Top 5 forgotten football heroes
Most of the time, some great players don’t get the recognition or attention they deserve.
Without any doubt, Football is the most popular sport in the world. It will always remain a cyclic sport. Sometimes the team will capture the top position, sometimes not.
And also the same for the footballers. People have seen Pele, Maradona. They were compared to God.
But after a certain age, Gods need to put off their boots. Soon we'll see Messi and Ronaldo doing this.
However most of the time, some great players don't get the recognition or attention they deserve. The Business Standard (TBS) has made a list of forgotten football heroes.
1) Josef Bicon (Austria)
Josef Bican was one of the most prolific goalscorers in football history. According to Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF), he scored over 948 goals in 621 official matches. FIFA recognizes a lower total of 805 goals.
Bican was born in Vienna. He is the greatest player ever played for Austria. In 1933, Bican made his debut for the senior Austria team.
2)Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
Stoichkov is regarded as one of the best players of his generation. It would be surprising for you to come to know that a Bulgarian player has a Ballon d'Or.
Stoichkov was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1992. But in 1994, he won the Ballon d'Or.
In 1990, he joined Barcelona. He won consecutive La Liga titles and in 1992, he won the Champions League with the Spanish giants. He was the Golden Boot winner of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
3) Michael Laudrup (Denmark)
Michael Laudrup is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of Denmark. Laudrup scored 37 goals for Denmark in 104 appearances.
Laudrup won league titles with Ajax, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus.
He was mainly an attacking midfielder. But he was capable of playing in other offensive positions. Like Hristo Stoichkov, Laudrup was also a member of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team".
4) Pavel Nedved (Czechoslovakia)
Pavel Nedved was a two-footed, world-class footballer. Nedved received his Ballon d'Or in 2003.
He has four league titles with Sparta Prague, Lazio and Juventus. He was infamous for his three red cards in just six matches for Sparta Prague.
He achieved legend status at Juventus. Though Juventus was relegated to Serie B, he stayed with them.
5) Roberto Baggio (Italy)
Roberto Baggio was one of the most talented footballers of his generation. Unfortunately, he is mostly remembered for his penalty miss in the 1994 World Cup final against Brazil.
He is Italy's fourth highest goal-scorer of all time. Baggio won the Ballon d'Or in 1993. He scored 291 goals in his career.