IMO, the greatest footballer of all time was a certain Manuel Francisco dos Santos, aka Garrincha. does noone remember the 1962 cup? i don't, as i wasn't there. but he shone. darn that man could dribble!
i like him because he was a class player, fun to watch. him aside, pele and maradonna are both exceptional and i cannot see how anyone can say otherwise. which was better, i don't know and i doubt anyone ever will... then we have di stephano, dennis law (arguably the greatest british footballer of all time), johann croyff, and Stanley Matthews (retiring at 50 is no mean feat) while Van Basten had lots of potential but was injured early. Beckenbauer is a great defender (although he did play sweeper-does that really count as a defend? it's like, a defender with awsome skill...) while yashin is amazing in goals.
basically.