Pele has died

[D-train]

One of my first Sports heroes. Rest in Peace.

[mostonmike]

As well as a great player he was a great ambassador for the game. I believe he coined the phrase, “the Beautiful Game” and his 1970 Brazil World Cup winning team certainly played it beautifully. If you ever want to watch some old football, it’s the 1970 Brazil side that I would recommend. The UK commentator on their 4th goal in the World Cup final pronounced it “sheer delightful football”

[D-train]

As well as a great player he was a great ambassador for the game. I believe he coined the phrase, “the Beautiful Game” and his 1970 Brazil World Cup winning team certainly played it beautifully. If you ever want to watch some old football, it’s the 1970 Brazil side that I would recommend. The UK commentator on their 4th goal in the World Cup final pronounced it “sheer delightful football”

I watched it Mike. Great stuff. So what is your Mt. Rushmore for all time players

Ronaldo
Messi
Pele
Beckham?

Or was Beckham more glamour than substance??

[mostonmike]

As well as a great player he was a great ambassador for the game. I believe he coined the phrase, “the Beautiful Game” and his 1970 Brazil World Cup winning team certainly played it beautifully. If you ever want to watch some old football, it’s the 1970 Brazil side that I would recommend. The UK commentator on their 4th goal in the World Cup final pronounced it “sheer delightful football”

I watched it Mike. Great stuff. So what is your Mt. Rushmore for all time players

Ronaldo
Messi
Pele
Beckham?

Or was Beckham more glamour than substance??

Beckham was a great player without doubt but probably isn't even the best English player of the last 30 years, I've got Paul Scholes above him in my list.

Great question, love the Mount Rushmore reference, we obviously wouldn't think of asking it that way but I see the logic and will definitely use that for all future GOAT questions over here.

I was a Manchester United match-going fan from 1985 to 2010 so I saw Ronaldo just before his prime. He's definitely in.

I think any GOAT debate kicks off with Pele as unanimously the greatest. Then Diego Maradona came along in the 80s to challenge him, but doesn't quite beat him. Messi and Ronaldo have since competed with each other for the other slots but only Messi surpasses Maradona for me.

My rankings would be
1 Pele
2 Messi
3 Maradona
4 Ronaldo

[D-train]

As well as a great player he was a great ambassador for the game. I believe he coined the phrase, “the Beautiful Game” and his 1970 Brazil World Cup winning team certainly played it beautifully. If you ever want to watch some old football, it’s the 1970 Brazil side that I would recommend. The UK commentator on their 4th goal in the World Cup final pronounced it “sheer delightful football”

I watched it Mike. Great stuff. So what is your Mt. Rushmore for all time players

Ronaldo
Messi
Pele
Beckham?

Or was Beckham more glamour than substance??

Beckham was a great player without doubt but probably isn't even the best English player of the last 30 years, I've got Paul Scholes above him in my list.

Great question, love the Mount Rushmore reference, we obviously wouldn't think of asking it that way but I see the logic and will definitely use that for all future GOAT questions over here.

I was a Manchester United match-going fan from 1985 to 2010 so I saw Ronaldo just before his prime. He's definitely in.

I think any GOAT debate kicks off with Pele as unanimously the greatest. Then Diego Maradona came along in the 80s to challenge him, but doesn't quite beat him. Messi and Ronaldo have since competed with each other for the other slots but only Messi surpasses Maradona for me.

My rankings would be
1 Pele
2 Messi
3 Maradona
4 Ronaldo

Wow I got 3 of 4. I forgot about Maradona but definitely remember him.

[mostonmike]

Pele has been joined in the footballing heavens today by the man who would be on the Mount Rushmore of English football, Sir Bobby Charlton. A fabulous player but even more respected across the whole soccer world in his role as an ambassador of the game. He survived the Munich Air Crash in 1958 to go on and lead England and Manchester United to the top of the game.

In the pre-internet era they say that if you identified yourself as being from Manchester in any far reach of the globe to people with little command of English, they would say, "aaah Bobby Charlton?".

He is, or sadly to say WAS perhaps as synonymous with English football as Babe Ruth is with baseball.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62989801

[D-train]

Pele has been joined in the footballing heavens today by the man who would be on the Mount Rushmore of English football, Sir Bobby Charlton. A fabulous player but even more respected across the whole soccer world in his role as an ambassador of the game. He survived the Munich Air Crash in 1958 to go on and lead England and Manchester United to the top of the game.

In the pre-internet era they say that if you identified yourself as being from Manchester in any far reach of the globe to people with little command of English, they would say, "aaah Bobby Charlton?".

He is, or sadly to say WAS perhaps as synonymous with English football as Babe Ruth is with baseball.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62989801

Sorry to hear that, Mike. There is a great short little vid here showing him saying Hey to the Queen.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/