Introduction
If you are asking 10 coaches, players and fans about what the best football of the century is, you will probably get 10 different answers. Best football of the century is a matter of interpretation, and this is why giving an answer to this question is almost impossible. However, considering the quality of the players from a certain period, or the records broken by some legendary teams, you might detect some important directions that could give an accepted answer to this dilemma.
History
At the beginnings of the 19th century, the game of football was invented in the United Kingdom. However, the billions of fans of this game might not be aware that this is a deviation of…rugby, another popular game team from that period. However, as the popularity of rugby remained practically the same, the fame of football passed the borders of the Kingdom. This is because the violent aspects of rugby disappeared, and the game took another turnover. Some might say that best football of the century was played during those times, and they might be right, but as we have a limited number of statistics and resources since that era, we would have to get to the next stage of football to establish an answer for this question.
Features
At 26 October 1863, the first football association appeared, and the first set of rules contained 13 articles. In 1904, an international organization of this kind appears, called International Football Association (FIFA), bringing some modifications to the original UKrules. This helped the development of the football across the globe, making this an international game. In 1930, FIFA manages to organize the First World Cup in Uruguay, and we have the first records of some interesting and charming games, based on attack and little care for defense. Strikers established some records on the matter of number of goals, records that are not beaten even today. From this point of view, some nostalgic fans of football might say that best football of the century was played between the two world wars. On the other hand, the period was shadowed by the rising of Hitler, and this is why we might want to get to the next period.
During the 60’s, in Italy, a new kind of football appeared. It was based on a single player, called the sweeper had a single purpose. To stay in front of the keeper and to push back the opposite strikers. While the system was effective, it killed the principle of all out attack football that was replaced with a tactic that was less offensive, but more effective. It is the period of tactical playing, and even if it brought some controversies, it might be considered as the best football of the century.
Tips and comments
For the youngest fans of this game, the best football of the century is played now, but names such as Messi and Ronaldo can’t quite reach the popularity of Maradona and Pele. From this point of view, it is remained to be seen if the new generation of players could become legends. Anyway, the problem of best football of the century still needs to be solved.
