 goals. He was the European Cup top scorer in 1964–65, 1965–66 and 1967–68. He also won the Bola de Prata (Primeira Liga top scorer award) a record seven times. He was the first ever player to win the European Golden Boot, in 1968, a feat he replicated in 1973. Eusébio's name often appears in best player of all time lists and polls by football critics and fans. He was elected the ninth-best footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the IFFHS and the tenth-best footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the World Soccer magazine. Pelé named Eusébio as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004 FIFA 100 list. He was seventh in the online poll for UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Portugal by the Portuguese Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He has been called "Africa's first great footballer" and "Africa's greatest-ever player". From his retirement until his death, Eusébio was an ambassador of football and was one of the most recognizable faces of his generation. Homages by FIFA, UEFA, the Portuguese Football Federation and Benfica have been held in his honour. Former Benfica and Portugal teammate and friend António Sim?es acknowledges his influence on Benfica and said: "With Eusébio maybe we could be European Champions, without him maybe we could win the league". Shortly after Eusébio's death, Alfredo Di Stéfano stated: "For me Eusébio will always be the best player of all time".

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/42/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/43

Born 27 July 1965 in Luque (Paraguay), José Luis Felix Chilavert Gonzales (his complete name) was one of the greatest Goalkeepers in the World , winning 3 IFFHS Awards as THE WORLD’S BEST GOALKEEPER 1995, 1997, 1998 and also THE SECOND BEST GOAL SCORER in the World among the Goalkeepers (behind Brazil’s Rogerio Ceni) , he scored 67 goals (free kick specialist) in his professional career, holding 3 Guiness Records : 1 – the only Goalkeeper to score a hat trick in a match. 2- The only Goalkeeper to execute free kicks in World Cup . 3- The Goalkeeper with the most goal scoring with the National team (8 goals). He grew up in Luque (Paraguay) where he began as Goalkeeper his career in the youth and in 1982 with Sportivo Luqueno (67 matches, 4 goals) before joining Guarani in 1984 for one season (19 matches, 1 goal) and one Primera Division title. San Lorenzo (1985-1988) was his third station with 122 matches without goal , he moved later to Spain where he played for Real Zaragoza from 1988 to 1992 (79 matches, 1 goal). He joined Velez Sarsfield in Argentina in 1992 ( 236 matches, 36 goals), winning there 9 titles (4 Argentina Champion titles and 5 continental titles). The two most important were the winning of the Copa Libertadores 1994, defeating San Pablo on penalties. He stopped a penalty and converted the one he executed and the conquest of the Copa Europea-Sudamericana in 1994, defeating AC Milan in Tokyo. It was his greatest career station, staying in Argentina for ten years. He went then to France to Racing Strasbourg where he played 50 matches from 2001 to 2003 and won the Coupe de France 2001, scoring the winning penalty in the shootout victory ! He returned to South America, to Penarol (Uruguay) in 2003 where he won the Primera Division title 2003 before to finish his career in Velez Sarsfield in Argentina. Jose Luis Chilavert earned 74 international caps for Paraguay from 1989 to 2003 and achieved a international goalkeeper record of 8 international goals ! He participated in the World Cup 1998 in France, where he became the first goalkeeper ever to score a direct free kick in the World Cup finals (elected as the Best Goalkeeper of the World Cup) and in the World Cup 2002, representing his team also in Copa America 1991, 1993 and 1997. He announced his retirement from football in december 2003, was guest commentator in TV , worked against corruption and was involved in political of Paraguay. In 2014, the Legislature of Buenos Aires named José Luis Chilavert Outstanding Sports Personnality of the City .

