"a run. His presence and leadership on the field had a great effect on his team's general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname """"El Pibe de Oro"""" (""The Golden Boy""), a name that stuck with him throughout his career. An advanced playmaker who operated in the classic number 10 position, Maradona was the first player in football history to set the world record transfer fee twice, first when he transferred to Barcelona for a then world record £5 million, and second, when he transferred to Napoli for"
"Ernesto Lazzatti Ernesto Lazzatti (25 September 1915 - 30 December 1988) was a former Argentine football midfielder and sports journalist. As a player, he won 10 titles with Boca Juniors, the only Argentine team where he played. Lazzatti's position on the field was central midfielder, being notable for his skills with the ball and elegant style of playing. In 503 official matches played, Lazzatti was never sent off. Nicknamed ""El Pibe de Oro (The Golden Kid)"", Lazzatti is considered one of Boca Juniors's greatest idols, having raised from the youth divisions with a long career in the club. Lazzatti also"
"Francesco Totti Francesco Totti, (; born 27 September 1976) is an Italian former professional footballer who played for Roma and the Italy national team. He is often referred to as ""Er Bimbo de Oro"" (The Golden Boy), ""L'Ottavo Re di Roma"" (The Eighth King of Rome), ""Er Pupone"" (The Big Baby), ""Il Capitano"" (The Captain), and ""Il Gladiatore"" (The Gladiator) by the Italian sports media. He played primarily as an attacking midfielder or second striker, but could also play as a lone striker or winger. He currently serves as a club director at Roma. Totti spent his entire career at"
"Carlos Valderrama Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (; born 2 September 1961), also known as ""El Pibe"" (""The Kid""), is a Colombian former footballer who played as a midfielder. A creative playmaker, known for his precise passing, technical skills, and elegance on the ball, he is regarded as one of the best Colombian and South American footballers of all time, and by some as Colombia's greatest player ever. His distinctive hairstyle, as well as talent and skilful playing style made Carlos one of South America's elite and most recognisable footballers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won the South"
"Lazzatti followed him. Nevertheless, Lazzatti continued his career as journalist writing for newspaper ""La Prensa"" and in the TV show ""Deporte con Opinión"" in Canal 7. Ernesto Lazzatti Ernesto Lazzatti (25 September 1915 - 30 December 1988) was a former Argentine football midfielder and sports journalist. As a player, he won 10 titles with Boca Juniors, the only Argentine team where he played. Lazzatti's position on the field was central midfielder, being notable for his skills with the ball and elegant style of playing. In 503 official matches played, Lazzatti was never sent off. Nicknamed ""El Pibe de Oro (The"
"Golden Boy (award) The Golden Boy is an award that is given by sports journalists to a young footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year (two halves to two separate seasons). All nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in a European nation's top tier. The prize was established by Italian sports newspaper ""Tuttosport"" in 2003. Newspapers that now participate in voting include ""Bild"" (Germany), ""Blick"" (Switzerland), ""A Bola"" (Portugal), ""l'Équipe"" (France), ""France Football"" (France), ""Marca"" (Spain), ""Mundo Deportivo"" (Spain), ""Ta Nea"" (Greece), ""Sport Express"" (Russia), ""De Telegraaf"" (Netherlands),"
"Teófilo Cubillas Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga (; born 8 March 1949) is a Peruvian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS poll, in which he was also included in the world's Top 50. He was renowned for his technique, shooting ability and free kick ability. Nicknamed El Nene ""(The Kid)"", he was part of the Peru national team that won the 1975 Copa América. He helped Peru reach the quarter finals at the 1970 FIFA World Cup and again at the 1978 World Cup and was elected the"
"Iván Valenciano Iván René Valenciano Pérez (born 18 March 1972 in Barranquilla) is a former Colombian footballer who played as forward. He is the second top goalscorer of all-time in the Colombian Primera A with 217 goals, behind Argentine Sergio Galván Rey, who surpasses him by 224 goals. During his first spell at Atlético Junior, he scored many goals and was visibly overweight. Due to this, he earned the nickname ""El Gordito de Oro"" (The Golden Fat Man). He debuted as a professional player in the Junior from Barranquilla, on 23 October 1988 in a match against Independiente Santa Fe"
