Making up a list of the Best of the Best is a tough ask: you find a third of your list made up before you start and the real challenge is to decide on a reasonable basis who to leave out. There have been football greats outside of the World Cup and in the pre-war tournaments.
But we decided that the World Cup was indeed the ultimate test of a footballer's skills, and that only the post-war period, the age of televised football, provided a comparable scale.
So we rated players according to their performance in the World Cup, their contribution to the team's success in the tournament, and their longevity. However, we have taken care not to be swayed too much by tournament-winning success.
One criticism of our list can be that we have given space to tragic heroes at the expense of uninspiring cup-holders. Thus Roberto Baggio of Italy edges out his principal rival in 1994, Romario, the leading goal-scorer for the eventual winners, Brazil.
Although goals win football matches, we have not forgotten that much of the hard work is done by defenders and goalkeepers. But, as with all such lists, some of the inclusions and the rankings — all but the top two — are arguable.
Here is our list of the 25 best, in ascending order:
25. Fabio Cannavaro: At 5'9", Fabio Cannavaro is among the shortest centre backs in the world. This clearly hasn't been a disadvantage, judging by his recent overtaking of Paolo Maldini's record for maximum appearances for Italy.
In the absence of the injured Alessandro Nesta, skipper Cannavaro shouldered a tremendous burden to keep Italy's back line in order at the 2006 World Cup. In the event, he and the rest of the defence did a magnificent job to concede just two goals — an own goal against the United States and a penalty against France in the final.
Cannavaro didn't put a foot wrong, and wasn't booked even once, despite playing every minute of Italy's triumphant tournament. Thanks to his soul-stirring performances, he became the first defender to bag the FIFA World Player of the Year award.
24. Paolo Maldini: Paolo Maldini was the most cultured of defenders, equally capable at left back or centre-back. Seldom would you see Maldini mistime a tackle or chop clumsily at an opponent's legs. His positioning and reading of the game were complemented by pace and a great degree of comfort on the ball, which made him an attacking threat down the left flank.
In all, Maldini played four World Cups between 1990 and 2002, and captained Italy in three. His performance in the 1994 World Cup, in which Italy lost the final to Brazil on penalties, made him the first defender to win World Soccer magazine's World Player of the Year award.
23. Lilian Thuram: Few defenders have scored two goals in a World Cup semifinal. Fewer still have done so under the circumstances Thuram did for France. In 1998, a goal down to Croatia in the 47th minute, with inspiration seemingly dead (France hadn't scored in normal time in either the second round or the quarterfinal), Thuram dispossessed Zvonimir Boban near the right touchline, and continued his run down the right. Youri Djorkaeff, to whom the ball had fallen, passed the ball back to Thuram, who unleashed an unstoppable 15-yard drive to equalise. Then, in the 70th minute, came another Thuram special, struck with his weaker left foot from outside the box.
Thuram was, of course, primarily a defender, comfortable at right back and centre back. He was a first-choice player when France went all the way to the 2006 final.
22. Dennis Bergkamp: In our rapturous recounting of the deeds of the 1974 and 1978 Holland sides, we tend to forget the Dutch teams of the 1990s, which reached the quarterfinals in 1994 and the semifinals in '98, only to lose tight games to Brazil both times.
Dennis Bergkamp, the creative fulcrum of both teams, scored six goals in eleven World Cup games. If one game showcased his technique and awareness perfectly, it was the 1998 quarterfinal against Argentina.
Bergkamp first set up Patrick Kluivert with a cushioned header between two defenders, both of whom he had drawn towards himself with his diagonal run off the ball He then scored the goal of the tournament in extra time, taking down a 50-yard ball from Frank de Boer with an exquisite caress of his instep, eluding Roberto Ayala's tackle with a quick turn and smashing home with the outside of his right foot.
21. Roberto Baggio: Has anyone suffered more World Cup heartbreaks than Roberto Baggio? Three times he saw Italy exit in penalty shootouts with his spot kick in the 1994 final against Brazil sailing over the crossbar.
Amidst all that, the ponytailed Baggio was a wonder, a clever second striker who scored nine goals in three World Cups. In his debut World Cup in 1990, he scored twice, including the goal of the tournament, a dribble through the Czechoslovakian defence from the halfway line followed by a calm, low far-corner finish.
Baggio was even better in 1994, scoring five goals to spark Italy's revival after it had sneaked into the second round as one of four third-place finishers from the first group stage. In the second round, Italy was 1-0 down to Nigeria in the 88th minute before Baggio equalised, and then scored again in extra time.
He scored an 87th minute winner against Spain in the quarterfinal and both goals in the semifinal against Bulgaria.
20. Ferenc Puskas: Hungary lost only one match between June 1950 and February 1956. That match, unfortunately, was the World Cup final.
Captain and star player in Gustav Sebes's team of ‘Magical Magyars' was Ferenc Puskas, an inside forward with a fierce left foot and skill that belied his stocky frame.
The ‘Galloping Major' played a particularly poignant part in the 1954 World Cup, in perhaps the greatest team never to have won the trophy. Puskas scored four goals in the tournament, a tally that would have been greater had he not missed the quarterfinal and semifinal through injury.
Not yet 100 per cent fit, Puskas came back for the final and opened the scoring in the 6th minute. Zoltan Czibor doubled Hungary's lead two minutes later to leave West Germany reeling.
The Germans regrouped, however, and came back to make it 3-2, the magnificent Helmut Rahn scoring twice. Puskas seemed to have levelled the game again with a sliding finish in the 89th minute, only for the goal to be ruled offside.
19. Osvaldo Ardiles: Great teams have a great ‘spine' dividing the pitch longitudinally. Argentina's 1978 World Cup winners included the skilful Mario Kempes up front and skipper Daniel Passarella holding fort in the centre of defence. In between, tying everything together, was Osvaldo Ardiles, a box-to-box dynamo who perfectly married skill and workrate.
The midfielder's solid displays were key to the host's run to the final, and it was Ardiles who began the move that put Argentina ahead in the final, showing great skill and composure to evade two tackles and pass the ball to Leopoldo Luque, who in turn fed goalscorer Kempes.
Ardiles was one of Argentina's better players in 1982, scoring in the 4-1 win over Hungary, before his team's second round exit.
18. Paul Breitner: The Dutch may have been self-styled Total Footballers in 1974, but the German side that beat them in the final contained a number of players comfortable in more than one position.
Franz Beckenbauer moved back from midfield to sweeper over the course of his career, and Paul Breitner from left back into midfield. Breitner's left back position in 1974 wasn't static either — he bombed forward continually, and scored three goals in the tournament, long-range efforts against Chile and Yugoslavia, and a penalty in the final against Holland.
In 1982, Breitner was in central midfield through Germany's campaign, and scored again in the final (emulating Vava and Pele), only for West Germany to lose 3-1 to Italy.
To be continued
Photos: AFP, AP
