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 The soccer is from a long time the most popular sport on the planet. Each year the number of players and fans increases and each international tournament final sets new betting records. By far the World Cup Final attracts the most bettors but the European Championship and the Champions League are also major betting events.
The history of modern soccer starts about a century ago but at first the game was not very spectacular, nor popular. Since the 1950s football started to gain popularity as exceptional players caught the public’s attention.
The Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin was among the first soccer players to enter the history. It is estimated that Yashin saved more than 150 penalty shots throughout his nineteen years career and is still considered by many the best goalkeeper of all time. He played 812 games in his career and 270 of them ended without taking a goal. Pele, on his real name Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is no doubt the number one ever Brazilian player but many soccer fans and even officials say that he is the greatest player in the world. In his brilliant career Pele scored over 1,200 goals, won two Copa Libertadores and two World Cups. Diego Maradona is another living legend of soccer. Maradona played in four World Cup tournaments but entered in the history of football for the two goals scored against England in the 1986 World Cup Tournament. The first was goal scored with the hand and known as the "Hand of God", while the second was a stunning 60 m goal through six opponents considered "The Goal of the Century". Franz Beckenbauer is the greatest German football player of all tie and one of the legendary icons of this sport. He participated in three World Cups and is the only player ever to win two World Cups, one as a captain 1974 and the other as a manager in 1990. |
