The 20 Best Footballers of the Decade

Throughout the first decade of the 21st Century, there were many great footballers that made their presence felt when they went onto the pitch. From the World Cup to a domestic cup; from the Champions League to a domestic league, these players made their presence whenever they made contact with a football and became an intergral part of the football universe. Now with the first decade of the 21st Century coming to a close, here is a look at the 20 greatest footballers of the first decade of the 21st Century.

No. 20 Carles Puyol

Sides played for this decade: FC Barcelona, Spain

The longtime captain of FC Barcelona, Carles Puyol has been one of the greatest defenders in the history of FC Barcelona, and has been a major piece of Barcelona's side since he joined Barcelona in 1999, and has since been a integral part of three La Liga titles, two Champions League titles, one UEFA Super Cup, and a FIFA Club World Cup for the Catalin side.

For the Spanish national team, he was a major part of the Spanish side that won Euro 2008, and is still an integral part of a Spanish side that is currently among one of the best national sides in the world.

No. 19 Oliver Kahn

Sides played for this decade: Bayern Munich, Germany

One of the greatest keepers of all time, Oliver Kahn was one incredible keeper that led Germany to a World Cup final, Bayern Munich to a Champions League title, an Intercontinental Cup, six Bundesliga's, five German Cups, all of which came in this decade.

He is the only keeper to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball for his great form in the 2002 World Cup.

Kahn is the all-time leader in clean sheets in the Bundesliga with 197. Also, Kahn was able to propel both Germany and Bayern to great play throughout the decade, and will be remembered for his dedication to both sides.

No. 18 Samuel Eto'o

Sides played for this decade: Mallorca, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Cameroon.

Throughout the decade, Samuel Eto'o proved himself to be a great goalscorer in La Liga, as he was able to net 54 goals in La Liga for Mallorca, and 108 goals in La Liga in just 145 matches for FC Barcelona. While with Barcelona, Eto'o became an integral piece to a squad that won two Champions League titles with Eto'o, who scored the first Barcelona goal in each Champions League final, and is only the second ever player to score in two separate Champions League finals. Along with that, in Eto'o's final season with FC Barcelona, he was able to net 36 goals in 52 matches to lead Barcelona to an unprecedented Spanish treble before leaving to Inter Milan over the summer.

With Cameroon, Eto'o has helped lead his national team to two African Cup of Nations titles along with a runner-up medal in the 2003 Confederations Cup. More recently, Eto'o has helped Cameroon qualify for the 2010 World Cup, the first one ever on African soil.

No. 17 Steven Gerrard

Sides played for this decade: Liverpool, England

The longtime face of Liverpool, Steven Gerrard has been a phenomenal player this decade, as he has helped Liverpool achieve a Champions League title, a UEFA Cup title and two UEFA Super Cups in Europe, and two FA Cups and League Cup titles in England. Gerrard has also been the longtime captain of Liverpool, taking over the honor from Sami Hyypiä in 2003.

Despite the fact that Liverpool has never won the Premier League during Gerrard's career, he has been a major force behind the Reds being able to qualify for the Champions League during most of his seasons with Liverpool.

With England, Gerrard has helped his national side to deep runs in both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, and has scored 16 goals for England during this decade.

No. 16 David Beckham

Teams played for this decade: Manchester United, Real Madrid, Los Angeles Galaxy, AC Milan, England.

The longtime captain of the English National team, David Beckham has become one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet during this decade, and has been a major factor on each of the sides that he played for. He has won three English Premier League titles this decade, and one La Liga.

At the beginning of the decade, Beckham played for Manchester United. But after getting into feuds with manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Beckham left for Real Madrid in a 35 million pound transfer. With Real, Beckham was a part of Real Madrid's Los Galáctico policy, but wasn't able to win anything until Real Madrid won La Liga in Beckham's final season before leaving for MLS to join the Los Angeles Galaxy.

With the Galaxy, Beckham was hurting his eligibility to play for England, and left on loan to play for AC Milan before joining the Galaxy at the end of the season, where they lost the MLS Cup final to Real Salt Lake.

With England, Beckham is the most capped outfield player in England history with 115 appearances, and was also the captain of England from 2000 to the end of the 2006 World Cup. He has scored 16 goals for the National team during this decade.

No. 15 Andriy Shevchenko

Sides played for this decade: AC Milan, Chelsea, Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine.

Throughout the decade, Andriy Shevchenko was one of the best players in world football, as he was able to win the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and a Serie A championship, and he also was able to get Ukraine to the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup.

