The most famous football player: top 5 famous players in the world

Football can be confidently called the most popular game in the world. Millions of fans watch the ongoing championships with bated breath and debate about which team is the best. At the same time, the names of the strongest players are known even to those people who are not fond of football. Who can be proud of the title “the most famous football player in the world”? You will learn about this by reading this article.

Over the past few years, the most famous football player in the world has been Cristiano Ronaldo. The captain of the Portuguese national team was born in Funchal in 1985. Interestingly, the parents named the future star in honor of American President Ronald Reagan. Ronnie, as his fans call him, began playing at the age of eight, and during the 2004 European Championship he was recognized as the most promising young player. In 2008, Ronaldo became the best football player of the year, and in 2012 he received the status of the most famous athlete in the world.

Many are amazed by Ronaldo's style of play: he behaves quite unpredictably for his opponents, forcing them to make fatal mistakes. And there are real legends about Ronaldo's free kicks: they are considered truly brilliant, because the ball, as if enchanted, flies at great speed along a rather intricate trajectory.

Ronaldo is loved not only as a gifted player, but also as an open, sociable person. Showing full concentration on the field, Ronaldo does not forget to greet the fans with a charming smile.

Many admirers of Ronaldo's talent closely monitor his personal life, because such a young man simply cannot help but have a huge number of dizzying novels. In 2010, Ronaldo began dating Russian model Irina Shayk, but the couple broke up five years later. Ronaldo has a son, who was born in 2010. True, the mother of the child is Irina Shayk, and there are two surrogate mothers at once, one of whom provided the egg, and the other carried the baby. During numerous interviews, the football player refuses to name the names of his child’s mothers, but admits that he sincerely rejoices in his fatherhood and dreams that in the future he will have many children: all that remains is to find a suitable spouse.

Pele (Edson Arantis do Nascimento)

Pelé is considered one of the most outstanding players in the history of football and is included in the 100 most influential people in the world according to Time magazine. The achievements of this athlete are amazing: he managed to score more than 1,200 goals in 1,363 matches. Pele has won 32 championships, more than thirty times he managed to score four goals against the opponent per game, and in four matches Pele scored five goals. In 1964, he managed to set an unprecedented record by putting eight goals into the opponent’s goal at once.

Pele's secret is that he is able to perform every technique of the game much better than any other football player. He could easily overtake an opponent or jump higher than other players, and Pele was also excellent at kicking with both feet. It is not surprising that he instilled real terror in his opponents, because it is simply impossible to surpass his technique.

It is surprising that a football player who has achieved such heights remains an open, friendly and very gentle person. Pele's fans could be sure that their idol would not refuse them a joint photo and autograph. However, the great football player seemed to be replaced when he found himself on the field: Pele turned into a silent, dangerous opponent who was simply impossible to resist.

Pele managed to try himself in many professions. He starred in the series and even worked as an actor in erotic films. More than once, the football player was invited to advertise various products: Pele’s fans literally swept off the shelves everything their idol touched. True, the athlete refuses to advertise tobacco and alcohol on principle. From 1995 to 1998, Pele even managed to serve as Brazil's Minister of Sports. By the way, Pele currently owns the company “Cafe Pele”.

When Pele said goodbye to football, he could not hide his tears. Thousands of his fans cried with him: when such famous people leave the sport, an entire era passes with them...

Lev Yashin received the status of the best goalkeeper in the world according to all existing ratings. Lev was born in 1929 into a simple Soviet family, quite far from sports. However, the abilities of the future champion manifested themselves at a fairly early age: all day long he played football with his yard friends. During Lev Yashin’s childhood, football was considered one of the most romantic sports, and Soviet boys dreamed that one day they would be able to defend the honor of their native country in the sports arena. Maybe this was the reason why Lev Yashin decided to devote himself to football. True, he had to work hard to achieve his goal.

After Lev Yashin graduated from college, he went to work at one of the factories near Moscow. The football player's youth occurred during the Second World War, so he had to spend many hours at a time at the machine. However, after a working day, Yashin went to training: coach Larionchikov trained with the factory guys, who recognized the talents of the young mechanic.

After the war, Yashin's career began to rapidly develop. During one of the matches, he was noticed by the coach of the Dynamo youth team: it was this team that the young football player dreamed of joining as a child. True, the first matches were rather unsuccessful, and from 1950 to 1952 he almost did not appear on the field, more often staying on the bench. Due to failures, Yashin even started playing hockey, achieving quite impressive results in this sport.

