www abdopublishing com Published by Abdo Publishing a division of ABDO PO Box 398166 Minneapolis Minnesota 55439 Copyright 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher SportsZone is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 092014 012015 Cover Photos Thanassis Stavrakis AP Images foreground Richard Drew AP Images background Interior Photos Thanassis Stavrakis AP Images 1 foreground Richard Drew AP Images 1 background AP Images 7 9 15 17 19 21 25 29 Bippa AP Images 11 13 Staff AFP Getty Images 23 Carlo Fumagalli AP Images 27 33 El Grafico AP Images 31 Abedin Taherkenareh EPA Newscom 35 Luca Bruno AP Images 37 Lawrence Jackson AP Images 39 George Tiedemann ZUMA Press Newscom 41 Eoghan McNally Shutterstock Images 43 Gouhier-Hahn-Orban MCT Newscom 45 Cesar Rangel AP Images 47 Armando Franca AP Images 49 Marcio Jose Sanchez AP Images 51 Volker Hartmann AP Images 53 Petr David Josek AP Images 55 Greg Baker AP Images 57 AGIF Shutterstock Images 59 Christian Bertrand Shutterstock Images 61 Editor Patrick Donnelly Series Designer Christa Schneider Library of Congress Control Number 2014944194 Cataloging-in-Publication Data McDougall Chrös The best soccer players of all time Chrös McDougall p cm Sports best ever ISBN 978-1-62403-621-7 lib bdg Includes bibliographical references and index 1 Soccer Juvenile literature I Title 796 334 dc23 2014944194
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 4 Alfredo di Stéfano 6 Lev Yashin 10 Pelé 14 Franz Beckenbauer 18 Johan Cruyff 22 Michel Platini 26 Diego Maradona 30 Paolo Maldini 34 Mia Hamm 38 Zinedine Zidane 42 Ronaldo 46 Abby Wambach 50 Marta 54 Lionel Messi 58 Honorable Mentions 62 Glossary 63 For More Information 63 Index 64 About the Author 64
INTRODUCTION Some call soccer the beautiful game 4
For 90 minutes the play rarely stops Players are free to move around the field as they see fit And when everything comes together for a goal it’s a magical moment The best players race around the field as if the ball is glued to their feet They can beat defenders with cunning footwork and score with rocket shots The best players must be smart and creative They must have great vision instincts and confidence And they must ultimately have great fitness The average soccer player runs 7 miles 11 3 km over a 90-minute game Here are some of the greatest players in soccer history 5
