Pele's Crazy Fifa List of Football Greats

The FIFA 100 list was compiled in order to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the world governing body. The list was originally planned to include the 100 greatest living footballers but this idea was expanded to 125 players as list compiler and former footballer Pele was unable to be more concise. The fact that Pele was given sole responsibility for the list was deemed surprising in some quarters given that Pele had probably never even seen some of these players in the flesh. Since unveiling the list, many commentators have suggested that the list was not entirely of Pele’s making unless he had been pressured into incorporating a geographically balanced and politically polite element to the ultimate selection.

Simply, the list contains many players who do not deserve to be included and were probably stunned to find themselves in it. Without ever admitting it, Pele has put players from Asia and Africa into the list purely as a way to make it look more balanced and to promote the notion that football is more competitive than it really is. These players are included to maintain football’s assertion that it is ‘truly’ a global game. Of course it is a worldwide game, but that doesn’t mean it is equal across the board. The FIFA 100 list is football’s input to the modern phenomenon of political correctness.

Javier Saviola (Argentina) emerged in the late 1990s as a forward with huge potential that ultimately he has not fulfilled. He had a good start to his career, scoring plenty of goals for River Plate and Barcelona but has never had the all-round game to be a great. As this list was compiled in 2003, Pele could be forgiven for thinking Saviola might become a legend, but it was a mistake.

Carlos Valderrama is a Colombian football legend who played much of his career in lower quality leagues. It may be cruel, but his inclusion is entirely attributed to his famous mass of permed blonde hair.

Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan) is a clear diplomatic choice. He was the first poster boy of Asian football but quite frankly was never much good. He was technically capable but did not have the mentality or physique to make an impact in a top competition.

Hong Myung-Bo (South Korea) is a diplomatic decision with a capital D.

Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria) was a wonderfully entertaining player to watch and probably deserved to play for a top club when at his best. However, his lack of consistency and at times unnecessary flair made him quite ineffective. Had he been from England or Brazil instead of Nigeria, he would be nowhere near this list.

El Hadji Diouf (Senegal) came to prominence in the 2002 World Cup and signed for Liverpool just after. I bet both Liverpool and Pele are sorry now. Diouf is an obvious example that playing well in a World Cup does not automatically mean you are a superstar.

Rustu Recber and Emre Belozoglu (both Turkey) are obvious examples of Pele getting sucked in by the flavour of the month.

Michelle Akers and Mia Hamm (both America) are female football players. I presume Pele was either unable to find any male American footballers or else he got stuck on 123.

Juan Sebastian Veron (Argentina) is a technically brilliant midfielder with great passing vision and execution but his record has not been as good. He was a very good player in Italy but largely disappointed in the English game.

Roger Milla’s (Cameroon) inclusion in my opinion is based solely on a few circumstances that had they not occurred he would not be there. In Italia 90 Milla scored four goals at the age of 38 which is a very good achievement, however his exploits were merely a sideshow and Cameroon were never likely to win or even compete for the biggest prize. In USA 94, Milla scored a goal to make him the oldest ever goal scorer in a World Cup. These interesting, yet insignificant statistics have proved valuable toward getting a journeyman into the list.

Brian Laudrup (Denmark) was a very good player but he is probably in the list because of his very talented brother, Michael. Perhaps Pele did not want to upset the lesser brother or perhaps he could not recall who was who so he included them both.

Abedi Pele is a former Ghana international who was voted the best player in Africa on three occasions. His club career, spent mainly in France is nothing to write home about apart from a Champions League success with Marseille and he never played in a World Cup. However as I have never seen him in action, I think he at least deserves to be in the debateable list.