"Tomás Boy Tomás Juan Boy Espinoza (June 28, 1952), nicknamed ""El Jefe"" (The Boss), is a Mexican former footballer and coach. Boy played in the Primera División (First Division, now Liga MX) between 1975 and 1988. He spent most of his entire football playing career with Tigres UANL, appearing in 413 games and scoring 98 goals. Boy played with the Mexico national team between 1979 and 1987. An attacking midfielder with good technique, vision and leadership in the field, Boy was the captain of Mexico during the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Since retiring, Boy has managed seven different team in"
"Roberto Challe, César Cueto, José del Solar, and Roberto Palacios. Cubillas, an attacking midfielder and forward popularly known as ""El Nene"" (""The Kid""), is widely regarded as Peru's greatest ever player. Chumpitaz is often cited as the team's best defender; Witzig lists him among his ""Best Players of the Modern Era"", and praises him as ""a strong reader of the game with excellent ball skills and distribution, [who] marshalled a capable defence to support Peru's attack"". ""El Gráfico"", an Argentine sports journal, described Cueto, Cubillas, and José Velásquez as, collectively, ""the best [midfield] in the world"" in 1978. Before Cubillas'"
"era known like ""El Dorado"", in Colombia, when the football league broke away from FIFA, because the Colombia football league turned professional in 1948. Instead, the Colombian league reached its golden era during the period. The best footballers in Latin America came to play in Colombia. In this period the best team was Millonarios, with players like Adolfo Pedernera, a star with the legendary River Plate team of the 1940s better known as La Máquina; Alfredo Di Stefano, who would later star for the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s; and Néstor Rossi. The team won the Colombian League"
"an example for society and we have to be ready to get involved in these projects, where we can help people who need it"". Note: ""Each season is September – August"" David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Japanese club Vissel Kobe and the Spain national team. Villa is regarded by pundits as one of the best forwards of his generation, and one of the best Spanish strikers of all-time. Nicknamed El Guaje (""The Kid"" in Asturian) due to cultivating a reputation of playing football with"
"""Silver Ball"" and ""Bronze Ball"" awards as the second and third most outstanding players in the tournament respectively. The current award was introduced in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, sponsored by Adidas and ""France Football"", though fifa.com also lists in their player articles as ""golden ball winners"" Kempes, Cruyff, Pelé, Bobby Charlton, Garrincha and Didi for 1978, 1974, 1970, 1966, 1962 and 1958 respectively. Barcelona is the only club whose players have won the Golden Ball a record 3 times (Johan Cruyff in 1974, Romário in 1994, Lionel Messi in 2014). The ""Golden Boot"" or ""Golden Shoe"" Award goes to"
"Atlético Junior. On 1 November 2007, Valderrama accused a referee of corruption by waving cash in the face of Oscar Julian Ruiz when the official awarded a penalty to América de Cali. Junior lost the match 4–1, which ended the club's hopes of playoff qualification. He later also served as a coach for a football academy called Clearwater Galactics in Clearwater, Florida. Valderrama is married and has six children. ""Scores and results lists Colombia's goal tally first."" Carlos Valderrama Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (; born 2 September 1961), also known as ""El Pibe"" (""The Kid""), is a Colombian former footballer"
"Ariel Ortega Ariel Arnaldo Ortega (born 4 March 1974) is a retired Argentine footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. His nickname is ""El Burrito"" (""The Little Donkey""), thus he is called ""Burrito Ortega"". Ariel Ortega first played for Club Atlético River Plate on 14 December 1991 and until 1996 and returned in 2000–02, 2006–08 and 2009–11. Ortega's other clubs include Fenerbahçe, Parma, Sampdoria, Valencia, and Newell's Old Boys. A former Argentina international, Ortega played for his country in the 1994, 1998, and 2002 World Cups. He was also a member of the team that won the silver medal at"
"He subsequently added the moniker ""O Rapaz do Brinco"" (The Earring Boy) to the already existing ""O Maior"" (The Greatest), ""Gargantas"" (Loudmouth), ""O Rapaz dos Pés de Ouro"" (The Boy with the Golden Feet) and ""Meu Deus"" (My God). Baptista struggled heavily with alcoholism and drug abuse still as an active player. In his last seasons, spent in the regional leagues, he resorted to stealing to support his habit, dying on New Year's Day 1999 at the age of only 50. Vitória de Setúbal Benfica Vítor Baptista Vítor Manuel Ferreira Baptista (18 October 1948 – 1 January 1999) was a"
"Wilf Mannion Wilfred James Mannion (16 May 1918 – 14 April 2000) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward, making over 350 senior appearances for Middlesbrough. He also played international football for England. With his blonde hair, he was nicknamed ""The Golden Boy"". He was arguably Middlesbrough's second greatest ever player, the first being George Washington Elliot who played at the same time. Mannion was born on 16 May 1918 in South Bank, the son of Irish immigrants Tommy and Mary Mannion, and one of 10 children. He joined his local team Middlesbrough F.C. in 1936"
