This one is for soccer fans

[Habitual Perfectionist]

Yesterday, I was watching some vintage Serie A footage on video - from early 80s. Gave me the thought of starting an alltime greats XI thread here.



This is how the thread works. We all will select 11 starters and 5 substitutes for a team of 16. Here's my team. I've used a classic 1-4-4-2 formation. Others are free to use any formation they feel like.



Starters :

Goalkeeper :



Gordon Banks - Definitely the best to have ever stood under the posts. He was atheletic, had sharp reflexes and was a very safe goalie (no unnecessary acrobatics).





Defenders :



Franco Baresi & Oscar Ruggeri : These two would make a practically unbeatable central defence, thus leaving enough room for the wingers to work their runs down the line.



Andreas Brehme (Left) & Jairzinho (Right) : These two were fast, had tremendous control and were excellent passers and dribblers, thus making them my first choice for wingers in the team.





Midfielders :



Bobby Charlton & Johann Cryuff : Bobby as the bazooka and Cryuff as the magician. This is the perfect midfield attack a team can dream of.



Beckenbauer & Paolo Maldini : Both players had a good mix of defence as well as attack and could change gears according to necessity.





Forwards :



Diego Maradona : Enough said.



Roberto Baggio : Although I was tempted to include Pele here, regarded by many as the greatest ever, I decided in favour of the Divine Ponytail as he scored much higher than Pele on the versatility factor.







Substitutes :



Goal : Dino Zoff

Defence : Bobby Moore

Midfield : Lothar Matthaeus, Ruud Gullit

Forward : Pele





Picking up an alltime greats' team is no mean task. Whoever you choose, you always feel you've left someone more deserving out. The team I picked in no way infers that the players not selected are any less than the players who are here. Its just that I had a limit of 16 to choose.

[Jaszalcatraz]

I've started following soccer just 3 months ago.........i'll reply with my all-time 11 after about 12 more months.

btw Michael Owen Rulz

[Habitual Perfectionist]

Welcome back dude....are you back in town?

[asli_badmash]

In the people who are currently playing... I would say Real Madrid has a strong team right now... too bad they dont have a good record. I think they have too many good players and it is very difficult to coordinate between big names. If I was one of the best players and real madrid wre to approach me.. I wouldnt join the team.



Ideally a team with two or three stars and the rest above average players make a good combination. For example.. the Barzilian tema that won the world cup. It had few exceptional players and rest of the the team supporting amd making it happen around these players. I thought they were just too cool.



Anyway.. for me here is the people from Real-M that I watch out for



Goal :

Iker Casillas Fernández



Defender :

Salgado

Roberto Carlos - has the best left foot I have seen in a long time.



Midfielder :

Zidane - Awesome skill and a deft touch. Makes great plays.

Figo - Awesome playmaker

Solari - Good player.

Beckham - Bend it like Beckhan... what more can I say.



Forwards :

Raúl - Sensational

Morientes - Electric.

Ronaldo - Right time.. right place person. Most of his goals dont look that great but what you have to understand is that he places himself at the right place at the right time.

James Owen - One of the best players of England.



Some other good players I like to watch..



Kafu - Playmaker (Brazil)

Ronaldhino - Forward (Brazil)



My all time favs are... (spell??)



1. Pele - The black pearl. - Brazil.

2. Zenga, Roberto Baggio - Italy.

3. Franz Beckenbaur, Lothar Matthaeus - Germany

4. Maradona - Argentina

5. Johann Cryuff, Ruud Gullit - Netherland

[ycr007]

Now this is waht I call a real Soccer-Lover's delight.Altough I admit that I am not a too devoted fan of Football,i started watching Soccer in '94 when DD used to telecast the Soccer WC Quarts,Semis n Finals.Theye were held in USA that year I believe.It was really heart-rending to see the Penalty Fracas of Italy in the Final.



I also watched Fifa WC '98 & Euro 2000 where France were the deserved winners.Then they slowly aged n faded & Brazil again were world champions in 2002.



The advent of ESPN n StarSports in india heralded the Club Football mania and I used to regularly watch EPL n La Liga matches esp.those featuring ManUtd n Barca.The year 1999 was a special one for ManUtd as they won the Treble-Premier League,Champions League n FA cup.Sadly,the club is on a decline and I hope can pick itself up for this season.



Altough i'm a bit weak in the player-position nomenclature,I shall pen here my fav players.all of them are contemporary i fear.



Goal: Nigel Martyn,Iker Cassilas,Gianluigi Buffon



Defs: Roberto carlos,Fabio Cannavaro,Rio Ferdinand,Gary Neville



Mids: Luis Figo,David Beckham,Ryan Giggs,Allesandro Del Piero,Frank Lampard,Pavel Nedved



Forwards:Inzaghi,Trezeguet,Raul,Nistelrooy,Ronaldinho,Schevchenko

[Sharjeel]

Hurrah!!! I love Soccer. Jes cured myself from the disease called as CM .



