tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51622500602669017162024-03-18T03:49:29.543-07:00Soccer, football or whateverI am Lincoln W Chan from Hong Kong also aka Excapegoat at bigsoccer. This blog is mainly about all-time teams. Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.comBlogger467125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-37198729642937073382023-12-15T23:41:00.000-08:002024-01-24T00:18:00.995-08:00British Jamaican All_Time Greatest Team<div><p> <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: times;"><div><span><span>His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1PMnOUbvt6xc3KlzI54L6jaATyU5O1vqSEhFaxpU-lu7gnOvFJc34T6n1KuaDtTNiXqvc7UyaYzqWfgTBAf0gsrr9H303swNsBFltj8xzEZPod1fiHRvoMIrxu7h3ZFgyFxYY2QNxpHLZCAvIMxNDLkJMROlcNRkMH3QvwPkElcmfD_vaHs-YbmjnNaS/s808/188b4039002dd8a29d44dc88a0ef79cf.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1PMnOUbvt6xc3KlzI54L6jaATyU5O1vqSEhFaxpU-lu7gnOvFJc34T6n1KuaDtTNiXqvc7UyaYzqWfgTBAf0gsrr9H303swNsBFltj8xzEZPod1fiHRvoMIrxu7h3ZFgyFxYY2QNxpHLZCAvIMxNDLkJMROlcNRkMH3QvwPkElcmfD_vaHs-YbmjnNaS/w316-h400/188b4039002dd8a29d44dc88a0ef79cf.jpeg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lurher Blissett and John Barnes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div></div></span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/10/england-all-time-23-member-team.html">England</a>, </span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/scotland-all-time-23-member-team.html">Scotland</a>, </span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/wales.html">Wales</a>,</span></span><br /><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/irelandnorthern-ireland-combined.html">Ireland/Northern Ireland combined team</a>,</span></span><br /><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/01/republic-of-ireland.html">Ireland</a>, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/01/northern-ireland.html">Northern Ireland</a>,</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/united-kingdom.html">United Kingdom</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/12/jamaica.html">Jamaica International</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/caribbean-football-union.html">Caribbean Countries</a>.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/black-english.html">Black Players who played for England</a><span> </span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><span><span>This is my selection of All-Time Team for British Jamaicans. All British-born Jamaican players are qualified to be on this fantasy team as well as any England internationals are Jamaicans. </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The number 23 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the World Cup Finals.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div><br /></div></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Since the start of the 20th century, Jamaicans have been present in the UK. In the 1950s, Britain faced a struggling economy and significant labor shortages. Consequently, the British government turned to its overseas colonies for assistance and actively encouraged migration to fill the numerous job vacancies. Hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans made their way to the United Kingdom. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times;">In the realm of football, Viv Anderson holds the distinction of being the first black player to represent England. David James, in turn, became England's first black goalkeeper, while John Barnes holds the record for the highest number of appearances by an English Jamaican in the England national football team. It is noteworthy that Jamaica achieved a significant milestone by qualifying for the 1998 World Cup Finals in France. This success story was made possible by a combination of a golden generation of homegrown talents and the contributions of British Jamaican footballers in the English Premier League. Inspired by this captivating history, I have written a blog highlighting the role of the </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/british-jamaicans-turned-jamaica-around.html">British-Jamaicans on Jamaica's 1998 World Cup team</a>. </span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6cNi8vwl2bI5GnVGrzM8QR3Q6PJknvOCwP695RDtrXum7RRbShhRgfS32MTrXXpd5f7Hya83Wfb5ao1trEXdEgiyfjtatVoXnjgDdbKmWUJyJD0CEx9Urv7xFIIPpag3cah1KRD6pHjFH3ADy66rq_tPKjFAoccHt99mXm0vX0VaZdvmk3wbJKu6WoSLo/s451/%E8%9E%A2%E5%B9%95%E6%93%B7%E5%8F%96%E7%95%AB%E9%9D%A2%202023-12-16%20144006.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="451" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6cNi8vwl2bI5GnVGrzM8QR3Q6PJknvOCwP695RDtrXum7RRbShhRgfS32MTrXXpd5f7Hya83Wfb5ao1trEXdEgiyfjtatVoXnjgDdbKmWUJyJD0CEx9Urv7xFIIPpag3cah1KRD6pHjFH3ADy66rq_tPKjFAoccHt99mXm0vX0VaZdvmk3wbJKu6WoSLo/w400-h288/%E8%9E%A2%E5%B9%95%E6%93%B7%E5%8F%96%E7%95%AB%E9%9D%A2%202023-12-16%20144006.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Kalvin Philips and Raheem Sterling</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><b><u>Team</u></b><br /></span><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_James_(footballer)" style="text-align: left;">David James</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">At the time of writing, David James is the third all-time Premier league appearance record holder. He starred for Liverpool as one of the "Spice Boys". However, his reputation suffered after a series of blunders, earning the nickname of "Calamity James". He also played for Aston Villa, West Ham United, Manchester City and Portsmouth. He picked up 53 caps for England between 1997 and 2010. He was the starting keeper at the European Champions in 2004 and the World Cup Finals in 2010. He was England's first Black international goalkeeper.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-0T1k6PvHhubjbzci0ZND1mJK013DFQNvnm8d_FM0ikYekDKadJVstchXK0B_1uEj7uq_H4080AtTs1GD0T1xBDnbqVLBRCX73pOzCdiW09J217kcMfClk99Jn5olrdGYSgawPZjtJIz3b1Q1_jn-1Cn1Nir8GYRov0kOBYsjQcmwl2l9C0rLzXcN7G2/s872/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.04.27%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="872" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-0T1k6PvHhubjbzci0ZND1mJK013DFQNvnm8d_FM0ikYekDKadJVstchXK0B_1uEj7uq_H4080AtTs1GD0T1xBDnbqVLBRCX73pOzCdiW09J217kcMfClk99Jn5olrdGYSgawPZjtJIz3b1Q1_jn-1Cn1Nir8GYRov0kOBYsjQcmwl2l9C0rLzXcN7G2/w400-h283/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.04.27%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">David James</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">GK: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Williams_(footballer,_born_1961)" style="font-family: times;">Alex Williams</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Alex Williams made 125 league appearance for Manchester City in 1980's. He helped City to win promotion out of the Second Division in 1984–85. He made the PFA Team of the Year for Division 2 in 1984-1985. He also played for Port Vale. However, he was forced into early retirement in September 1987 due to a recurring back injury. He won the 1980 UEFA European Under-18 Championship and 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with England. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Richardson_(footballer)">Derek Richardson</a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Richardson began with Chelsea, but never played a game for them. From 1976 to 1979, he played about 30 games with QPR which then in the top tier, making him the first Black goalkeeper since Arthur Wharton to play in that level. He later played for Sheffield United, and Coventry City. He also played at international level for England at youth and semi-professional. In 1979, he played in a benefit match for West Bromwich Albion player Len Cantello, that saw a team of white players play against a team of black players.</span></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viv_Anderson">Viv Anderson</a> </span></span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1978, Viv Anderson became the first Black player to play for the English senior national team. He would earn 30 caps between 1978 and 1988. He was on two World Cup team: 1982 and 1986, and two European Championship team: 1980 and 1988. He was a part of Brian Clough's Nottingham Forrest team that won back-to-back European Cup in 1979 and 1980. He also played for Arsenal, Manchester United and and Sheffield Wednesday. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjjVoeI8bLHENsJ8isbmkrTNvztxVngJf5XFGIcsL_5FaASmNdm96V_nUTn_3Hi2lkNkNX68E9YJ18lSfBKnCuRTWk0SRk87MBkL04iRR_fhVHjuGJgbuvpyGEP3B2MEqg9B6xfDVs_IRZmgi8SHpILGHZF_EsEksjB069mP1dkgYKwiTJnrUdufgS3TA/s1174/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%201.07.32%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="1174" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjjVoeI8bLHENsJ8isbmkrTNvztxVngJf5XFGIcsL_5FaASmNdm96V_nUTn_3Hi2lkNkNX68E9YJ18lSfBKnCuRTWk0SRk87MBkL04iRR_fhVHjuGJgbuvpyGEP3B2MEqg9B6xfDVs_IRZmgi8SHpILGHZF_EsEksjB069mP1dkgYKwiTJnrUdufgS3TA/w400-h300/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%201.07.32%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Viv Anderson</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Walker">Kyle Walker</a> </span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Kyle Walker started with boyhood club Sheffield United and made his name with Tottenham Hotspurs after loan spells with Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa. In 2017, he joined Manchester City for one of the most expensive fees. He won the treble in 2023. At the time of writing, he has over 81 caps. He went to the European Championship in 2016 and 2020 and the World Cup Finals in 2018 and 2022.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Campbell">Sol Campbell</a> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sol Campbell was one of the greatest English defenders. He was a member of Arsenal's "Invincibles" that went undefeated in 2003-2004 season. At the club level, he spent 9 seasons for Tottenham Hotspurs and served as its captain before moving to its rival Arsenal on a free transfer that sparked a controversy. He later played for Portsmouth. For England, he earned 73 caps in 11 years. He went to three World Cup Finals: 1998, 2002 and 2006.</span></span></div><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDf4NLf3VdP9BBqoQxfaJRAmRf2Dcc1od4mncxCN4UIhqmc75bYjSWq49OClOK4bLIwdIkx4ewozCp23QKH5LsHu06u6GBh8u-eHFAeA1xi5TlN-LmVOERY57pPSKfSF0itY1uVXZqgN1K2ps0bXEt4zUjni3-C1XfxztdT0nr8QpkVY54rlUknODn5S_/s1160/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%2012.52.18%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="1160" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDf4NLf3VdP9BBqoQxfaJRAmRf2Dcc1od4mncxCN4UIhqmc75bYjSWq49OClOK4bLIwdIkx4ewozCp23QKH5LsHu06u6GBh8u-eHFAeA1xi5TlN-LmVOERY57pPSKfSF0itY1uVXZqgN1K2ps0bXEt4zUjni3-C1XfxztdT0nr8QpkVY54rlUknODn5S_/w400-h283/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%2012.52.18%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Sol Campbell</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Smalling">Chris Smalling </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Smalling played his 10 seasons with Manchester United, where he won two Premiership titles at the end of Sir Alex's tenure, and an Europa League and FA Cup after Sir Alex. In 2020, he joined AS Roma, where he won the Europa Conference League. From 2011 to 2017, he was capped 31 times for England. He went to the 2014 World Cup as well as the Euro 2016. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Morgan">Wes Morgan</a> (Jamaica)</span></div></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Rejected by Notts County, Wes Morgan was playing for non-league team before being discovered by Nottingham Forest in 2002. In 2012, he moved to Leicester Town. In the 2015-2016 season, he played every minute of Leicester Town's historical Preimership winning year and also served as the team's captain. At the time of writing, he had 30 caps for Jamaica.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Des_Walker">Des Walker</a><span> </span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Des Walker played 59 times for England between 1988 and 1993. He started in all of England's games at the World Cup Finals in 1990. He was rated as one of the best defender at that Finals. For club football, he mainly played for Nottingham Forrest between 1984 and 1992, and Sheffield Wednesday between 1993 and 2001. He played one season at Sampdoria in Italy after the 1990 World Cup Finals. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">He was even named in their</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> PFA Team of Century between 1977 and 1996. </span></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVje9uy3BE4UnZg4KxhxSE8YaWJG6dI4fPCmK7eT-87Bl_ZcbJKBlKV2VWB_0dFMhboTINkleHV9XywqIueUoMgQnjnkKlZVZENrQ4_mdBdamqdWph5ax6A0JQq4_IcCzktd03Kpz17KEG1PnExOEhpqMPvFmaEFU-D1TofrJS7mecG_wg4MZAYPuGMDd/s788/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%2012.54.21%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="788" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVje9uy3BE4UnZg4KxhxSE8YaWJG6dI4fPCmK7eT-87Bl_ZcbJKBlKV2VWB_0dFMhboTINkleHV9XywqIueUoMgQnjnkKlZVZENrQ4_mdBdamqdWph5ax6A0JQq4_IcCzktd03Kpz17KEG1PnExOEhpqMPvFmaEFU-D1TofrJS7mecG_wg4MZAYPuGMDd/w400-h310/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%2012.54.21%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Des Walker<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: center;">LB/LW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_Young" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: center;">Ashley Young</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">Young started his career at Watford. In January 2007, he transferred to Aston Villa. He established himself in the first team at Villa Park and won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2009. In 2011, Young signed for Manchester United for an undisclosed fee. He has gone on to win every trophy available in English football. He also played for Everton, Inter Milan and Aston Villa. He played 39 times for England between 2007 and 2018.</span></div></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Rose_(footballer,_born_1990)">Danny Rose</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Danny Rose was a youth product with Leeds United in 2006, but never played for them. He played for Tottenham Hotspur between 2007 and 2021. He had loan spells with Watford, Peterborough United, Bristol City and Sunderland. In 2022, he joined Watford. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rose earned his first senior cap in a 3–2 victory against Germany in 2016. He played 26 times between 2016 and 2019. He played in Euro 2016 and the World Cup Finals in 2018. He was a part of the Team GB at the London Olympics.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalvin_Phillips">Kalvin Philips</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Philips made his debut with Leeds in 2015. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year for Championship in 2020. In 2022, he was transferred to Manchester City. He was a part of the team that won the treble. In 2020, he earned his first cap with England. Later, he had a starring role at the Euro 2020 after England reached the Final. He was named England's 2020–21 Men's Player of the Year.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: center;">CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Oxlade-Chamberlain" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: center;">Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain </a></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: center;">Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the son of former England international Mark Chamberlain. He made his name with Southampton. He signed for Arsenal in 2011 after a single season at the senior level. Between 2017 and 2023, he played for Liverpool, winning the 2018–19 Champions League and 2019–20 Premier League. In 2023, he joined Besiktas in Turkey. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: center;">Between 2012 and 2019, he had 35 caps. He participated at the European Championship in 2012 and the World Cup Finals in 2014.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiri9oEHk-SSJvgb8yn5sOrGpgCNscJxvLwlAwdsiLDbh8vC2B0L14n1y7zOtoN6A5VFYy35bdNzKBdBLEkfyciuP91LUjTBmHuuvIP8o3VaTjvbOMF2ZPOaLTRTm6WPog2GpPcKodaKgnsT-jj9ULZ9yjbFntMYOHq5SkS8e9k-uNZsAmEgoNV-hziTbzH/s3431/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_171eecdc-933e-11e7-a2ce-ce94682a575d.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2288" data-original-width="3431" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiri9oEHk-SSJvgb8yn5sOrGpgCNscJxvLwlAwdsiLDbh8vC2B0L14n1y7zOtoN6A5VFYy35bdNzKBdBLEkfyciuP91LUjTBmHuuvIP8o3VaTjvbOMF2ZPOaLTRTm6WPog2GpPcKodaKgnsT-jj9ULZ9yjbFntMYOHq5SkS8e9k-uNZsAmEgoNV-hziTbzH/w400-h266/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_171eecdc-933e-11e7-a2ce-ce94682a575d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruben_Loftus-Cheek">Ruben Loftus-Cheek </a></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: left;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">Ruben Loftus-Cheek began his career with Chelsea in 2014. For his first three seasons, he was mainly a backup player. In 2017, he was sent on a loan to Crystal Palace. He returned to Chelsea, and then, another loan move to Fulham in 2020. In 2023, he left Chelsea for AC Milan. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">In 2017, he made his national team debut with England. He was capped 10 times. He played a single match at the 2018 World Cup Finals.</span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">CM/AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Hill">Ricky Hill</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">From 1976 to 1989, Hill played for Luton Town where he was considered one of their best ever footballers. He helped them to their promotion to the First Division and won the League Cup. He also played in France and the United States. Between 1982 and 1986, Hill only played three times for England, but he was the fourth Black player to play for England’s Senior National team and the first British South Asian to represent England at the Senior level. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">RW/FW <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Walcott">Theo Walcott</a> </span><br style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Walcott, then 17 years old was a surpassingly named in Sven-Goran Ericsson's squad for the 2006 World Cup, despite having only made 13 appearances in senior football and none in the Premier League. He made no appearance in Germany. Fabio Capello did not take him to South Africa 2010 and an injury kept him from Brazil 2014. At the time of writing, he made 47 caps for England. Except for a loan spell, he has only played for Arsenal and Everton.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: center;">FW/RW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raheem_Sterling" style="text-align: center;">Raheem Sterling</a> </span><br style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Raheem Sterling broke into the Liverpool lineup as a 17 years old in 2012, where he became their star players until 2015. In the spring of 2015, he had a contract disputes with the club. He moved to Manchester City for 44 million pounds. He made his national team debut in 2012. He played at the World Cup Finals in 2014, and Euro 2016 and 2020. In 2019, he won the FWA Player of the Year. Liked John Barnes, he was born in Jamaica. Since 2012, he played 82 times for England.</span></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_T0ylcfmoPiOnvPxFRKS_A2E4nviuvhifz0B0CJMq3aYBzSwGqNRGyF_t6557yronm7JF9gmGrnho4fSZ5G8c2-qmq9UHytbep4ghNR8hooQ65BwnvVl98s8ZOroCENNS_6QW-KqzBfX-7mZpZ_7iUDekf7M3ULC7xOE0e-OrF7lHAbkogeyC5vlY_5LK/s806/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%201.04.22%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="806" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_T0ylcfmoPiOnvPxFRKS_A2E4nviuvhifz0B0CJMq3aYBzSwGqNRGyF_t6557yronm7JF9gmGrnho4fSZ5G8c2-qmq9UHytbep4ghNR8hooQ65BwnvVl98s8ZOroCENNS_6QW-KqzBfX-7mZpZ_7iUDekf7M3ULC7xOE0e-OrF7lHAbkogeyC5vlY_5LK/w400-h286/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%201.04.22%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Raheem Sterling</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">LW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_Cunningham" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Laurie Cunningham</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Cunnugham was considered to be the first Black star player in England and an icon for a generation of Black players in England. With Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson, they formed an all-Black attack that was known as "The Three Degrees"</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> with West Bromwich Albion in the late 1970's. </span>In 1979, he became the first British player ever to play for Real Madrid. He returned to Manchester United in 1983. He was only capped 6 times by England and was overlooked for Euro 1980, despite starring at La Liga the season before.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>LW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barnes_(footballer)">John Barnes</a><span> </span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">John Barnes was widely considered to be one of the greatest Liverpool players, where he formed one of their greatest team playing alongside Ian Rush, Peter Beardsley, John Aldridge and Ray Houghton. before joining Liverpool, he played for Watford. At Watford, he also helped them to the Final of the FA Cup in 1984. He was voted PFA Player of the Year in 1988 and FWA Player of the Year in both 1988 and 1990. He played 79 times for England, and went to two World Cup Finals.</span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xnUGvcCFmNQ/VczTLI77duI/AAAAAAAABiY/NBQlkY7q8Ik/s1600/Barnes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xnUGvcCFmNQ/VczTLI77duI/AAAAAAAABiY/NBQlkY7q8Ik/s400/Barnes.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">John Barnes</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span>ST: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Cole">Andy Cole</a></span></div><div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;">His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a British record transfer fee to sign him from Newcastle United. Cole spent six years with Manchester United and won nine trophies, including the Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in 1999. Despite of his decorated club career, he only played 15 times for England, and never in a major tournament.</span></div><div style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Leslie_(English_footballer)">Jack Leslie</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Leslie was the only black professional player in England during his time with Plymouth Argyle. Leslie enjoyed a 14–season spell with Argyle, having joined the club from Barking Town in 1921. He was called up to England in 1925 as a non-travelling reserve, but the call-up was withdrew. It has been speculated because of his skin color. He would have become the first Black player to represent England. He was born in England.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi56XpbVUsqSh-jFLBGmF1YPGpZlsEGqIC6as1z06UbHNK3DVIeEuhlA4Di6IcRpGayDWy7ua_apNIyYxnBqsGfYfz957GWuqUhJVoG-WYW-6Kl-k-pczfx7LwmMBBYNqyoJYU52XbSYLY7aBZlxA8ppoJ9wLfJxBCcldB5o9ov1CdO_NiV8axRKw6LMT42/s853/Jack%20Leslie%202.jpg" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="853" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi56XpbVUsqSh-jFLBGmF1YPGpZlsEGqIC6as1z06UbHNK3DVIeEuhlA4Di6IcRpGayDWy7ua_apNIyYxnBqsGfYfz957GWuqUhJVoG-WYW-6Kl-k-pczfx7LwmMBBYNqyoJYU52XbSYLY7aBZlxA8ppoJ9wLfJxBCcldB5o9ov1CdO_NiV8axRKw6LMT42/w400-h225/Jack%20Leslie%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Jack Leslie</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">ST: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Blissett" style="font-family: times;">Luther Blissett </a></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Born in Jamaica, Blissett is best known for his time at Watford, whom he helped win promotion from the Fourth Division to the First Division. He holds Watford's all-time records for appearances and goals, having played 503 games and scored 186 goals. He played briefly for AC Milan, where he was a cult hero. He was one of the first Black footballers to play for England and the first one to score. In total, he had 14 caps.</span></div><div style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"></span></div></div></div></div><div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Wright">Ian Wright</a> </span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Wright was a legendary striker with Arsenal. Before joining Arsenal, he was a hero with Crystal Palace. At the time of writing, he was their highest goal scorer since the War. In 1991, he joined Arsenal. He spent 7 seasons with them, winning all three domestic trophies and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1994. Despite being a top scorer in the domestic league(he scored over 20 goals every season from 1991 to 1998), he only played 33 times for England and was never selected for any of the major tournaments.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: -webkit-standard; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; widows: auto;"><tbody><tr><td><div style="margin: 0px;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eIFl3GAIqMo/VczU8Jpv49I/AAAAAAAABi0/Dhdzs7m9JsU/w400-h248/wright61-1669446.