FourFourTwo

PELE’S FIFA ‘ 100’

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To celebrate FIFA’S 100th birthday in 2004, football’s high powers gave Pele free rein to pick his 100 greatest living players of all time. However, he didn’t: the three- time World Cup winner chose 125 instead, claiming he couldn’t possibly cut down his longlist. A nice sentiment, but did El Hadji Diouf and Emre have to make the cut? Pele’s old mate Gerson was furious about his omission, tearing up a copy of the list on Brazilian TV.

The noughties was a decade of goal- filled classics – and not just from big teams demolishin­g small ones. Tottenham were involved in two 10- goal thrillers: first in 2007, when four Dimitar Berbatov strikes downed Reading 6- 4; the second in 2009, when they gubbed Wigan Athletic 9- 1 and Jermain Defoe got five. The highest- scoring Premier League game also involved Reading: Pompey beat them 7- 4 in 2007, with Benjani bagging three.

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