Pele
Many super footballers had a particularly formidable arrow in his quiver; Pelé, however, seemed to be without a fault: he was very quick and agile, his great sense of balance produced an impression of grace no matter what position his body adopted; he had a strong shot and a heading ability that was amazing, no opponent was safe from being out jumped, outpaced, out dribbled. Most essential of all was his sense of anticipation, the ability to be in exactly the correct position at exactly the precise time, a footballing brain par excellence. His accomplishments on the pitch of football provide the measurement that must be used should anyone claim to be the best. Born on 23 October 1940 in Tres Corações, Minas Gerais State in the east of Brazil. Perhaps the high altitude encouraged Pelé to become such an accomplished athlete with quality stamina. The son of a professional footballer, Pelé was first found by the Brazilian international Valdemar de Brito, who had participated for Brazil in the 1934 World Cup. Pelé played professional football for the Brazilian club side Santos for the majority of his career, retiring in 1974. He briefly returned to professional football, played for the New York Cosmos, finally retiring on 1 October 1977. Pelé was to star for Brazil in the 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970 World Cups. At club level Santos won the Sao Paolo State League on eight occasions in eleven years. A great act of the Brazilian Congress forbade Pelé’s transfer abroad, a boon for Santos, and a shame for European fans that were restricted to watching Pelé play in internationals for his nation. That is to say, viewing in the flesh, for the age of television had arrived and this World Cup was recorded.
Jairzinho – Brazil
Jairzinho made his full international debut for Brazil in 1963 against Chile. However, injury and the presence of the brilliant Garrincha resulted that Jairzinho did not have a sustained run in the Brazilian side until the 1970 World Cup. Lightly built, Jairzinho would have preferred to have played in a more central position in the Brazil attack, however, the presence of the great football artist Pelé resulted in banishment to the wings; nonetheless, Jairzinho was dangerous, for his shooting was fierce and accurate. There, perhaps, has never been a more watchable player than Jairzinho, who enjoyed nothing more than running at terrifying speed towards the opposing goal line; not easy to dispossess, the opposing fullback would, as like as not, make a poor challenge that would send Jairzinho flying: he was, therefore, common to injury. In compensation for his team, handing away a free kick to Brazil has always been a dangerous proposition if the goal is within range. Jairzinho scored many splendid goals in his career, of which more anon.
Tostao - Brazil
Tostao, who had performed brilliantly for Brazil in 1966, was perhaps the bravest player who participated in the Finals in 1970. For he had been smacked full in the face by a ferocious clearance from Corinthians defender Ditao in a game in the Brazilian league in 1968; the force of the clearance was such that one of Tostao’s retinas had become detached. Tostao’s doctors advised an operation, and they warned the forward that they could give no insurance if he was to continue to play professional football. Tostao remained a highly influential player for Brazil, although he had become much more cagey when it came to challenging for the ball in the air. Tostao had lost none of his perceptiveness when it came to positioning in anticipation of through balls; his ability to trap and bring under control a ball remained unsurpassed, as did his skill in holding onto possession until support had arrived. Often, the opposition, couldn’t even see the ball, never mind put in a tackle. For he was able to twist and turn, sinuously advancing to the opponent’s goal whilst so doing; what made him the biggest nightmare for many a defense was the extreme difficulty of guessing what Tostao was able to do next. Very experienced, Tostao had made his international debut for Brazil in 1963, he was never to play as well as he did in the 1970 world cup finals.
Ronaldo – Brazil
Ronaldo’s electrifying pace and great skill caused all sorts of problems for opposing defenses. Inter Milan purchased him for £19 million at the beginning of the 97/98 season and he was brilliant for the Italian club. He scored 25 goals in that season and was one of the leading scorers in the Italian league.
His display’s during the 1998 World cup finals in France was outstanding, he caused all sorts of difficulties for the Scottish defense in Brazils opening match against Scotland, and was a menace for defenders in the all the games, especially against Morocco, Chile and Holland. There had been a big doubt before the final against France whether he would be taking part, he eventually participated in the final however he was far from his best.
Between the end of 1998 up until the mid stages of 2002, Ronaldo suffered from a series of injuries which left him out of the game for nearly 4 years; however he came back for the world cup in Korea and Japan in 2002. In this tournament he was the top goal scorer with eight goals, he scored in every match apart from the game against England. Ronaldo scored two goals in the tie against Germany that led them to victory in the world cup, and he marked his dramatic comeback to football. The following season Real Madrid signed him, and he has been a permanent fixture in the Real Madrid side ever since.
Ronaldo scored another 3 goals in the 2006 world cup finals, which in turn made him the top goal scorer in the competition of all time with 15 goals. |