At the beginning of the decade, Shevchenko was able to become the first foreign player to win the Serie A scoring title in his first season, as he scored 24 goals in 32 Serie A matches for Milan. As the decade progressed, Shevchenko was able to score the deciding penalty in the Champions League final over Juventus, and was able to once again lead Serie A in scoring with 24 goals, as Milan won the Scudetto and Shevchenko the Ballon d'Or in 2004.

After losing the 2005 Champions League final on a terrible penalty against Liverpool, Shevchenko left Milan for Chelsea, where he became a terrible flop for the London side before going out on loan again for Milan in 2008, and transferred to Dynamo Kiev in 2009, where he started his professional football career.

With the Ukrainian national side, Shevchenko has been an extremely important figure as he helped Ukraine get to the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup, and to a playoff in both 2001 and 2009, where Ukraine failed to qualify for the World Cup. Overall, Shevchenko has scored 44 goals for the Ukrainian national side this decade.

No. 14 Paolo Maldini

Sides played for: AC Milan, Italy

One of the greatest defenders of all time, Paolo Maldini is an AC Milan legend with 25 years of service to Milan, and won a Serie A, a Coppa Italia, two of his five Champions League titles, a UEFA Cup, an Intercontinental Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup all in this decade.

In the Champions League final that Milan lost to Liverpool, Maldini scored the fastest goal in the Champions League final history as he headed in a free kick just 51 seconds into the final. His number three has been retired by Milan for his service to the club, and is remembered as a player who was always committed to Milan.

Along with that, Maldini retired from the Italian national team with 126 Caps, the most ever for an Italian international, and went to the 1994 World Cup, where Italy lost to Brazil on penalties.

No. 13 Cristiano Ronaldo

Sides played for this decade: Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Portugal.

One of the best players of the last half of the decade, Cristiano Ronaldo was a huge part of the Manchester United side that was able to win three English Premier League titles, two Carling Cups, an FA Cup, a Champions League title, and a FIFA Club World Cup during his time with the Red Devils.

Also in 2008, Ronaldo became the first player on Manchester United since George Best in 1968 to win the Ballon d'Or and the first ever Manchester United player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award after scoring 42 goals in 49 matches for United as United won the Premier League and the Champions League in that season. After the 2008-2009 season, Ronaldo left Man United for Real Madrid in a record 80 million pound move to the Bernabéu.

With Portugal, Ronaldo was able to help Portugal to get to the Euro 2004 final before they lost to an upstart Greek side. He was also able to lead Portugal to the Quarterfinal of Euro 2008. During this decade, Ronaldo scored 22 goals for Portugal.

No. 12 Xavi

Teams played with this decade: FC Barcelona, Spain

One of the finest playmakers in world football today, Xavi has been a major factor behind the success of FC Barcelona this decade. He has won three La Liga's, a Copa del Rey, two Champions League titles, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup. During his career, Xavi has been has been the major playmaker for Barcelona and he now has the second most appearances in Barcelona history.

For the Spanish National team, Xavi has been an integral part of a national team that is among the best in the world. Xavi was also the UEFA Euro 2008 Player of the Tournament for his great play as Spain won their second ever European Championship, and has made 83 sides for Spain this decade.

No. 11 Raúl

Sides played for this decade: Real Madrid, Spain

The all-time leading scorer for both Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, Raúl has been one of the greatest players of his generation, as he has helped Real Madrid win four La Liga's two Champions League titles, a UEFA Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup all in this decade.

Throughout his time with Real, Raúl has scored the most goals in Champions League history with 66 goals, and has been an integral part of Real Madrid's success throughout his time there.

With the Spanish National side, Raúl has scored 44 goals, the most ever for a Spanish international (of which, 26 goals have come this decade). Also, Raúl was a huge part of the Spanish sides that were able to make the quarterfinals in both Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup.

No. 10 Gianluigi Buffon

Sides played for this decade: Parma, Juventus, Italy

Widely considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Gianluigi Buffon has been a player that has been able to help his side to victory season after season.

During his career, Buffon has helped Juventus to two Serie A titles, and a World Cup title with Italy. Despite getting relegated to Serie B after the World Cup, Buffon has always remained loyal to the Old Lady, and has helped Juventus to great success in Italy and in Europe during this decade.

With Italy, Buffon has been the first choice keeper for Italy throughout the decade, and was able to hold an incredible 453 minute streak of not conceding any goals in the 2006 World Cup, which was instrumental in Italy winning the World Cup title.

