Top 10 Goal Hangers

No. 1 Filippo Inzaghi

In our eyes, "Pippo" is the ultimate goal-hanger.

Not as technically gifted as some of his team-mates, but his knack of scoring goals from loitering in and around the box is second to none, as his goal-scoring record at Atalanta, Juventus and AC Milan proved.

No. 2 Gary Lineker

Was it mere coincidence that back in 2013 when Gary Lineker appeared on the BBC programme "Who Do You Think You Are?" the programme uncovered that one of his ancestors was a poacher ? And then years later Gary was doing some poaching of his own. In front of a football goal. "Ba-dum-bum-CHING !"

No. 3 Miroslav Klose

There was a collective sigh of despair at The Goalhanger HQ when Klose scored a 23rd minute goal against Brazil on the 8th of July 2014. Not because it had put Germany 2:0 up against the beleaguered hosts, but because it had knocked the great Ronaldo off his perch as the World Cup's record goal scorer - an incredible 16th goal in the sport's ultimate competition.

And whilst it was disappointing to see one of our favourite players lose his record, one has to sit back and admire the feat from one of the great penalty-box players of the modern era.

Klose's record at 1.FC Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Lazio wasn't too bad either, consistently finding the net over a career spanning more than 15 years at the top level.

No. 4 Emilio Butragueno

Emilio Butragueno was a legend at Real Madrid during his spell at the Bernabeu in the 1980's and 1990's, where he knocked in 123 goals in 343 games4.

The Spaniard was aptly nicknamed The Vulture (El Buitre), for feeding off the scraps in front of goal and pouncing on anything that moved. Probably.

No. 5 Ian Rush

Regarded as one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, Rush's goals during the clubs hey-day of the 1980's made him a household name in British football and earned him a big money transfer to Italian giants Juventus in 1986, to try his hand at a bit of Serie A goal-hanging. Things didn't work out too well in Turin though, the tighter Italian defences meant there were less chances in the box, and Rush returned to Liverpool having scored only 7 goals. However, his time in Italy did result in one of the great footballing quotes, as it was often reported that he'd said of his time there... "It's like living in a foreign country." (although to be fair Rush later claimed this was a joke quote made up by that top prankster Kenny Dalglish).

Whilst he didn't prove quite as prolific during his second spell at Anfield, Ian Rush will go down in history as one of the great strikers of the 1980's and 1990's.

No. 6 Gabriel Batistuta

Prolific Argentinian striker who made his name at Fiorentina in the 1990's, Batistuta's incredible 168 goals in 269 matches earning him the nickname Batigol. His strike rate of 56 goals in 78 appearances made him the highest scorer at the time for the Argentinian national team.

Although a high percentage of his goals came from close proximity to the goalmouth, Batistuta did have a good all-round game, with a decent level of skill, quick turn and obviously for a top goal-hanger, he had a quality finish.

No. 7 Paolo Rossi

Not the archetypal goal-hanger in that he actually started out his footballing career as a winger. However, once he moved into a more central position Paolo Rossi soon learnt that he could grab goals galore and make a top career by poking in goals left, right and centre from inside the 18-yard box.

Rossi was best known for his time at Juventus between 1981 and 1985, a period that would also see him win the World Cup with Italy in 1982. He won the Golden Boot for the tournament's top scorer and also opened the scoring in the final in classic goal-poacher fashion with a stooping close-range header from Claudio Gentile's bouncing cross from the right wing.

No. 8 Gunnar Nordahl

Gunnar Nordahl should almost be considered as the Grandaddy of goal-hanging.

The Swede's size and pace made him a natural striker back in the 40's and 50's. The power and accuracy of his finishing, as well as his knack of being in the right place at the right time (usually in front of goal), made him one of the game's finest.

His 210 goals in 257 games at AC Milan make him one of Sweden's greatest footballing exports.

No. 9 Fred

He might not be up to the calibre of some of the other names in this list, but no-one can deny that Fred certainly liked to hang around the goal-mouth. You only needed to have witnessed his sheer lack of movement for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup to realise that this was a guy intent on making a top ten list of goal-hangers.

Shame he didn't score some more goals though in that particular competition...

No. 10 Pauleta

The least well known of our goal-hangers, Portuguese goal-poacher Pauleta's achievements in this particular footballing art shouldn't be overlooked.

A fine career of tap-ins from 1998 to 2006 at Deportivo La Coruña, Bordeaux and PSG, along with a fantastic record of 47 goals in 88 appearances for the national team, many from close range, give him a well-deserved place in the top 10 in our opinion.

Best of the Rest...

Honourable mentions to a few that were suggested but didn't quite make our list:

Gerd Muller, Denis Law, Tony Cottee, Robbie Fowler and the legendary Mickey Quinn.