50 Footballers with the Most Swagger

When you're coming up with a list of the footballers with the most swagger, the first question you're bound to ask is, "What exactly is swagger?"

There might not be enough room for all the definitions. Confidence certainly has to do with swagger, as does arrogance. Style? Yeah, that's part of it too. Flamboyance? Cockiness? An trademark strut? Yes, yes and yes.

In other words, it's almost impossible to define exactly what swagger is. The French would say it has something to do with a certain je ne sais quoi, which, in true swagger form, means I don't know what.

So, then, here's what we do know. These footballers have swagger. Lots of it. But we don't know exactly why they have it, how they got it or when they developed it.

We just know that it makes—or made—them a lot more fun to watch.

Thierry Henry

He's French. He's popular with the ladies. He scored a bunch of goals with Arsenal (and might score a few more over the next few months).

Before too long at Arsenal, he came up with a trademark sliding celebration after goals. That va va voom attitude, along with Henry's (admittedly earned) high opinion of himself, grated on some fans and ex-players.

To some it's arrogance. We like to think it's swagger.

George Best

When he was sober, George Best was exactly what his name suggested. Plus, he had the swagger, looks (check out that hair! Kings of Leon be shamed!) and big mouth to go with it.

Watch this video around the 0:30 mark as he takes off his shoe in the middle of a match. Then watch the rest to see how great he was.

After that, look over some of the best and worst quotes of a memorable career.

Eric Cantona

Thanks to Eric Cantona, millions—OK, hundreds—of young, male, American soccer players took to popping their collars on the pitch in the mid-1990s.

Yes, the author was one.

So, why all the man-crushing? In the '90s Cantona wasn't just a footballer. He was a god.

Cantona won four titles and two FA Cups for Manchester United before retiring at the age of 30. Along the way he toyed with reporters and fellow players in thinly diluted shots of French snottiness and unleashed one very badass kung fu kick on one very poor Crystal Palace fan.

And the collar stayed perfectly popped the whole time.

Johan Cruyff

Considered by some the best player of all time, Johan Cruyff was one of the leading proponents of Total Football, the style employed by the great Dutch teams of the 1970s.

But while Total Football relied on the commitment of 11 players, none were more important to the Dutch than Cruyff, a maestro whose leg-buckling moves put him in the company of Pele and Maradona.

Besides being known for Total Football, Cruyff is also the namesake of the way-cool Cruyff Turn. Anyone with a move named after him—especially one as cool as the Cruyff Turn—had to have played with some swagger.

Cruyff, as it turns out, most definitely did.

Diego Maradona

What kind of player scores with his hand and gets away with it?

A player with cajones, which as it turns out is Spanish for swagger.

Just kidding. But, for real, Diego Maradona also scored this goal. In the same game as that other one.

Maradona shows us how far swagger can take a person. See, swagger explains how the 5'5" Maradona can out-jump the 6'1" Peter Shilton and score with the Hand of God.

Pelé

How could we leave out Pelé?

If you're the best player of all time, you've got some swagger, right?

No one played like Pele, before or since. That's what we call swagger.

Ronaldinho

Ah, Ronaldinho. He scores. He performs the elastico (though he didn't invent it). He smiles all the time.

He's thin. Then he's fat. Then he's thin again. He used to have that jacked-up grill, he's always had the same haircut as Jessie Spano and he does that crazy Hawaii-style, hang-loose-like celebration.

And he smiles all the dang time.

How can you not love it?

Socrates

The best movie moment of the last quarter century? When Bill and Ted picked up So-Crates for their history project.

Problem was, they picked up the wrong dude.

Imagine Keanu cruising the mall with this So-Crates. I mean, come on. He was the man. He looked a little like Kelso from That 70s Show, except he had an awesome beard and headband, was much better looking and could play football like a beast.

No way Ted's dad would've sent him to military school after hanging out with that dude. No way. Uh-uh.

Marta

Let's give it up for the ladies. Actually, just one lady, and it's not Mia Hamm.

When you watch Marta play, you get the impression she thinks she's better than everyone else on the pitch.

You get the impression she thinks she should be playing with the men.

You get the impression she knows something about football that no one else knows.

And you know what? She's absolutely right about all of it.

Neymar

By now you've probably figured out that there are going to be a bunch of Brazilians on this list. Here's one for the present and the future.

You already know Neymar, surely. He's the guy who's attracting big-money offers from top European clubs for scoring goals like this one.

Along the way, Neymar, 19, has been developing some swagger. He's got himself a flashy, Rufio-style haircut and is currently having fun at the expense of an entire continent in a soda commercial.

Ruud Gullit

Which of these Ruud Gullit factoids takes the most swagger? Is it:

(A) Playing football—and playing it very well—in Sideshow Bob dreadlocks?

