Shortly after releasing a list of the 100 most influential athletes of the century, ESPN revealed its ranking of the best footballers since 2000, with only two Brazilians making the top 10: Ronaldo Nazário and Ronaldinho.
While “O Fenômeno” was placed 9th, Dinho was positioned in 10th place.
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Although the outlet claims to create this ranking based on votes from multiple experts, the order of the players was questioned, especially regarding Neymar’s position.
While many consider Ney the best of the century behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Brazilian was placed in the 20th position, just enough to be part of the list.
Injuries and being contemporary with the other two stars may have played against him, but it remains too low a position for a legend of Neymar’s size.
ESPN’s best footballers of the century
- Lionel Messi
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Thierry Henry
- Zinedine Zidane
- Luka Modric
- Kylian Mbappe
- Andres Iniesta
- Xavi Hernandez
- Ronaldo Nazário
- Ronaldinho
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- Kevin De Bruyne
- Toni Kroos
- Sergio Ramos
- Carles Puyol
- Karim Benzema
- Sergio Busquets
- Robert Lewandowski
- Kaká
- Neymar