"Cristián Muñoz Cristián Fernando Muñoz Hoffman (born 1 July 1977 in Junín, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine footballer that currently plays in the Chilean Primera División side Universidad de Concepción as goalkeeper. Muñoz is best known for his spells at Colo-Colo and his current club Huachipato, including receiving the nickname of ""El Tigre"" (Spanish: the tiger) for his skills. He was member of the Argentina U20 squad that won the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship celebrated in Malaysia. Muñoz started his career at his local village team Sarmiento in 1994, moving at the age of 20 to the Argentine giant"
"Maxi López Maximiliano ""Maxi"" Gastón López (born 3 April 1984) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Brazilian club Vasco da Gama as a forward. López holds both an Argentine and an Italian passport. He is known as ""El Rubio"" (""The Blonde""), and ""La Gallina de Oro"" (""The Golden Hen""). López began his career in 1997 with River Plate. On 19 August 2001, at age 17, he made his senior debut, against Talleres de Córdoba. That same season, he was officially promoted to the senior squad following five years with the youth program. With River Plate, he was a"
"de Oliveira, Jorge Ramírez Gallego, Roberto Álvarez, Quarentinha, Bernardo ""El Cunda"" Valencia, and Ricardo Pegnoty. Unfortunately, most of these players did not receive international fame, yet Jairo Arboleda could have been one of the best players Colombia has had in midfield along with Carlos ""El Pibe"" Valderrama. Similar to Valderrama, Arboleda used a variety of skill and ""magic"" that left opponents lost and beaten, which gave rise to his nickname ""El Maestrico"". He is mostly recognized in Cali as one of Colombia's best players ever. Arboleda was unfortunate to be called to the Colombian national football team at a time"
"Adelfo Magallanes Adelfo Magallanes Campos (29 August 1910 – 16 January 1988) was a Peruvian footballer. He was part of the first golden era of the Peru national football team. Born in Cañete, Magallanes developed his footballing skills as part of Alianza Lima, and became an important part of the famed ""Rodillo Negro"" era of the club. Nicknamed ""El Bólido"", he played in the interior right and became the replacement of Alberto Montellanos in the ""Rodillo Negro"". His skill did not go unnoticed, and was soon called up to participate in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin. He earned"
"the Silver Ball prize. The Player of the Year award is named after former player Francisco Stromp, and was instituted from 1992. The list below is a list of winners of the award. Awards received while playing for Sporting CP European Golden Boot African Footballer of the Year Bulgarian Footballer of the Year Algerian Ballon d'Or UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Golden Player FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Ball Silver Ball Bronze Ball UEFA European Under-17 Championship Golden Player Award Portuguese Golden Ball Portuguese Footballer of the Year LPFP Primeira Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year: LPFP Primeira Liga Goalkeeper"
"Jaime Belmonte Jaime Belmonte Magdaleno (8 October 1934 – 21 January 2009), was a Mexican footballer, known as ""El Flaco"" (""The Slim Man""), He was also called ""El héroe de Solna"" (""The hero of Solna""), in reference to his goal scored vs Wales in the city of Solna during the 1958 World Cup earning Mexico's first point in a world cup. Born in Mexico City, Belmonte began playing professional football with Deportivo Cuautla. He made 89 appearances for the club from 1955 to 1959. In 1959, he joined Deportivo Irapuato. In 13 seasons with Irapuato, Belmonte scored 125 goals. Belmonte"
"David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Japanese club Vissel Kobe and the Spain national team. Villa is regarded by pundits as one of the best forwards of his generation, and one of the best Spanish strikers of all-time. Nicknamed El Guaje (""The Kid"" in Asturian) due to cultivating a reputation of playing football with children much older than him, Villa sustained a serious injury as a child, but managed to start his professional career with Sporting de Gijón in 2001. He moved to Real Zaragoza"
"and ""The Times"" (United Kingdom). Each juror is allowed to nominate five players, the juror will allocate 10 points to the player that they perceive as the most impressive, 7 for second, 5 third, 3 fourth, and 1 point for fifth most impressive. Year in bold have shared the win with other clubs. Golden Boy (award) The Golden Boy is an award that is given by sports journalists to a young footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year (two halves to two separate seasons). All nominees must be under the age of"
