Greatest Latin American Footballers of All Times

The superiority of South American attacking talent in football is hard to deny. Managers in Europe’s elite footballing leagues are too rigid and concentrate on tactical prowess while the youth of South America are taught to play with flair and a combative attitude. This is why you would probably rank Europeans among the defensive best while South Americans take the crown for attacking fluency. Even their defensive players have been known to bang in the odd screamer.

The exploits of Latin America’ greatest footballers are also felt on the world stage. Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil have managed to bring the World Cup back to South America on nine different occasions. A great number of exciting young prospects have come from the region at that time. Here’s a list of the ten best players to come out of Latin America.

Diego Maradona (years active: 1976-1994)

credit: Wikipedia
Diego Maradona is arguably the greatest footballer who ever lived. Born on October 30th, 1960 in Buenos Aires, he started his playing career with Argentinos Juniors. Maradona excelled at dribbling, passing and ball control which combined well with his low center of gravity to make him a lethal attacker with a talent for dribbling his way through the most rigid of defenses. He was also a leader on the pitch whose presence inspired his teammates to greatness.

Maradona’s most famous appearances were for Barcelona and Napoli. He set the record for the highest transfer fee paid for a single player on both transfers, the first when Barcelona paid £5 million for him and the second when Napoli paid £6.9 million for his services 2 years later. He scored a total of 259 goals in 491 appearances for seven different clubs. His most notable honors are the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey which he won with Barcelona, a World Cup winners medal with Argentina in 1986, and with Napoli, he won the Italian Championship twice as well as the Italian Cup. Maradona retired from professional football in 1997 and now manages instead.
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