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></div></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ian Wright</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Honorable Mentions</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>Dillon Barnes, Derek Richardson, </span><span>Reece James, Kieran Tripper, Paul Parker, Frank Sinclair, </span>Adrian Mariappa, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Darryl Powell, Fitzroy Simpson, Brennan Johnson, Jaidon Anthony, Michail Antonio, Ivan Toney, <span>Darren Bent, Aaron Lennon, Mark Chamberlain, Jermaine Pennant, Darius Vassell, Paul Davis, Paul Hall, Darren Bent, Andros Townsend, Garth Crooks, Lindy Delapenha, </span>Callum Wilson, Deon Burton, </span><span>Trevor Sinclair</span><span> </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- In December, 2023, I updated </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html" style="font-family: times;">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a><span style="font-family: times;">. I realised that many Jamaican footballers and British-Jamaican footballers were overlooked. I decided to create an All-Time Team for <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/12/jamaica.html">Jamaican international players</a> and this British Jamaican team respectively at the same team. I also did a review of </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/black-english.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Black Players who played for England</a> <span style="font-family: times;">at the same time<span>.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- All players must be Jamaicans who are either born in Great Britain or have been capped by any of the British national teams. I accepted British-born Jamaican players who were capped by Jamaica, but contributions to Jamaica are not a criterion.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- This team was not about England only, but nobody from the other parts of Great Britain were ever considered. In actually, this team was about England. Wes Morgan was the only non-English international player selected.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- John Barnes and Laurie Cunningham were the two greatest British Jamaican players. Being the first Jamaican to play for England, Viv Anderson was an automatic selection. David James, Sol Campbell, Des Walker and Raheem Sterling were also undisputed.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZjWviXL2cs/YOmpTL0TdyI/AAAAAAAALjQ/42xBwQv70K4XyUHyPLRgIc-66Rr8RHsdQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1350/8x2048.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1350" height="284" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZjWviXL2cs/YOmpTL0TdyI/AAAAAAAALjQ/42xBwQv70K4XyUHyPLRgIc-66Rr8RHsdQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h284/8x2048.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">John Barnes and Des Walker</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 1978, Viv Anderson made history as the first black footballer to earn a senior cap for England. Shortly after, in 1979, Laurie Cunningham, also of Jamaican descent, joined him in representing the national team. The momentum continued in 1982 when a wave of black footballers made their senior national team debuts. The journey began with Cyrille Regis, who, though not Jamaican, received his cap before the 1982 World Cup Finals. Following the World Cup, three British Jamaicans, namely Ricky Hill, Luther Blissett, and Mark Chamberlain, all born in Great Britain, earned their caps. Later in 1983, John Barnes made his debut, becoming the first Jamaican-born player to be capped by England. Thus, six out of the first seven black English international players had Jamaican roots.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">-- That era in the English league witnessed a remarkable emergence of black players. John Barnes and Luther Blissett formed a lethal duo at Watford, while Mark Chamberlain made a name for himself at Stoke. Danny Wallace, though not Jamaican, left his mark at Southampton, Ricky Hill at Luton, and Alex Williams at Manchester City. This period was not far removed from Viv Anderson's groundbreaking England debut in 1978 and the awe-inspiring "Three Degrees" of West Bromwich Albion, consisting of Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham, and Brendon Batson. Notably, Cunningham was the sole Jamaican among the trio, representing the rich Jamaican heritage within the English football landscape.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Both Lindy Delapenha and Gil Heron were pioneers in the English and Scottish league respectively. Both were born in Jamaica at a time under British rule and before the foundation of the Jamaican national team in 1962. Heron </span>probably played for a Caribbean or even a Jamaican representative side before going to play club football in the United States and Scotland. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">I did not know if they were considered Britons. </span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;">So, I kept them off this team for now.</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- David James was the first Black goalkeeper to represent England at the senior level. Since his time, England has not capped another Black goalkeeper at that level. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Alex Williams won the 1980 UEFA European Under-18 Championship and 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with England. He was an icon and hero of many Black goalkeepers from the United Kingdom. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">I did not know if racism played a part in England snubbing him for a senior cap since </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">he was playing in the same generation as </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Ray Clemence, Joe Corrigan, Peter Shilton, Chris Woods and Gary Bailey. The competition was fierce during his prime.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-gM3KKYWMcgyTpXLwkOkN5yA6RxnN5aeJSGgKDRInaE066PVMRtRaxoaDsHHzUbyTawqq7v1OVlXQs5kYaPRCBu6hxcZWMODa2o4cP4FGNhuGOpilhFDpBPW_0rG7OYvSRGUSVDl3ekZ7wXn67-IxDcs2zhDmKl732n1Iqp46YKp59-eeoUIDDCNg9mU/s928/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%2012.57.23%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="710" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-gM3KKYWMcgyTpXLwkOkN5yA6RxnN5aeJSGgKDRInaE066PVMRtRaxoaDsHHzUbyTawqq7v1OVlXQs5kYaPRCBu6hxcZWMODa2o4cP4FGNhuGOpilhFDpBPW_0rG7OYvSRGUSVDl3ekZ7wXn67-IxDcs2zhDmKl732n1Iqp46YKp59-eeoUIDDCNg9mU/w306-h400/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%2012.57.23%20AM.png" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Alex Williams</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- At the time of writing, Dillion Barnes had a single cap for Jamaica while Jamal Blackman played some games at the youth level for England</span><span style="font-family: times;">. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Both Dillion Barnes and Jamal Blackman were lower division players playing in England. So </span><span>Derek Richardson seemed to be the obvious third choice. He was the first Black goalkeeper since Arthur Wharton to play in the English league. In QPR, he was </span><span>used as an understudy to Phil Parkes, but f</span><span>rom 1976 to 1979, he played about 31 games with QPR which then was in the top tier. He actually broke the racial barrier before Alex Williams did by playing in the First Division. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Lawrence Vigouroux who was born in England, and he represented Chile at the youth level. His father was from Chile, but his mother was a Jamaican. Being Chilean international did not affect his status on this team. He is a British Jamaicans. </span><span style="font-family: times;">At the moment, he is a League Two Player. So I continued with Jake Blackman who was a Championship goalkeeper.</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Sol Campbell is on my <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/10/england-all-time-23-member-team.html">England's All-Time</a> team. For England, he was named on the Team of the Tournament in both 2002 World Cup Finals and Euro 2004. He was considered one of the best centrebacks in the world of his generation. For Arsenal, he was being part of the team that became known as The Invincibles for their undefeated 2003–04 Premier League campaign. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Des Walker was another sure-in defender. On four straight occasions, he was selected for the PFA Team of the Year between 1989 and 1992. He was even named in the PFA Team of Century between 1977 and 1996. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- For my <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html">Jamaican/Jamaican diaspora</a> team, I placed Wes Morgan and Frank Sinclair ahead of Chris Smalling because they played for Jamaica and contributed more to the island nation. But this team was about British Jamaicans. The Jamaican international players did not get priority over here. Smalling had 31 senior caps for England and went to a World Cup Finals. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">He also played over 200 games for Manchester United.</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Wes Morgan was Nottingham Forest longest-serving player when he transferred to Leicester City in 2012. In the 2015-2016 season, he played every minute of Leicester Town's historical Premiership winning year. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Frank Sinclair was a star player in his time with Chelsea, but the other players had accomplished more. Morgan's Leicester City's Premiership winning season was very significant in the history of the English football.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- Chris Smalling also operated as a rightback, but I still took both Viv Anderson and Kyle Walker. Being the first Jamaican British or Black player to be capped by England at the senior level made Viv Anderson an undisputed choice for this team. He was an iconic footballer of his time. He also won back-to-back European Cups with Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Kyle Walker had over 80 caps for England. At the time of writing, he was named on the PFA Team of the Year on three occasions. He was a big part of Manchester City's continental treble in the 2022-2023 season. The pair kept Frank Sinclair who was also a rightback off the team. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Reece James is still an emerging talent as of December, 2023. He alongside Kieran Tripper and Paul Parker made honorable mention. Tripper was named in the PFA Team of the Year in the 2022-2023 season. Paul Parker started on most of England's games at the 1990 World Cup team. That campaign was England's best result since 1966. He was a rightback, but he also played as a centreback for his club team briefly.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuccj9RcCP2FqWembxXH5SGSKqwEDFRFTILaLyrk5uYc-Lh742_Vso8sSc8WuxcZyWfLowwHYOBXA904t4bUtt3D6dZk4reMiSjxjxoK_mBt8oAqZ6SNqggQ1IDUBRrwLTLCdI99RDbTm7M9wdFYh0p0bxX-HdBdxsHskebr4Q0biGz0HpGEdsKlcwupo/s1336/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%2010.08.44%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1336" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuccj9RcCP2FqWembxXH5SGSKqwEDFRFTILaLyrk5uYc-Lh742_Vso8sSc8WuxcZyWfLowwHYOBXA904t4bUtt3D6dZk4reMiSjxjxoK_mBt8oAqZ6SNqggQ1IDUBRrwLTLCdI99RDbTm7M9wdFYh0p0bxX-HdBdxsHskebr4Q0biGz0HpGEdsKlcwupo/w400-h288/Screenshot%202023-12-10%20at%2010.08.44%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Kyle Walker</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Both of Ashely Young's parents came from Jamaica. He played 39 times for England. He was named twice on the PFA Team of the Year. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Danny Rose was also named twice in the PFA Team of the Year. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></span></div></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I selected three contemporary midfielders to discuss. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who achieved notable success with Liverpool, won the 2018-19 Champions League and the 2019-20 Premier League. He established himself as a decorated player. While at Arsenal, he primarily served as a right winger or wingback, but his preferred position was central midfield, where he excelled after joining Liverpool. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">Kalvin Phillips faced some challenges after his move to Manchester City in 2022, but he played a pivotal role in England's impressive run at Euro 2020. His performances earned him recognition as England's Player of the Year in the 2021-2022 season. The tournament marked England's best finish in a senior international tournament since 1966. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">Ruben Loftus-Cheek boasts over eight seasons in the Premiership as of the time of writing. He also represented England in the 2018 World Cup Finals. His career trajectory has been significantly more successful than that of Darryl Powell and Fitzroy Simpson. Throughout his career, Loftus-Cheek has been deployed in various positions, including right-back, central defender, and striker. However, his true strengths lie in central or attacking midfield. While his versatility played a role in his selection, it is worth noting that I specifically required him as a midfielder.</span></div><div><span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- After considering the three midfielders previously mentioned, the team was still in need of a fourth midfielder. Several candidates made the shortlist for this position, including Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Ricky Hill, Darryl Powell, and Fitzroy Simpson.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Maitland-Niles' best position should be a right winger. Since this team was loaded with right-side wide players (see below),</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"> I immediately dropped him. </span><span style="font-family: times;"> I considered Powell a better player than Simpson. He played more games than Simpson at the top tiers of English football. So it would be between Ricky Hill and Darryl Powell.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ricky Hill, the fourth black player to represent England at the senior national team level, holds a significant place in football history. Notably, he was also the first British South Asian to don the England jersey (his father's family from India via Jamamica). Hill played a pivotal role in Luton Town's promotion to the First Division in 1982, marking a memorable achievement in his career. Moreover, Hill was part of an era that witnessed a wave of black footballers making a resounding impact on English football in the early 1980s. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">While Darryl Powell might have had the potential to make a notable impact on the Jamaican national team, his contributions to English football were less distinguished. In contrast, Ricky Hill was widely regarded as one of Luton Town's greatest players.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Raheem Sterling was named FWA Footballer of the Year in 2019. At one point, he was the most expensive English international player. He was a key player for Manchester City. He was mainly a forward, but he could also play wide on the right. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Despite the nostalgic and sentimental feelings associated with Mark Chamberlain in the 1980's, his inclusion in the team was overshadowed by the presence of his son, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Raheem Sterling. Additionally, Theo Walcott's impressive record of 564 senior matches in the Premier League, scoring 129 goals primarily from the right wing, and his 47 caps for England made him a compelling choice. Consequently, there was no room for Mark Chamberlain in the team.</span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Jermaine Pennant shone for Liverpool in the 2007 Champions League final, but his career was left unfulfilled. Aaron Lennon went to two World Cup Finals. Andros Townsend played 12 times for England. They all made honorable mentions.</span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">-- The left wing was much easier to select. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> I had two of the best players on the entire team. John Barnes was born in Jamaica, but he played for England. His career with Liverpool FC was well-known. Laurie Cunningham inspired many Black players in the United Kingdom. </span><span style="font-family: Times;">They forced Ashley Young to the left wingback position. Trevor Sinclair made honorable mentions. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Mark Chamberlain was also considered. He could play both sides of the wings.</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-36N-OvGGWLc/VczUiJ0PyfI/AAAAAAAABiw/UO-jy7qcfwI/s1600/England-2-0-Republic-of-Ireland-European-Championship-Qualifier-Wembley-Stadium-London-6th-February-1980-David-OLeary.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-36N-OvGGWLc/VczUiJ0PyfI/AAAAAAAABiw/UO-jy7qcfwI/s400/England-2-0-Republic-of-Ireland-European-Championship-Qualifier-Wembley-Stadium-London-6th-February-1980-David-OLeary.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Laurie Cunningham</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>Forwards</b></u></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Ian Wright was elected into the English Football Hall of Flame. Despite being a top scorer in the domestic league (he scored over 20 goals every season from 1991 to 1998), he only played 33 times for England and was never selected for any of the major tournaments. Andy Cole's career with Manchester United spoke for itself. He was a big part of Manchester United's treble in 1999. His partnership with Dwight Yorke was one of most fearsome in the history of the English football league. He is the 4th All-Time leading scorer in the Premier League.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Then, I selected Jack Leslie. He received a call-up by England in 1926, but the English FA later withdrew it presumedly after they learned that he was Black. He </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>would have been the first Jamaican or Black player to be capped by England over 50 years before Viv Anderson. </span><span>He was more historical significant than most players on this blog.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Luther Blissett </span><span>still holds Watford's all-time records for both appearances (503) and goals (186). He </span><span><span>played alongside John Barnes under manager Graham Taylor with Watford in the early 1980's. </span><span>There were some romantic notion of a pair of Jamaican-born players tearing up the English league in the early 1980's. As mentioned above, it was a period that set the foundation for other Black players. </span></span><span>Blissett also helped Watford to jump from the Fourth Division to top flight runners-up in a relatively short period. His reputation however was tarnished by his move to AC Milan, but his association with AC Milan turned him into a cult player in Milan. His name had some cultural impact. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmz-mqabJe2anZFqiTvhYG6WHrnCDhDj_8PqpTOGF1Q5wnHQxirbX-t_z0NcNBv7phENsA0ylSeI2X6MexK9Czc4BFGc9Pttns_-UvdwmhiT6EW__qKjlvNDMFrbCU2a6XQTIf54Hhs6pkbqNPIRCrvmjMRCcNT3cqa2KF-f0aghlhWAbMNxhqVCbwCzz/s612/36d1b1d3a58086d08f71e5c2a85dd294.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="402" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmz-mqabJe2anZFqiTvhYG6WHrnCDhDj_8PqpTOGF1Q5wnHQxirbX-t_z0NcNBv7phENsA0ylSeI2X6MexK9Czc4BFGc9Pttns_-UvdwmhiT6EW__qKjlvNDMFrbCU2a6XQTIf54Hhs6pkbqNPIRCrvmjMRCcNT3cqa2KF-f0aghlhWAbMNxhqVCbwCzz/w263-h400/36d1b1d3a58086d08f71e5c2a85dd294.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Luther Blissett</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span>-- Daniel Sturridge </span><span>was selected for the 2014 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016, earning 28 England caps in total. He was the last player cut on this team. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">Darren Bent and Darius Vassell were also seriously considered.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Throughout his career Gareth Crooks was an active member of the Professional Footballers' Association and was elected the first black chairman of the union.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Deon Burton was a hero in Jamaica, but the criteria for this team was different. His club career was bouncing between the Premiership and the Championship. The other forwards in questions were all solid players in the top tiers in English football.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Alberto Spencer was born in Ecuador. There was a rumor that England considered calling him up, but I really did not know whether it was a true story nor he was actually eligible to play for England. He was not considered.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/12/1941713_England.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/12/1941713_England.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br /></div></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-65262121458265570402023-12-14T23:18:00.000-08:002023-12-16T16:26:48.494-08:00Jamaica All-Time Greatest Team<p> <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5twrwKeIoxV8bYt2mOXZY4Aoa6F37ymr5utq1BLKhqB8zoWdD2w03RuUPAB3jtFwlUMwh7rsSBKD3gUDeNFhtPTuQdul2LWXEVqMsSK4_LPyD7lpzel8I2JaOOzJfBvDvyq4akQCpdlo0SJvqL6Y54dj12uOSjXR1JkluAZyS3IE8EccNsapXUIFTm82/s1326/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.09.32%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="1326" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5twrwKeIoxV8bYt2mOXZY4Aoa6F37ymr5utq1BLKhqB8zoWdD2w03RuUPAB3jtFwlUMwh7rsSBKD3gUDeNFhtPTuQdul2LWXEVqMsSK4_LPyD7lpzel8I2JaOOzJfBvDvyq4akQCpdlo0SJvqL6Y54dj12uOSjXR1JkluAZyS3IE8EccNsapXUIFTm82/w400-h284/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.09.32%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Gold Cup 2015</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/concacafa.html">All-CONCACAF<br /></a></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/usa-all-team-23-member-team.html">USA</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/mexico-all-time-23-member-team.html">Mexico</a>, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/costa-rica-all-time-23-member-team.html">Costa Rica</a><span>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/honduras.html">Honduras</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/10/el-salvador-greatest-all-time-team.html">El Salvador<br /></a></span></span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/central-america.html"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Central America without </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Costa Rica and Honduras.</span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/05/canada.html">Canada</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/10/trinidad-and-tobago.html">Trinidad & Tobago</a></span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/central-america.html"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/canada-or-canadian-born-all-time-team.html">Canada or Canadian born Players<br /></a></span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/04/jamaican-british.html">British Jamaicans</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/caribbean-football-union.html">Caribbean Countries</a></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><span><span>This is my selection of All-Time Team for Jamaica and Jamaican diaspora. Both players who were capped by Jamaica and any other national teams are qualified to be on this fantasy team. The key factor is contribution to Jamaican football. </span></span><span face="-webkit-standard">The number 23 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the World Cup Finals.</span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: times;">When I first started to work on the original </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html" style="font-family: times;">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a><span style="font-family: times;"> in 2017, I wanted to include Jamaican superstars such as John Barnes, Alberto Spencer, Sol Campbell and Laurie Cunningham. So instead of a Jamaica All-Time team, I create a Jamaicans and Jamaican diaspora team. But when</span></span><span style="font-family: Times;"> I updated </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html" style="font-family: times;">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a><span style="font-family: Times;"> in December, 2023, I realized that I was ignoring a lot of talented Jamaican international players. So</span><span style="font-family: Times;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times;">I decided to create an All-Time Team for Jamaican international players and another one for British Jamaica respectively at the same team. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Jamaica is known for its fine athletes. Lennox Lewis, Usain Bolt Donovan Bailey, etc all came from Jamaica. Several Jamaican-born footballers such as England's John Barnes became star players in the UK and the United States. However, its national football team never made almost any impact in the international stage until 1997. In 1998, the Reggae Boyz qualified for the World Cup Finals in France. Their success story was a mixture of a golden generation of homegrown talents and the mobilization of British Jamaican footballers in the English Preimer League. I have written a blog about the</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/british-jamaicans-turned-jamaica-around.html">British-Jamaicans on Jamaica's 1998 World Cup team</a>. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LBRb9XMy3eI/WhdqjGZ57iI/AAAAAAAAFEs/NnhtmcD0QnIZTxv23mvgZCo2C9FwanAyACEwYBhgL/s1600/c0gPZ9B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="800" height="277" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LBRb9XMy3eI/WhdqjGZ57iI/AAAAAAAAFEs/NnhtmcD0QnIZTxv23mvgZCo2C9FwanAyACEwYBhgL/s400/c0gPZ9B.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Jamaica at World Cup 1998</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Barrett" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Warren Barrett</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Warren Barrett played for Cornwell College in Jamaica before joining Violet Kickers where he played most of his careers. He also played one season for Wadadah F.C. for a season in Jamaica. He captained his nation at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. According to the Jamaica Football Federation, Barrett earned 127 caps for the Reggae Boyz, but this figure has not been officially acknowledged by FIFA. