Louis Spence's Premier League Preview || King of Kings

KING OF KINGS - 11-12-07
Louis Spence

I have loved football all my conscious life. I saw my first league match at the age of five and was lucky to catch sight of the wonderful Wilf Mannion playing for my beloved Middlesbrough Football Club, not that I realised then just how magical he was.

Like loads of backstreet kids I wanted to go on and play professional football and you would find me from dawn to dusk kicking a ball on streets, fields and any other flat surface. Sadly I was nowhere near the standard required and thus settled into the local league scene. I played for twenty-five years at this level and literally have the scars to prove it.

I became a committed Boro fan and have never lost my love for my team, having suffered many times through the years of supporting them home and away. Watching England play was also a must and the 1966 World Cup triumph was simply sensational, heart warming, gut-wrenching stuff. It also brought the magnificent Brazilians to this land.

I had seen the magnificent Pele in previous World Cups but to see him in England was absolutely awesome. He was then being hailed as the finest footballer of all time though he suffered appalling physical abuse as rugged hatchet men kicked lumps in and out of him in this tournament.

When judging and comparing players of different eras there are many factors one has to consider. The strength of the team around them, the opposition they met, the different weather conditions, playing surfaces and so on. The one criterion I have insisted upon is that the contenders for my own personal greatest top four selection all played at the highest level and in the great international competitions.

It will always be a bone of contention as to who the world's finest footballers were but I list my choices below:

1. PELE

My all time favourite player. When you look back at the footage of the 1958 World Cup Final and you see this kid of seventeen displaying hitherto unseen skills you know you have seen true majesty in all its wonderment. He scored twice in the Cup winning Brazilian victory over Sweden and was virtually unplayable. He had hit a hat trick in the semi final against France.

He was also a member of the 1962 Cup winning side, though missed the latter games through injury.

In 1966 he was shamefully kicked all over especially in the Portugal game. This prompted him to say he would never again attend a World Cup. Thankfully he changed his mind and played in the unforgettable 'team of all stars' that went on to grace and capture the 1970 World Cup. He is thus the only person to have played for three World Cup winning sides.

He scored 77 times in 92 games for Brazil and hit an astonishing 1265 goals in 1345 appearances for his beloved Santos FC before going on to play and star for New York Cosmos.

2. MARADONA

Rated the best ever by many. His dribbling at speed was breathtaking and his low centre of gravity gave him impossible balance.

Sadly for me, the two defining memories I hold both concern goals over England in the same World Cup match.

His second 1986 goal has rightly been acclaimed the goal of the century where he beat five defenders on a mesmerising run before scoring. This, of course, followed the infamous "Hand of God" where he knocked the ball past Shilton, the English keeper, with his hand. He then beckoned the other Argentinians toward him to celebrate this 'goal' in order to con the referee.

In his international career he got 34 goals in 91 games and in his club career he scored 311 goals from 590 appearances. He has God-like status in his home country but is also revered in Naples where his presence enabled Napoli to win their first ever Italian league title in 1987, a feat they repeated in 1990.

3. CRUYFF

Johann Cruyff was a phenomenal footballer. He was the lynchpin in the Dutch national side that became famous for the fluid style known as Total Football introduced by the visionary Rinus Michels.

Cruyff had tremendous pace and vision as well as predatory finishing. He was a joy to watch in possession and produced an unforgettable moment when he unveiled his famous trick that became known as the Cruyff turn.

It is commonplace to see it now but it has never been done better than by its originator. He certainly had forthright views which did not always endear him to his countrymen.

He was voted European footballer of the year on three occasions and was also voted European player of the century. He was a member of the losing side in the 1974 World Cup where he was voted Player of the Tournament.

He scored 33 goals in 48 internationals and netted 291 times in 522 games spanning six clubs.

4. PUSKAS

My abiding memory of Ferenc Puskas aka the Galloping Major and the Little Master is an outrageous dragback on the ball at the outset of the game in which Hungary humbled England in 1953. He scored twice that day as he did in the return fixture which saw England battered 7-1.

He was voted as the Goalscorer of the Century by the International Football Federation. He also captained the Mighty Magyars, the Hungarian team that both entranced and revolutionised football in the 1950s.

In the 1954 World Cup he scored hat tricks in his first two games against South Korea and West Germany and scored again in the final which they lost in controversial circumstances to West Germany, having led 2-0.

In total he scored 84 times in 85 internationals and went on to be a pivotal player in the legendary Real Madrid side that won the first five European Cups.

Four unbelievable footballers from four different countries. They would each be priceless in today's game. And what a delight it would be to see their likes again. Absolute masters of the best game in the world.

I can still see them in my mind's eye as clear as perfect crystal. It seems almost disrespectful to rate them in descending order but the question is always who was the best footballer of all time.

And for me it HAS to be Pele as my KING of KINGS.

Louis Spence

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