Ranking the Top 25 Players in Serie A League HistoryBY SAM LOPRESTI (FEATURED COLUMNIST) ON MAY 1, 2013
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Serie A is one of the most storied leagues in world soccer. Think of some of the most storied clubs in the world and names like Juventus, AC Milan, Inter, and Roma come to mind.
The league, especially in its heyday, has had its share of incredible players. To parse the list of legends that have trod on Italian fields to a list of 25 is a thankless task, but it's one that I've tasked myself with the last few days.
The men on this list have left an indelible mark on the history of the beautiful game in Italy. Some are prolific scorers, others are bone-crunching defenders or the most creative of midfielders.
So who are the best men ever to play in Serie A? Let's take a look at the many golden names on the list.

NextAntonio Di Natale

Marco Luzzani/Getty Images
Empoli 2002-2004
Udinese 2004-Present
Udinese captain Di Natale doesn't look at first glance like a player who belongs on this list, but his prolific scoring sets him in a class apart from others.
After spending the formative years of his career in lower divisions both with his parent club and on loan, Empoli finally broke into the top flight in 2002, and Di Natale has stayed ever since thanks to a move to Udinese in 2004.
In only 11 top-flight seasons, Di Natale has scored 171 goals, an average of 15.5 per season. He was capocannoniere in 2009-10 and '10-11, and his play inspired a less talented Udinese team to rise to the qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League each of the last two seasons.
At age 35 he's showing no signs of slowing down, having netted 18 times in Serie A this year. After having toyed with retirement after the death of teammate Piermario Morosini last year, it looks like he will be playing at a high level for the next few years.

NextMichel Platini
Juventus 1982-1987
Michel Platini's career in Serie A was brief when compared to the rest of his illustrious playing days, but the midfielder, known for his prolific scoring, was an integral part of the Juventus teams that reached a pair of European Cup finals, winning one in 1985. Platini scored the only goal of the match, which was played in the shadow of the Heysel disaster. He also won a pair of league titles and one Coppa Italia in his time with Italy's most storied club.
He won three consecutive ballons d'or during his time with Juve, and despite playing in the midfield rather than as a true striker, Platini became one of only two men to claim the title of capocannoniere for three years running.
Platini gave Juve the final piece it needed for their run of success in the mid-80s, and despite his brief stay, definitely stamped a deep mark on Italian soccer.

NextRoberto Donadoni

Atalanta 1982-1986
Milan 1986-1996, 1997-1999
An attacking midfielder with great pace and technique, Donadoni was a key cog in the Milan team of the 80s and 90s that won five league titles, three European titles, three UEFA Supercups and two Intercontinental Cups. After a stint as one of the pioneers of MLS in the United States, he returned to his old club and won a sixth scudetto before retiring.
A facilitator rather than a scorer, Donadoni only scored 18 times for Milan and five times in 63 games for the national team. Still, his blistering pace down the right-hand side pulled defenses apart and set up for the team's strike force to finish off the chances he created.

NextLuigi Riva

Cagliari 1964-1976
Gigi Riva is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Italian national team. He scored 35 times in a blue shirt, and pegged 169 goals in the red and blue of Cagliari, 156 of them in the top flight.
He was capocannoniere three times in his career, dueling with Pierino Prati and Roberto Boninsenga for the top slots in the scoring chart.
Loyal to the Sardinian team his entire career, he turned down a move to Juventus in his prime in order to stay with the team, with which he won a scudetto in 1969-70 after finishing as runners up the previous year.
Riva had a powerful left foot and a soft touch. This combined with his pace allowed him to run rampant behind defenses, and he added to his goal tally with his impressive ability to score free kicks. He is another that one must wonder how much more he could have been if he had not been ravaged by injuries.

Silvio Piola

Pro Vercelli 1929-1934
Lazio 1934-1943
Torino 1944
Juventus 1945-1947
Novara 1947-54
Silvio Piola is the greatest scorer in Serie A history. He retired in 1954 with a total of 274 goals. Only two players have even come within 50 of that mark. He is the only player in history to be the all-time Serie A top scorer for three different teams (Vercelli, Lazio, and Novara).
Piola was capocannoniere twice, but he is the rare player on this list never to have won a title. He came close, finishing as runner up in 1936-37 with Lazio and in both of his seasons with Juventus.
It's impossible to tell what Piola's career would have been like if it had not been for the disruption of World War II, especially on the international stage. But both his longevity (25 years of high-level play) and his preposterous scoring numbers rank him amongst some of the best players Italy has ever produced.

Zinedine Zidane

Juventus 1996-2001
Another transcendent Frenchman, Zidane sparkled in his five seasons with Juventus, reaching the Champions League final twice (both losses), winning a pair of league titles, an Intercontinental Cup, two Serie A Foreign Player of the Year awards and a Serie A Player of the Year award.
Zidane's wizardry in the midfield was deadly when combined with the striking capability of the likes of Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet.
Like Platini, Zidane's stay in Serie A was brief, but for those five seasons it could certainly be said that one of the world's best was playing in Italy.

Gunnar Nordahl

AC Milan 1949-1956
Roma 1956-1958
One of the best players in Swedish history, Gunnar Nordahl played for 10 years in his native land before arriving at Milan, where he would play for seven-and-a-half years and score a ridiculous 210 goals in that span. Added to the 15 he scored for Roma at the end of his career, Nordahl's tally of 225 in 291 appearances is still good for third all-time in league history and the leader for foreign players.
During his time at Milan he won a record fivecapocannoniere titles as the league's top scorer, including consecutive years of 35 and 34 goals in 1949-50 and '50-51. He also holds the distinction as the most efficient scorer in league history, scoring at a .77 goals per game clip over his ten years in the country.
His 35-goal year in '49-50 is the second highest total of all time, missing the record by a single strike. It remains the highest total ever in the post-war years, and only three men have scored thirty in a season since last he achieved the feat.

Diego Maradona

Napoli 1984-1991
It's impossible to exclude from this countdown one of the two most talented men to ever play the game.
Maradona only played in Europe for 10 years out of a career that spanned 20, but the majority of that time was spent with Napoli.
He moved there at his absolute prime, for a record transfer fee of $10.48 million. While there, his wizardry led the partenopei to two league titles, a Coppa Italia, a UEFA Cup, and a Supercoppa.
He scored 81 goals in his seven years at the San Paolo, and despite some controversy surrounding him off the field, he was so influential to the side that they took the unusual step of retiring his No. 10 shirt when his career was done.

太不可思议了，竟然遗漏了巴雷西等人