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George Best was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. In 1968 he won the European Cup with United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. He is described by the national team's governing body, the Irish Football Association, as the "greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland".
Born and brought up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Best began his club career in England with Manchester United, who had spotted his talent at the age of 15. He went on to see success with United, scoring 179 goals from 470 appearances over 11 years. His playing style combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders. Best unexpectedly quit United relatively early in 1974 at age 27, but returned to football for a number of clubs around the world in short spells, until finally retiring in 1983, age 37. In international football, he was an automatic choice when fit, being capped 37 times and scoring nine goals from 1964 to 1977, although the team's performance never allowed his talent to be displayed in the finals of a European Championship or World Cup.
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