Zidane voted best Euro. player in last 50 years in UEFA poll

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 7:17 pm

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/s ... daneno.ap/

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 7:27 pm

I don't know enough about greats such as Beckenbauer and Platini to compare them to Zidane.

But a commentator on UEFA.com's free radio show made a good point: Voting was conducted on uefa.com, which definitely skews the vote toward a younger demographic. Most of those who voted have seen Zidane play, yet I bet the minority saw great players from the 50s, 60s and 70s play.

Again, I can't comment on whether Zidane deserves the honor. But the method of voting definitely favors a current or recent player.

Take care,
PK

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 7:42 pm

That's true. However, I thought that the NBA Greatest 50 and similar lists for other sports, even if they weren't fan-voted (meaning there was a sronger likelihood that the voters had seen some of the older players) seem to skew towards current players.

I thought it was interesting however that most of those other names are not current players. Or maybe I'm wrong.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 7:42 pm

I woulda picked Cruyff?

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 11:49 am

It has to be Puskas. I am going purely on a very limited amount of historical knowledge, but Puskas and/or Cruyff, amybe Platini should all be ahead of Zidane. But I freely admit I know nothing. I do know Puskas was unbelievably good.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 5:10 pm

hugo wrote:It has to be Puskas. I am going purely on a very limited amount of historical knowledge, but Puskas and/or Cruyff, amybe Platini should all be ahead of Zidane. But I freely admit I know nothing. I do know Puskas was unbelievably good.

Puskas of the Hungarian Natl team in the 50s(The Magic Magyars)
Read about him and them back in HS.
I forgot the writer (Paul Gardner?)but the book was called The Simplest Game.