No. 9 Ruud van Nistelrooy

Sides played for this decade: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Netherlands.

One of the greatest goalscorers of all time, Ruud van Nistelrooy has been a player that has supplied goals no matter where he has gone in his career.

During this decade, van Nistelrooy won two Dutch Eredivise, a English Premier League, an FA Cup, a Carling Cup and two La Liga's. After succeeding with PSV, van Nistelrooy left for Old Trafford, where he became an incredible goal scoring machine, as in his five years with the Red Devils, van Nistelrooy was able to set a United record with 38 goals in the Champions League, and was able to net 150 goals in just 219 matches for United. Afterwards, he left for Real Madrid, where van Nistelrooy was still able to have success despite being plaugued with injuries, as he scored 33 goals in 47 matches in his first year at the Bernabéu.

In international duty, van Nistelrooy has been an integral part of the Dutch squad, as he has scored 32 goals in international duty during this decade, and scored six goals combined in Euro 2004 and 2008.

No. 8 Kaká

Sides played for this decade: São Paulo, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Brazil.

One of the best Brazilian footballers in recent memory, Kaká has been a player that has had tremendous success this decade, as he has won a Serie A title, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, all of which with AC Milan, and won the 2002 World Cup and the 2005 and 2009 Confederations Cup with Brazil.

During his career, Kaká succeeded well enough with São Paulo to earn a contract to AC Milan, where Kaká became one of the best players in the world as he was able to win the Champions League with Milan in 2007, the same year in which Kaká won the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year. Since then, Kaká moved to Real Madrid in a then-record transfer of 68.5 million Euro's and is part of a new generation of Galáctico's at Real Madrid.

With Brazil, Kaká was part of the 2002 side that won the World Cup despite only playing 25 minutes in the tournament (all of which were against Costa Rica in the Group Stage). Kaká has also been able to win the Confederations Cup twice and has scored 26 international goals for Brazil.

No. 7 Lionel Messi

Sides played for this decade: FC Barcelona, Argentina

One of the true up-and-coming stars in football today, Lionel Messi has been a player that has already a great list of achievements including three La Liga's, a Copa del Rey, two Champions League titles, and a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup already under his belt.

After Barcelona's sextuple last year, Messi earned the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year for his great year in leading Barcelona to the unprecidented sextuple and in the process, became the first Argentinian to achieve the honor.

Internationally, Messi has won a Gold Medal for Argentina in the 2008 Olympics and has helped Argentina to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. He has scored 13 goals for Argentina in his brief international career.

No. 6 Luis Figo

Sides played for this decade: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Portugal.

One of the best players in the world at the turn of the century, Luis Figo made a highly controversial transfer from FC Barcelona to Real Madrid for a then-record 37 million pounds, and was able to win the Ballon d'Or in 2000 and FIFA World Player of the Year in 2001.

While with Real Madrid, Figo was able to lead Real to two La Liga titles, and a Champions League, a UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cups in 2002. In 2005, Figo left Real for Inter Milan, where he helped Inter to four consecutive Serie A titles and a Coppa Italia before retiring in 2009.

Internationally, Figo has been a major force for Portugal, as Figo helped the Portuguese to a third place finish in Euro 2000, second place in Euro 2004, and fourth in the 2006 World Cup, his final international appearance before retiring from international duty.

No. 5 Thierry Henry

Sides played for this decade: Arsenal, FC Barcelona, France

One of the best strikers of the decade, Thierry Henry has been a player that had a remarkable decade as he was a major factor behind Arsenal's undefeated season along with another Premier League title in 2002, three FA Cups and the Gunners only ever trip to the Champions League final in his time with Arsenal. After leaving Arsenal, Henry went to Barcelona, he helped the Catalan side become the first side to ever achieve the sextuple. Overall, Henry has scored 226 goals for Arsenal in the decade (the most ever for an Arsenal player) along with 47 for Barcelona.

Internationally, Henry has long been a star for France, as he won Euro 2000 and the 2003 Confederations Cup with France, and has been a superstar for the French this decade despite his handball that set up the winning goal for the French to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Overall, Henry has scored 48 international goals for France.

No. 4 Rivaldo

Sides played for this decade: FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Cruzeiro, Olympiacos, AEK Athens, Bunyodkor, Brazil.

