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[ca_gere]

Roland Garros final is today featuring the legend that is Roger Federer. Got me thinking... Who do people consider to be the greatest sportsman or woman of all time? For what reasons?

For me, Federer is up there. It's hard to think of someone else who plays their sport with as much natural talent and flair as he does. Even when he wasn't winning anything back in the day, everyone talked about how precise and deliberate all his shots were and how smoothly he moved etc. He has a calm demeanour that never wavers and seems to be able to step up a gear on the big occasions.

Also, making the semi finals (at least) of the last 20 grand slams is an unbelievable acheivement in consistency.

Anyway, there are loads of different criteria to be taken into account as all sports differ from one another. Any thoughts?

[daveofficer]

willie miller.

[ca_gere]

reasons?

EDIT: moustache perfectly acceptable as a reason

[daveofficer]

well apart from his recently deceased tache, he's aberdeen and perhaps scotlands greatest ever player. he could also lay claim to being one of the finest defenders the game has seen in general. plus he's the first name that came into my head and i'm sure only aberdeen fans would agree.

tiger woods would be another that springs instantly to mind for much the same reasons that you've listed federer.

[ca_gere]

Raises a good point...a lot of exceptional players are limited by their situation. Wille Miller being Scottish, he was never going to conquer the world. Same as the likes of Georgie Hagi and Hristo Stoichkov. Awesome players who, due to their nationality, could only get so far.

[daveofficer]

hagi was indeed awesome.

[idol_wild]

Alfredo di Stéfano Laulhé

For the fact he was the model for the most perfect footballer. He had everything and could play in every position with ease. He would sacrifice his own situation for the team's cause. He was an absolute gentleman and personified determination, courage and a sheer will to win.

All round brilliant person.

There's a really good feature on him in last month's FourFourTwo magazine.

[ca_gere]

Originally Posted by idol_wild

Alfredo di Stéfano Laulhé

For the fact he was the model for the most perfect footballer. He had everything and could play in every position with ease. He would sacrifice his own situation for the team's cause. He was an absolute gentleman and personified determination, courage and a sheer will to win.

All round brilliant person.

There's a really good feature on him in last month's FourFourTwo magazine.

He often falls just behind Pele and Maradonna in people's estimations. The more technically gifted players often get more addulation, but the off the ball stuff is just as important. A quick google tells me he scored 216 goals in 282 matches for Real too. Unreal! Would have been amazing to see him in action.

I made it my mission to see zidane play before he retired as I thought he's the best player there'd likely be during my lifetime . Got the chance at Juve v Real in the champs league a few years ago and he was every bit as good as I'd hoped. He didn't even do that much during the game but his touch and awareness was on another level.

Incidentally, Thomas Gravesen was man of the match. He didn't give the ball away the whole 90 mins. Also, Ibrahimovich was doing some mad skills then hit the cross bar three times in a row on purpose during the warm up. What a day!

[Hugh_Jazz]

Always difficult to compare one sport against another, but here are a few names:

Jack Nicklaus
Sugar Ray Robinson
Diego Maradona
Roger Federer
Don Bradman
Michael Jordan
Michael Phelps

[Stichman]

Ferenc Puskás. Or Puskás Ferenc, if you're Hungarian. What a man.