10 most magically gifted players of all time

#8 Andres Iniesta

Only three people clad in Barcelona Blaugrana have ever been applauded by the faithful at Real Madrid. As you may have inferred from the fact that I’ve mentioned it here, Iniesta is one of them (the other two come a little later down in the list – #2, and #1, to be specific.

Floating along the ground, the angelic Spaniard has the most amazing dribbling ability – impossible to get the ball off, he uses his underrated acceleration and unmatched footballing brain to find spaces and more importantly to get either himself or the ball into said spaces. His greatest gift is that he appears to be an illusion, an ethereal presence who makes an impact in the most substantial manner on the pitch.

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#7 Ronaldo

No, not that one.

Ronaldo Nazario de Lima – it feels strange to have to use his surname to differentiate him for Cristiano, but then again CR7 is such a magnificent player – was the complete striker. He had everything you could ask for. There was the ball control and the impossibly fast feet to pull off those ankle-breaking elasticos and ego-bruising nutmegs, the power to bulldoze his way past defenders, the finishing ability that meant he never missed a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

He was insultingly direct, barreling right at entire defences, throwing them into confusion and slipping through the gaps this created like a thief disappearing into the shadows. His goals were the kind that would have you squealing with delight, the kind of goals that no one else could possibly even have thought of scoring,

And he made it look oh! so easy