Goalkeeper: The Great Dane



Defenders: Paolo Maldini, Lillian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Walter Samuel.



Mids: Ryan Giggs, Edgar Davids, Becks, Roy Keane, Zidane.



Forwards: Gabriel 'Batigol' Batistuta



Subs: Kahn, John Terry, Bergkamp, David Batty, Figo.

[CtrlAltDel]

'Keeper: Parthiv Patel



Openers: Sehwag, Ganguly



Defenders: Dravid, Tendulkar



Mid: Laxman, Kaif



Attackers: Pathan, Zaheer, Kumble, Harbhajan



substitutes: Yuvraj, Murali Karthik, Rohan.G

[marko]

Hurrah!!! I love Soccer. Jes cured myself from the disease called as CM .

Goalkeeper: The Great Dane

Defenders: Paolo Maldini, Lillian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Walter Samuel.

Mids: Ryan Giggs, Edgar Davids, Becks, Roy Keane, Zidane.

Forwards: Gabriel 'Batigol' Batistuta

Subs: Kahn, John Terry, Bergkamp, David Batty, Figo.

tnx Sharjeel for including an Irishman. However, David Batty?(even as a sub) is that for comedy value?

[ycr007]

'Keeper: Parthiv Patel

Expect a Record Score from the opposition.

Openers: Sehwag, Ganguly

Expect the Rival Goalie to create a new record for Highest No. of Goalkicks

Defenders: Dravid, Tendulkar

One with Attacking Mentality,other with Stubborn Defence-Both Cancel out

Mid: Laxman, Kaif

On song today,gone tomorrow.

Attackers: Pathan, Zaheer, Kumble, Harbhajan

Record Red Cards given out by the Ref.

substitutes: Yuvraj, Murali Karthik, Rohan.G

Miserly Bench strength...This team May win their match against the Papua New Guinea Tribal XI.

[Habitual Perfectionist]

Resurrecting this again....come on...there has to be a bigger soccer following around. This time around, I'll put up a team of contemporary players.



Goal : Jerzy Dudek



Defenders : Rio Ferdinand, Cannavaro



Wingers : Zenden, Roberto Carlos



Midfield : Nedved, Ballack, Giggs, Pires



Strikers : Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldinho





Substitutes : Kahn, Jaap Stam, Beckham, Totti, Henry

[The Jackal]

Substitutes : Kahn, Jaap Stam, Beckham, Totti, Henry

You kept Kahn as an extra!!!!!!!!!!!

[Habitual Perfectionist]

Yes...he made the roster only because of his extraordinary knack of holding the team together.

[The Jackal]

Yes...he made the roster only because of his extraordinary knack of holding the team together.

Yeah well I love his agressive atitude.Its awesome.

[CtrlAltDel]

yeh "Khan" kaunse desh ka hai?

[Sachin]

Goalie - Oliver Kahn ( no doubt abt it)



Defenders- Pablo Maldini(abs classic),ferdinand,oscar ruggeri,cafu



Midfielders - Beckenbaur,Bobby Charlton, Roberto Carlos(jus for his free kicks).



Forwards - Pele, Francisco Totti,Maradona(yes 3 forwards with pele playin a lill bit bak)

[Reality,,its here.Accept it.]

Well one thing i noticed here is that people changed the positions of a lot of players who were famous in some specific positions. I would like to imagine them in those positions only coz we know about their potential in thos specific positions.

so here goes my XI along with the substitutes in brackets.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goalkeeper: Lev Yasin, heard too much about him but never seen any plays of his.{Peter Schmeichel}.



Defence: Paolo Maldini(central),Franz Beckenbauer( he invented the term 'libero' the attacking defender).{ Alessandro Nesta, Jap Stam }



Fullbacks: Roberto Carlos(L), Lillian Thuram(R).



Midfield: Diego Maradona, Zinadine Zidane, Johan Cruyff.{Michel Platini}



Strikers: Pele (Edson Arantes do Nascimento), Ferenc Pushkas, Eusebio. {Alferdo di stefano}

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thats the best XI i could think of.



I prefer the 1-4-3-3 play position.



And since i had only 5 subs, i opted for 1 goalkeeper, 2 defenders, 1 midfielder and 1 striker.



Johan Cruyff was in the Holland team that played Total Football, so I think he can overlap into an striker if necessary. All my other midfielders, apart from being excellent playmakers, are capable of scoring. and they need no references.



The defenders in the team are two of the legends in their positions. Paolo Maldini is a true defender in the mould of solid italian defence,stubborn and sticks to his task,hence my central defender. Most people do not realise that Franz Beckenbauer was a defender who was at liberity to play the whole field,hence 'the libero'.



The fullbacks operate the wings and support the defence,midfield and strikers whenever necessary and i can think of only two people with the skill and stamina to perform that burdensome task. Therefore no subs here, if one gets injured then , the fullbacks play regular defence. Rightback, Leftback and Centerback with a Libero. The two subs here are solid defenders and dependable.( My knowledge of defenders is limited bcoz they are the least talked about guys with the most important job and not many are idolised.)