"Christian Bermúdez Christian de Jesús Bermúdez Gutiérrez (born 26 April 1987 in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl), commonly known as ""El Hobbit"", is a Mexican footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cafetaleros de Tapachula on loan from Chiapas F.C. of the Liga MX. He made his debut with the national team on 16 April 2008 vs China PR national football team in Seattle, Washington, playing three minutes. Bermúdez is a very skillful midfielder, who since 2006 plays for Atlante. He can play as a forward and a midfielder. He is known as ""The Hobbit"" because of his short stature. On 18 December"
"Carlos Bossio Carlos Gustavo Bossio (born 1 December 1973) is a retired Argentine professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Ironically nicknamed ""Chiquito"" (""little"") due to his height of 1.94 metres, Bossio represented several teams, but achieved greater notability at Estudiantes and Lanús. He was part of the Argentina national team between 1994 and 1996, winning the golden medal at the 1995 Pan American Games and the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Born in Córdoba, Bossio started at his home-town club, Las Palmas in 1992. He transferred to the nearby Belgrano de Córdoba in the following year and"
"Mario Boyé Mario Emilio Heriberto Boyé Auterio (30 July 1922 – 21 July 1992) was an Argentine footballer. A powerful winger or striker, he played for Boca Juniors, Racing Club de Avellaneda and Huracán in Argentina, Genoa in Italy and Millonarios in Colombia. Nicknamed ""El Atómico"" (The Atomic One), he started playing in the youth division of Boca Juniors to debut in first division on June 8 of 1941 in the victory against Independiente, and scoring his first goal a week later against Huracán. With Boca he won the 1943 and 1944 Argentine leagues, and was the league's top-scorer in"
"up the ball for his teammates in order to create space and scoring opportunities. Juventus Sevilla Spain Fernando Llorente Fernando Javier Llorente Torres (; born 26 February 1985), nicknamed ""El Rey León"" (""The Lion King"" in Spanish), is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for English club Tottenham Hotspur and the Spain national team. Llorente started his career with Athletic Bilbao, working his way through the various youth ranks and becoming one of the most important offensive players for the club in the following decade, since making his first team debut in 2005. He scored 29 goals"
"South American Championship, did not qualify for the Chile and England World Cups, and was unable to regain the ""Copa del Pacífico"". The story of the second golden generation started in late 1969, when ""la Blanquirroja"" qualified for the Mexico 1970 World Cup. Thanks to the goals of ""Cachito"" Ramírez, the squad tied Argentina at a game popularly known as ""La Bombonera"" (in reference to the Estadio Alberto J. Armando where the game was played). The squad, managed by ""Didi"" Pereira, followed a 4–2–4 formation that typically comprised José Fernández, Orlando de la Torre, Héctor Chumpitaz, and Nicolás Fuentes as"
"the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Club América: Mexico ""As of 17 March 2010"" José Antonio Castro José Antonio Castro González (born August 11, 1980 in Mexico City) is a former Mexican football player who last played as a defender for Atlético San Luis. He gained notoriety for his performances with Club América and at the 2006 FIFA World Cup for Mexico. He is often referred to by his nickname ""El Gringo"", given to him in his childhood because his parents are both Spanish, and his blue eyes. Known for his speed and solid defensive work, Castro is a good marker"
"Adolfo Pedernera Adolfo Alfredo Pedernera (15 November 1918 – 12 May 1995), born in Avellaneda, Argentina, was a football player and coach. Nicknamed """"El Maestro"""" (""""The Teacher"""" or """"The Master""""), He was widely considered to be one of the greatest world football players in the 1940s, as well as one of the Argentine players of all-time. Pedernera was the natural conductor of both famous River Plate team known as La Máquina (spanish for ""The Machine""), with whom he won several Argentine and South American titles, and Millonarios team called Ballet Azul (Blue Ballet), with which won the Small Club World"
"win at the Estádio José Alvalade; this result proved to be decisive for the club's clinching of the 1994 national championship. Dubbed ""The Golden Boy"", Pinto won club captaincy from veteran António Veloso after the latter's retirement in 1995, but was unable to win a national title again. Arguably, the lack of quality of a poorly managed Benfica side played a part in his lack of development after 1995, as he was considered as the main talent of the Portuguese squad alongside playmaker Rui Costa; finally, after a wage dispute with Benfica's president João Vale e Azevedo, he was released"