10 all-time greatest players of the Football World Cup

With one week to go before the World Cup starts in Brazil, here are the ten greatest stars in the tournament's 84-year old historyPele is considered by many the greatest player in football history, Pele won three World Cup titles with Brazil. He was a teenager when he helped the "Selecao" lift the trophy in 1958, then four years later he won the title again despite playing only one match because of an injury. Pele's career was at its peak when he led Brazil to victory in 1970. He remains the only player to win three World Cup titles. Maradona: One the greatest playmakers of all time, Maradona was joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century with Pele. "El Pibe de Oro" inspired Argentina to victory in the 1986 tournament. The English will never forgive him for his "Hand of God goal" en route to winning the World Cup. And perhaps his own people, the Argentines, will never forgive him for being a terrible coach for the national team at the World Cup four years ago in South Africa. But as player, Maradona was peerless during his heyday, although drug problems marred the end of his career.Franz Beckenbauer defined the role of libero and his elegant and effortless style earned him the nickname the Kaiser. Beckenbauer won every club honor with Bayern Munich, including three straight Champions Cup titles, and is the only man to captain (in 1974) and coach (1990) a team to the World Cup title. Beckenbauer made 103 appearances for Germany and is considered the football power's best player of all time. He also served as coach and president of Bayern. Netherlands Johan Cruyff never won a World Cup, never was top scorer and played only one final tournament. Yet it was more than enough to turn Johan Cruyff into a World Cup great because less than a handful of the game's greatest stars combined beauty, speed, vision and elegance like he did. At the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, Cruyff led Oranje with guile and cockiness as the Netherlands beat teams like Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil with free-flowing "Total Football" to reach the final against the host nation. In his finest moment, the lanky playmaker used his dumbfounding body feints and speed to cut through the German defense from the opening kickoff to force a penalty and give the Netherlands the surprise lead. Shockingly, with the cup for the taking, Cruyff and the Dutch machine sputtered and stopped.Eusebio: Of all the spectacular moments in Eusebio's two-decade career, perhaps the most memorable was the Portuguese comeback he inspired against North Korea in the quarter-finals of the 1966 World Cup in England. After Portugal fell 3-0 behind, Eusebio scored four goals in just over 30 minutes, demonstrating the athletic prowess and sure-eyed finishing that made him one of the world's top scorers during his heyday in the 1960s. Born into poverty in Africa, Eusebio became known as the Black Panther for his agility and hard-charging attacks. He was awarded the Ballon d'Or in 1965 and twice won the Golden Boot - in 1968 and 1973 - for being top scorer in Europe. He died in January.Italy soccer team captain Giuseppe Meazzaplayed in two World Cups, and Italy won both. Born and bred in a Milan suburb, the Inter player was 24 when Italy hosted the tournament in 1934. Used on the right wing rather than his favorite center-forward position, the Golden Ball winner unsettled defenses with his dribbles throughout the competition and set up the move that led to Angelo Schiavio’s winner in the final against Czechoslovakia. Four years later in France, he scored just one goal from the penalty spot against Brazil in semifinals his last under an Italian shirt. France's Just Fontaine holds a record that is unlikely to be broken anytime soon: scoring 13 goals in a single World Cup tournament. Fontaine took six games to achieve his feat at the 1958 World Cup, when he was a last-minute inclusion on the French squad. The closest anyone has come was Gerd Mueller's 10 goals for West Germany in 1970. Entering the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the Moroccan-born Fontaine was a little-known forward outside of the French league. Yet he tormented opponents with his speed and finishing touch _ and even with someone else's boots. He had to borrow a pair after damaging his own boots in practice.Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper ever voted European Footballer of the Year helped to redefine goalkeeping, producing outstanding acrobatic saves and marshalling his defense as few had done before. After bursting onto the international scene with spectacular stops against eventual winner Brazil at the 1958 World Cup, in 1966 he took the Soviet Union to fourth place, a result that the country never bettered. Ronaldo the striker is the most prolific scorer in World Cups with 15 goals. He was a youngster in the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 World Cup, then helped Brazil reach the final both in 1998 and 2002. He had convulsions the day of the 1998 final in France and didn't play well in Brazil's 3-0 loss to the hosts, but four years in later in South Korea and Japan he scored twice in the final to give Brazil its fifth world title. Ronaldo's last World Cup was in 2006.Zinedine Zidane: People who don't know football remember Zidane for the headbutt that put Marco Materazzi on the floor in the 2006 World Cup final. That earned Zidane a red card and an ignominious end to a glorious career. The connoisseurs cherish a player gifted with uncommon skill and technique, an ability to control almost any ball and see the field, coupled with a penchant for big-game goals. The three-time FIFA's World Player of the Year helped France win the 1998 World Cup on home soil scoring on two headers in the final and the 2000 European Championship.