The cradle of football! It is a phrase used when referring to the context of football in England. And they hold themselves to it, even though some disagree with it, but we have to admit that football, as we know it today, started right in England in the middle of the 19th century.

Today they have the strongest league in the world, they have taken over that precedence in the last fifteen years, or we can say that they have regained it.

The best players on the planet play in the Premier League, and it is often said that if someone wants to prove that he is among the best in the world, he must play in England and prove himself right there, in the stadiums where it all started.

Maybe they didn’t have the results and successes that prove that they are the birthplace of football because we will all admit that one world championship title (and a controversial one) and three third places at the European Championships (1968 and 1996) are too few for the cradle of football. Still, it cannot be denied that they have produced some of the best players in the history of world football.

Harry Kane

 

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Kane is a unique product of 21st-century football, proof pointing to how much football as a game has evolved. Recently he became England’s top goal scorer of all time. Calmness in execution, especially in situations where he comes “one on one” with the goalkeeper, and when you add to all that and the use of his weaker leg – he is a striker with excellent characteristics, without a doubt.

Harry Kane has an exceptional overview of the game and a technique that any striker could only wish for. His passes are precise “to the millimetre.” The target is often Son Hyung-Min, with whom he has the best cooperation in Tottenham. Kane has grown into a top striker, one of the 4-5 best in his position in the world, a true leader, the captain of Tottenham, and the leader of the national team that played in the final of the EURO Cup a few years ago and has the potential to finally realize that slogan of the fans “It’s coming home.”

Read: British players with the most Champions League titles

Gary Lineker

 

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Today’s younger generations may know him as a television commentator, but in his time, he was considered one of the best strikers in the world. Older football fans in England can still say today: “When a goal was needed, Lineker was there.”

He started in Leicester, then through Everton, he ended up in the famous Barcelona, where he played for three years, returned to the Island, but to Tottenham, and ended his career in Nagoya. The only thing missing in his career were trophies. He only won the FA Cup and the Cup Winners’ Cup.

Bobby Charlton

A true synonym and symbol for English football. Even if you are now, say, 20-odd years old and follow football, if you think of England, there is a good chance that an image of a head with hair thrown over your head in a jersey will appear in your head. The man looked at least 45 in his prime. But that’s why on the field, he was his team’s best player at every moment.

At least that’s what the stories about him say. He was the record holder for the number of appearances for the national team (106) and the record holder for the number of goals scored (49), and the record holder for the number of appearances for Manchester United (606/109 goals), which is why he is part of the famous “Holy Trinity” statue placed in front of “Old Trafford” which, along with him, also consists of Matt Buzby and Denis Law.

He scored three goals in England’s only campaign for the world title in 1966, and the same year, he received the Golden Ball for the best player on the planet, and he is the only Englishman to do so. There is nothing much to talk about – a legend.

Alan Shearer

 

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For many, one of the best strikers in the history of this sport. He made his senior football debut in 1988 for Southampton. Only 15 days after the first match, he scored a hat-trick against Arsenal. After “Saints,” he moved to Blackburn Rovers, from whose ranks he became a national team player.

Read: Longest serving England managers in history

In the 1994/95 season with Rovers, he won the Premier League title and played in the Champions League the following season. In 1996, Manchester United tried to bring him for the second time, but he still went to Newcastle, where he rewrote history. In 2001/02, he played in the Champions League with them, and the following year was their most successful in the Premier League. However, before entering the Champions League, they were stopped by Partizan. In 303 games in “black and white,” he scored 148 goals.

Michael Owen

 

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One of the best strikers from England started his career in Liverpool in 1997. In his first season, he became the top scorer in the Premier League and thus showed his talent. He stayed with the “Reds” for eight years, after which he moved to Real Madrid.

He returned to England just a year after playing in Spain when he signed for Newcastle United. After that, Owen agreed to defend the colours of Manchester United, the great rival of his first club. With the “Red Devils,” he also won the championship title and ended his career at Stoke City.