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donovan_Ricketts">Donovan Ricketts </a></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Donovan Ricketts joined Bolton Wanders in 2004, but never played a game. Then, he played more than 100 games for Bradford City in England, and has more than 100 appearances in Major League Soccer and has twice been named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. He was also the captain of the Jamaica national football team, earning 100 caps for his country, until his retirement from international football in 2013.</span><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Blake">Andre Blake</a> </span><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Since 2016, Andre Blake became the starting goalkeeper for Philadelphia Union. At the time of writing, he was voted as the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year three times. Before that, he played NCAA soccer for University of Connecticut. He was named a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy in 2013. For Jamaica, he earned his first cap in 2014. He won the CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Glove Award in 2017 as Jamaica reached the final. He had over 70 caps for Reggae Boyz.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHvNA_HKbFNdOj0jhVepRbAvj4efXV6eoaXVcWLim9LlODFQnKaR7AbnmXsoRbZ1d6Vg6DUtoDO_3leeElG2qHkZ8WK_t1_M8CiA4d6ACyHrpHDGW95WXN8haU4opygItEG5BnN8LoiSTuuHl6KbhIDcOxTXHRq9e0h3rTQi5ZfsGDLS89ZvHmyZBjxXX/s4000/awards-m-andre-blake.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="4000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHvNA_HKbFNdOj0jhVepRbAvj4efXV6eoaXVcWLim9LlODFQnKaR7AbnmXsoRbZ1d6Vg6DUtoDO_3leeElG2qHkZ8WK_t1_M8CiA4d6ACyHrpHDGW95WXN8haU4opygItEG5BnN8LoiSTuuHl6KbhIDcOxTXHRq9e0h3rTQi5ZfsGDLS89ZvHmyZBjxXX/w400-h266/awards-m-andre-blake.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Andre Blake</span></td></tr></tbody></table>RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linval_Dixon">Linval Dixion</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 1995, he signed with the Charleston Battery of the USISL. He moved to Hazard United in the fall of 1995 and played for them until 2002 when he returned to the Battery for two seasons in the USL A-League. In 2003, Dixon and his teammates won the A-League championship. He has captained Jamaica and was a participant at the 1998 World Cup. He made his debut in 1991 and played his last international in 2004 against Venezuela, collecting over 90 caps.</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">RB/CB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinclair">Frank Sinclair </a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">Frank Sinclair</span></span> started his career with Chelsea where he spent 8 seasons. He won the FA Cup in 1996-1997. And he won a League Cup with Leicester Town in 2000. He played for many clubs all over England. His performance in England led him to be call-up by Jamaica for the 1998 World Cup Finals in 1998. He was one of 7 English-born Jamaican players on the team. He played 28 caps for Jamaica between 1998 and 2003.</span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P7wWEQnDyWQ/WhdnA1RLdUI/AAAAAAAAFEM/Nz0ujKvr4v8b71r5pBHtw5WllYSpP6I8ACLcBGAs/s1600/000E8A3200000258-0-image-a-49_1433166886512.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="616" height="330" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P7wWEQnDyWQ/WhdnA1RLdUI/AAAAAAAAFEM/Nz0ujKvr4v8b71r5pBHtw5WllYSpP6I8ACLcBGAs/s400/000E8A3200000258-0-image-a-49_1433166886512.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Frank Sinclair</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Goodison">Ian Goodison </a></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Ian Goodison began his career in minor Jamaican football leagues and was discovered in 1996 by René Simões who introduced him straight into the national squad. He joined Olympic Gardens in 1997. From 1999 to 2002, he played for Hull City in England. He later played for Seba United and Tranmere Rovers. From 1996 to 2009, he has collected a country all-time record of 120 caps. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrone_Marshall">Tyrone Marshall </a></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Marshall played NCAA soccer before he played in MLS where he spent bhis entire career. He started with Colorado Rapids. His longest stint was with LA Galaxy where he played from 2002 to 2007. He won two MLS Cup with them. He played for Miami Fusion, Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders. He appeared in 83 matches from 2000–2010 before retiring from international football in January 2010. </span></div><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Morgan">Wes Morgan</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Rejected by Notts County, Morgan was playing for non-league team before being discovered by Nottingham Forest in 2002. He began a star over there. In 2012, he moved to Leicester Town. In the 2015-2016 season, he played every minute of Leicester Town's historical Premiership winning year and also served as the team's captain. He was the first Jamaican international to win the title. At the time of writing, he had 30 caps for Jamaica.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LB <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemar_Lawrence">Kemar Lawrence</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Lawrence was the son of goalkeeper Orville Edwards. He started with Harbour View. From 2015 to 2019, he played for NY Red Bulls before joining Anderlecht. He played for Toronto FC and Minnesota United. He was named in the MLS Best XI in 2018 and became an All-Star in 2019. He played 73 times for Jamaica since 2013. He was named in the Team of Tournament in the 2015 Gold Cup. He was named in the IFFHS CONCACAF Team of the Decade: 2011–2020.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">LB/LW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Gardner">Ricardo Gardner</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ricardo Gardner started with Harbour View at home. His performances for Jamaica during the 1998 World Cup attracted English First Division side Bolton Wanderers. He played 14 seasons for Bolton Wanderers of which 11 were spent in the Premier League. Gardner earned 112 caps for the Jamaica national football team, scoring 9 goals and playing at four CONCACAF Gold Cups and the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He had 112 caps and went to the 1998 World Cup Finals.</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XarqchjtfJw/Whonv4mpt-I/AAAAAAAAFFg/LAi0Rb82kyYF2yDFvW0jy2WIpAVT-pQEgCLcBGAs/s1600/Ricardo-Gardner.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XarqchjtfJw/Whonv4mpt-I/AAAAAAAAFFg/LAi0Rb82kyYF2yDFvW0jy2WIpAVT-pQEgCLcBGAs/s400/Ricardo-Gardner.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ricardo Gardner </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzroy_Simpson">Fitzroy Simpson</a> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Simpson notably played in the Premier League for Manchester City, Scottish Premier League for Hearts and the Irish IFA Premiership for Linfield. He also played in the Football League for Swindon Town, Bristol City, Portsmouth and Walsall before ending his career in non-league football with Telford United, Havant & Waterlooville and Eastleigh. Born in the UK, he played for Jamaica at the WC in 1998. He had 43 caps.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cargill">Peter Cargill </a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Peter Cargill also played for local sides Swallowfield FC, CC Lions, Hazard United and Harbour View and also spent 8 years in Israel with Maccabi Netanya from 1987 and 1994 and Hapoel Petah Tikva for a season. He captained the Reggae Boyz and was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. He collected a total of 84 caps from 1984 to 1998 and scored 3 times.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">AM/CM: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Whitmore" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Theodore Whitmore</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Whitmore is considered one of the greatest player who had played for Jamaica. He started his club career at Montego Bay Boys Club, and has since played for Violet Kickers and Seba United in his native Jamaica. He was signed on a free by English league side Hull City, but an accident in Jamaica cut short his Hull career. Scottish team Livingston acquired his services in 2003, and in June 2004 he signed for Tranmere Rovers. He had 127 caps for Jamaica.</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tGLXUCdLen0/WhdlQsdAhrI/AAAAAAAAFD8/7pJMDSfJt1YUmV8BWUdYnGMEo20PWFSZgCLcBGAs/s1600/2406319_xbig-lnd.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="988" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tGLXUCdLen0/WhdlQsdAhrI/AAAAAAAAFD8/7pJMDSfJt1YUmV8BWUdYnGMEo20PWFSZgCLcBGAs/s400/2406319_xbig-lnd.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Theodore Whitmore </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darryl_Powell">Darryl Powell</a> </span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The son of a Reggae musician, Powell was born in Lambeth, London, and his career included spells at English clubs Portsmouth, Derby County, Birmingham City, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, as well as a stint at Colorado Rapids in the USA. He played for Derby between 1995 and 2002. He was one of the British-born Reggae Boyz playing for Jamaica in the 1998 World Cup in France. He has 21 caps between 1998 and 2001.</span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">AM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_Earle">Robbie Earle</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Earle broke into the professional game with Port Vale in 1982. He spent nine years the club. He was later voted the club's PFA Fans' Favourites. He moved on to Wimbledon in 1991, where he also spent nine years. He made nearly 300 league games for each club, scoring 77 and 59 goals respectively. He also represented Jamaica on 8 occasions between 1997 and 1998, scoring one international goal. He appeared in the 1998 World Cup, scoring his nation's first ever goal in the finals.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Cole_(footballer)">Allan Cole</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">At the peak of his powers, Cole was a midfield maestro local fans compared to Pele. He remains the Jamaica's youngest senior football international, donning national colours against a Brazilian team when he was only 15 years old.Allan Cole played in the NASL with the Atlanta Chiefs in 1968, and in Brazil with Náutico around 1972. He is largely known as one of Jamaica's greatest footballer. In addition to his football career, Cole was also the manager of the Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley and his band The Wailers. He was credited as co-writing the 1976 song "War"</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj1Aemk7u74/WhonC0m4iMI/AAAAAAAAFFY/j7aLwG20V_Q7ktPO2Fv3MMT8Dti_4R2zwCLcBGAs/s1600/f6ffe2daa6405f38fca46dbc27874920.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="640" height="285" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj1Aemk7u74/WhonC0m4iMI/AAAAAAAAFFY/j7aLwG20V_Q7ktPO2Fv3MMT8Dti_4R2zwCLcBGAs/s400/f6ffe2daa6405f38fca46dbc27874920.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Bob Marley playing against Alan Cole</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Williams_(Jamaican_footballer)">Andy Williams</a></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Williams played college soccer for the University of Rhode Island where he remains the team's all-time leading scorer, with 52 goals and 45 assists. He played for many MLS clubs before joining Real Salt Lake in 2005 winning a single MLS Cup there. He has 97 caps with the team and 13 goals. He played for his country in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, making one substitute appearance. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />RW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Bailey">Leon Bailey</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Bailey arrived in Europe at the age of 13 and played for a number of clubs at youth level before being signed by Belgian side Genk in 2015, where he was named Belgian Young Footballer of the Year. His success in Belgium earned him a move to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in 2017. He was named Bundesliga Team of the Year in 2018. After four years at the club, he was signed by Aston Villa in 2021. He previously refused a call-up by Jamaica until 2019.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmqODX6-4u_3sDejxzSPSYMnk5sjjXXqg9YRIOGxQFgtKBfPcLz4Z6Hv4r3Nz80-M-x9gTA4tGsQ8fCe1xnk7nVKz7N1bUll0PswpW3AGqtTAB4h-W0eQh_ZLxJz5uIjjkyZIAATjkTJPqpsc_vLZEM5SzdAv2LuQxHkStGQnOeXMn4g1R0aG1yFENC17/s1486/Screenshot%202023-12-08%20at%2010.14.32%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1486" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmqODX6-4u_3sDejxzSPSYMnk5sjjXXqg9YRIOGxQFgtKBfPcLz4Z6Hv4r3Nz80-M-x9gTA4tGsQ8fCe1xnk7nVKz7N1bUll0PswpW3AGqtTAB4h-W0eQh_ZLxJz5uIjjkyZIAATjkTJPqpsc_vLZEM5SzdAv2LuQxHkStGQnOeXMn4g1R0aG1yFENC17/w400-h286/Screenshot%202023-12-08%20at%2010.14.32%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Leon Bailey</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LWF/ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luton_Shelton">Luton Shelton</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Shelton began his career with Harbour View in 2003. He moved to plat overseas in 2006. His international club career included stops at Helsingborg, Sheffield United, Vålerenga, Karabükspor and Volga Nizhny Novgorod. From 2004 to 2013, he played 75 times for Jamaica. He is their all-time leading scorer with 35 goals. He is the only man to score four goals on his international début. He played in three Gold Cups.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Delapenha">Lindy Delapenha</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In April 1948 he joined Portsmouth. There, he became the first Jamaican to play professional football in England. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1950, he transferred to Middlesbrough where his career took off. He became Boro's leading scorer in the 1951–52, 1953–54 and 1955–56 seasons. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He moved to Mansfield Town in 1958. Delapenha played non-league football, Hereford United and Burton Albion. He won the Southern League Cup in 1964 with Burton.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">FW:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Heron"> Gil Heron </a></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">moved to Canada as a youth. He played for Detroit Corinthians and Detroit Wolverines, where he was top goalscorer in the 1946 season. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He was spotted by a scout from Glasgow Celtic where he became the first Black to play for Celtic. He also played for Third Lanark and English club Kidderminster Harriers before moving back to Detroit Corinthians. At Celtic he earned the nicknames "The Black Arrow" and "The Black Flash".</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onandi_Lowe">Onandi Lowe</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Lowe started his career at Harbour View, before Montreal Impact in 1996. He later played with Waterhouse, Richmond Kickers, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Kansas City Wizards, Port Vale, Rushden & Diamonds, Coventry City, Portmore United, Miami FC, and Arnett Gardens before he retired in 2008. He played 65 times for Jamaica scoring 27 goals.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deon_Burton">Dean Burton</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Between 1994 and 2016, Dean Burton played for numerous clubs in English football including Portsmouth, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday. He played in the Premier League with Derby. In 1997, he became the first group of British-born footballers to play for Jamaica. He was their hero as Jamaica qualified for the World Cup for the first time. He was named Jamaican Sportsman of the Year in 1997. He had a total of 62 caps between 1997 and 2009.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisX3n5W4il4RgAu6roA62Wyo3ovxWy3aqfZm71YZktmsKbyQnEvPhRApclaLWWvjDWpFB7ZhGa6pOKYIxzmP638mLuD088ZODHH5-_Oo07wKs0O6ljgi65AoRB31Ytxg13qvfAeKvoPDWXTnLP_JquEXovBoEucJRlNVSBVEMcrS3hcgpScj4zYU9dUtS3/s1210/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.32.39%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1210" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisX3n5W4il4RgAu6roA62Wyo3ovxWy3aqfZm71YZktmsKbyQnEvPhRApclaLWWvjDWpFB7ZhGa6pOKYIxzmP638mLuD088ZODHH5-_Oo07wKs0O6ljgi65AoRB31Ytxg13qvfAeKvoPDWXTnLP_JquEXovBoEucJRlNVSBVEMcrS3hcgpScj4zYU9dUtS3/w400-h265/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.32.39%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Deon Burton</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Selwyn Murphy, Don Clarke, Orville Edwards, Aaron Lawrence, </span><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Anthony Corbett, Deon Wilmot,</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Shavar Thomas, Jermaine Taylor, Adrian Mariappa, </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Claude Davis, </span><span>Demar Philips, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Durrant Brown, </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Ethan Pinnock, Michael Hector, Damion Lowe, </span></span><span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rodolph Austin, Je-Vaughn Watson, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Robbie Earle, Marcus Gayle, Paul Hall, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Richard McDonald, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Shamar Nicholson, Darren Mattocks, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Walter Boyd, Jason Euell, Michail Antonio, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Aldrick 'Allie' McNab, Paul Young.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">-- In December 2023, when I updated </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html" style="font-family: times;">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a>, I noticed many talented Jamaican international or overseas Jamaicans were not recognised. So <span style="font-family: Times;">I create this All-Time Team for Jamaican international player and another one for <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/04/jamaican-british.html">British Jamaica</a> respectively at the same time. I also did a review of </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/black-english.html">Black Players who played for England</a> <span style="font-family: Times;">at the same time<span>. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- The selection is mainly based up the successes of the players in their entire career. However, some naturalised players only spent a few years with the Reggie Boyz. So, I tried to use contributions to the national team as the main criteria since this team was largely about the Jamaican national team. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I also gave extra considerations to Lindy Delapenha, </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Gil Heron</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> and Alan Cole because of their legendary status in Jamaica. They never played internationally for Jamaica. I cited them as being "heroes of Jamaican football" as a major factor for selecting them.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bVonYNCroCI/WhlGHYgsTkI/AAAAAAAAFFI/lVhhQ8IAvCItAShwzow8UL-MqDJoYjvdACLcBGAs/s1600/637447700.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="408" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bVonYNCroCI/WhlGHYgsTkI/AAAAAAAAFFI/lVhhQ8IAvCItAShwzow8UL-MqDJoYjvdACLcBGAs/s400/637447700.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Lindy Delapenha </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- I did a blog entry on </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/british-jamaicans-turned-jamaica-around.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">British-Jamaicans on Jamaica's 1998 World Cup team</a><span style="font-family: times;">, but at the time of creation, I do not have enough players to form a British Jamaican All-Time team. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> <span>I do not have candidates for goalkeepers. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- In 1998, Jamaica went to their only World Cup Finals at the time. Warren Barrett, Frank Sinclair, Ian Goodison, Peter Cargill, Andy Williams, Deon Burton, Theodore Whitemore, Darryl Powell, Fitzroy Simpson, Onandi Lowe, Robbie Earl and Ricardo Gardner made the team.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>-- Jamaica finished second in the Gold Cup for both 2015 and 2017. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">Andre Blake and Kemar Lawrence were on both teams while Wes Morgan was on the 2015 team.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Only 6 players from this team were born in the United Kingdom.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- In 2023, Yard Hype, an entertainment website in Jamaica came up with their <a href="https://yardhype.com/reggae-boyz-best-ever-starting-11/">All-Time Best XI</a>. The players were </span><span>Andre Blake, Ricardo Gardner, Ian Goodison, Wes Morgan, Demar Phillips, Allan ‘Cole, Theodore Whitmore, Peter Cargill, Andy Williams, Luton Shelton and Deon Burton.</span></span></div><div><span><span><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- The IFFHS complied their All-Time Best XI for Jamaica in 2021. That team included </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Warren Barrett, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Frank Sinclair, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Wes Morgan, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ian Goodison, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ricardo Gardner, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Darryl Powell, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Robbie Earl, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Lindy Delapenha, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Gil Heron, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Deon Burton and </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Leon Bailey.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- Craig Butler, founder of Phoenix Academy, came up with his All-Time Best XI. They were </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Andre Blake, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Anthony Corbett, Deon Wilmot, Ian Goodison, Ricardo Gardner, </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Peter Cargill, </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Allan Cole, </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Onandi Lowe, </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Leon Bailey, </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Walter Boyd, and </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Luton Shelton. His team included bench players: </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Theodore Whitmore, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Aldrick 'Allie' McNab, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Richard McDonald, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Damion Lowe and </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Shamar Nicholson. This list seemed to favor Jamaican-born and trained players.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- I found this </span><a href="https://bolavip.com/en/soccer/ranking-top-25-jamaican-Soccer-players-of-all-time-20210623-0001.html" style="font-family: times;">ranking </a><span style="font-family: times;">of the Top 25 Jamaican All-Time Soccer players by BOLAVIP. I used it as a reference.</span></span></span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- In 2014, I selected Warren Barett and Donovan Ricketts for my <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a> team. Barett played in the 1998 World Cups while Ricketts was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2010 and 2013. Andre Blake had won the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year 3 times. In 2020 and 2022, he was shortlisted and finished among the top five for the MVP of the year. The three of them were undisputed.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpO1lo7rBtJ6_2TChfnyMdZKnMRDdTCNWlJhjhCBhLvxwynBK5IGc5g_irzhQUQ5Mp-p3a6SW_2k6ZCLG0XRQLhSF6IURsC97sSoaz9SST6ncmEMTR2z_I8Q_GfXq95sdlFCqyBkxAv20fpWsYb8k3UIUEeabmgFztEZYaZLcc7iTxcJyfLhL1WWKx3q44/s1436/Screenshot%202023-12-08%20at%2010.19.06%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1436" data-original-width="930" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpO1lo7rBtJ6_2TChfnyMdZKnMRDdTCNWlJhjhCBhLvxwynBK5IGc5g_irzhQUQ5Mp-p3a6SW_2k6ZCLG0XRQLhSF6IURsC97sSoaz9SST6ncmEMTR2z_I8Q_GfXq95sdlFCqyBkxAv20fpWsYb8k3UIUEeabmgFztEZYaZLcc7iTxcJyfLhL1WWKx3q44/w259-h400/Screenshot%202023-12-08%20at%2010.19.06%20AM.png" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Warren Barett</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- I also looked Vester Constantine who was related to Learie Constantine. Learie Constantine was a former </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Trinidadian cricketer, lawyer and politician who served as Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and became the UK's first black peer. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- I came upon Selwyn Murphy and Don Clarke, but I had no information about them. They were from the older generations. </span><span>Orville Edwards and Aaron Lawrence deserved to be honorable mention.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Frank Sinclair is on my </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/concacaf-all-time-23-member-team.