In 1954, Yashin finally returned to football. And this decision turned out to be correct: soon the whole world was talking about the new Soviet football player. Yashin’s abilities were amazing: the world nicknamed him “Black Panther” for the color of his goalie uniform, as well as his ability to make acrobatic, cat-like jumps. Yashin also had another nickname: “Black Spider.” That's what they called him because of his long arms, with which he could reach the ball flying into the goal. The player’s manner was also interesting: he was the first to start playing at exits throughout the penalty area. True, such a game was not understood by everyone. Many believed that Yashin was simply distracted from his direct responsibility - protecting the goal. And the Dynamo coach was scolded more than once for the fact that the goalkeeper creates a real “circus” on the field.

Unfortunately, in 1989, Yashin developed gangrene, and therefore the footballer’s leg was amputated. The football player failed to overcome the disease, and on March 20, 1990, he died from ongoing gangrene.

Diego Maradona

The future football star was born in Buenos Aires in October 1960. Maradona, like many Argentine boys, began kicking the ball as soon as he learned to walk. True, it’s quite difficult to call this game football: at first Diego simply ran and kicked the ball. However, after some time, he learned the rules of this game and moved to a new level.

On his seventh birthday, Maradona's cousin gave the boy the first soccer ball in his life. Diego was so happy that he even slept with the ball in his arms for a while. After long training sessions, during which Maradona simply kicked the ball around the room with his sisters, the boy began to play full-fledged football with the older guys. True, players significantly older than Maradona in age easily outflanked and overtook little Diego. But gradually Maradona learned to play on par with stronger opponents: perhaps this is the reason for his success. At the first tryout for the team, in which boys under the age of 14 played, Diego impressed the coach so much that he decided that the dwarf was trying to deceive him: a child simply cannot handle the ball so skillfully!

Maradona himself considers his first match for the Argentinos Juniors club to be his debut. Maradona's team failed to win, but the young football player was appreciated by sports journalists. From that moment on, the career of the great Argentine began to rapidly develop. He soon became captain of the Argentina national team and was able to win first the Italian Cup and then the UEFA Cup. But soon after achieving these dizzying successes, the irreparable happened: cocaine was found in Maradona’s blood... It turned out that the football player relieves stress in this way after intense games. Indeed, sometimes it seemed that Diego had great difficulty controlling himself on the field. He even received his nickname - “The Hand of God” - because in the heat of the match he scored a goal with his hand, which is strictly prohibited by the rules of football.

Due to the scandal that broke out, Diego was disqualified for a year and a half, after which he returned to football, vowing never to touch drugs again. But on the eve of one of the championships, a doping test showed that Maradna was taking ephedrine. The football player was disgraced from the game, and he had to watch the matches from the spectator stands.

Unfortunately, Diego Maradona never managed to return to big-time sports. Thus ended the career of one of the most brilliant football players of the 20th century: now only numerous articles in the yellow press remind us of Maradona.

David Beckham was born in 1975 in London. Like many British boys, David was passionate about football from childhood. In addition, Beckham's parents supported Manchester United and did not miss a single home match of their favorite team. It is not surprising that little David entered football school, and at the age of 14 he began playing for Manchester United.

In 1992, the young football player won the English Football Youth Cup. It was then that Beckham was noticed by the head coach of Manchester United, who invited the future star to the main team. Beckham scored his first goal against an opponent in 1994 in a match with the Turkish Galatasaray. In 1996, the footballer played for the English national team for the first time, and already in 1997 he became footballer of the year in his native country. In the same year, Beckham met one of the vocalists of the Spice Girls, which was at the peak of its popularity, Victoria, who soon became his wife.

Beckham's main strength is long-range shots: the footballer scored most of his goals from the penalty line.

It is noteworthy that Beckham is considered not only one of the most successful football players in the UK, but is also included in the lists of the sexiest and most stylish men on the planet. Many people call Beckham a “man-brand”: the football player has earned more than $200 million from his image. Finally, together with his wife, Beckham introduced the fashion for family values: the couple has been together for more than 15 years, four children were born in the marriage, and in every interview David and Victoria emphasize how important it is for spouses to respect and appreciate each other.