Best Soccer Player in the World
 

Who does everyone think the best of the best is? I personally used to think it was Tierre Henry, but after todays Barcelona/Chelsea match, I now think it's Ronaldhino. Amazing. That shimmy shake at the top of the box was sick.

Ronaldihno is flashy but how many goals does he score ?

Henry scores and greates goals, that's why he is the best. 2 years ago I would have said Zenedine Zidane.

I don't follow soccer closely, but I do during the World Cup. From what I gathered,years ago was Ronaldo was considered the best. He is still damn good, but at 29, a little past a soccer player's prime. He tied Pele's national World Cup goal record at 12. In addition, "he was named FIFA's World Footballer of the Year in 1996 and 1997, becoming both the youngest player to win the award and the only player to win the award in consecutive years".

I'm not sure. I heard about ronaldhino's goal, but I missed it...anyone know of a link to a clip of that goal?

Henry has an amazing skillset. He leads the Premiership in scoring every year while spending 1/2 of his time acting like a withdrawn forward (when Bergkamp plays alongside him). The way he is shut down in big games is a problem, however. If one were to judge just on the ability to score goals in big games, I would say Ronaldo is still the king. Old and chubby, but with an amazing nose for the ball and the goal. But overall, based on the last year, I think Ronaldinho is the man.
What is truly amazing to me is to see other Brazilians like Elber and Ailton lead their leagues in scoring while not even getting a sniff at their national team. Brazil is going to be an overwhelming favorite in Germany next summer.

as much as I hate him.. I have to say Henry is the king right now.

I do not know where to find a good clip of Ronaldhino's goal against Chelsea. Sadly soccer is poorly covered where I live in America's midwest. It was nasty though, he trapped the ball at the top of the circle with 3 defenders surrounding him. He just shimmied and froze everyone, then out of nowhere slammed it into the left lower corner. Pow! The goalie never moved.....Brazil will definitely be the strong favorite in 2006, but watch out for the United States. We have vastly imporoved, and Donovan will be hungry. We shoulda beat Germany last cup, they know it and we know it.......

There are game highlights here:

http://www4.sbs.com.au/multimedia/

(Note that this is an Australian website, so YMMV).


edit - actually, I don't think these are free...

From watching Ronaldinho play, I believe that he's going to be, if he isn't already, better than Ronaldo. His ability to work with the ball is unrivaled - I've seen him guard the ball against three of the opposing players! Quite impressive, if you ask me.

Thierry Henry is deffinately not the king, like everyone makes out. Arsenal have a shit habbit of thinking they're a 'force' after they flog Birmingham or Norwich 5-0 on a saturday, especially Thierry Henry.

Two words, Bayern Munich.

Andriy Shevchenko, is an example of a true world class player. He's got all the striking abillity of Henry and more, plus he can tackle, span the whole length of the field and his awareness is tip top. Plus he's unbelievably underrated which makes me like him even more.

The Chelseas - Barca game was great, its a shame that a very bad refereeing decision changed he result in terms of who went through. The Barca keeper was very obviously fouled on John Terry's goal.

In terms of who is the world's place player, I dont know... 3/4 years ago people would have said Rivaldo, and I dont think Ronaldhino is as a complete player as him, or Zidane or Djorkaeff (who I always thought was a better player than Zidane) - Jay Jay Okacha has all the same tricks as Ronaldhino - its just about how consistently you can apply them.

For, me, at the moment Patrick Viera is the most complete footballer - in terms of having th ebiggest effect on a game and team. He doesnt have the skills and flair of people like Ronaldhino, but he does more for his team than any other player in my opinion.

They wont be if they dont have a keeper, and have two full backs who play like wingers.

Great thread.

Im glad Terry Henry has been mentioned cause in my mind there is no doubt he is the best. Sure Ronaldhinio is flashy, but Henry has consistantly been scoring amazing goals for years. He has actually improved since he was 26, breaking all of his own records. Ronaldo is still great, but i dont think you could argue that he is the best in the world at the moment.
Strangefamous- Im a big fan of Vierra, and I agree with you on his impact on a team, but i think he is a little past it/out of form.

Henry is arrogant, but i think it makes him a better player on the field. Shevshenko is a good striker, but he isnt consistant enough. I know if i was a defender i'd be more worried about Henry.

Zidane. Period.

hahaha!

Terry Henry!

You must be from London

Just imagine if Zidane, Cantona, Deschamps and Djorkaeff cold have played all together and well in their prime!

Either Zidane or Pele. I'd have to choose Pele.

Ruud van Nistelrooy. He just scores goals - loads of them. Andriy Shevchenko is pretty good too.

I'm glad to see that no-one on this thread has mentioned David "Talentless Fashion Victim" Beckham.

Beckham, haha no, not the best, but a good man to have on your side. He may be pomp and circumstance off the field, but when the whistle blows he plays hard. I think Zidane has passed the torch on to Henry and Ronaldhino. I prefer the Brazilian becuase the way they play football is so asthetically pleasing. Anyone know if the Dutch are on track to be in the 2006 Cup? Last Cup was odd to not have the Orange...

I agree with Ronaldhino although Ronaldo is still up there and a favourite of mine.

Zidane is an amazing player.
Sorry to say it but Henry plays week in week out against pretty weak defenses. Every time he has had a chance on the big stag he falls short.
Sheva is doing and has been doing an amazing job at AC and is up there.
Kaka, Ronaldhino are getting close...
not sure who i would call the best in the world at the moment though...contraversial i know, but i think that the first name on my team sheet would be Gattuso closely followed by Sheva and then perhaps Casillas...