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CONCACAF All-time 23 member team</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">He began his career as a leftback, but he was a much better central defender or rightback. He was a top defensive player when he was with Chelsea FC. Wes Morgan was a</span>n ever-present fixture in the Leicester City Premier league-winning side in 2016. He became the first Jamaican to win the Premier League title. Morgan only played 30 times for Jamaica and Sinclair 28 times, but Morgan helped Jamaica to finish second at the 2015 Gold Cup, and Sinclair played in the 1998 World Cup Finals. Ian Goodison is Jamaica's most capped player. So Sinclair, Goodison and Morgan easily made the team.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaXh2n3lROZIuvYR9iu8ZhLR-eSWAEyzblCOSDoALhYGoIdcJ3Vf-5meZ_nwGRz1Rdo3MxPwSYIkDd4ld54bDJ1Sc2Dm7vJS3_0OyUUuACrRmgEwsxMGrgptcWAMcQ6MZk9tyahsPyGDVn0AzgXUNh3PqcRtNvICFDD_K3PzZqQGPj0IYh1h3XYxr6CMb/s1486/download%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="991" data-original-width="1486" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaXh2n3lROZIuvYR9iu8ZhLR-eSWAEyzblCOSDoALhYGoIdcJ3Vf-5meZ_nwGRz1Rdo3MxPwSYIkDd4ld54bDJ1Sc2Dm7vJS3_0OyUUuACrRmgEwsxMGrgptcWAMcQ6MZk9tyahsPyGDVn0AzgXUNh3PqcRtNvICFDD_K3PzZqQGPj0IYh1h3XYxr6CMb/w400-h266/download%20(1).jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Wes Morgan</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- For the last centreback, I looked into Tyrone Marshall, Durrant Brown, Adrian Mariappa, Claude Davis and </span><span>Jermaine Taylor.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Tyrone Marshall could play as a forward and midfield. He had over 80 caps, and was named in the Gold Cup Team of Tournament in 2005. I took him because BOLAVIP named him the 23rd greatest footballers from Jamaica. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Adrian Mariappa could also play as a rightback. He spent many years with Watford in England</span><span style="font-family: times;">. </span><span><span style="font-family: times;">Jermaine Taylor was named on the Team of Tournament for 2017 Gold Cup. He also played over 101 times for Jamaica. He had a lomg career in MLS</span><span style="font-family: times;">. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Damion Lowe is the son of Onandi Lowe who is a part of this All-Time team. He helped Jamaica to reach the Final of 2017 Gold Cup. He also made the CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI in 2021. They made honorable mentions.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- I did not seriously consider Ethan Pinnock due to the fact that he switched to play for Jamaica late in his career. He was put on honorable mention because he spent some time in the Premiership and was voted into </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">PFA EFL Championship Team of the Year: 2020–21.</span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- Frank Sinclair was also a very good rightback. So I only selected </span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Linval Dixon. He is Jamaica's second's most capped player with 127 caps. He was a rightback according to transfermarkt</span><span style="font-family: times;">. According the BOLAVIP, he was ranked 8th best Jamaican footballer ever.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- I had limited information about Anthony Corbett who played for Reggie Boyz between 1985 and 1993. I did not know his true position. He might have been a rightback. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Deon "Messy" Wilmot seemed to be a club legend with Santos FC (Jamaica), but I also don't know much about him. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Ricardo Gardner was one of the most famous Jamaican internationals. He was an undisputed choice for the leftback position. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">He spent 14 years with Bolton Wanderers, of which 11 were spent in the Premier League. </span><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Kemar Lawrence played 60 times for Jamaica. He was named in IFFHS CONCACAF Team of the Decade (2011–2020). </span></span>Demar Philips<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> with 72 caps made honorable mention.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPBqLLY7yNPqOOw9NVWCeWAwqf-G6EPKqJuBtNfM4HfPq8VYA_tjJVZDNRMqBqCJpm5SvDZemQyWSRLF6js0Us9Vtsupu4yzRCC6FTPfd8-OIOoZIgRFMsoTSpvLzJRdcNCDbPdojmTt6-tDZxD44QBnaqj9GZ6Lq1xiHYhRoLnq9JzIQGP7EFfDO5Pq6/s1776/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.46.26%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="1776" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPBqLLY7yNPqOOw9NVWCeWAwqf-G6EPKqJuBtNfM4HfPq8VYA_tjJVZDNRMqBqCJpm5SvDZemQyWSRLF6js0Us9Vtsupu4yzRCC6FTPfd8-OIOoZIgRFMsoTSpvLzJRdcNCDbPdojmTt6-tDZxD44QBnaqj9GZ6Lq1xiHYhRoLnq9JzIQGP7EFfDO5Pq6/w400-h250/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.46.26%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Kemar Lawrence</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div></span></div></div></div></div><div><div><div><div><span><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></span></div></span></div></div></div></div><div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">-- In 2014, I selected both Fitzroy Simpson and Darryl Powell for my <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html">Jamaican/Jamaican diaspora</a> team probably because I was Anglocentric. Both were naturalised for the World Cup Finals in 1998. Simpson came along at the end of the World Cup Qualifiers while Powell did not join until after Jamaica booked their tickets to France. That should not be a factor to improve or diminish their status with this All-Time team. Nevertheless, I reexamined their standings in 2023 against the likes of several midfielders.<br />-- In 2015, Rodolph Austin captained Jamaica to their first ever final of the Gold Cup, scoring one goal in the process, before losing 3–1 to Mexico in the final. However, he spent most of his club career in Leeds United playing in the EFL Championship. Fitzroy Simpson and Darryl Powell at least did spend time at the Premiership. DM Je-Vaughn Watson had a long career in the MLS. He played 95 times for Jamaica. He was also a central defender. </span><span style="text-align: left;">Peter Cargill did not have a high-profile club career, but he was selected by Yard Hype and </span><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">Craig Butler on their All-Time Best XI team respectively. He was also listed as a Top 25 players by BolaVIP. He had a total of 84 caps while Simpson had 43 and Powell only 21. He was a big part of Rene Simoes' tenure with Jamaica before the naturalization of British players and continued to be a vital member of the team afterward. For this team, I decided to take Peter Cargill, Fitzroy Simpson and Darryl Powell.<br /></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Theodore Whitmore is considered to be the greatest Jamaican international player. I meant players being born and capped by Jamaica. Allan Cole remained the Jamaica's youngest senior football international when he made his debut at the age of only 15 years old. He was sometimes known as Jamaica's greatest players.</span><span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- </span><span>Robbie Earle was the last player selected. He had a good career with Wimbledon. For Jamaica, he was a part of their 1998 World Cup team. He would bring experiences from playing in England to the team.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Right-winger Leon Bailey is an emerging player as of 2023. He was already named to the Bundesliga Team of the Season (2017–2-2018). So he had done more things than most Jamaican players. Right midfielder Andy Williams was mentioned frequently as being an all-timer for Jamaica. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ricardo Gardner was also a left wing. So I only needed to select a single wide player on the left. Luton Shelton who was a striker/left wing forward is Jamaica's all-time leading scorer. His name was mentioned frequently as one of their greatest footballers.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_QVh5426SR-FA2OOpzKK4DXoqDlVMuVWSW8E2Z_fsv1Ukf-t96ul3XHDhYeJiKTS3ocCwWTTDlygYTwHjdj_WCA0x9u5apLouZoglw-g6L4u4bVcoVFWh5eF_YfGSbcUiBuCi9cMapAL9-UPuwaO6aEPTObgH8-1rP4DWKnXWkJdCaQBgGxxpITBjeA4/s594/luton.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="594" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_QVh5426SR-FA2OOpzKK4DXoqDlVMuVWSW8E2Z_fsv1Ukf-t96ul3XHDhYeJiKTS3ocCwWTTDlygYTwHjdj_WCA0x9u5apLouZoglw-g6L4u4bVcoVFWh5eF_YfGSbcUiBuCi9cMapAL9-UPuwaO6aEPTObgH8-1rP4DWKnXWkJdCaQBgGxxpITBjeA4/w400-h266/luton.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Luke Shelton</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- First, I went for several older players who were pioneer of the game. Gil Heron was the first Jamaican to play in Scotland. He was born in Jamaica but spent some time in Canada. Lindy Delapenha was considered the greatest Jamaican player ever. Both never played for Jamaica as the island was still a British colony when they were active. They were historical players.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- I also discovered a player named Jack Leslie who was a striker. He was the first Jamaican or British Jamaican to play in the English league. He was called up to play for England in 1925, but the invitation was later withdrawn. It has been speculated that the selection committee discovered that he was a Black player and objected his selection because of his race. He would have been the first Black player to represent England. However, I could not clear his eligibility for this team. He was born in England but was officially uncapped by them. So, I only out him on the British Jamaican team.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Dean Burton was the hero of the 1998 World Cup Qualifiers. He deserved a spot on the team. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">His decision to represent Jamaica changed the game in the country. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> Onandi Lowe scored more goals for Jamaica than Burton, but Burton as mentioned was very important to the history of Reggae Boyz. Lowe's club career also did not match that of Burton who spent a few seasons in the Premiership. So Lowe did not get into </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>my</span><span> </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html">Jamaican/Jamaican diaspora</a><span><span> team, but he easily made this team alongside </span><span>Luton Shelton (see above).</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cd2JelcRVFf5frtFSS_j7KLqGlF63D_en6yupu2p5uiyBz7u4F8iak1BulZLO2-pjC8GWTmMRKcjtdvsSK6adcvns6Hn3z_HFPzy2Vi98cRNOaDlcz0_4652WTHg06u26R99F1n0VJd4pbmztZxASFVfsYaIAw-o7ai4f7DQGHwY8GQtPYQethsMX_mO/s1602/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.53.57%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1602" data-original-width="1098" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cd2JelcRVFf5frtFSS_j7KLqGlF63D_en6yupu2p5uiyBz7u4F8iak1BulZLO2-pjC8GWTmMRKcjtdvsSK6adcvns6Hn3z_HFPzy2Vi98cRNOaDlcz0_4652WTHg06u26R99F1n0VJd4pbmztZxASFVfsYaIAw-o7ai4f7DQGHwY8GQtPYQethsMX_mO/w274-h400/Screenshot%202023-12-15%20at%201.53.57%20AM.png" width="274" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Onandi Lowe</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">-- Paul Young was at one point Jamaica's All-Time leading scorer. He was a big part of Jamaica's qualifying campaign, but Rene Simoes left him out of the World Cup Finals after Jamaica started to naturalized British-born players. </span></span></span></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Aldrick 'Allie' McNab represented Jamaica in both track & field and football in 1960's. For 100m dash, he could run under 10 seconds, and was a top Jamaican sprinter of his time. He was also inducted in the Caribbean Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. But I only knew that he was an attacker in football. I did not know how good of a footballer.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Jason Euell played Wimbledon, Charlton, Middlesbrough and Blackpool. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Michail Antonio only earned his first caps in 2021. He needed more time with the Reggie Boyz, but he already played 9 seasons with West Ham. He scored over 70 goals in the Premiership. Walter Boyd was a popular player, but I did not have enough space for them.</span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/12/1941887_Championship_Manager_Team.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/12/1941887_Championship_Manager_Team.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><br /></div></div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div></div></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-52432564424413618742023-10-13T06:49:00.006-07:002023-12-16T16:20:48.326-08:00Trinidad and Tobago All-Time Team<p> <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: times;"><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><span>His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div></div></span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFpbz3Pg5QmIgC5ZQlYHfdLaUEIrDTPFjp32BtHNE6cnabtOOjaaCx0lGqqk8hywNSXNksG3NLzvaEH2tCSPwdOHgOGMlnYMaCwybShW26eUOdJQEZHUqVnFnKmWfrG4pjD9vCDbl4XnVYjGPfX7wlhL3G8kbVutV-5pfEsWHDLe3WgRr9Xuj4pIsDwQG/s379/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20135434.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="379" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFpbz3Pg5QmIgC5ZQlYHfdLaUEIrDTPFjp32BtHNE6cnabtOOjaaCx0lGqqk8hywNSXNksG3NLzvaEH2tCSPwdOHgOGMlnYMaCwybShW26eUOdJQEZHUqVnFnKmWfrG4pjD9vCDbl4XnVYjGPfX7wlhL3G8kbVutV-5pfEsWHDLe3WgRr9Xuj4pIsDwQG/w400-h301/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20135434.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">World Cup 2006</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face=""\"times\"", "\"times new roman\"", serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></span></div><div><span><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" style="font-size: large;"><br /><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/concacafa.html">All-CONCACAF<br /></a></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/usa-all-team-23-member-team.html">USA</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/mexico-all-time-23-member-team.html">Mexico</a>, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/costa-rica-all-time-23-member-team.html">Costa Rica</a><span>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/honduras.html">Honduras</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/10/el-salvador-greatest-all-time-team.html">El Salvador<br /></a></span></span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/central-america.html"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Central America without </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Costa Rica and Honduras.</span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/05/canada.html">Canada</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/10/trinidad-and-tobago.html">Trinidad & Tobago</a></span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/central-america.html"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/canada-or-canadian-born-all-time-team.html">Canada or Canadian born Players</a></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/04/jamaican-british.html">British Jamaicans</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/12/jamaica.html">Jamaican international</a><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/canada-or-canadian-born-all-time-team.html"><br /></a></span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/caribbean-football-union.html">Caribbean Countries</a>.</span></span></span></div></div></span></span></div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></span></div><div><span><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418"><div>The Trinidad and Tobago national football team, nicknamed the "Soca Warriors", represents the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in international football. It is controlled by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, which is a member of CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football), the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), and the global jurisdiction of FIFA.</div><div><br /></div><div>The national team competes in the World Cup, Gold Cup, and the Nations League, as well as other competitions by invitation. The Soca Warriors' lone appearance at the FIFA World Cup came in 2006, after the team defeated Bahrain 2–1 on aggregate in the CONCACAF–AFC intercontinental play-off. The team has qualified for the CONCACAF Gold Cup on 18 occasions with their best performance in 2000, after reaching the semi-finals, finishing third. However, the national team did experience great success at the defunct Caribbean Cup, having won the sub-continental competition ten times and runners-up on seven occasions.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrSBgBiEd41tcA3uJRiL2VVwRziDAX8M57sIO4y2d7KM8NTjdKnYMU7I4-eVfVSyZFIfUlo4ZjtDPlvLu1U4vNAy7x9eA-HTlzPxn5ZhfnHSza2UCXNUaeINJXS8m2Jyg19ptaZ8XOixENCKcBIG_pEs_jLlSiK9kmEfsLpAYxXOl4SquNVIVw-lEQWzx/s600/strike-squad-ttfootballhistory-ftr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrSBgBiEd41tcA3uJRiL2VVwRziDAX8M57sIO4y2d7KM8NTjdKnYMU7I4-eVfVSyZFIfUlo4ZjtDPlvLu1U4vNAy7x9eA-HTlzPxn5ZhfnHSza2UCXNUaeINJXS8m2Jyg19ptaZ8XOixENCKcBIG_pEs_jLlSiK9kmEfsLpAYxXOl4SquNVIVw-lEQWzx/w400-h266/strike-squad-ttfootballhistory-ftr.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">"Strike Squad" 1989</span></td></tr></tbody></table></b></div></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"></span></div><b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Team</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_Hislop">Shaka Hislop </a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Born in the Great Britain, he represented Trinidad and Tobago at the youth level. However, in 1998, he accepted a callup by England, but was an unused substitute. A year later, he again switched back to T&T. He represented them at the 2006 World Cup Finals. For his club career, </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">he was a part of the Newcastle United team which finished second in the Premier League for two successive seasons. He also played for Portsmouth and West Ham.</span><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcODI8CEf94XfkbeR4A7CYz0ph_QmOIEf9usnlWbLf0_vLBim_0RZXk0jEFWIYW1vWWa17NnDSSuiSYMXUnhAnWcForc2j6m076CdQ462sMc0SnwwioLDP47gHRJrdRcKdVAlZ1gAsOKtM4YBCIYqTSpDcZ7WMcMUIlB-BV28gWGX089lEVt8OdreDL4V/s1200/544594931.jpg.0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcODI8CEf94XfkbeR4A7CYz0ph_QmOIEf9usnlWbLf0_vLBim_0RZXk0jEFWIYW1vWWa17NnDSSuiSYMXUnhAnWcForc2j6m076CdQ462sMc0SnwwioLDP47gHRJrdRcKdVAlZ1gAsOKtM4YBCIYqTSpDcZ7WMcMUIlB-BV28gWGX089lEVt8OdreDL4V/w400-h266/544594931.jpg.0.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Shaka Hislop</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">GK: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Phillips" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Lincoln Philips</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Phillips played forTrinidad and Tobago from 1963 to 1967, and with them won a bronze medal in the 1967 Pan American Games. In the USA, he played</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> Washington Darts in 1969. That year he was the ASL's Coach of the Year and made the All-Star Team, while leading the team to the ASL Championship. In 1970, the team moved to the NASL and he was the league's top goalkeeper, setting NASL records for consecutive shutouts and consecutive minutes without allowing a goal, and made the All-Star Team again.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Ince">Clayton Ince</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ince began with Defense Force at home. He had lengthy spells in the English Football League at Crewe Alexandra and Walsall. He was selected on the PFA Team of the Year: 2006–07 Football League Two. </span><span style="font-family: times;">He is his country's most capped goalkeeper with 79 caps for Trinidad and Tobago between 1994 and 2009. He was Shaka Hislop's backup at the 2006 World Cup Finals. </span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Hoyte">Justin Hoyte </a></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Justin Hoyte previously played for English clubs Arsenal, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Millwall and Dagenham & Redbridge. His longest stint was with Middlesbrough. Hoyte was born in England. As an international, he represented England up to under-21 level. He rejected a call up to play for </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Trinidad and Tobago for the 2006 World Cup Finals</span>, but he started to play for them at senior level in 2013. Between 2013 and 2016, he had 18 caps. His parents were both British sprinters.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RB/RW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Edwards">Carlos Edwards </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Edwards started his career in Trinidad and Tobago before moving to Wrexham in 2000 for whom he made over 150 appearances. He went on to play for Luton Town, Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich Town and Millwall. He </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">also made over 90 appearances for the Trinidad and Tobago. He was a member of their 2006 World Cup team. </span><span><span style="font-family: times;">He was named on the PFA Team of the Year three times in three different division</span>. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Lawrence">Dennis Lawrence</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Dennis Lawrence signed for Wrexham in 2001, joining from Defence Force at home. He stayed until 2006 when he signed for </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Swansea City. He later played for </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Crewe Alexandra. From 2000 to 2010, he played 101 times for T&T. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"> He was awarded the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award at the 2001 Caribbean Cup, which Trinidad and Tobago won. He scored the goal against Bahrain that awarded Trinidad and Tobago a ticket to the 2006 World Cup Finals. He also played every minute at the World Cup Finals.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4608kQYc0yl_IEntfsyeTFth2-nJZRkIIxxPwMYjqmBYTyXLRryC8nBGUuh4bCG2Gey3tDcW8vX4B5xn2RozoZoi5X-o27e6ltlVunpDKho4ukVgfod9FIplyY7Yegkt5LwuXBM644ekP1UY1i4BglmB1soIYaHfXGnXwxlHzf-9I_03615oaBA7s0Oh/s401/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20131737.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="401" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4608kQYc0yl_IEntfsyeTFth2-nJZRkIIxxPwMYjqmBYTyXLRryC8nBGUuh4bCG2Gey3tDcW8vX4B5xn2RozoZoi5X-o27e6ltlVunpDKho4ukVgfod9FIplyY7Yegkt5LwuXBM644ekP1UY1i4BglmB1soIYaHfXGnXwxlHzf-9I_03615oaBA7s0Oh/w400-h294/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20131737.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Dennis Lawrence</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Andrews" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Marvin Andrews</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><div>Andrews's career includes spells at Livingston, with whom he won the Scottish League Cup in 2004, and Rangers, where he won the double of the League Cup and the Scottish Premier League title in 2005. Most recently he played for Scottish League Two club Clyde. Between 1996 and 2006 Andrews was a regular for the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, winning 99 caps up to that point.</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">CB/LB: <a href="https://www.socawarriors.net/forum/index.php?topic=34740.msg407769#msg407769">Tyrone de la Bastide</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span>De La Bastide known as the "Tank". He was a member of the first ever T&T national team to participate in a World Cup qualifying competition for the 1966 World Cup Finals. In 1959, the former Maple great was also part of the T&T contingent of players on a Caribbean team to tour England. He was T&T Footballer of the Year in 1968 and was inducted into the T&T Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.</span></div></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span><br /></span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CB: </span><a href="https://www.socawarriors.net/player-pool.html?view=playerprofile&id=309" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Clayton Morris</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">In his club career, Claton Morris played for </span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Aviation Services Limited (1983), ECM Motown (1982), St. Ann's Rangers, Trintoc and United Petrotrin. He also played in the USISL where he was named the Atlantic Division Defender of the Year in 1994. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Between 1983 and 1992, he was capped 36 times by Trinidad and Tobago. He was the captain of the "Strike Squad" that nearly qualified for the 1990 World Cup Finals. He was elected into </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Trinidad & Tobago's Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.</span></div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbFsSwhSZog1KXlzN3FIbr_WCgwORD4v3Hei7wnaNKkj1MQo6wrmOHvQp4spvlgOlpfTeIrxsLE2GMpun7JT7KOq6tPcuACusMRI74MvLfFVv42fFCylOPUefqnoPg8Y1UtmSdPXZWiwnv6Wgm8RpVfLRYZkeDMnJ6O0EBtyoUn5E7tCYCI-YEhm6VCpj/s1280/Screenshot%202023-10-12%20at%208.56.56%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="1280" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbFsSwhSZog1KXlzN3FIbr_WCgwORD4v3Hei7wnaNKkj1MQo6wrmOHvQp4spvlgOlpfTeIrxsLE2GMpun7JT7KOq6tPcuACusMRI74MvLfFVv42fFCylOPUefqnoPg8Y1UtmSdPXZWiwnv6Wgm8RpVfLRYZkeDMnJ6O0EBtyoUn5E7tCYCI-YEhm6VCpj/w400-h304/Screenshot%202023-10-12%20at%208.56.56%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Clayton Morris</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joevin_Jones" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Joevin Jones</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Jones' career began with W Connection in 2009. In 2014, he was loaned to HJK Helsinki. Jones then moved to Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire for the 2015 season before spending the 2016 and 2017 seasons with Seattle Sounders FC. He joined German 2. Bundesliga club Darmstadt in 2018. He later returned to Seattle Sounders FC on 7 May 2019. Between 2010 and now, he had 97 caps.