(B) Winning six league titles, six domestic cups, two European Cups and Euro 88?

(C) Being a player-manager at Chelsea from 1996-98?

(D) Marrying this woman, who also happens to be the niece of Johan Cruyff?

It's a tight race with (A), but we're going with (D).

Enzo Francescoli

Enzo Francescoli won the Copa America three times, in 1983, '87 and '95, with Uruguay. Nicknamed El Principe (The Prince) for his silky skills, Francescoli earned 73 caps from his home country and the respect of footballers around the world.

How much respect? Zinedine Zidane named his first son Enzo as a tribute.

Edgar Davids

It takes a confident man to wear those deadly-cyborg-sent-back-from-the-future-to-destroy-you goggles on the football pitch. And as we already pointed out, dreads draw big points in the swagger sweepstakes.

So we'll give Edgar Davids 100 swagger points for the goggles and 50 for the dreads.

Luigi Riva

First things first: Any dude named Luigi is awesome. It's like the name Cecil. If you're named Cecil—or Luigi—you have to be a bad man. Extra points if he grows a mustache and jumps around in green clothing.

Luigi Riva, however, did most of his damage in blue, the color of the Italian national team. He played when men were still men and someone could earn a nickname like Rombo di Tuono (Roar of Thunder).

How do you earn a nickname like that? Well, first by manhandling helpless defenders and then by becoming the all-time leading scorer for the Italian national team.

Vinnie Jones

Vinnie Jones didn't care about the rules. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, where he wanted, even if that meant grabbing a handful of Paul Gascoigne's crown jewels in order to settle a score on the pitch.

That was slightly psychopathic, but it also took a lot of swagger. Don't you think?

Roy Keane

From the psychopath files we also bring you Roy Keane.

During his brilliant career, Keane was equally likely to create gorgeous goals, control the midfield in big matches, start fights in the tunnel and break legs to settle scores.

In short, Keane feared no one and didn't give a…er…dang what you or anyone else thought. That sounds like swagger—albeit with a distinct edge of psychosis—to us.

Steve McManaman

Speaking of not giving a dang, our next footballer is Steve McManaman.

McManaman, who starred for Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City during his career, embodied the so-called lad culture that surrounded football in the 1990s. His extracurricular hedonism earned him and a few teammates the label of Spice Boys.

Of course, McManaman also was pretty good at football. When he could be bothered.

Rivelino

Remember when we showed you Ronaldinho doing that nifty move? Rivelino invented that. It's called the elastico.

Plus, Rivelino somehow managed to balance being a great footballer with looking frighteningly similar to Mark Twain.

Well done, Rivs.

Charlie Nicholas

Is that Bono in an Arsenal shirt?

No, it's Charlie Nicholas, North London's own Champagne Charlie.

Come on. You know a guy with the nickname Champagne Charlie is gonna make this list.

Kevin Keegan

Kevin Keegan lost some of his swagger as a manager, but he still had plenty left over from his days as a pesky, pint-sized, lightning-quick striker for Liverpool.

With King Kev up front from 1971-77, Liverpool won the league three times, the FA Cup once, the UEFA Cup twice and, in 1977, their first European Cup.

And in an era when everyone had great hair, he managed to stand above the crowd with that classy 'do.

Jairzinho

Jairzinho also played in the days when everybody had awesome hair. And you can see that, like ol' Keegs, he stood out from the crowd.

Jairzinho also stood out another way. At the 1970 World Cup, which Brazil won, Jairzinho managed to score in every game.

Two other players—Alcides Ghiggia and Just Fontaine—have managed that feat, but neither could match Jairzinho for coolness of coiffure.

Romario

Apocryphal accounts tell us that Romario scored 1,000 goals during his long, long, endless career (1985-2009, 17 stops on four continents).

In reality, it's not certain how many times Romario scored. But we do know that he bagged 71 goals in 85 appearances for Brazil, including five tallies during Brazil's triumphant 1994 World Cup campaign.

Whether he scored 1,000 goals or not, Romario had some serious swagger on the pitch.

Zico

Before David Beckham and Roberto Carlos, before Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin van Persie, Zico served as the undisputed master of free kicks.

Being the master of free kicks is the calm, quiet and understated form of swagger. Zico knows he can beat you anywhere inside the attacking third.

In that moment between when the ball is struck and it flies into the net, there's not a cooler guy on the pitch.

Jurgen Klinsmann

Fast forward to the 2:10 mark of the video.

Question: How do you respond to your critics who correctly claim that you have a tendency to dive?

Answer: By proving them right.

And here's the kicker: That cheeky little display of swagger worked. English journalists suddenly started liking Jurgen Klinsmann after that.

Imagine that: English journalists liking a German striker. Weird.

Ian Rush

Two things.

