The players on this list include some of the greatest players that the game has ever seen. It includes the
most successful player in football history and multiple Ballon d’Or and Champions League winners; the latter stages of the list in particular include genuine contenders for the title of greatest player in history,

ANDY COLE
Currently joined with Wayne Rooney as the second highest scorer in Premier League history, behind only
Alan Shearer, Andy Cole had a wonderful career. He began scoring prolifically for Bristol City, before
continuing in the same vein for Newcastle United before his biggest move to Old Trafford, where he
went on to spend six years playing under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Cole won five league titles and a Champions League at Old Trafford, scoring
187 Premier League goals over his career, and 272 in all competitions. He won only 15 caps for England, and never appeared in a World Cup for his country.

ERIC CANTONA
Alex Ferguson recently described Eric Cantona as one of only four genuinely world class players he ever
managed. Yet this world class talent never got the chance to prove himself in a World Cup. Cantona
joined Manchester United from Leeds United, and gave the whole club a lift, going on to win four Premier League titles and two FA Cups, before Cantona retired at the tender age of 30. He came third
in the 1993 Ballon d’Or award and won both Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Player of the Year during
his time at Old Trafford. Cantona won 45 caps for France, but caused a great deal of controversy. France failed to qualify for either the 1990 or 1994 World Cups, and by the time of the 1998 World Cup, Cantona had retired.

ABEDI PELE
Abedi Ayew, or Abedi Pele as he has become better known, was one of the first stars of the African game,
and is still considered by some to be the greatest African player of all time, and almost unanimously
the greatest Ghanaian. Abedi Pele first emerged in Europe with Lille, before becoming a star player at
Marseille, later featuring for the
likes of Lyon and Torino. With Marseille he won three league titles (one later revoked) and the Champions League. He won 67
caps for Ghana, scoring 33 goals and winning the African Cup of Nations, but Ghana didn’t reach a World Cup until 2006, six years after Pele’s retirement.

RYAN GIGGS
The most decorated player in football history, Ryan Giggs has won an incredible amount of club and
individual honors, including; 13 Premier League titles, four FA Cups, nine Community Shields, three League Cups, two Champions Leagues and one Club World Cup. Individually, Giggs was named in the PFA Team of the Year six times, as well as the PFA Team of the Century. He played 963 games for Manchester United, scoring 168 goals, and holds the record for the most assists in Premier League history. Giggs played for Wales 64 times, but never qualified for any major competition with his country.

ALFREDO DI STEFANO
The greatest player to never grace the World Cup, yet many still consider him to be the greatest of all
time. In any such discussion, Di Stefano’s name should certainly be up there with the likes of Puskas,
Beckenbauer, Pele, Maradona and Messi. He is almost certainly the most complete player in the history of
the game. Renowned for coming deep to get the ball kbefore taking people on or playing a wicked pass, Di
Stefano was the most vital cog of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s. Despite coming deep much of the time, Di Stefano still managed an incredible 376 goals in 522 games over his career, which makes him the fifth highest scorer in La Liga history and the third in the history of Real
Madrid. Born in Argentina, Di Stefano played internationally for Argentina, Colombia and Spain,
and all three consider him to be arguably their country’s greatest player ever. Much like Kubala, Di
Stefano was named in Spain’s squad for the 1962 World Cup but missed out through injury. He won the
Ballon d’Or twice and was named in the World Team of the Twentieth Century.

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