</span></span></div></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto">CB/DM/LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jlloyd_Samuel">Jlloyd Samuel</a> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto">Samuel played in the Premier League for both Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers earlier in his career having come through the Charlton Athletic youth academy. Between 1999 and 2007, he played with Aston Villa. He had a spell playing in Iran. Between 2007 and 2011, he played with Bolten Wanderers. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">He represented England at U-18, U-20, and U-23 level before switching to play for T&T at the senior level in 2009. He as only capped twice for T&T. </span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaleem_Hyland">Khaleem Hyland</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Khaleem Hyland began his career in 2007 with San Juan Jabloteh at home. He was unable to obtain a work permit to play with Portsmouth in England. He ended up in Belgium on loan, but later joined Zulte Waregrm and Genk. In 2017, he moved to Saudi Arabia. He first played for Al Faisaly and then, Al-Batin. Since 2008, he played over 90 times for T&T. He scored his first goal against Jamaica.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">CM/RM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Birchall">Chris Birchall</a> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">From 2001 to 2006, Birchall played for Port Vale. He spent some time with Coventry City before moving to the MLS in 2009. In 2013, he returned to Port Vale. In 2005, he started to play for T&T after discovering some Trinidad blood in him. He became the first white player to play for them in 60 years. He went to the World Cup Finals in 2006. In total, he had 44 caps between 2005 and 2013.</span></div><br /><span face="-webkit-standard"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Latapy">Russell Latapy </a></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Latapy left T&T in 1990 to play professional football in Europe. He first </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">signed for Académica de Coimbra in Portugal. In 1994, he joined FC Porto under Bobby Robson. He became the first Trinidadian to play in the UEFA Champions League. Later, he played in Scotland for a number of clubs. His longest stint was with Falkirk FC. For the national team, he played 81 times between 1988 and 2008. He was a member of "Strike Squad". In 2006, he went to the World Cup Finals with T&T.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ej2Ld_USQ7dpGZoO1Nw1A5KdSF_rzySHKokK_BDNeT4o3knpNOWcmfO3p7CQ2b0i2GLqJ3xHgjBDAr-CnrSgQOCkiLPDVMcsmNrIf39J5IhVH3LH3sWv9Dhf42e8Hs9l5_ul7HkMKB6jvhRVQrry5H2vxUeXNHMABL4wcXddflHy6Jct56SlFI94Mwfx/s576/R%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="576" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ej2Ld_USQ7dpGZoO1Nw1A5KdSF_rzySHKokK_BDNeT4o3knpNOWcmfO3p7CQ2b0i2GLqJ3xHgjBDAr-CnrSgQOCkiLPDVMcsmNrIf39J5IhVH3LH3sWv9Dhf42e8Hs9l5_ul7HkMKB6jvhRVQrry5H2vxUeXNHMABL4wcXddflHy6Jct56SlFI94Mwfx/w400-h225/R%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Russell Latapy</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">AM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everald_Cummings" style="font-family: times;">Everald Cummings</a><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Cummings started with Paragon. In 1967, he joined the Atlanta Chiefs in the NASL. In 1972, he signed with the NY Cosmos, winning the championship with them the same year. He moved to Veracruz in Mexico in 1974 until 1976. He also played with the Boston Minutemen in 1977. He later played indoor football in the United States. The T&T almost qualified for the 1974 World Cup Finals. He was named T&T Sportsman of the Year in 1973 and Most Valuable Player during the World Cup Qualification Preliminary Series.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Dwarika">Arnold Dwanika </a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Most of his career has been spent in his homeland in the TT Pro League but Dwarika has also had stints in Europe with Scottish side East Fife and Asia with Chinese clubs Qingdao Hailifeng and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical. Between 1993 and 2008, he played 73 times for T&T. He was the Caribbean Footballer of the Year in 1999 as well as winning T&T Player of the Year 3 times.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /><span><span></span></span>AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Eve">Angus Eve</a></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Eve started with Joe Public of Trinidad in 1993. He later played for Defense Force and a short career in England with Chester City in the 1999-2000 season. He made his debut for the Trinidad and Tobago in 1994. With 117 caps, he is his country's most capped players. He retired from international football after not being considered for the Trinidad and Tobago squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.</span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Archibald">Warren Archibald</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">In 1967, Archibald signed with the New York Generals in the USA. Archibald left the NASL at this point and may have then played for San Luis F.C. in Mexico and Victory Sportif Club in Haiti before signing with the Washington Darts of the NASL in 1970. Archibald was voted NASL MVP and a first team All Star that year. He also played for Rochester Lancers. He was capped 15 times between 1968 and 1974. T&T almost qualified for the 1974 World Cup Finals with him as a star player.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9kNZJKJN5J5lOTM7IH4TxdDEz961TM7GHCSkO_dDNQLtACY-JUkyuV4BoHhtuwsRQ3xhUKpBg3I6Suu3baEmF7AKLDYpSSFE12SEjnlq4s0Uo_mg3ERDHrDVab5l0k6QeLVj3GdN2RGu9TsbBMKIQN7WkRtS6P_8iOT4T4I5ZfEzzDZt0ePVFiU1ernXB/s509/OIP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="474" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9kNZJKJN5J5lOTM7IH4TxdDEz961TM7GHCSkO_dDNQLtACY-JUkyuV4BoHhtuwsRQ3xhUKpBg3I6Suu3baEmF7AKLDYpSSFE12SEjnlq4s0Uo_mg3ERDHrDVab5l0k6QeLVj3GdN2RGu9TsbBMKIQN7WkRtS6P_8iOT4T4I5ZfEzzDZt0ePVFiU1ernXB/w373-h400/OIP.jpg" width="373" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Warren Archibald</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">FW/RWF: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Garc%C3%ADa">Levi Garcia</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Levi García began his career in 2013, at the age of 15, with T&TEC. Garcia signed with AZ Alkmaar of the Eredivisie in 2015. He then moved to play in Israel. After spending two years in Israel, García moved to AEK Athens in 2020. In Greece, he was considered a top player. For Soca Warriors, he earned his first cap in 2016. He scored two goals on his debut. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenwyne_Jones">Kenwyne Jones</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jones began his career with Joe Public. He moved to W Connection in 2002. In 2004, he joined Southampton, where he was converted to a striker. He was later played with several English clubs, but besides Southampton, he was remembered for his career with Sunderland, where he was their Player of the Year. Between 2003 and 2017, he was capped 91 times for Soca Warriors. He went to the 2006 World Cup Finals. He was T&T Player of the Year in 2007.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">ST: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_John" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Stern John</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Stern John made his name with Colombus Crew before heading to England in 1999. In England, he played for Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Derby County, Sunderland, Southampton, Bristol City, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town. Between 1995 and 2011, he played 115 times for T&T. He is their all-time leading scorer with 70 goals. He was also the 7th highest international goalscorer at the time of his retirement in 2011. He is also the all-time top CONCACAF goal scorer.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBhOZ-2CxAelaNYOYMAYQ4aNFZ0PhJZx-4CgujvPcyzw2Qua-fDCzx9LtqSYyvQ3DEtGFxBXqA5_lr0zdqlvlyxxG2buOWIiuT4eO7IeJihGB-8_H6BLX31kaDrBjNxlhLe2LTJEU_ow5DA6F6zAu1TeskrccbKwwVIYyYj6RV-NjX0s3Yxaa-NRl6FdW/s463/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20124540.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="463" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBhOZ-2CxAelaNYOYMAYQ4aNFZ0PhJZx-4CgujvPcyzw2Qua-fDCzx9LtqSYyvQ3DEtGFxBXqA5_lr0zdqlvlyxxG2buOWIiuT4eO7IeJihGB-8_H6BLX31kaDrBjNxlhLe2LTJEU_ow5DA6F6zAu1TeskrccbKwwVIYyYj6RV-NjX0s3Yxaa-NRl6FdW/w400-h283/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20124540.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Stern John</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_David">Steve David</a></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">David began his career with Police in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1974, he joined Miami Toros in the North American Soccer League. He was named the 1975 NASL MVP. He later played with Los Angeles Aztecs, Detroit Express, California Surf and San Jose Earthquakes. He finished his NASL career as the league's 8th all-time leading scorer with 228 points in 175 games, including a 7th best tally of 100 goals. He was capped 16 times and was a member of the 1973 WC qualifying team.</span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto">ST: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_Yorke">Dwight Yorke</a> </span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">York was best remembered for his stint with Manchester United. In 1998-199 season, Manchester United won the triple (the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions' League), where he was both the top scorer in the Premiership and the Champions' League. Along with Russell Latapy and Pat Jennings, Yorke holds the record number of participations in different World Cup competitions, including qualifying stages – six in total (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010). He had 72 caps in total.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhye88HAWhnxvE4z7_o4g9hcQhN81Y6mEnthst0O3BCylNL3eLeFExdzsKPudOYZS5sEjFNbbT6nrjkCJ8BrgOAaLMUdKSn-cKwACUDu-z01OKxkxGkXU72uFz9FGQOnvCdIhj1N1hrF41Q73zN4PhyphenhyphenCYvIZECn7-bSS8MyIUNMQnuh1bQMYNmktUV-NZGH/s800/yorke_dwight_vs_usa_2001-06-20_01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhye88HAWhnxvE4z7_o4g9hcQhN81Y6mEnthst0O3BCylNL3eLeFExdzsKPudOYZS5sEjFNbbT6nrjkCJ8BrgOAaLMUdKSn-cKwACUDu-z01OKxkxGkXU72uFz9FGQOnvCdIhj1N1hrF41Q73zN4PhyphenhyphenCYvIZECn7-bSS8MyIUNMQnuh1bQMYNmktUV-NZGH/w400-h300/yorke_dwight_vs_usa_2001-06-20_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Dwight Yorke</span></td></tr></tbody></table> <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><span>Michael Maurice,</span><span> Gerald Figeroux, Kevin Barclay, </span><span><span>Earl Carter, </span><span>John Granville , </span><span>Ivor Hart, Cax Baptiste, </span></span><span><span>Jan-Michael Williams, </span><span>Marvin Phillip, </span></span></span><span>Brent Sancho, A</span><span><span>very John,</span><span> Ramon Moraldo, Selris Figaro, </span><span>Selwyn Murren, </span><span>Richard Chinapoo, </span><span>Brian Williams, Denil Theobald, David Nakhid, </span><span>Leroy Spann, </span><span>Alvin Corneal, </span><span>Delbert Charleau, </span><span>Carlton Franco, </span><span>Silvio Spann, </span><span>Leo Brewster, Leroy DeLeon, John Cyril Sutherland, Sammy Llewellyn, </span><span>Cornell Glen, Leonson Lewis, </span></span>Alf Charles, Shay Seymour, Joseph Daniel, Neville Douglas, Leroy Deleon.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto">-- </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto">Dwight Yorke (T&T) has a successful career in the English Premiership. He is the most famous player from T&T. Shaka Hislop and Russell Lamptey were also undisputed selection for this team. Kenwyne Jones, Stern John, Warren Archibald and Everald Cummings were the other top footballers from here.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- This might be my most difficult research for my All-Time national teams. There were plenty of English language materials on the internet for football in Trinidad and Tobago, but they were not specific enough. I found a very good source over <a href="https://socawarriors.net/archive/greatest_players.htm">here</a>, but it lacked details. And it was hard to compare the older players I found here with the modern players. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I focused on players from the NASL and English leagues. </span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><div>-- The IFFHS created their All-Time best XI for Trinidad and Tobago. They were Shaka Hislop, Justin Hoyte, Marvin Andrews, Tyrone de la Bastide, Marvin Faustin, Everald Cummings, Leroy DeLeon, Russell Latapy, Steve David, Dwight Yorke and Warren Archibald.</div><div>-- Trinidad & Tobago finally qualified for the 2006 World Cup Finals after beating Bahrain in the continental playoff. Dwight Yorke, Shaka Hislop, Clayton Ince, Russell Latapy, Kenwyne Jones, Carlos Edwards, Dennis Lawrence who went to Germany were selected into this team.</div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- In 1967, Trinidad & Tobago enjoyed their first ever successes by winning the bronze medal at the Pan American Games. The tournament included a famous victory against Argentina during the group stage. Lincoln Philips was the star for them. Tyrone de la Bastide was also selected here.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- At the 1973 CONCACAF Championship, Trinidad and Tobago fell two points short of qualifying for the 1974 World Cup in controversial fashion. Trinidad and Tobago lost a crucial game on 4 December 1973 against hosts Haiti 2–1 after being denied five goals. The referee, José Roberto Henríquez of El Salvador, and Canadian linesman James Higuet were subsequently banned for life by FIFA for the dubious events of the match. Warren Archibald, Steve David and Everald Cummings made this All-Time team.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- In 1989, Trinidad & Tobago only needed a draw against the United States on the last match of the World Cup Qualifying campaign to qualify for the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy. The Americans ended up winning 1-0, and qualified for their first World Cup Finals since 1950. The American goal became known as "The Shot heard around the world", and it changed the fortune of US soccer. The Trinidad team in 1989 was known as "Strike Squad" at the campaign. I selected </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Clayton Morris, Dwight Yorke and Russell Latapy. Yorke and Latapy would make it to the 2006 World Cup Finals 17 years later. </span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Shaka Hislop was not only the greatest ever goalkeeper from this country. He was probably one of CONCACAFA greatest ever. He had a long and gloried career in England with Newcastle United.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- </span><span>Soca Warriors' official website called Lincoln Philips one of their greatest </span><span>goalkeepers</span><span>. In the 1967 Pan Am Games, he helped them to beat Argentina 1-0 where T&T finished third. He would then play club football in the United States. I believed that he was probably the second-best goalkeeper ever from T&T.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nSfHSDA_Phn9b2GE3fhc0Sy29m7fUZvS8fBx28Any8ext7d2XloizeKL8ZUZAmTZ08MtAu6ygfj7J4GeM-PqYOk8Enf3uoHY5vo_FG9tTysCMQ_LU8JMVGFVzzdf_brTSTbjsi2Q_BvOxLegQ246swRkJDDUr2uz7f7PTAp-GcJyGwvI52hP14JSaHo4/s1481/R%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1481" data-original-width="1123" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nSfHSDA_Phn9b2GE3fhc0Sy29m7fUZvS8fBx28Any8ext7d2XloizeKL8ZUZAmTZ08MtAu6ygfj7J4GeM-PqYOk8Enf3uoHY5vo_FG9tTysCMQ_LU8JMVGFVzzdf_brTSTbjsi2Q_BvOxLegQ246swRkJDDUr2uz7f7PTAp-GcJyGwvI52hP14JSaHo4/w304-h400/R%20(2).jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lincoln Philips</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The third goalkeeper was difficult to choose. Michael Maurice had some memorial performances during the World Cup Qualifiers for Italia 1990, but he was remembered by Paul Caligiuri's goal in the last match of the campaign that ended T&T's World Cup dream. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Although I did not have enough information on Gerald Figeroux, he seemed highly rated. He played around the same time as Kevin Barclay. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Barclay also spent time in the NASL around 1974 after a sensational performance during the World Cup Qualifiers. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Earl Carter played with NY Cosmos while Pele was still with the team in 1979. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">John Granville was one of the first players from T&T to play in England. He played </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">about 120 games for Wycombe Wanderers. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">I came across </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ivor Hart who played in the 1920's and 1930's. His nickname was "Lion in the Cage".</span><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> Cax Baptiste represented the </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">British Caribbean team on their 1959 tour of England. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Both </span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Jan-Michael Williams and </span><span>Marvin Phillip was capped 80 times. In the end, I had no idea how to select. So I took Clayton Ince because of his experience playing in England. </span><span>In England, he played over 200 games for Crewe Alexandra and another 169 games for Walsall. He was voted into PFA Team of the Year: 2006–07 Football League Two. </span><span> </span><span>He sat behind Shaka Hislop throughout his career on the national team, but still managed to play over 70 times for T&T. In the 2006 World Cup Finals, he was behind both Hislop and Kevin Jack. Jack was injury prone, and his career was affected by it. I did not put him on honorable mentions</span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- Dennis Lawrence won the 2003–04 Wrexham's Player of the Season award. He has also become the first Wrexham player to play at a World Cup Finals. He also played over 90 times for his country. Then, I selected </span>Marvin Andrews<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> who had over 100 caps. He was also on IFFHS's Dream Team for T&T. </span><a href="https://www.socawarriors.net/player-pool.html?view=playerprofile&id=309" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Clayton Morris</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> was the captain of the "Strike Squad". He was listed as a defender only by information I found on the internet, but not his specific position. I actually watched the World Cup Qualifier between the United States and T&T for a better understanding of his position. He played as a centreback. He was very active after his retirement from football. Much information emerged about his post-playing careers. I might have been affected by them. Nevertheless, he seemed to be an influential player in his time.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Daneil Cyrus was capped 90 times, but his club career was more of a journeyman. He spent time playing in Vietnam and India.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> Ian Cox was well-known because he played in England. In AFC Bournemouth, he played alongside Rio Ferdinand, but his career was limited. With just 16 caps for Soca Warriors, I did not consider him nor Cyrus.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Justin Hoyte only played 18 times for the Soca Warriors, and that was the reason why kept him from being undisputed on this team. However, his club career in England was among the greatest ever from T&T making him one of the more famous players from this Island nation. So I had to take him. Carlos Edwards had some Premiership experiences with Sunderland, but mainly played in the lower division. He was named on the PFA Team of the Year three times in three different division, but not on the Premiership. Brent Sancho was famous due to Peter Crouch pulling on his dreadlock during the World Cup match between England and T&T, in which Crouch scored in the 1-0 victory. I put him on honorable mention.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgGgO4EWqdPw92gnWeP5lWG1X5UFR7ol0azifXkc596PhO5_hfIni6Aaudd3u3DaPVw0YvmIA5WgXf6pQhdtRLKkp1IYfsBaoe6Z1pwy3ooIzgGSGnvcqUkBYRJ5KfOc7-_woCHVztu5B6zDlXPPEIv-Ib-4ei4AeAMAz8aHbXGlhFATjTYzsj_mFAdmT/s455/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20125212.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="455" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgGgO4EWqdPw92gnWeP5lWG1X5UFR7ol0azifXkc596PhO5_hfIni6Aaudd3u3DaPVw0YvmIA5WgXf6pQhdtRLKkp1IYfsBaoe6Z1pwy3ooIzgGSGnvcqUkBYRJ5KfOc7-_woCHVztu5B6zDlXPPEIv-Ib-4ei4AeAMAz8aHbXGlhFATjTYzsj_mFAdmT/w400-h291/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20125212.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Carlos Edwards</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- On the left, I sided with IFFHS and took Tyrone de la Bastide. However, they listed him as a central defender, but Soca Warriors' official website listed him as a leftback. He was T&T Footballer of the Year in 1968 and was inducted into the T&T Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. The IFFHS selected Marvin Faustin as their leftback. He was a younger member of the "Strike Squad" from the late 1980's, but I had no idea what else he did. He spent his domestic career in the region. So I took Joevin Jones instead. His club career took him to MLS and Bundesliga 2. He had 90 caps. Avery John of the 2006 World Cup team was seriously considered. He made honorable mention. Jlloyd Samuel also played as a leftback.<br />-- I did not feel comfortable with my selections of defenders. The Soca Warriors had a list of greatest players on their <a href="https://socawarriors.net/archive/greatest_players.htm">website</a>. It listed many defenders, but I had very limited information on them. They tended to be older players. Both Ramon Moraldo and Selris Figaro played in the NASL during the 1970's. Richard Chinapoo also spent two seasons with NY Cosmos in the early 1980's before embarking on a career playing indoor soccer. I also had Brian Williams from the World Cup Qualifying campaign for the 1990 World Cup Finals. Selwyn Murren was from the 1967 Pan Am team. I did not know how to rate them. So I simply put them on honorable mentions.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Jlloyd Samuel only played twice for Trinidad and Tobago after he switched his eligibly from England. I still selected him because he had one of the better club careers than most players from here. He had at least 12 seasons playing in the Premier League. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Khaleem Hyland played 94 times for Soca Warriors, but his club career was limited to playing in Belgium. He and </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Chris Birchall never made it to the Premier League. Birchall was the first white player to represent T&T in 60 years when he earned his first cap in 2005. He went onward to play in the 2006 World Cup. Nevertheless, I took both of them over D</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">enil Theobald. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Theobald also failed to establish in Europe, but he had 99 international caps. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>-- </span>Everald Cummings and Russell Latapy were considered two of the greatest footballers from here. Cummings was named the T&T Sportsman of the Year in 1973 as well as being names Most Valuable Player during the World Cup Qualification Preliminary Series. </span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Latapy became the first </span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Trinidadian to play in the UEFA Champions when he was playing with Porto. Then, I had to take Angus Eve. He is the most capped player from Trinidad and Tobago. Except a brief period with Chester, he never played outside Trinidad and Tobago.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Arnold Dwanika starred for T&T at the 2000 Gold Cup where they reached the semifinal. It was their best ever finish. He was also T&T Player of the Year three times.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Bertrand Grell, who was from the 1967 Pan Am team played in the NASL. Leon Carpette starred for the famous 1973 World Cup qualifying campaign. They were put on honorable mention only.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- </span>Levi Garcia<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> became the youngest professional player from Trinidad and Tobaga playing in Europe. He already established himself as a star player in Greece. He is a winger/forward. I came across right winger </span><a href="https://www.socawarriors.net/senior-team-news/1790-rex-burnett-dead-at-86.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Rex Burrett</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">. He was the star of the tour of England by Trinidadian players in 1950. While he was well-respected in his home country, I do not know how to rate him. So, he only made honorable mention.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5MCQu3bzPXQ03fbrnzouP6S_fJc4nRa9hZ8g1V0E-PefZU8rCIKMsRuSh9Oz-513igpVMbiAE6AdEr6ib9KPlQYbZwJY4Z3pzmNpS0UUg-gAmGIvph9b4SI7j1A9tUyk_5mCzBzFcbWdMHuVXd58rob4AWLKqsQSoLsjwDScvc5lCBuupxFDvcQCwx28/s391/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20130715.