Among the strikers, these are the all time greats and their records speak for them, and I can just imagine what a forward line would be like with them playing in tandem.



I realise i left out some very good player but 16 is too small a number.

The notables I would have liked to have in my team are --

Bobby Charlton.

Garrincha.

Ronaldo.(best forward of the present times)

Stanley Matthews.

and others i cant remember..

[Habitual Perfectionist]

Good going folks.



Just a small correction on your post there Reality....



Eusebio and Alfredo Di Stefano are two different players. Eusebio was a portuguese forward who was a star during the 60's. He was instrumental in the dream run of the portuguese team during the 68 world cup.



Di Stefano was a curious case. One of the the best players of all time, he was an Argentine who later on, became an Spanish citizen. Due to this dual nationality, he never got a chance to play in the WC. He dominated the international scene playing for Spain and Argentina and it was during his time that Real Madrid won the European Championship (Thats what the Champions League was called then) a record 7 times in succession.



Both of them are legends of the game anyway.





CAD....ye "Khan" germany se hai.

[The Jackal]

yeh "Khan" kaunse desh ka hai?

He is the goal keeper for Germany.Hes the best there is.

[Reality,,its here.Accept it.]

Good going folks.

Just a small correction on your post there Reality....

Eusebio and Alfredo Di Stefano are two different players.

> I know they are different. Alfredo di stefano in the brackets means he is a sub. by the way Alfredo played for Argentina,Columbia and Spain..

[Habitual Perfectionist]

I'm sorry....got confused due to the fact that you had Edson Arantes di Nascimento written in braces too.

[Reality,,its here.Accept it.]

I'm sorry....got confused due to the fact that you had Edson Arantes di Nascimento written in braces too.

> Yeah i know ,, but i used different types of brackets and i was consistent in the usage of that particular kind for the subs. The plain brackets were used when i wrote something about a particular player.

[akhilis2cool]

I follow soccer only when a major tournament is on. like the euro cup....so i cant comment much on it.



P.S. but i can improve my post count

[Sharjeel]

tnx Sharjeel for including an Irishman.

That Legend deserves to be on the Dream Team of every footie.

However, David Batty?(even as a sub) is that for comedy value?

No. I like him a lot. I think a lot of people like him.

Goalkeeper: Lev Yasin.

One of the best!

Defence: Paolo Maldini(central)

He be better on the left. Tony Adams was good.

Fullbacks: Roberto Carlos(L), Lillian Thuram(R).

Carlos is over-rated. Cole is better as a defender.

Midfield: Diego Maradona, Zinadine Zidane, Johan Cruyff.{Michel Platini}

Wat? No Holding Mids? You kin only score goals if your star midfielers get some time on the ball. You should put a Defensive mid like Keane or Vieira tuh win the ball.

[Reality,,its here.Accept it.]

Defence: Paolo Maldini(central)

He be better on the left. Tony Adams was good.

Paolo Maldini with his height can be good in the central position. And he rarely leaves his station.

Fullbacks: Roberto Carlos(L), Lillian Thuram(R).

Carlos is over-rated. Cole is better as a defender.

I stick with Carlos. I still vividly remember Cole tripping over himself when Ronaldinho did his triple stepover in the worldcup. I was laughing myself to death at that.

Midfield: Diego Maradona, Zinadine Zidane, Johan Cruyff.{Michel Platini}

Wat? No Holding Mids? You kin only score goals if your star midfielers get some time on the ball. You should put a Defensive mid like Keane or Vieira tuh win the ball.

> I go by the Real Madrid way of playing soccer, if u score- we score more..

And you know that I have 'Lev Yasin' in the goal, cant see anyone scoring past him. He is supposed to have stopped 150 penalties shots in his career,imagine that.

[Sharjeel]

Paolo Maldini with his height can be good in the central position. And he rarely leaves his station.

Yes, but he still plays on the left most of the time at Milan.

I stick with Carlos. I still vividly remember Cole tripping over himself when Ronaldinho did his triple stepover in the worldcup. I was laughing myself to death at that.

That was hilarious, agreed. But I still feel that there are many defenders who defend better than Carlos. He is more of an attacker than a defender and he is generally very hopelessly out of place when the rivals attack the Madrid goal.

> I go by the Real Madrid way of playing soccer, if u score- we score more..
And you know that I have 'Lev Yasin' in the goal, cant see anyone scoring past him. He is supposed to have stopped 150 penalties shots in his career,imagine that.

That is not the point. Mids are there to win the ball, and immediately pass it to someone who is in an atacking (or less vulnerable) position. This was Maradona's style of playing, if you watch his matches carefully. He would never linger on the ball. He would instantly pass it to somebody else, then get it back and then again instantly pass it to somebody else. He was famous for his driblling in the public, but his real talent lay in his ball distribution and vision. Sort of what Zidane and Beckam (to a lesser extent) do.