The hall of legends
Not a list of today’s best players — a list of names still spoken after their licences expired. One profile at a time: era, clubs, and why they last.
Legend of the week
Johan Cruyff
Netherlands · Forward · 1964–1984
The player who became the philosophy: Total Football’s conductor and the blueprint for everything Barcelona does today.
Mokhtar Dahari
Malaysia · Forward
1972–1991 · Selangor, Malaysia
Alfredo Di Stéfano
Argentina / Spain · Forward
1945–1966 · River Plate, Millonarios, Real Madrid
Franz Beckenbauer
Germany · Sweeper
1964–1983 · Bayern Munich, New York Cosmos, Hamburger SV
Johan Cruyff
Netherlands · Forward
1964–1984 · Ajax, Barcelona, Feyenoord
Kenny Dalglish
Scotland · Forward
1969–1990 · Celtic, Liverpool
Paolo Maldini
Italy · Defender
1985–2009 · AC Milan
Francesco Totti
Italy · Forward
1992–2017 · AS Roma
Thierry Henry
France · Forward
1994–2014 · Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona, New York Red Bulls
Didier Drogba
Ivory Coast · Forward
1998–2018 · Le Mans, Guingamp, Marseille, Chelsea, Shanghai Shenhua, Galatasaray
Zinedine Zidane
France · Midfielder
1989–2006 · Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus, Real Madrid
Xavi Hernández
Spain · Midfielder
1998–2019 · Barcelona, Al Sadd
George Best
Northern Ireland · Winger
1963–1984 · Manchester United, Fulham, others
Why Mokhtar Dahari is here
For a simple reason: without Supermokh, Malaysian football has no reference point. He scored for Selangor and the country in the black-and-white television era, and generations who never saw him play still know the name. That is the definition of a legend.