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="391" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5MCQu3bzPXQ03fbrnzouP6S_fJc4nRa9hZ8g1V0E-PefZU8rCIKMsRuSh9Oz-513igpVMbiAE6AdEr6ib9KPlQYbZwJY4Z3pzmNpS0UUg-gAmGIvph9b4SI7j1A9tUyk_5mCzBzFcbWdMHuVXd58rob4AWLKqsQSoLsjwDScvc5lCBuupxFDvcQCwx28/w400-h285/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20130715.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Levi Garcia</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Steve David </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">finished his NASL career as the league's 8th all-time leading scorer with 228 points in 175 games. He was a top player over there when Pele, George Best, Johan Cruyff and Bobby Moore were playing there. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">I believed that he was a wing forward. He was known for his speed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Leroy Spann who played in the NASL and his son Silvio Spann also made honorable mention.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- One source named Aldric Baptiste as one of greatest ever footballers from here after Yorke and Lamptey. I did not have enough information about him. He played in the 1950's.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Dwight Yorke was the greatest Trinidadian footballers. The height of his career was spent with Aston Villa and Manchester United. He was a member of "Strike Squad", but also later played and starred as the veteran on the 2006 World Cup team. But he actually only scored 19 goals for the national team. Stern John is the all-time leading scorer with 70 goals. His career in MLS and England spoke for itself. Both were undisputed on this team.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Warren Archibald was as the NASL MVP in 1973. He was a part of the World Cup Qualifying team that was controversially eliminated in 1973. He and </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Kenwyne Jones must also be in the team. Jones was the most successful Trinidadian forwards playing in England after York and John. He amassed over 100 Premier League games for Sunderland while being named Sunderland Player of the Year for the 2007-2008 season.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhULDM_PzXiPsx4pDMlV1HWSzEMysNg7MWV2MbzIDAnTF9SCpcuxwaLBjJfyZo1BswIy-BnDoajbslSEy3DcDbjftO-owKZyB3hXh8mpajoWJt0XbSzDQmmTWaleH-DvCR33mwRIMMV81_BJcpFe4v1Jult4tjozALzajn1w601ubUeXNsalbSCOXsZU4/s316/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20131224.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="224" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhULDM_PzXiPsx4pDMlV1HWSzEMysNg7MWV2MbzIDAnTF9SCpcuxwaLBjJfyZo1BswIy-BnDoajbslSEy3DcDbjftO-owKZyB3hXh8mpajoWJt0XbSzDQmmTWaleH-DvCR33mwRIMMV81_BJcpFe4v1Jult4tjozALzajn1w601ubUeXNsalbSCOXsZU4/w284-h400/Screenshot%202023-10-13%20131224.png" width="284" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Kenwyne Jones</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Alf Charles came to England from a cricket tour in 1933. He ended up as a footballer. He was also the first Black ever to play for Southampton. However, most of his career was spent out of the English league. Basically, he was a forgotten man even in Southampton. So I did not award him with a spot for being a pioneer of the game.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- After a tour of 1953 of the United Kingdom by players from T&T, Shay Seymour signed with Weymouth FC. Another source said that he played with Bury, but it was not very clear. I left him on honorable mention. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Joseph Daniel elected to </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Trinidad & Tobago's Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. He played in the 1940's. I also discovered Neville Douglas who was named in the Trinidad & Tobago's Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. His son Tony was also a famous player. Leroy Deleon was first team All-Star in the NASL. seemed to be the best of the brunch.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/10/1937384_Trinidad_and_Tobago.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/10/1937384_Trinidad_and_Tobago.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-5008276037407596402023-05-30T06:52:00.011-07:002023-12-16T16:21:08.658-08:00Canada Greatest All-Time Team<div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a> of Russia copied many of my blog teams. This <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. He also copied many many of my blog entries.</span><b><br /><div style="font-family: times; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ann3X_GBbhREpJonvQ20Z3GGlFoFZXFJgRUdD7DIF1U6vP6mIGHdrtqezW_Ls6hOukBBdRrxcw2k0Zp6t7ZrR_tNKMwnZXEJ5qAapkL8qGphCogFa4zC64oxzqn6g0nlPxrJ3mhqmzaR4p5E2RIkdA4bXbhrqIusMhTxWlaU6c1j37sp_OnujH2agg/s990/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20at%203.32.39%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="990" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ann3X_GBbhREpJonvQ20Z3GGlFoFZXFJgRUdD7DIF1U6vP6mIGHdrtqezW_Ls6hOukBBdRrxcw2k0Zp6t7ZrR_tNKMwnZXEJ5qAapkL8qGphCogFa4zC64oxzqn6g0nlPxrJ3mhqmzaR4p5E2RIkdA4bXbhrqIusMhTxWlaU6c1j37sp_OnujH2agg/w400-h278/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20at%203.32.39%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Canada World Cup 2022</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face="-webkit-standard" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></b></div><div><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large; font-weight: 400;"><span face="-webkit-standard" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/concacafa.html">All-CONCACAF<br /></a></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/usa-all-team-23-member-team.html">USA</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/mexico-all-time-23-member-team.html">Mexico</a>, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/costa-rica-all-time-23-member-team.html">Costa Rica</a><span>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/honduras.html">Honduras</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/10/el-salvador-greatest-all-time-team.html">El Salvador<br /></a></span></span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/central-america.html"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Central America without </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Costa Rica and Honduras.</span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/05/canada.html">Canada</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/10/trinidad-and-tobago.html">Trinidad & Tobago</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/04/jamaican-british.html"><span>British Jamaicans</span></a><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/12/jamaica.html">Jamaica international</a></div><span><span><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/canada-or-canadian-born-all-time-team.html">Canada or Canadian born Players<br /></a></span></span></span><span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/caribbean-football-union.html">Caribbean Countries</a>.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">I created </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/12/canada-or-canadian-born-all-time-team.html" style="font-family: times;">Canada or Canadian-born </a><span style="font-family: times;">All-Time team in 2016. Basically, I wanted to honor Owen </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Hargreaves, John van 't Schip, etc. Canada produced more good players than what it appeared to have done. I reviewed the team in May, 2023. I felt at the time that the talented level in Canada is so high that many Canadian international players were forced out of the team by those non-Canadian capped players. However, I did not want to waste my effect on my research on the Canadian-born players. So I kept that team and created an All-Canada team.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Canada's most significant achievements are winning the 1985 CONCACAF Championship to qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup and winning the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup to qualify for the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. Canada also won a gold medal in the 1904 Summer Olympics. Until 2022, the 1986 World Cup was their only successful qualification campaign in their history. Canada finally qualified for the 2022 World Cup Finals.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8ofJY3Bcz7o/VFCqbpaXKZI/AAAAAAAAAOk/rWSirT6Yui0/s1600/Gold-Cup-2000-canada.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8ofJY3Bcz7o/VFCqbpaXKZI/AAAAAAAAAOk/rWSirT6Yui0/s400/Gold-Cup-2000-canada.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Canada's Gold Cup victory</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><u>Team</u></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">GK: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kennaway" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Joe Kennaway</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" itemprop="name" style="font-size: large;">Born in Canada. Kennaway played in the American Soccer League between 1927 and 1931. He moved to Scotland and joined Celtic in 1931. He made </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">295 total appearances over there. He represented Canada once in 1926. In 1933, </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" itemprop="name" style="font-size: large;">Kennaway </span></span>represented Scotland to play against Austria. Due to objections from other Home Nations, he never played for Scotland again.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" itemprop="name" style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Forrest">Craig Forrest</a> </span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" itemprop="name" style="font-size: large;">Craig Forrest spent 12 years with Ipswich Town. He also played with Chelsea and West Ham United, whilst also spending time on loan in the Football League with Colchester United. He was capped 56 times between 1988 and 2002. He was voted the MVP of the 2000 Gold Cup as Canada won their first major international tournament. He is considered Canada's greatest goalkeepers. He was selected in Canada Soccer Hall of Flame as well as Sport Hall of Flame.</span></span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQGOtKrgfjVWa7vWLur2cFczsSd5luX9gW4vIPw6e0Vpfm4KYjqdbYksXAZ3c8H8u5zPMIHja_T_Rg9ofVyP96qpiJ4VAhY4vEZvu-68F3SYffJ9w0syxP1AVXhHq_9qOToEJ0xlrpSlDWhQSebxR0FQl178-0nUJhY9cGMAMqfs2VexLgG4OGNAMjA/s854/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20at%2010.28.04%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="596" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQGOtKrgfjVWa7vWLur2cFczsSd5luX9gW4vIPw6e0Vpfm4KYjqdbYksXAZ3c8H8u5zPMIHja_T_Rg9ofVyP96qpiJ4VAhY4vEZvu-68F3SYffJ9w0syxP1AVXhHq_9qOToEJ0xlrpSlDWhQSebxR0FQl178-0nUJhY9cGMAMqfs2VexLgG4OGNAMjA/w279-h400/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20at%2010.28.04%20AM.png" width="279" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Craig Forrest</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Dolan_(soccer)">Paul Dolan</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Paul Dolan spent his entire club career in Canada. He played for Vancouver 86ers and Hamilton Steelers and winning the CSL championship with the 86ers in 1990 and 1991. between 1984 and 1997, he was capped 53 times for Canada. He held the famous French team scoreless until the 79th minute when Jean Pierre Papin gave France a narrow 1–0 victory during the 1986 World Cup Finals.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">RB: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Yallop" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Frank Yallop</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto">Frank Yallop </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">played in the Premiership before moving to play in MLS in 1996. He spent 13 seasons with Ipswich Town and a brief loan move to Blackburn rovers. With Ipswich Town, he relegated to the seond divsion im 1986. In 1992, he helped the club to gain to First Divison. He played with Tampa Bay Mutiny between 1996 and 1998. He capped 52 times for Canada from 1990 and 1997.</span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Iarusci">Robert Iarusci</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 2012, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team. He began his NASL career with Toronto Metros-Croatia. At the end of the 1977 season, he joined the New York Cosmos. They won consecutive Soccer Bowls. He was traded in the Spring of '79 to the Washington Diplomats and played there two seasons. Iarusci returned to the Cosmos to play 1981 through '83, and finished with the San Diego Sockers. He had 22 caps.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB/DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lenarduzzi"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">B</span>ob Lenarduzzi</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Lenarduzzi began his career with Reading in England. He then joined Vancouver Whitecaps in 1974 in the team's first season. He played 11 seasons for Vancouver until the league folded in 1984. Lenarduzzi holds the record for most games played in the league, with 312. Lenarduzzi played all eleven positions during his tenure with the team. He was also voted NASL North American player of the year in 1978. The Whitecaps won the NASL Soccer Bowl championship in 1979. Earned 47 caps and went to Mexico 1986.</span><br /><br /><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">CB:</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_de_Vos"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></a></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_de_Vos"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jason de Vos</span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Jason de Vos is considered to be Canada's greatest center-back. He captained Canada as it won the Gold cup in 2000. He made the Gold Cup all-tournament team in 2000 and 2002. He spent most of his career in the UK, playing for Dundee United, Wigan Atletic and Ipswich Town. In 2012 as part of the Canadian Soccer Association's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team. He was Canada's Player of the Year in 2002.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhVIj77TwLx6O465n7hN49OK0ijt2E8xDkFgFcePh-uOJ6ve9Vj-bsS6HWvbeWVP0baRIgfD_kPkQn-dw2uT0FYsTeLhI13waAdX8jR3Xb2RO9LznRYO6sDG4TT9jVgQ0XKgn6J8BI6w8Q_N4A1h2j_cdhs37ZYDxY3P7580SF8mVp-GbFi1oW-Lr1w/s2690/20000217_314.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2527" data-original-width="2690" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhVIj77TwLx6O465n7hN49OK0ijt2E8xDkFgFcePh-uOJ6ve9Vj-bsS6HWvbeWVP0baRIgfD_kPkQn-dw2uT0FYsTeLhI13waAdX8jR3Xb2RO9LznRYO6sDG4TT9jVgQ0XKgn6J8BI6w8Q_N4A1h2j_cdhs37ZYDxY3P7580SF8mVp-GbFi1oW-Lr1w/w400-h376/20000217_314.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Jason de Vos</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span dir="auto">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Samuel">Randy Samuel</a></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Samuel started his career with the Edmonton Eagles and Vancouver Whitecaps, before joining PSV Eindhoven in 1985. Playing just five Eredivisie games for PSV, he moved on to FC Volendam in 1987, becoming a key member of the team until he moved on to league rivals Fortuna Sittard in 1990. He later played for Port Vale , Harstad IL(Norway),Vancouver 86ers, the Hampton Roads Mariners, and the Montreal Impact. He went to Mexico 1986 for Canada.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McKenna">Kevin McKenna</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">McKenna played three seasons (the first two in the reserves) with German Bundesliga side Energie Cottbus</span><span style="font-family: times;"> before joining Hearts in Scotland in 2001. Between 2005 and 2007, he again played for Engerie Cottbus before joining Koln. He played for them between 2007 and 2014. For Canada, he was capped 63 times between 2000 and 2012. He was indicted to Canada Football Hall of Flame in 2019.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">LB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Wilson_%28soccer%29">Bruce Wilson</a> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Considered to be Canada's greatest player. He captained Canada at the WC Finals in 1986. He was capped 50 times. He played for the Vancouver Whitecaps from 1974 to 1977, the Chicago Sting in 1978 and 1979, the New York Cosmos in 1980, and the Toronto Blizzard from 1981 to 1984. He was a six-time all-star selection, including three first-team selections (Vancouver in '77, Chicago in '79, Toronto in '84).</span></div><div><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">LW/LB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonso_Davies" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Alphonso Davies</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Davies was the first player born in the 2000s to play in a Major League Soccer match. Davies joined Bayern in January 2019 from MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps FC on a contract lasting for a then-MLS record transfer fee. Davies was named the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season for 2019–20.[6] In that season he also was part of the team winning the continental treble after Bayern won the Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League and the DFB-Pokal.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjltWy9JusPCyhmHaVPxy65KBSbknnKhudePTZRTWR4h9DsfJNk-zDBpV-0Vll-nby2HLEh7urMT7H_Kzt2WD2CiEaVF7o85Fb0BdnSXph3SkRjz6o5V_D1vFUuDsJQMln3EB-HCvTvln0PVDM0aWp1uZV6-M_2FnWNZ876Zfot1T7JvrmWBE43MK2b4A/s1366/Screenshot%202023-05-30%20at%205.46.55%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1366" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjltWy9JusPCyhmHaVPxy65KBSbknnKhudePTZRTWR4h9DsfJNk-zDBpV-0Vll-nby2HLEh7urMT7H_Kzt2WD2CiEaVF7o85Fb0BdnSXph3SkRjz6o5V_D1vFUuDsJQMln3EB-HCvTvln0PVDM0aWp1uZV6-M_2FnWNZ876Zfot1T7JvrmWBE43MK2b4A/w400-h284/Screenshot%202023-05-30%20at%205.46.55%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Alphonso Davies</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">DM: </span><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Sweeney_(soccer)">Mike Sweene<span>y</span></a></span></span></div><div><span><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1980, the Edmonton Drillers of the North American Soccer League signed Sweeney. He spent three seasons with the Drillers before moving to the Vancouver Whitecaps for the 1983 season. While he began the 1984 season with the Whitecaps, he was traded to the Golden Bay Earthquakes. The NASL folded at the end of the 1984 season. He continued to play indoor soccer. He was capped 61 times and went to Mexico 1986.</span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CM/DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Dasovic">Nick Dasovic</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nick Dasovic began his career in the Yugoslav First League and later the Croatian First League playing for Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, renamed Croatia Zagreb during the 1990s. After playing in Canada and France, he joined St. Johnstone in Scotland where he played from 1996 and 2002. Between 1992 and 2004, he earned 63 caps for Canada. He was born in Canada.</span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">CM/RB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atiba_Hutchinson">Atiba Hutchison </a></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Atiba Hutchinson was six-time Canadian Player of the year in 2010 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. He was Danish Super Liga Player of the Year in 2010. He was a central midfielder or a right wingback. Between 2010 and 2013, he played for PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie. At the time of writing, he plays for Beşiktaş J.K. From 2003, he played over 103 times for Canada. He was the oldest player at the 2022 World Cup Finals.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_6tpRBO4V3EsaHVdCKMRXzMrPyjC618V-0jd_xOKxH6ruzgIEt6bY_EyGGKaOcCkI0orI-1uouskzMZIJiwHh2DML2Q0QN30gAmKgeRm1DTbGg1bWKPwv83CLXoh_fneU9lVzlUAddHk7QHnD5cTJbuGv3Zj-Mlh08tXkhSZ6lAYiaAtvjgwIIGF4Q/s896/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20at%205.30.20%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="896" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_6tpRBO4V3EsaHVdCKMRXzMrPyjC618V-0jd_xOKxH6ruzgIEt6bY_EyGGKaOcCkI0orI-1uouskzMZIJiwHh2DML2Q0QN30gAmKgeRm1DTbGg1bWKPwv83CLXoh_fneU9lVzlUAddHk7QHnD5cTJbuGv3Zj-Mlh08tXkhSZ6lAYiaAtvjgwIIGF4Q/w400-h301/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20at%205.30.20%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Atiba Hutchinson </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">UT: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Wilson_%28soccer%29">Les Wilson </a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">Les Wilson was just 16 years old when he made his Pacific Coast League debut in 1963, for the Westminster Royals FC. He played for Wolverhampton Wanderers in England between 1964 and 1971. He later played for Bristol City, Norwich City, and Vancouver Whitecaps. He is one of very few professional footballers to have played in matches in nine different positions. Born in England, he grew up in Canada.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">CM/DM</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/hernán-medford/1156177" itemprop="name" style="font-size: large;">: </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_de_Guzman">Julian de Guzman </a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">Julian de Guzman </span></span>is one of the most successful Canadian player in Europe. He is best remembered for Deportivo La Coruna between 2005 and 2009. He was voted their best player for the 2007-2008 season.</span></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He also had a remarkable career with Hanover 96 in Germany.</span></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">For the national team, he is capped 76 times at the time of writing. He was the MVP for the 2007 Gold Cup. His brother Jonathan played for the Netherlands.</span></span></div><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdfpeRjqKMkIFJ8Fad5B38UqG753mdFez3ttOy2u-jIpZJXpHRfiHpQ4GLJDGSjftugqR8W7ZKqhxOeUHfuJDEABeQA1B3i8LBAJaK36Jzosf1AUMY8JDD4jCuG-PldRxUNVWV98pU4mo202ZDN5G40yRGwPjudgMDQiaQ5M180zflRHUIleSYEfBM3g/s890/Screenshot%202023-05-30%20at%207.33.25%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="890" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdfpeRjqKMkIFJ8Fad5B38UqG753mdFez3ttOy2u-jIpZJXpHRfiHpQ4GLJDGSjftugqR8W7ZKqhxOeUHfuJDEABeQA1B3i8LBAJaK36Jzosf1AUMY8JDD4jCuG-PldRxUNVWV98pU4mo202ZDN5G40yRGwPjudgMDQiaQ5M180zflRHUIleSYEfBM3g/w400-h313/Screenshot%202023-05-30%20at%207.33.25%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Julian de Guzman</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>RW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Errol_Crossan">Errol Crossan</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Crossan played in Canada, but he joined Manchester City in January 1954. He later played for Gillingham, Southend United, Norwich City and Leyton Orient, scoring 57 goals in 226 games in the Football League. He played a significant role in Norwich's 1959 FA Cup run, when the team from the Third Division reached the semifinal. He was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Norwich City Hall of Fame in 2002.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Catliff">John Catliff</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Catliff was an All-American at Harvard. He was a Canadian Soccer League star, scoring the second most goals of anyone in the League's six-year history with 69 goals in total. He played with Calgary Kickers. He then spent the next six seasons with the Vancouver 86ers, who became the CSL champions in 4 consecutive seasons from 1988 through 1991. He was capped 44 times. He missed Mexico 1986 through an injury.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">FW/AM: <span dir="auto"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwayne_De_Rosario">Dwayne De Rosario</a></span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dwayne De Rosario played for the Toronto Lynx, FSV Zwickau and Richmond Kickers early in his career. He came to prominence in the 2000s playing for the San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo, Toronto FC, NY Red Bulls and D.C. United. A four-time MLS Cup champion, he also won the 2011 MLS MVP award. He is the sixth-leading scorer in MLS history with 104 goals. He was capped 81 times. He was a part of the team that won the Gold Cup.</span></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQGkf41ilJ3YSFnCg3KS2AZqhB73pBJdASCi7MidNSz3U0FoSF_1W0SDl7ZUOazEjOeOdlbM-m7OY3RPcDpJ0NzTlcVyZGyJ6mFdklmV4sLjRfgh-qy1W0z1gwNOXi1ICW0FfMsqae7-WGobFPM2K74UPLMX_586UmL-_gl5VGI7mnHRUyIWwKo0vPow/s3138/CMOQ_DRosarioCAN.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3138" data-original-width="2121" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQGkf41ilJ3YSFnCg3KS2AZqhB73pBJdASCi7MidNSz3U0FoSF_1W0SDl7ZUOazEjOeOdlbM-m7OY3RPcDpJ0NzTlcVyZGyJ6mFdklmV4sLjRfgh-qy1W0z1gwNOXi1ICW0FfMsqae7-WGobFPM2K74UPLMX_586UmL-_gl5VGI7mnHRUyIWwKo0vPow/w270-h400/CMOQ_DRosarioCAN.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Dwayne De Rosario</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>FW/WF: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomasz_Radzinski">Tomasz Radzinski </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">He played youth football in Poland and Germany before moving to Canada. He began his career in Canada before he </span>returned to Europe, joining Germinal Ekeren in Belgium in 1994. From there he eventually signed for Anderlecht. </span><span style="font-size: large;">At Everton, Radziński scored 25 times in 91 Premiership outings before requesting a transfer, eventually securing a three-year deal with Fulham F.C. worth £1.75 million. He played 46 times for Canada.