One of the best players at the turn of the century, Rivaldo was able to continue his great play into the first decade of the 21st century, as he was able to win the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Champions League and the European Super Cup with Milan, three Greek Leagues, two Greek Cups, and two Uzbek League titles.

Also, Rivaldo was able to win the 2002 World Cup for Brazil, and scored five goals in the World Cup and helped set up the two goals by Ronaldo to win the final over Germany.

During the beginning of the decade, Rivaldo was a huge member of Barcelona but after falling out with manager Louis van Gaal, he left for Milan and for Olympiacos the following season. With Olympiacos, Rivaldo was able to have great success for the Greek side for several seasons before moving to rival AEK Athens and ultimately Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan at the end of the decade.

No.3 Ronaldinho

Sides played for this decade: Grêmio, Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Brazil.

Considered to be by many to be the best player in the world during the middle of the decade, Ronaldinho has been able to be one of the most prolific players during the decade, as he won La Liga in both 2005 and 2006, the UEFA Champions League in 2006, the Ballon d'Or in 2005, and the FIFA World Player of the year in both 2005 and 2006.

At the beginning of the decade, Ronaldinho started off with Brazilian side Grêmio (where he also spent his youth career at) and in 2001, he joined PSG. But after falling out with manager Luis Fernández, he joined FC Barcelona, where his career flourished.

With Barcelona, Ronaldinho was able to win two straight FIFA World Player of the Year awards, and was also able to win the Champions League. But after getting into disputes over his contract, Ronaldinho left the Camp Nou for AC Milan and the San Siro, where he has remained since 2008.

With Brazil, Ronaldinho has helped the Brazilians win the 2002 World Cup, and has also scored 25 international goals. However, his international future remains in question due to his poor play in his first season at Milan.

No. 2 Zinedine Zidane

Sides played for this decade: Juventus, Real Madrid, France.

One of the greatest midfielders of all time, Zinedine Zidane was great throughout the decade, as he was able to win La Liga twice this decade, win the Champions League with Real Madrid, and a UEFA Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup.

Zidane also raked up many great individual honors during the decade, as he was FIFA World Player of the Year in 2000 and 2003, and won the Golden Ball for his great play in the 2006 World Cup.

With Real Madrid, Zidane was one of the of the first Galáctico's, and Zidane won the 2002 Champions League final with an incredible strike into the top corner of the net to win the final for Real Madrid. However, Zidane wasn't able to win anything else for Real Madrid during the course of his career.

With the French National team, Zidane was able to win Euro 2000 and the 2003 Confederations Cup, and was also able to lead France to the 2006 World Cup final where he was able to score in his second World Cup final, but also headbutted Marco Materazzi in the 110th minute after an exchange of words, causing Zidane to be sent off in his final ever match as Italy won the 2006 World Cup.

No. 1 Ronaldo

Sides played for this decade: Inter Milan, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Corinthians, Brazil.

One of the greatest footballers in history, Ronaldo has been a player that has won many great achivements over his career. During this decade, Ronaldo has won La Liga twice with Real Madrid, the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup also with Real Madrid and the São Paulo State League and the Copa do Brasil with Corinthians.

Also, Ronaldo set a record with eight goals scored in the 2002 World Cup (which Brazil won) and scored three goals in the 2002 World Cup, giving Ronaldo a record total of 15 goals in the World Cup. Also, Ronaldo has won the Ballon D'or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2002.

During this decade, Ronaldo started off with Inter Milan but after suffering several injuries to his knee, he moved to Real Madrid, where he became part of Florentino Pérez's los Galácticos policy.

With Real Madrid, he was a fan favorite and helped Real win La Liga twice and helped Real advance to the Champions League semifinal in 2004 after a hat trick at Old Trafford against Manchester United, but got transfered to AC Milan in 2007 due to problems with Real manager Fabio Capello. With Milan, Ronaldo continued to contribute to the Italian giants but Milan did not renew his contract and he went to Corinthians.

Internationally, Ronaldo has been incredible for Brazil, as he was instrumental in winning the 2002 World Cup final over Germany with the two goals in the final, and he also holds the record for most goals in World Cup history with 15.

Notable Exceptions

While making this list, there were several players that were not able to make the cut for the list.

Here is a list of those players:

Andrés Iniesta, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Luca Toni, Iker Casillas, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Lúcio, Ryan Giggs, Frank Lampard, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Fernando Torres, Patrick Viera, Fabio Cannavaro, Francesco Totti, Cesc Fàbregas, Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Nesta and Roberto Carlos.