One: Check out that mustache.

Two: Ian Rush scored 346 goals in 660 appearances for Liverpool over two spells from 1980-87 and 1988-96.

You can't score that many goals in England without having a major amount of swagger.

Roberto Baggio

Roberto Baggio has several things working in his favor.

First, he was a legend for Italy, racking up 27 goals in 56 caps for the Azzurri.

Second, he won both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year in 1993.

Third, he's a Buddhist. That's way cool, if you ask us. But maybe we're just too partial to the Dalai Lama.

Fourth, he rocked that wicked ponytail way past the point at which it was considered cool (was it ever?).

For that, Baggio earned the immortally swaggerific nickname Il Divino Codino—The Divine Ponytail.

Francesco Totti

Francesco Totti is cooler than you, and he's not afraid to let you know all about it.

Totti, who has played for Roma and only Roma during his 20-year professional career, has reason to be confident. He has scored more than 200 goals in Serie A, won a World Cup with Italy and married an Italian showgirl.

And he's a cheeky one, too. Totti's signature move is the cucchiaio, a chip over the goalkeeper. His autobiography, fittingly, is named Tutto Totti: Mo je faccio er cucchiaio (All Totti: I'm Going to Chip Him).

Eusebio

Eusebio, the world-famous former Portuguese international, had the nickname "Black Panther."

Really, that alone is enough to get him on this list.

But here are some of his highlights anyway.

Garrincha

Brazil has produced a long line of great dribblers.

Garrincha might have been the best and most creative.

If not the best, he was certainly unique. No one had played the ball like that before Garrincha. No one.

Marco Van Basten

Marco Van Basten won the Ballon d'Or as Europe's best footballer three times (1988, '89 and '92), a record matched only by fellow Dutchman Johan Cruyff and France's Michel Platini.

He also won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1992 and led the Netherlands to their only major title at Euro 1988. In the final, Van Basten scored what is considered one of the best goals of all time.

It takes major swagger just to try that shot.

Michel Platini

As we just mentioned, Michel Platini is one of only three players to win the Ballon d'Or three times. That makes it OK for his first name to be Michel.

Plus, he's French, so he farts in your general direction, especially if you're English.

Dennis Bergkamp

You don't have to be a loudmouth to have swagger. You can also be a cold, calculating assassin.

Like Dennis Bergkamp.

Bergkamp could score anywhere (except in the air), at any time, no matter how improbable the situation. Quite simply, he was better than everyone else, and he knew it.

That was because he had a large amount of confidence in his skills.

Zinedine Zidane

Platini may have won the Ballon d'Or three times, but Zinedine Zidane did something Platini never did.

Zidane led France to a World Cup title. And he did it with two ridonkulous headed goals in the 1998 final.

Plus, he could do crazy, outrageous things with the ball at his feet.

Giuseppe Meazza

Whatever one does to earn accusations of "wanton drinking and rakish behavior," Giuseppe Meazza apparently did it.

He also scored 216 goals in Serie A, which is seriously nothing to sneeze at, and captained Italy to back-to-back World Cup titles in 1934 and '38.

Alfredo Di Stefano

Nicknamed "the Blond Arrow," Alfredo di Stefano revolutionized European football in the 1950s. While the rest of the continent relied on the long ball, the South American di Stefano brought to Europe and Real Madrid a new style of sleek, creative football.

It worked, as Real Madrid won five straight European Cups from 1956-60. For his part in that run, di Stefano went down as one of the all-time greats.

Ronaldo

When he was on top of his game, Ronaldo had no equal.

And when he was on top of his other game, Ronaldo—despite owning the face you see at left—managed to win the hearts of these three ladies.

Well done, Ronnie.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Love him or hate him (we hate him), Cristiano Ronaldo oozes swagger.

He scores dumbfounding goals. He performs ingenious ball tricks. He dates and dumps a new hottie every week.

Again, well done, Ronnie.

Iker Casillas

This one is easy. Iker Casillas is one of the top goalkeepers in world football today. He's won everything you can win in the game. And his girlfriend is a stone cold fox.

To us, that spells swagger.

Fredrik Ljungberg

Fredrik Ljungberg was never afraid to be different, on and off the pitch.

Some would say he's a flamboyant weirdo.

We say he had swagger out the wazoo. (Snicker.)

Every Member of the Barcelona Starting XI

This is unprecedented, we know. But Barcelona are playing an unprecedented form of football right now.

When Barcelona are playing their best, no one can touch them. The Blaugrana can stroke the ball around the pitch for minutes on end, or—thanks to the genius of Lionel Messi, the world's best player—they can streak down the field in the blink of an eye.

Messi is clearly the focal point, and he plays with a swagger no one can touch right now. But the whole team deserves a spot on this list, and that's why they're here.