Who Is Nigeria's Greatest Player Of All Time? IFFHS Provides Answer (Full List 48 Legend Players)
Published: November 03, 2017
Football statisticians, International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), has published on its official webpage the 48 football legend players.
Of the 48 legends of the game picked by the German-based organization, only one Nigerian, former Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu, made the prestigious list.
Other famous names selected are Diego Maradona (Argentina), Pele (Brazil), Ronaldo (Brazil), Roger Milla (Cameroon), Zinedine Zidane (France), Gerd Muller (Germany), Roberto Baggio (Italy), George Weah (Liberia) and Ruud Gullit (Netherlands).
Kanu became the only Nigerian to win the African Player of the Year award twice when he scooped the accolade for 1999 after winning it in 1997.
The striker helped Nigeria win the 1993 Fifa U17 World Cup and 1996 Olympic gold medal in football.
He won the Champions League with Ajax Amsterdam in 1995, UEFA Cup with Inter Milan in 1998, three Eredivisie titles, two Premier League titles and the FA Cup three times.
48 Football Legends
Rabah Madjer (Algeria)
Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano (Spain)
Diego Maradona (Argentina)
Pele (Brazil)
Manuel Francisco dos Santos (Brazil)
Ronaldo de Lima (Brazil)
Zico (Brazil)
Roger Milla (Cameroon)
Hao Haidong (China)
Sun Jihai (China)
Mahmoud El-Khatib (Egypt)
Mohamed Aboutrika (Egypt)
Michel Platini (France)
Zinedine Zidane (France)
Franz Anton Beckenbauer (Germany)
Gerd Muller (Germany)
Lothar Matthaus (Germany)
Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
Baichung Bhutia (India)
Ali Daei (Iran)
Dino Zoff (Italy)
Roberto Baggio (Italy)
Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan)
Cha Bum-kun (South Korea)
Jasem Yaqoub Sultan Al-Besara (Kuwait)
George Weah (Liberia)
Antonio Carbajal (Mexico)
Hugo Sánchez (Mexico)
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (Netherlands)
Marco Van Basten (Netherlands)
Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (New Zealand)
Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)
José Luis Félix Chilavert González (Paraguay)
Eusébio (Portugal)
Luis Figo (Portugal)
Lev Ivanovich Yashin (Soviet Union)
Majed Ahmed Abdullah (Saudi Arabia)
Francisco Gento (Spain)
Tanju çolak (Turkey)
Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin (Ukraine)
Bobby Charlton (England)
David Beckham (England)
Stanley Matthews (England)
Juan Alberto Schiaffino (Uruguay)
Landon Timothy Donovan (USA)
Lucas Radebe (South Africa)
Ryan Giggs (Wales)
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
Photo Credit : arsenal.com
Of the 48 legends of the game picked by the German-based organization, only one Nigerian, former Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu, made the prestigious list.
Other famous names selected are Diego Maradona (Argentina), Pele (Brazil), Ronaldo (Brazil), Roger Milla (Cameroon), Zinedine Zidane (France), Gerd Muller (Germany), Roberto Baggio (Italy), George Weah (Liberia) and Ruud Gullit (Netherlands).
Kanu became the only Nigerian to win the African Player of the Year award twice when he scooped the accolade for 1999 after winning it in 1997.
The striker helped Nigeria win the 1993 Fifa U17 World Cup and 1996 Olympic gold medal in football.
He won the Champions League with Ajax Amsterdam in 1995, UEFA Cup with Inter Milan in 1998, three Eredivisie titles, two Premier League titles and the FA Cup three times.
48 Football Legends
Rabah Madjer (Algeria)
Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano (Spain)
Diego Maradona (Argentina)
Pele (Brazil)
Manuel Francisco dos Santos (Brazil)
Ronaldo de Lima (Brazil)
Zico (Brazil)
Roger Milla (Cameroon)
Hao Haidong (China)
Sun Jihai (China)
Mahmoud El-Khatib (Egypt)
Mohamed Aboutrika (Egypt)
Michel Platini (France)
Zinedine Zidane (France)
Franz Anton Beckenbauer (Germany)
Gerd Muller (Germany)
Lothar Matthaus (Germany)
Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
Baichung Bhutia (India)
Ali Daei (Iran)
Dino Zoff (Italy)
Roberto Baggio (Italy)
Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan)
Cha Bum-kun (South Korea)
Jasem Yaqoub Sultan Al-Besara (Kuwait)
George Weah (Liberia)
Antonio Carbajal (Mexico)
Hugo Sánchez (Mexico)
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (Netherlands)
Marco Van Basten (Netherlands)
Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (New Zealand)
Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria)
José Luis Félix Chilavert González (Paraguay)
Eusébio (Portugal)
Luis Figo (Portugal)
Lev Ivanovich Yashin (Soviet Union)
Majed Ahmed Abdullah (Saudi Arabia)
Francisco Gento (Spain)
Tanju çolak (Turkey)
Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin (Ukraine)
Bobby Charlton (England)
David Beckham (England)
Stanley Matthews (England)
Juan Alberto Schiaffino (Uruguay)
Landon Timothy Donovan (USA)
Lucas Radebe (South Africa)
Ryan Giggs (Wales)
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
Photo Credit : arsenal.com
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