Who was the greatest football player of all time, and why?
In my opinion (as i lifelong football obsessive) I have never seen anybody match the sheer class of Zidane, he was surely born with a ball at his feet and could do ANYTHING with a ball from delicately chipping a 40yard ball onto somebodys big toe whilst looking in the other direction to thumping a powerfull volley into the top corner. The closest I have seen since would be Wayne Rooney who is very similar to Zidane in many ways (even down to his temper/passion) and will no doubt go on to be one of the all time greats. Players like Pele/Maradonna/Best were outstanding but I do think the overall standard back then was lower, they may be average by todays standard. It is worth mentioning though that attacking/creative players get much more praise, wereas defenders/keepers get left out of this type of discussion. I would put Maldini/Peter Schmeiceal (sp)/Cannavarro up there with any forward players. Ask me again in 10 years time and anybody is likely to say one name…Leo Messi, but he can
