Five players from previous eras who could have broken the Messi-Ronaldo dominance

1970s Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff is the greatest Dutch player in history

The most famous exponent of the 'total football' philosophy introduced by the Dutch team of the 1970s under the management of Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff is the greatest Dutch player and one of the greatest players of all time.

Beginning his career with his hometown club Ajax Amsterdam, Cruyff helped the Dutch club achieve numerous success, including winning the European Cup on three consecutive occasions between 1971 and 1973. He continued his incredible performance after his world record transfer to Spain with Barcelona and was the first player to win the Ballon d'Or on three occasions (1971, 1973 and 1974).

A proponent of developmental football, Johan Cruyff had an extremely important influence on the strong academy programs at Ajax and Barcelona where some of the brightest young football talents in the world are produced, and his legacy influenced future legendary coaches such as Pep Guardiola, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Ariggo Sacchi, and players like Xavi and Iniesta.

He is widely considered to be one of the most influential figures in football history, due to the lasting impacts of both his playing and coaching careers. He has a move named after him the 'Cruyff Turn' which he introduced at the 1974 World Cup, and the success of the Spanish and Barcelona teams from 2008-2012 was as a result of the foundations he laid during his time as Barcelona coach in the 1990s.

He is highly revered by former players, fans and journalists and is a member of several all-time greatest teams, and would undoubtedly have challenged the Messi/Ronaldo duopoly for the best player in the world awards were he in this generation.