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/43/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/44

Nwankwo Kanu OON (born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Nigerian national team, and played for Nigerian team Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, and English clubs Arsenal, West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth.?Kanu won a UEFA Champions League medal, a UEFA Cup medal, three FA Cup medals and two African Player of the Year awards amongst others. He is one of few players to have won the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal.?He made the third-most substitute appearances in Premier League history, appearing from the bench 118 times, and is regarded as one of the best players in African football history.?He is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and African brand ambassador for digital TV operator StarTimes.?He is also the owner of Kanu Sports TV, an Internet sports television company.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/44/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/46

Michel Fran?ois Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French former football player, manager and administrator. As the president of UEFA in 2015 he was banned from football, over ethics violations. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, and came seventh in the FIFA Player of the Century vote.?In recognition of his achievements, he was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1985 and became an Officier in 1998. During his career, Platini played for the clubs Nancy, Saint-étienne, and Juventus. Nicknamed Le Roi (The King) for his ability and leadership. Despite primarily serving as an advanced midfield playmaker, he was a prolific goalscorer; he won the Serie A capocannoniere award three consecutive times between 1983 and 1985, and was the top scorer of Juventus's victorious 1984–85 European Cup campaign.[8] Platini was a key player of the France national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top scorer and best player, and reached the semi-finals of the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. Together with the midfielders Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana, he formed the carré magique (magic square) of the French team in the 1980s. Platini was his country's record goalscorer until 2007, and holds the record for most goals (9) scored in the European Championship despite only appearing in the victorious 1984 edition. Following his retirement as a player, Platini was the France national team coach for four years, and was the co-organizer of the 1998 World Cup in France. In 2007, he became the first former player to be elected as the president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). He also held the positions of chairman of FIFA's Technical and Development Committee and vice-president of the French Football Federation. In 2015, however, he was banned from football administration for conflict of interest by the FIFA Ethics Committee.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/46/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/47

Franz Anton Beckenbauer (pronounced [?f?ants ?b?kn??ba??]; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed Der Kaiser ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the field, and also as his first name "Franz" is reminiscent of the Austrian emperors. He is widely regarded to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. A versatile player who started out as a midfielder, Beckenbauer made his name as a central defender. He is often credited as having invented the role of the modern sweeper (libero).?Twice named European Footballer of the Year, Beckenbauer appeared 103 times for West Germany and played in three FIFA World Cups and two European Championships. He is one of three men, along with Brazil's Mário Zagallo and France's Didier Deschamps to have won the World Cup as a player and as a manager; he lifted the World Cup trophy as captain in 1974, and repeated the feat as a manager in 1990. He was the first captain to lift the World Cup and European Championship at international level and the European Cup at club level. He was named in the World Team of the 20th Century in 1998, the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2002, and in 2004 was listed in the FIFA 100 of the world's greatest living players. At club level with Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1967 and three consecutive European Cups from 1974 to 1976. The latter feat made him the first player to win three European Cups as captain of his club. He became team manager and later president of Bayern Munich. After two spells with the New York Cosmos he was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame. Beckenbauer led Germany's successful bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup and chaired the organizing committee. He worked as a pundit for Sky Germany, and for 34 years as a columnist for the tabloid Bild, both until 2016.?In August 2016, it was announced Beckenbauer was being investigated for fraud and money laundering as part of the 2006 World Cup.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/47/legend.mp4

https://www.iffhs.com/legends/48

Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (German pronunciation: [?ɡ???t ?m?l?]; born 3 November 1945) is a German former professional footballer. A prolific striker renowned for his clinical finishing, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is regarded as one of the greatest players and goalscorers of all time. At international level with West Germany, he scored 68 goals in 62 appearances, and at club level, after 15 years with Bayern Munich, he scored a record 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and an international record 66 goals in 74 European club games. Averaging more than a goal a game with West Germany, Müller is now 19th on the list of all time international goalscorers, despite playing fewer matches than every other player in the top 25. Among the top scorers, he has the third-highest goal-to-game ratio. Nicknamed "Bomber der Nation" ("the nation's Bomber") or simply "Der Bomber", Müller was named European Footballer of the Year in 1970. After a successful season at Bayern Munich, he scored ten goals at the 1970 FIFA World Cup for West Germany where he received the Golden Boot as top goalscorer. In 1972, he won the UEFA European Championship and was the top goalscorer, scoring two goals in the final. Two years later, he scored four goals in the 1974 World Cup, including the winning goal in the final match. Müller held the all-time goal-scoring record in the World Cup with 14 goals for 32 years. In 1999, Müller was ranked ninth in the European player of the Century election held by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), and he was voted 13th in the IFFHS' World Player of the Century election. In 2004, Pelé named Müller in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.

Legend Video:?https://iffhs.de/images/legend-videos/48/legend.mp4