Lev Yashin, known fondly as “The Black Spider” will feature on most people’s shortlist as the best goalkeeper in the history of football. Whilst there may not not be a hotly-debated rival in the same way as the debate between, say, Maradona and Pele, we will , in the weeks and months ahead, take a look at a number of other keepers who may have a valid claim to the title of the world’s best goalkeeper ever.

Yashin’s 22 year long career with Dynamo Moscow started in the youth set up and an inauspicious senior debut for them in 1950, conceding a poor goal in the game. The mistake set his career back and he didn’t play another senior game again for another 3 years. Yashin’s career then took off and he helped Dynamo Moscow win the Soviet League 5 times, finish runners up 6 times and win the Soviet Cup 3 times. He played his last club match for Dynamo Moscow in 1971.

At international level, Yashin received early recognition and made his debut for the USSR in 1954. He played his part in the USSR winning the European Championship in 1960 and he played in 3 successive World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1966.

His personal accomplishments include being recognised as the best goalkeeper of the 20th century, by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. Most notably, he is the only goalkeeper to ever have been awarded the title of European Footballer of the Year, in 1963. He is attributed to have saved a remarkable 150 penalties during his career, a feat unmatched by any other goalkeeper in the history of the game. He kept an amazing 270 clean sheets in his long career,

It is interesting to look at the qualities that made him perhaps the world’s best goalkeeper ever, and typical of all great keepers he had a commanding, intimidating presence on the field and lightning reflexes. He demonstrated great athleticism in producing breathtaking, sometimes incredible saves on the field of play. Like Peter Schmeichel many years later, he was fond of drilling his defence by yelling orders at them and showed his leadership qualities through his organisation of his defenders. He showed innovation, and was one of the first keepers to clear the ball in difficult situations by punching it clear rather than trying to save it- a goalkeeping methodology popular with continental goalkeepers ever since.

Lev Yashin stands, for many fans and commentators of the beautiful game, peerless, in any discussion of the greatest goalkeepers the world has ever seen.

Gerd Müller, one of the most prolific goalscorers in the history of the game. His 39 year old record of 67 goals in a season for Bayern Munich has just been beaten by the great Lionel Messi.

Belfast’s most famous Son, audacious, unpredictable and always entertaining.

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Nobody would claim that Gerd Müller had the all-round game and skills of the likes of Maradona or Pelé but if you believe that the beautiful game is all about scoring goals then it’s impossible to ignore the credentials of Gerd Müller. The facts and figures speak for themselves so let’s get started in our examination of perhaps the greatest goalscorer of all time.

His professional career started at TSV 1861 Nördlingen in 1963 before moving to Bayern Munich in 1964. It is interesting to note that Bayern Munich were not even in the Bundesliga at the time, being in the division below, but perhaps significantly, they were able to count Franz Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier amongst their players. Bayern Munich advanced to the Bundesliga the following season and commenced what proved to be their future domination of German club football.

So what of the facts and figures that make him a contender for the worlds best footballer?

His 15 year career at Bayern Munich yielded an astonishing 398 goals in 451 appearances. In club competitions with Bayern Munich he won the West German championship 4 times, the European Cup Winners Cup once, the German Cup 4 times, and the European Cup 3 years running in 1974, 1975 and 1976. He was top scorer in West Germany 7 times and top scorer in Europe twice.

His international career with West Germany was no less significant and he scored an incredible 68 goals in 62 international matches and he helped win the European Championships and World Cup once each during his career. In his 6 matches at the 1970 World Cup he scored 10 goals including 2 hattricks. Notably, he also scored four goals in a fifteen minutes spell in 1972 in an international against the USSR.

Gerd Müller’s achievements were rewarded with recognition as the European Player of the Year in 1970.

You should by now understand why this great German goalscorer deserves inclusion in any list of the worlds best footballers.

Like Maradona, he was short and squat. A playmaker he was not. He was a natural, instinctive, opportunistic goalscorer who made the art of goalscoring look easy. Perhaps this is why he tends to fall under the radar of those looking to crown their very own worlds best soccer player.

Müller’s career concluded in 1982 after a 3 year spell in the USA with Fort Lauderdale Strikers having scored a useful 38 goals.

If you love goal scorers you are going to enjoy the videos here of of one of the finest exponents of the art of goalscoring of all time.

It’s an oft-quoted fact that Pelé once called George Best the greatest football player that ever lived. When such a statement comes from the lips of someone of Pelé’s pedigree, one has to stand up and take note.

Whilst one may measure Pelé’s brilliance through his goal record and trophies, and Maradona’s by his individual ability to win matches and tournaments all by himself, it is more difficult to benchmark Best’s abilities as a footballer in the same way. So what does his record show and why might Pelé and others regard this Northern Ireland footballer as the very best footballer of all time?

George Best’s professional career started with a debut for Manchester United in 1963 , aged just 17 and won the first of his 2 First Divison winner’s medals in his second season and he won a European Cup winner’s medal in 1968. He concluded his Manchester United career in 1974 having scored 137 goals in 361 games for the club.

Best became something of a global nomad notching up clubs in South Africa, USA, Hong Kong and Australia before concluding his career with one appearance for Tobermore United in Northern Ireland.

At international level he played for Northern Ireland 37 times and scored 9 goals; 4 of those in one match against Cyprus. By virtue of him playing for a small footballing nation, he never had the chance to prove his brilliance on the world stage, at the very highest level and it is because of this that many dispute any notion that George Best may be considered the best soccer player ever.

His abilities were recognised at an individual level though through his achievements at club level with Manchester United and he was named European Footballer of the Year and Football Writer’s Association Footballer of the Year, in 1968.

So what attributes did George Best have as a footballer that helped gain him such widespread admiration around the world? He was a bewitching entertainer on the football field. He was a master of the body-swerve and the dummy. He was confident, even arrogant, on the pitch and was no respecter of reputation. Best is well remembered for nutmegging Johan Cruyff in a World Cup qualifying game in 1976 and a very cheeky goal against England’s Gordon Banks in 1971. Whilst opinions are diverse as to whether he was the best soccer player in history, he was no doubt one of the most naturally gifted footballers ever.

Wherever you stand in the debate about the worlds best footballers, no-one can fail to admire the skills and tricks and magic of George Best.