Any advice for someone who is just recently becoming interested in soccer wanting to see some matches? Living in the U.S., it's hard to see games, the site linked above seemed perfect but it's a pay site. Any free sources?

don't know where you can watch any football for free in the US onions...but if you can get some watch Seria A italian football and you will learn all about the beautiful game!

Another vote for Ronaldinho. Not as good as last season but still excellent.

EXACTLY... Henry never performs when it truely matters, ie. the champions league.

I think Adriano and Recoba deserve a mention too.

Agree about Adriano - he is the hottest striker around in Europe at the moment in terms of potential suitors.

Constantly linked with Real Madrid and Chelsea - I can definitely see him replacing Ronaldo at Real Madrid. Been a bad few weeks for Ronaldo, could be the beginning of the end of his Real career

still not sure about adriano...potential undoubtably...but he does have a lot of quiet games but i hope that he does prove to be 'that' good.
another player worth a mention has to be zlatan ibrahimovic (spelling) at juve. he could be amazing!

What cable service do you have? I have Time Warner Cable and we have the FSW, or Fox Sports World. They play a lot of crappy matches, but once or twice a week there are games that as a interested soccer guy you should see. Look for teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc. Sadly though, its hard to find anything good in the States on a consistent basis. My reccomendation is to buy the last 2 world cups on tape/dvd. Thats the most exciting time in my opinion, the greatest sporting event of all.

just to make all you other football fans jealous...i've just booked my tickets for the Milan vs Juventus title decider at the San Siro on 8th May and we've got tickets to the milan derby champions league on the wednesday before that!!! woooohooooo!!!
cannae wait already!!

You know what? These guys play too many games. With Euro last year taking most of the summer break, a lot of them have played continuously for about 18 months. It feels like the injuries have been worse than ever this season.

I'm trying to get my wife to agree to visit Germany in summer '06. As a reward for my 20 years of service, my company is giving me an extra 5-week paid vacation. Can you imagine going to World Cup football games?!? Wish me luck with the wife.

So every time Henry doesn't score in a Champs League game he is a failure. By that measure, every single striker is a failure.

no, spartak, not every time but he has by his own standards, set in the premiership, consistently underperformed at european and world level.
this could be for several reasons...i personally believe that it is a combination of the fact that arsenal work well as a team, they instinctively know how each other play and where they will be and move to, but also i think it is because the standard of defending in the premiership is not so high and so henry does not have the experience of, say shevchenko, of playing against well organised good defenses week in week out.

Right.

Shevchenko is a goal poacher, as much as I love him, he cannot create goals. Cast your mind back 3 years ago to 2002, Shevchenko had his worst ever season in Serie A scoring just five goals in 21 appearances.

Henry on the other hand leads "fantasy" scoring year in year out by setting up goals for his team mates and banging them in himself.

I also don't think it's fair to blame Henry for Arsenal's disappointments. I feel a lot of the disappointment has to fall on Arsene Wenger, who may find an undervalued teenager from the African continent and turn him into a worldclass player, but who cannot solve the 4-5-1 formation. This year Arsenal's defence has been in disarray, mostly due to injuries, but Wenger insisted on blooding in youngsters (Senderos, Hoyte) instead of signing new defenders during the winter. That's what let them down this season, already in the Prem they allowed twice more goals than they did last season, and allowing 3 to Bayern certainly sealed their exit.

Oh and internationals are shite. France insists on playing Henry outside his usual role, lurking on the left flank. During Euro 2004 Santini had him inside on the right looking for goals to head in.

mmmm not sure i agreed with you on sheva...he does set up a lot of goals too!
i don't really want to argue too much about the arse though 'cos i know i am biased 'cos i hate them so much...however, i think you are right there defence has let them down, goalkeepers included, should have kept seaman! but also the midfield. i think that viera is good but he is no zidane or keane and needs better people around him.

hey is your avatar of terry butcher?
i've got some great football pics for avatars if i ever get one here!
fb

Yeah, that's bleeding Terry Butcher. I think the pic is just so badass :D with the wild crazy staring eyes and whatnot.

Vieira has really been playing poorly this season, trust me, I watch him week in week out. After the summer speculation of going to Madrid he really hasn't been the same, he only started coming around performance-wise around mid-February.

I think letting Seaman go was the right choice, he could only manage half a season at Man City anyway.

Next season I think a defensive lineup with Clichy-Campbell-Senderos-Toure would be pretty good as long as they all stay healthy, I've resigned myself to the fact that Ashley Cole will probably be sold in the summer as the fallout from the "tapping up" drama will be too much.

A new keeper is a must, I've heard speculation that Carlos Kameni from Espanyol could be brought in for as low as 6m Euro, as good as he is I don't want him disappearing at a crucial time of the season to play in the African Nations cup. A more sensibile idea would be Andreas Isaksson, a young Swedish keeper who has already some senior caps for Sweden.

How's that hat trick by Henry today eh ? :D

david seaman....hahaha...thanks i needed a laugh. has he shaved recently?

i think that letting seaman go was probably a good thing to do but you needed to replace him with someone of quality...
what about toldo? he is not having a good time at internazionale or what about cudicini even? that would be a good kick in the teeth to chelski!!!

Toldo is Tooldo ( ;) ) although he could be a stop-gap solution for a couple of years, and there is a reason why Cudicini isn't starting at Chelsea that being he isn't the most reliable keeper and is prone to the odd brain-freeze (like Lehmann).

What I want ideally is a 20something who can start for 10 seasons, but there are a few players who could make that shortlist.

The real difficulty is that whatever keeper Arsenal wants, ManU probably wants as well. Also, we've seen over the years that ManU will suck up players just to keep them away from their rivals.