Modern striking greats of European football

The centre forward, number nine or big man is the forward that will lead the line against the opposition’s defence. Traditionally, the centre forward will battle against the centre back, imposing his physical presence to help his team. The main objective of the centre forward is to score the goals to win the game for his team.

In the modern game, there will often be a centre forward playing alongside a more prolific striker. This tactic has been used by teams in the past deploying a big target man to play with a smaller, quicker striker. The partnership of Heskey and Owen or Crouch and Defoe shows this tactic perfectly.

Here is the list of great centre farward who played the game in modern era, i selected who have score 300+ goals, so you can call it a 300 club.

Alan Shearer

Appearances: 807
Goals: 422
Goals per game: 0.52

Henrik Larsson

Appearances: 801
Goals: 415
Goals per game: 0.52

Ronaldo

Appearances: 548*
Goals: 381*
Goals per game: 0.70

RAUL BLANCO

Appearances: 798*
Goals: 358*
Goals per game: 0.44

R. van Nistelrooy

Appearances: 545*
Goals: 348*
Goals per game: 0.67

Gabrial batistuta

Appearances: 495
Goals: 302
Goals per game: 0.61

Others who can be considered as exceptional striking talents but havnt made it to 300 carear goals are following. Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry (currently on 296), Michael Owen and more haven't made it and most are unlikely to do so. There are even those with years ahead of them, such as David Villa, Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto'o, Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic who may be hard-pressed to hit the 300 mark before they hang up their boots. Such a milestone at the highest level is the hallmark of a world class striker.