World football boasts sharplydefined eras in terms of those great players who mark the game with their genius, their achievements and an idiosyncratic creativity which propels it in new directions. The post-war era of the1950s and early 1960s points up Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stefano, Pele through into the1970s, quickly succeeded by the duopoly of Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer.
Beckenbauer died this past January, Cruyff in 2016. Their names will always be linked not only in delighting a decade, but through innovative football which opened eyes to new