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span dir="auto" style="font-family: times;">ST:</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Mitchell_(soccer)" style="font-family: times;">Dale Mitchell</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Mitchell began his career with the Vancouver Whitecaps (1977, 1978), then played for the Portland Timbers (1979 to 1982) and for the Montreal Manic (1983). He was an original player with the Vancouver 86ers of the Canadian Soccer League and APSL for whom he scored 37 goals during seasons from 1988 to 1990 and 1992 to 1994. He was with the Toronto Blizzard for the 1991 season. Capped 55 times. He played in Mexico 1986.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Bunbury">Alex Bunbury</a></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Born in Guyana, Bunbury started playing professionally in Canada. In 1993, after an unassuming season for West Ham United, he moved to Portugal's C.S. Marítimo, going on to become the club's all-time leading goalscorer in the Primeira Liga with 59 goals. In his second season, he won the Foreign Player of the Year award, and he scored a career-best 15 goals in the 1998–99 campaign. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In early 1999, he joined Kansas City Wizards of MLS. Capped 65 times for Canada.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">ST:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_David"> Jonathan David</a></span></div>David made his professional debut with Gent in 2018. Two years later, he joined French side Lille, where he aided in winning one Ligue 1 title and one Trophée des Champions. In 2019, David was named the male Canada Soccer Player of the Year. He picked his first senuor cap in 2018. He was the Golden Boot winner in the 2019 Gold Cup. He went to play in the 2022 World Cup Finals in Qatar.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Ukmzk2rmU01ACUx4p4T92QeCtq_gka3aUd5OVoPXUQhr9iQmey5U_klQjPJZsZGzFzy-31CwMR7v6KbdtXkFXgAIf4VGZlf2Nvg5ViG_z-i67uyWbqi48YFPYFA9_u4gkiIKC9YSCDigNnue6gzxGCL0uTdILfuplFHQM8C2UjofUpXSG7UUWVu9Fg/s978/Screenshot%202023-05-30%20at%206.11.03%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="978" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Ukmzk2rmU01ACUx4p4T92QeCtq_gka3aUd5OVoPXUQhr9iQmey5U_klQjPJZsZGzFzy-31CwMR7v6KbdtXkFXgAIf4VGZlf2Nvg5ViG_z-i67uyWbqi48YFPYFA9_u4gkiIKC9YSCDigNnue6gzxGCL0uTdILfuplFHQM8C2UjofUpXSG7UUWVu9Fg/w400-h288/Screenshot%202023-05-30%20at%206.11.03%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Jonathan David</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Milan Borjan, Lars Hirschfeld, Timo Lettieri, Pat Onstad, </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Paul Stalteri </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lydon Hooper,</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"> Paul James, Mark Watson, Colin Miller, Norm McLeod, Wes McLeod, Carlo Corazzin, Colin Miller, Mike Stojanović, Ian Bridge, Paul James, Jim Brennan, Simeon Jackson, Sam Lenarduzzi, Stephen Eustaquio, Lee Wilson, Jimmy Douglas, Fred Whittaker, Geordie Campbell, Dave Turner, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Jonathan Osorio, Paul Peschisolido, Jonathan David, Cyle Larin, Tajon Buchanan, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Jack Cowan, </span><span>Lucas Cavallini.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Canada actually produced more good players than what it appeared to be, but some of the good players decided to play for other national team. So I created </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/12/canada-or-canadian-born-all-time-team.html" style="font-family: times;">Canada or Canadian-born </a><span style="font-family: times;">All-Time team in 2016. Basically, I wanted to showcase Owen </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Hargreaves and John van 't Schip as Canadian talents. Then, I reviewed that team in May, 2023. I felt at the time that the talented level in Canada became so high that many Canadian international players were forced out of the team by those non-Canadian capped players. However, I did not want to waste my effect on my research on the Canadian-born players. So I kept that team and created this All-Canada team. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Owen Hargreaves, John van 't Schip, Jonathan de Guzman and Yassine Bounou were the only non-Canadian international players on that team. So I only needed to add four new players. This section were almost the same as that of the Canada/Canadian-born team.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- In 2012, the Canadian Soccer Association announced it greatest ever Best XI as part of their 100th anniversary. The team was as followed: Craig Forest, Robert Iarusci, Randy Samuel, Jason de Vos, Bruce Wilson, Mike Sweeney, Dale Mitchell, Atiba Hutchinson, Dwayne De Rosario, John Catliff and Alex Bunbury.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- On the same year, the Soccer Hall of Fame in honour of Canadian Soccer Association’s centenary celebrations created two All-Time Best XI in 50 years</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">: a team of XI from 1912-1962 and a team of XI from 1963-2012. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">The 1912-1962 team consisted of Joe Kennaway, Geordie Campbell, Jack Cowan, Fred Dierden, Trevor Harvey, Dickie Stobbart, Errol Crossan, Gogie Stewart, Doug McMahon, Dave Turner. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">From 1963 to 2012, they had following players: Craig Forrest, Frank Yallop, Robert Iarusci, Randy Samuel, Bruce Wilson, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Nick Dasovic,<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Mike Sweeney, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Les Wilson, Colin Miller,</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> Alex Bunbury and Tomasz Radzinski</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- IFFHS selected the following players as their All-Time Best XI for Canada. They were Craig Forrest, Bob Lenarduzzi, Robert Iarusci, Jason de Vos, Bruce Wilson, Paul Stalteri, Atiba Hutchinson, Julian de Guzmán, Alphonso Davies, Tomasz Radzinski and Dale Mitchell. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Only six of their players on Canada's greatest ever Best XI. </span></span>They were Craig Forrest, Robert Iarusci, Jason de Vos, Bruce Wilson, Atiba Hutchinson and Dale Mitchell. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- This generation of Canadian national team is their greatest ever. In 2022, Canada qualified for the first World Cup Finals since 1986. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Atiba Hutchinson and Alphonso Davies were already on this team. I added Jonathan David in 2023. It was a bold move to add two players in their early 20s to be on an All-Time team. Cyle Larin, Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio and Tajon Buchanan made honorable mentions. Yassine Bounou who represented Morocco in Qatar was born in Montreal. His family returned to Morocco when he was 3 years old. Canada did inquiry about his service before he opted for Morocco.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Dwayne De Rosario, Craig Forest, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Kevin McKenna, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Jason de Vos, Nick Dasovic, Tomasz Radzinski and Alex Bunbury were on the 2000 Gold Cup winning team. Seven other players made the honourable mention: Pat Onstad, Richard Hastings, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Paul Stalteri, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Mark Watson, Paul Peschisolido and Carlo Corazzin.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>-- Bob Lenarduzzi, Bruce Wilson, Mike Sweeney, Randy Samuel and Dale Mitchell went to the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico. John Catliff missed the tournament because of an injury. He contributed during the World Cup Qualifiers.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZ13tDq06DK1NXL95swvoJk_SXq5R2ZNrg_IslS-MfCfbS747HwuyTjwgpEWvs4o0TlKoUjDUfOxf1WsYBWmKMwk8WTPEztnwsue5Cqp6-nqITXMDWN3dR9EZMwhbgGK9aUCti4hJsDEynthC77jA0HnAlnDQo6-Gkuh1DKANdC2xVU7b7gdAEz0zSw/s2048/canada.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1353" data-original-width="2048" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZ13tDq06DK1NXL95swvoJk_SXq5R2ZNrg_IslS-MfCfbS747HwuyTjwgpEWvs4o0TlKoUjDUfOxf1WsYBWmKMwk8WTPEztnwsue5Cqp6-nqITXMDWN3dR9EZMwhbgGK9aUCti4hJsDEynthC77jA0HnAlnDQo6-Gkuh1DKANdC2xVU7b7gdAEz0zSw/w400-h264/canada.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1986 World Cup</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>-- Fred Whittaker, Geordie Campbell and Dave Turner played before the War. Whittaker played for Notts County in 1946. Errol Crossan also played in England during the 1950's. They only made honourable mentions.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Craig Forest was chosen to be the greatest ever by both the Canadian FA and IFFHS. Canada won the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup where Forrest won Most Valuable Goalkeeper and MVP honours after conceding just three goals and saving two penalties — one in the semi-final and one in the final.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Joe Kennaway was a pioneer in Canada's football history. He moved to play for Celtic in 1931 after impressing them in their tour of the United States. He was capped by both Scotland and Canada, but he grew up in Canada. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He would have played more times for Scotland, but the other Home Nations objected to a Canadian playing in goal for Scotland. He also represented the Scottish League XI four times.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Paul Dolan was probably the 2nd best ever Canadian-capped goalkeeper. He won the 1985 CONCACAF Championship and led Canada in their first World Cup Finals. In World Cup Finals, he also held France scoreless for 79 minutes. Canada would end up losing to France 1-0. France was the reigning European Championship with Michel Platini, Manuel Amoros, Jean Tigana and Alain Giresse on their lineup. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He was followed by Milan Borjan, Lars Hirschfeld, Timo Lettieri and Pat Onstad. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders.</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Robert Iarusci was named by Canadian Soccer Association as its starting rightback on Best XI. Frank Yallop belonged to Ipswich Football Hall of Flame. He was probably the most famous Canadian defender in the last 20 years. Atiba Hutchinson also started his career as a rightback so I had three players capable playing in this position. So I had no space for </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Paul Stalteri who was at one point Canada's most capped player. I selected Iarusci and Yallop over him because of their inclusion on the two CSA's All-Time Best XI teams. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Geordie Campbell supposed to be a right-sided defender too.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">--Alphonso Davies helped Bayern Munich to win the Champions' League in 2020. He also led Canada to their first World Cup since 1986. He also scored Canada's first ever goal in the Finals. The other leftback was Bruce Wilson who might also be Canada's greatest ever players. In NASL, he was a six-time all-star selection, including three first-team selections (Vancouver in 1977, Chicago in 1979, Toronto in 1984). He once was the most capped Canadian player. Jack Cowan played for Dundee between 1949 and 1956. He was a Canadian pioneer playing in Europe, but Davies and Wilson were two of Canada's greatest ever players.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O0MWNZCkehA/XUmlSfv0i2I/AAAAAAAAIsM/jIbUBJ8pcwEn-hAzOswOnnl5cQd5oslvgCLcBGAs/s1600/x2006.849.1.10_u.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="351" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O0MWNZCkehA/XUmlSfv0i2I/AAAAAAAAIsM/jIbUBJ8pcwEn-hAzOswOnnl5cQd5oslvgCLcBGAs/s400/x2006.849.1.10_u.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Bruce Wilson</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div style="text-align: left;">-- Randy Samuel and Jason de Vos were selected by Canadian FA for their Best Ever XI team. Bob Lenarduzzi holds the record for most games played in NASL. At the beginning of the 1978 season, he moved to midfield and becoming the first Canadian to be named North American “Player of the Year” in the NASL. He actually played every position in football, including a 45 minute stint as a goalkeeper. Kevin McKenna was a part of the 2000 Gold Cup team and had a successful club career in Europe. </div><div style="text-align: left;">-- In the first game of the 2000–01 Bundesliga season, Kevin McKenna and Paul Stalteri simultaneously became the first Canadian to play in the Bundesliga in a match between McKenna's Engerie Cottbus and Stalteri's Werder Bremen.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: times;">Midfielders/Wingers</span></u></b></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Atiba Hutchinson was six-time Canadian Player of the year in 2010 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. He was probably one of Canada's greatest players before the current Golden Generation. In 2022, he was the oldest player in the World Cup Finals. For club football, he was known as ‘Spiderman’, ‘Perfect Machine’, or ‘The Octopus’ in Besiktas.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Mike Sweeney was selected by Canada Soccer Association for their All-Time team. Paul Stalteri was also well-respected, but I saw him as a fullback(please see above). At one point, Paul Stalteri was Canada's all-time cap record holder with 84 caps. He was a member of Canada's Gold Cup winning team in 2000. He played over 150 times for Werder Bremen winning the Bundesliga in 2003-2004. He also played for Tottenham Hotspurs, Fulham and Borussia Mönchengladbach. He was elected into Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2017.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP4IjZWMu3IjcMjTenPdx9dVq4p-9kvzFW0nNCVy0dxFWitKmaq4LsExwcrO6CAjwSGsJSPokTmSRSsNUtredxYenAgIj4-ZSDye7zPXJ29WZgSfycVxHJjdwrIEbYzC-Lu79zXJpvRWAU1TdJMJszp4JMwyz3GDswkkW0658rrO-kyIS_j1pxWCQw9w/s500/Canada%2080's%20Home%20Mike%20Sweeney.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP4IjZWMu3IjcMjTenPdx9dVq4p-9kvzFW0nNCVy0dxFWitKmaq4LsExwcrO6CAjwSGsJSPokTmSRSsNUtredxYenAgIj4-ZSDye7zPXJ29WZgSfycVxHJjdwrIEbYzC-Lu79zXJpvRWAU1TdJMJszp4JMwyz3GDswkkW0658rrO-kyIS_j1pxWCQw9w/w266-h400/Canada%2080's%20Home%20Mike%20Sweeney.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mike Sweeney</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Basically, I dropped two midfielders, namely Owen Hargreaves and Jonathan de Guzman from the Canada/Canadian-born team. So I had to replace them with two new players. I put Scott Arfield, Stephen Eustaquio, Nick Dasovic, Les Wilson and Paul Stalteri on the shortlist</span><span>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Nick Dasovic also got mentioned frequently. I felt that he should have been on the Canada/Canadian-born team. So he was my first choice for the "replacements".</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- This team needed Stephen Eustaquio because he was a great passer of the ball. He already earned a reputation in Porto. And in the 2022 World Cup Finals, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">he nutmegged Kevin De Bruyne in the game against Belgium. However, I felt that he was too young and had to complete against the likes of players who had done many things for Canada. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Scott Arfield spent many seasons with Glasgow Rangers, but he had limited international experience. I could only put the two of them on honorable mention, but </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Eustaquio might be on this team in a few years. I would wait a few more seasons before deciding on his status. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- That left </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Les Wilson and Paul Stalteri for a single spot. </span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Les Wilson </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">was an utility player. He played in The Football League for Bristol City, Norwich City, and most notably Wolverhampton Wanderers, one of the first North American-trained players to do so in the 1960's. I considered him being a pioneer of the game for Canada. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Stalteri was mainly a rightback, but also played as a midfielder. His wide play might be needed since the team only had Errol Crossan. But in the end, he was a rightback, and I don't need a fourth player in that position (</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Robert Iarusci, Frank Yallop and Atiba Hutchinson).</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> Les Wilson also played in an era not honored by this team. I preferred spreading the team around different eras.</span></span></div></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_9725abf3lpFC6AV_78DFp_vNl1ChsiujFrP4K-Sjw_We9olkxcwTOOKC1WOwlRKi4YHkwwSLq1OTvVI0dN7bZUuNhDisRAzapgmb6eDWmq35jp-LcNpf8wB0XOw2aW--NpOHQL_ZfiudXvdpov5Rf7gp71R5T4Mb56hp5snm5LKC_vF5ahOBRgjpw/s1024/wilson-action-copy-762x1024.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="762" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_9725abf3lpFC6AV_78DFp_vNl1ChsiujFrP4K-Sjw_We9olkxcwTOOKC1WOwlRKi4YHkwwSLq1OTvVI0dN7bZUuNhDisRAzapgmb6eDWmq35jp-LcNpf8wB0XOw2aW--NpOHQL_ZfiudXvdpov5Rf7gp71R5T4Mb56hp5snm5LKC_vF5ahOBRgjpw/w298-h400/wilson-action-copy-762x1024.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Les Wilson</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Steve Nash's brother Martin was capped 38 times for Canada. It is a fun fact. He was a midfielder. Their father was a professional footballer. Steve Nash was also an renowned footballer himself, but chose basketball as a career.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Yes, I felt being unfair to Junior Hoilett, but I decided to go for Errol Crossan who was a right winger. He was uncapped. He played a significant role in Norwich's 1959 FA Cup run, when the team from the Third Division reached the semifinal, beating Manchester United along the way. He was selected into Norwich Hall of Flame. I gave the spot to Crossan because this team lacked players before the 1970's. He was a pioneer. Tajon Buchanan might one day become considered, but he needed to do more. He is a right-sided attacker, but also plays as a wing-back. He probably could play as an attack midfielder. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;">Tomasz Radzinski could operate as a wing-forward on both sides of the field.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Dwayne De Rosario won many individual awards while in MLS, including the MVP award in 2011 and six times MLS Best XI. he was selected as the 25 greatest players in MLS's history in 2020.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Carlo Corazzin led Canada to the victory at the 2000 Gold Cup, but he only made honourable mention. The same applied to Cyle Larin who is Canada's all-time leading scorer at the moment (2023). The forwards who made this team were John Catliff, Dwayne De Rosario, Dale Mitchell, Alex Bunbury, and Tomaz Radzinski. They were all big names in Canadian football. Four of them were selected by the Canadian FA as their Best XI. Both Radzinski and Peschisolido had one of the most successful club career for a Canadian international player. Peschisolido could not make the team. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Tomasz Radzinski spent a long career in the Premiership with Everton and Fulham. Alex Bunley was Portugal's Foreign Player of the Year in the 1994-1995 season.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8IWmxHfQUdH__S6liRZx6Qt4NcQPuDs3j-0eAoR3onU-VKYCk2G5XDiM-ijjxZVv2nIqt1ruQiYW8OFTPgCzVG4KNz9rfaZs8xzhIRoowViatpRHnR_tg1ZPDzheUL-rQJ0Ke-XIOmia79b6mvhetv8V2fJphFHvTZddmqa6ob4zaiX-bB42hP-XZg/s1112/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20at%205.31.46%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1112" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8IWmxHfQUdH__S6liRZx6Qt4NcQPuDs3j-0eAoR3onU-VKYCk2G5XDiM-ijjxZVv2nIqt1ruQiYW8OFTPgCzVG4KNz9rfaZs8xzhIRoowViatpRHnR_tg1ZPDzheUL-rQJ0Ke-XIOmia79b6mvhetv8V2fJphFHvTZddmqa6ob4zaiX-bB42hP-XZg/w400-h326/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20at%205.31.46%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Tomasz Radzinski </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"></span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Emilio Reuben was a Canadian-born player who played in the South America during the 1930's. I do not know much about him.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">With Independiente de Avellaneda, he played with Arsenio Erico , Vicente de la Mata, Antonio Sastre and Fernando Bello. He seemed to be a strong candidate. Since he was an uncapped player, I put him on honorable mention.</span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- As of 2023, Jonathan David is 23 years old, but he already earned the reputation of one of the next strikers in the world. No Canadian forward can claim that.</div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">4-3-3</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/05/1925455_Canada.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/05/1925455_Canada.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">4-4-2</div></span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/05/1925456_Canada.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/05/1925456_Canada.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-23040849733997206212023-05-03T23:20:00.007-07:002023-10-25T06:16:30.415-07:00What if Ghana naturalised more players for the 2022 World Cup Finals<p> <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></p><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYD_CBYl7AvgLus9Wo-ZgHJSELISwSFQauRIlpe7CROAZHywfLedOVqD9QwWuApiJIFnsrdEBkHCUfy6kTytBpavKqNAo4-Dz-Sr2PaxxhGjXZM1-078vp-rB28ktSqudrRN9nuMeHjWB35vaqg6J2F9q2CG-eP0_1UiCkNx1j2xq_r5XL9kKwUMiww/s1136/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.56.13%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1136" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYD_CBYl7AvgLus9Wo-ZgHJSELISwSFQauRIlpe7CROAZHywfLedOVqD9QwWuApiJIFnsrdEBkHCUfy6kTytBpavKqNAo4-Dz-Sr2PaxxhGjXZM1-078vp-rB28ktSqudrRN9nuMeHjWB35vaqg6J2F9q2CG-eP0_1UiCkNx1j2xq_r5XL9kKwUMiww/w400-h270/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.56.13%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">World Cup 2022</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>. </span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/all-africa.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Africa All-Time Team</a>,</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/ghana.html">Ghana</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/cameroon-all-time-23-member-team.html">Cameroon</a>, </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/nigeria-all-time-23-member-team.html">Nigeria</a>, </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/south-africa.html">South Africa</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/04/tunisia.html">Tunisia</a></span></span></span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/algeria.html">Algeria</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/morocco.html">Morocco</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/egypt.html">Egypt</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/12/ivory-coast.html">Ivory Coast</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/12/senegal.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Senegal</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">,</span></span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/north-africa-greatest-all-time-23.html">North Africa</a>, </span></span></span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/africa-all-time-23-member-teamexcluding.html" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">The Rest of </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">A</span></span></span>frica(excluding Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Nigeria and North Africa)</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">.</span></a><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto" style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/02/african-born.html">African Born</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/08/hungary-1950.html"><span>Hungary World Cup 1950</span></a><span><br /></span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/01/sweden-1950.html"><span>Sweden World Cup1950</span></a><br /><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/austria-hungary-1954.html"><span>Austria-Hungary 1954</span></a><br /><span face=""><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/07/if-argentina-sent-to-this-team-to-wc.html">Argentina World Cup 1958</a></span><br /><span face=""><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/09/scotland-1970.html">Scotland World Cup 1970</a></span></span><br /><span face=""><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/11/united-kingdom-1970.html">United Kingdom World Cup 1970</a></span></span><br /><span face=""><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/england-1974.html"><span face="">England World Cup 1974</span></a></span><br /><span face=""><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/if-united-kingdom-went-to-spain-1982.html">United Kingdom World Cup1982</a></span></span><div style="font-family: times;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/02/what-if-italy-1992.html"><span>Italy Euro 1992</span></a><br /><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/11/united-kingdom-1994.html"><span>United Kingdom World Cup 1994</span></a><br /><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/12/yugoslavia-1994.html"><span>Yugoslavia World Cup 1994</span></a><br /><span face=""><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/07/france-1994_22.html">France World Cup 1994</a></span><br /><span face=""><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/10/germany-2002.html">Germany World Cup 2002</a></span></span><br /><span face=""><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/holland-2002.html">Netherlands World Cup 2002</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/12/what-if-catalonia-world-cup-2010-team.html">Catalonia World Cup 2010</a></span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span><span><span face=""><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/spain-without-catalan-players-in-2010.html">Spain without Catalan players World Cup 2010</a></span></span></span><span><br /><span face=""><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/usa-2010.html">USA World Cup 2010</a></span><br /><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/05/ronaldo-and-messi-playing-together-for.html"><span>If Ronaldo and Messi played for Australia in 2006</span></a><br /><span face=""><span><span face=""><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-brazil-1982.html">Brazil 1982 with Careca,etc</a></span></span></span><br /><span face=""><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/irelandnorth-ireland-1986.html">Ireland/Northern Ireland Combined Team 1986 World Cup</a></span></span><br /><div><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-if-ussr-went-to-world-cup-2018.html">USSR World Cup 2018 </a></span></div><div><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/yugoslavia-2018.html">Yugoslavia World Cup 2018</a></span><br /></span></div><div><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/02/paris-nation-team-in-wc-2018.html">Parisian nation team in World Cup 2018</a></span></div></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ghana was one of the five teams from Africa at the 2022 World Cup Finals in Qatar. The World Cup in Qatar was be their fourth World Cup Finals, having made their debut in 2006 where they reached the round of 16. Qatar </span><span style="font-size: large;">was their first World Cup appearance since 2014, having failed to qualify for the 2018 edition. In the World Cup Finals, they finished last in their group. Their fans must have been disappointed, but expectations should be low. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Prior to the World Cup Finals. In 2021, Ghana has one of their weakest showings in their AFCON history when they were eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 2006. They only managed a draw against Gabon while losing to Morocco and Comoros. It was Comoros' first ever AFCON tournament in their history. Ghana beat South Africa on goal difference on the group standing during the second round of their World Cup Qualification. They were not in control of their destiny on the last match day as they needed a win against South Africa who only needed a draw to advance to the next round. It took a questionable penalty to beat South Africa 1-0. </span><span style="font-family: times;">On the final qualifying round for the World Cup Finals, the Black Stars won on away goals against Nigeria after drawing both legs. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, Morocco became the first African team to reach the semifinal of the World Cup Final by fielding a team full of foreign-born Moroccans. Ghana also actively searched for foreign-born Ghanaians to play for them, but was less successful than the Moroccans. What if Ghana was able to convince more Ghana-eligible players to play for them? The addition of the more established players would have improved the team. Perhaps, Ghana could have gone further.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><b><u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Added</span></u></b></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Joe Wollacott (Ghana), Richard Ofori (Ghana), Jeremie Firmpong (Netherlands), Alphonso Davies (Canada),Yunus Musah (USA), Cody Gapko (Netherlands), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Jeremy Doku (Belgium), Ethan Ampadu (Wales), Nico Williams (Spain), Danny Welbeck (England), Eddie Nketiah (England)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div><b><u>Dropped</u></b></div><div>Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, Ibrahim Danlad, Gideon Mensah, Denis Odoi, Alidu Seidu, Elisha Owusu, Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, Antoine Semenyo, Osman Bukari, Kamal Sowah, Kamaldeen Sulemana.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Prediction</u></b></div><div>In Qatar, Ghana still controlled their own destiny on the last match of the group stage against Uruguay. At that point, they had 3 points after narrowly losing to Portugal and beating a formable South Korea. I thought Ghana performed poorly in the first two matches, despite being in second place. They gave up 5 goals after two matches. In total, they would give up 7 at the end of their tournament. Some of them were very soft goals. So I reinforced with two goalkeepers, two defenders and a defensive midfielder.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the last match, Uruguay played much better than Ghana. However, with the addition of 12 players, Ghana would be have transformed into a different team. Uruguay was actually an aging team. Their defense was known to be slow, and this imaginary Ghanaian team would be blessed with fast players such as Memphis Depay, Alphonso Davies and the Williams brothers. Furthermore, Ghana was on a mission for a revenge against Uruguay and Luis Suarez whose handball stopped Ghana's goal-bound header in the final minute of extra time in the quarterfinal of the 2010 World Cup Finals. Ghana would have became the first African country to reach the semifinal of a World Cup Finals. In real life, that motivation was not enough to beat Uruguay in 2022, but this would be a different team. It was very possible that Ghana could at least get a draw against Uruguay.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1Y2v0-336v9EQQIztR2viFD4XJ0Qm5i808JdOeduu9cbvp7CkmKw-p0nicJ5aDZLb06a4RWYT2fXQw8kk9tKw2ZpzwjHOG5CKuddVUhVrsTCuLF8NZz6LedlSmd4vN0PWDQ509x1rEvA0KjrQ2Y3Fxhrp8VEzqruwvp45kmNh3axspX1A3cHtlQ5rg/s1002/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2011.31.51%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1002" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1Y2v0-336v9EQQIztR2viFD4XJ0Qm5i808JdOeduu9cbvp7CkmKw-p0nicJ5aDZLb06a4RWYT2fXQw8kk9tKw2ZpzwjHOG5CKuddVUhVrsTCuLF8NZz6LedlSmd4vN0PWDQ509x1rEvA0KjrQ2Y3Fxhrp8VEzqruwvp45kmNh3axspX1A3cHtlQ5rg/w400-h272/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2011.31.51%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ghana vs Uruguay</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>In the next round, Ghana would be playing either Brazil or Switzerland depending on the outcome of Group H. The Brazilians, of course would be tough. In September, 2022, Brazil beat Ghana 3-0 in a friendly match held in France. Meanwhile, Ghana did beat Switzerland 1-0 7 days before Ghana played Portugal in the World Cup Finals. Of course, friendly matches right before the World Cup Finals should not be taken seriously. Besides, for Ghana to play against Switzerland, they must qualify in the first place. A victory against Uruguay might do the job. And in the last minutes of the match against Portugal, goalkeeper Diogo Costa nearly made a blunder that almost gave Ghana an equalising goal. </div><div><br /></div><div>If they overcame Switzerland in the round of 16, Ghana would play Morocco. Morocco would be on a high note after drawing Croatia and beating Belgium, Canada and Spain at that point. This All-African final would be hard to predict with a different set of players on the field.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Team (26 members team)</u></b></div></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>GK: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Wollacott">Joe Wollacott</a><span> (Charlton Athletic, Ghana) * new player</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 2019, Wollacott joined EFL League Two side Forest Green Rovers on loan for the 2019–20 season where he made his debut in professional football. From 2021-2022 season, he played for Swindon. He made it to the EFL League Two Team of the Season 2021–22. A year later, he joined Charlton Athletic. Born in England, he represents the Ghana national team. He made his debut in 2021 for them.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Ati-Zigi">Lawrence Ati-Zigi</a> (St. Gallen)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In January 2015, Ati-Zigi joined Red Bull Salzburg from Ghanaian feeder club Red Bull Ghana. Ati-Zigi was immediately loaned out to reserve team FC Liefering. From 2017 to 2020, he played for Sochaux in France. And then, he joined St.Gallen in 2020. At the time of writing, he played 14 times for Ghana. He was their starting goalkeeper in the 2022 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ofori_(goalkeeper)">Richard Ofori</a> (Orlando Pirates/Ghana) * new player</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ofori spent a number of seasons with Westland FC (a second division club in Accra) before he joined Wa Allstars of Wa, Ghana. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Ofori moved to Premier Soccer League club Maritzburg United of South Africa on a three-year contract in 2018, and then, he moved to </span><span style="font-size: large;">Orlando Pirates also in South Africa in 2020. Since 2015, he played 24 times for Ghana. He went to 2017 and 2019 African Cup of Nations.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariq_Lamptey">Tariq Lamptey</a> (Brighton & Hover/Ghana) </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Born in London, Tariq Lamptey came from the youth team in Chelsea. He played once for their first team before moving to Brighton & Hover Albion. Lamptey was born in England to Ghanaian parents. He has been a youth international for England, having represented the Young Lions from under-18 to under-21 level. In 2022, he switched to play for Ghana. He represented them at the 2022 World Cup Finals.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihQDDbyKO-QG0kLvI7DVhl_d7BscxnlsS5OOegXSgQI-4gk-TesYa7a8UnmvfnTBJJXklU--CD7na_Qxy-JtTcZWZ23KjD1Wf24F4aF3v3hIi0DOFl8juKI6gf9opgRI8HdMuRckxjEvoUbulm2kSRxWkdkuTR6Tl90r0I0Lnk9a4est2tl8eGUcK0g/s594/b25lY21zOjlmNGYzZGE2LTRmOTMtNGYzOC1hMzYyLWRkY2JmMDllM2U0YTo5ODE5N2QwNC0zN2I1LTQ3NmItOTU0ZC1hY2JjOWI2OWI3Yzk=.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="594" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihQDDbyKO-QG0kLvI7DVhl_d7BscxnlsS5OOegXSgQI-4gk-TesYa7a8UnmvfnTBJJXklU--CD7na_Qxy-JtTcZWZ23KjD1Wf24F4aF3v3hIi0DOFl8juKI6gf9opgRI8HdMuRckxjEvoUbulm2kSRxWkdkuTR6Tl90r0I0Lnk9a4est2tl8eGUcK0g/w400-h266/b25lY21zOjlmNGYzZGE2LTRmOTMtNGYzOC1hMzYyLWRkY2JmMDllM2U0YTo5ODE5N2QwNC0zN2I1LTQ3NmItOTU0ZC1hY2JjOWI2OWI3Yzk=.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Tariq Lamptey</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>RB: </span><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremie_Frimpong">Jeremie Frimpong</a> (Bayer Leverkusen/Netherlands) * new player</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Born in the Netherlands, Frimpong is of Ghanaian descent on his mother's side. His family moved to England when he was young. He chose to represent the Netherlands in football. He went to the 2022 World Cup. From 2019 to 2021, he played for Celtic. In 2021, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen. He was named in the Kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2021–22.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Amartey">Daniel Amartey</a> (Leicester/England)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Daniel Amartey played for Djurgårdens IF for a season before moving to FC Copenhagen in 2014, where he played for two seasons. In 2016, he moved to Leicester Town. In January 2015, Amartey played in all the group matches for Ghana at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, where the Black Stars finished as runners-up. He had over 50 caps for Ghana since 2015. He represented them at the 2022 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Salisu">Mohammed Salisu </a>(Southampton/Ghana)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Salisu started his senior career with Valladolid, featuring for the reserve side before making his first team debut in 2019. He made 34 appearances for the club before joining Southampton for a £10.9 million fee in 2020. He received his first international call up in 2019, but he delayed his international cap until 2022. He represented them at the 2022 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Djiku">Alexander Djiku</a> (Strasbourg/Ghana)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Djiku spent his youth career at Bastia. He played for the reserve team until 2014, when he was promoted to the senior team. In 2017, Djiku joined Caen on a four-year contract. He was acquired by fellow Ligue 1 club Strasbourg in July 2019. Since 2020, he had played for Ghana. He represented them at the 2022 World Cup Finals. He won the Ghana Football Awards Footballer of the Year and Ghana Football Awards Foreign-based Footballer of the Year in 2022.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Aidoo_(Ghanaian_footballer)"> Joseph Aidoo </a>(Celta Vigo/Ghana)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Joseph Aidoo started his career in Ghana with Inter Allies. In 2015, he joined Swedish club Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan. After a season, he joined Genk in Belgium. Since 2019, he joined Celta Vigo in Spain. He made his debut for the Ghana national football team on 26 March 2019 in a friendly against Mauritania. He had about 11 caps at the time of writing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LW/LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonso_Davies">Alphonso Davis</a> (Bayern Munich/Canada) * new player</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Davies was the first player born in the 2000s to play in a Major League Soccer match. Davies joined Bayern in January 2019 from MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps FC on a contract lasting for a then-MLS record transfer fee. Davies was named the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season for 2019–20.[6] In that season he also was part of the team winning the continental treble after Bayern won the Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League and the DFB-Pokal.</span></div></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84iLDrLLXS81iWirr-JDbWfJ7ZivwaqgPtpw8xGjpTXrLq8-yldH5HsXZFCWyduH4Mk4-jmoKfwGQsq8heOG-2mspEE3lf8nik6a6_FLH_Bh_Rb7IDr0CJmllY5duRVtKqU1q8eOfQ2RU5P6PR3uKrOjjHJqI9P45Vsue3mun3y_sBlvaQUrWWPyNrw/s1308/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.50.54%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1308" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84iLDrLLXS81iWirr-JDbWfJ7ZivwaqgPtpw8xGjpTXrLq8-yldH5HsXZFCWyduH4Mk4-jmoKfwGQsq8heOG-2mspEE3lf8nik6a6_FLH_Bh_Rb7IDr0CJmllY5duRVtKqU1q8eOfQ2RU5P6PR3uKrOjjHJqI9P45Vsue3mun3y_sBlvaQUrWWPyNrw/w400-h275/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.50.54%20AM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Alphonso Davis</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Rahman">Abdul-Rahman Baba</a> (Reading/Ghana)</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Beginning his career at Dreams FC, he played in the Ghanaian Premier League with Asante Kotoko. In 2012, he signed for Bundesliga club Greuther Fürth, where he spent two seasons. He then played for FC Augsburg before joining Chelsea in 2015 for a fee of £14 million, potentially rising to £22 million. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Rahman made his international debut in 2014 and was part of their squad which were runners-up at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.</span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>DM/CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salis_Abdul_Samed">Salis Abdul Samed</a><span> (Lens/Ghana)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 2019, Abdul Samed joined Clermont on a two-year loan deal from the JMG Academy. In 2021, Abdul Samed moved to Clermont on a permanent basis, but moved to Lens in a transfer worth a reported €5 million a year later. He made his debut in 2022 during the World Cup Finals, where he started all matches for Ghana.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM/CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Ampadu">Ethan Ampadu</a> (Spezia/Wales) * new player</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ampadu played for Exeter City, where he became the youngest player to appear for their first team. In 2017, he joined Chelsea, but at the time of writing, he was sent on loan. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">After playing for England at under-16 level, he played for Wales at under-16, under-17 and under-19 level, before making his senior debut for Wales in 2017. He was part of the Wales squad that reached the round of 16 at Euro 2020. He went to the 2022 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Tp6GfUqyIVCmQ9rCY2BdtWswEgQLgpei7kxYy4KqupsHFCL4zFYXOeHLrPDev1v9xA_2Qbd0vLuwH5WTBKSSzBwIV3brLiqk2Udb8oXpSZf-CzL5Z0XK9_uOcl7etvYUSCFaFMI61wezOQ0rWX69NBsF1LzQ-vIw2s5S_0wpgXe2ycRMJCG7gIlneA/s1164/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.55.01%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="1164" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Tp6GfUqyIVCmQ9rCY2BdtWswEgQLgpei7kxYy4KqupsHFCL4zFYXOeHLrPDev1v9xA_2Qbd0vLuwH5WTBKSSzBwIV3brLiqk2Udb8oXpSZf-CzL5Z0XK9_uOcl7etvYUSCFaFMI61wezOQ0rWX69NBsF1LzQ-vIw2s5S_0wpgXe2ycRMJCG7gIlneA/w400-h304/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.55.01%20AM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ethan Ampadu </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>DM/CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yunus_Musah">Yunus Musah </a><span>(Valencia/USA) * new player</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>Born in the United States to Ghanaian parents, he grew up mostly in Italy and England. He was a youth international for England before committing to the United States in 2021. Since 2020, he played over 25 times for the USMNT. He played in the 2022 World Cup finals. For his club career, he made his professional debut for Valencia in 2020 after coming up from their academy.</div><div><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>DM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Partey">Thomas Partey</a> (Arsenal/Ghana)</div><div>Partey began his career at Atlético Madrid in 2013. In 2020, he joined Arsenal in a transfer worth €50 million), becoming the most expensive Ghanaian player of all time. He represented his nation at three Africa Cup of Nations (2017, 2019, and 2021) and the 2022 World Cup. He was named into the CAF Team of the Year in 2018, and won Ghana Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">RW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nico_Williams">Nico Williams </a>(Athletic Bilbao/Spain)* new player</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Williams joined the youth academy of Athletic Bilbao in 2013 from hometown side CA Osasuna. He began his senior career with the club's farm team, Basconia, during the 2019–20 season. His borther is Inaki Williams who played for both Spain and Ghana. He himself started to respresent Spain in 2022, and played in the World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>RW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A9r%C3%A9my_Doku">Jeremey Doku </a>(Rennes/Belgium) * new player</div><div>Jeremey Doku started his career R.S.C. Anderlecht where he joined their academy in 2012. He made his professional debut in November 2018, at the age of 16. After spending 2 and half seasons with them, he moved to Rennes in 2020. In 2020, he made his debut with Belgium. He played in Euro 2022, but did not feature much in the 2022 World Cup Finals.</div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">RW/FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Fatawu_Issahaku">Abdul Fatawu Issahaku </a> (Sporting CP/Ghana)</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">In 2019, at the age of fifteen, Issahaku started his career with Tamale-based club Steadfast FC. in the Ghanian second tier. After he starred in the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, he joined Sporting CP. In the same year, he made a debut for the senior national team. He represented them at the 2022 World Cup Finals. He is considered one of Africa's brightest future stars.</span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: large;">LW/AW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Ayew">Andre Ayew</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Andre Ayew is the son of Abedi Pele. He began his career in Ghana, playing for Nania. In 2005, he signed with his father's former club, Marseille. He made over 200 appearances and winning consecutive Trophée des champions and Coupe de la Ligues in both 2010 and 2011. He also played for Swansea. In 2011 Ayew was named the BBC African Footballer of the Year and Ghanaian Footballer of the Year. He represented Ghana at the World Cup Finals in 2010 and 2014.</span></div></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQqYprqKy-LHpLY7jzCiozq865ji1mR5I0f579T7hcSLytH8umr9xa0TbAVlDfPaTjvDFu9paQXtdTcnI8MbXWwmFaOuAm5pxi2WFwy7nJmvsnNqZW6I1q8AhHdkvZlq1yb99LkidbIGemXtem_ZJf1uJZhzv311A14KfVWYdnGh0td7A2_DeektwCg/s942/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.57.59%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="942" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQqYprqKy-LHpLY7jzCiozq865ji1mR5I0f579T7hcSLytH8umr9xa0TbAVlDfPaTjvDFu9paQXtdTcnI8MbXWwmFaOuAm5pxi2WFwy7nJmvsnNqZW6I1q8AhHdkvZlq1yb99LkidbIGemXtem_ZJf1uJZhzv311A14KfVWYdnGh0td7A2_DeektwCg/w400-h295/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.57.59%20AM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Andre Ayew </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>AM/FW/LWF: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody_Gakpo">Cody Gapko </a><span>(PSV/Netherlands) * new player</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">A PSV academy graduate, Gakpo made his first-team debut in February 2018. In the 2021–22 season, he won the Dutch Footballer of the Year award after scoring 21 goals in 47 games in all competitions. He signed for Liverpool in January 2023. Gakpo played youth international football for the Netherlands from under-18 to under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in June 2021 at UEFA Euro 2020.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Kudus">Mohammed Kudus </a>(Ajax/Ghana)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Kudus arrived at Danish club Nordsjælland from the Ghanaian Right to Dream Academy in 2018. In 2020, he joined Ajax. For the national team, he has capped 23 times at the time of writing. He represented Ghana at the 2022 World Cup Finals, where he scored two goals against Korea. He was named SWAG Sport Personality of the Year in 2022 as well as the Best Foreign Footballer of the Year. He was also named in the IFFHS CAF Team of the Year in 2022. </span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UjR4-TxCAfywxDxRwvZPKGqnQ4e6nk4rIp1djktZIjbxINuQTrOaLcuFaImkUJ-v6XWLy3_eGH7aT1A3mscpJcFCzbHnbhJBdvre7LYccxoRpw0RP7c8P-CpAJ0S_zrdzr2ukD1-jy3QMyaenTCY24hc2WBfY2Mtr4dkhvwTo_7j3hDFNvGkdfLpjg/s698/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2011.11.31%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="698" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UjR4-TxCAfywxDxRwvZPKGqnQ4e6nk4rIp1djktZIjbxINuQTrOaLcuFaImkUJ-v6XWLy3_eGH7aT1A3mscpJcFCzbHnbhJBdvre7LYccxoRpw0RP7c8P-CpAJ0S_zrdzr2ukD1-jy3QMyaenTCY24hc2WBfY2Mtr4dkhvwTo_7j3hDFNvGkdfLpjg/w400-h314/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2011.11.31%20PM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mohammed Kudus </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Ayew"> Jordan Ayew</a> (Crystal Palace/ Ghana)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>Born in Marseille, Ayew made his debut with Marseille in 2009. After 2014, he played for many clubs before joining Crystal Palace in 2019.</div><div>Ayew made his debut for the Ghana national team in 2010 and has earned over 80 caps. He has played in two FIFA World Cups (2014 and 2022), as well as five Africa Cup of Nations (2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021), helping them finish runners-up in 2015. He was Ghana Player of the Year in 2020.</div><div><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW/RW:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C3%B1aki_Williams"> Inaki Williams</a> (Athletic Bilbao/Spain) </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div><span>Developed at Athletic Bilbao's academy, he made over 375 first-team appearances for the club, including a La Liga record of 251 consecutive games. He scored the winning goal of the 2020–21 Supercopa de España. Born in Spain to Ghanaian parents, Williams made his full debut for the Spain national team in 2016. In 2022, he chose to represent Ghana at international level, being selected for the 2022 World Cup.</span></div><div><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Depay">Memphis Depay</a> (Barcelona FC/Netherlands) * new player</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Memphis began his career with PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Dutch Footballer of the Year. in 2015 In 2015, he joined Manchester United, but moved to Lyon in 2017. In 2021, he joined Barcelona FC. At the time of writing, he earned over 80 caps for the Netherlands starting in 2013. He played in 2014 and 2022 World Cup Finals as well as the Euro 2020. In 2014, he became the youngest Dutchman to score a goal at the World Cup, at the age of 20 years and four months</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf64mBl0oV33xn71tTyC5iTgE20i4ioIbXUrumP7mA-v_eAvC_msYa8gZoPbbb5L84NRoOY7kds0sSCoddCY2HJzZ6gINAfr_Li0-kV_rBmO0gl3Db2zBcQZozcdbXF9rnP0t7ov-ebNGP74UbBGR4lzRTqdfxcnQ1pe_oEpNwcQkpjTbbM68q0YlZrA/s988/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%201.00.33%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="988" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf64mBl0oV33xn71tTyC5iTgE20i4ioIbXUrumP7mA-v_eAvC_msYa8gZoPbbb5L84NRoOY7kds0sSCoddCY2HJzZ6gINAfr_Li0-kV_rBmO0gl3Db2zBcQZozcdbXF9rnP0t7ov-ebNGP74UbBGR4lzRTqdfxcnQ1pe_oEpNwcQkpjTbbM68q0YlZrA/w400-h281/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%201.00.33%20AM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Memphis Depay</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Nketiah">Eddie Nketiah </a>(Arsenal/England) * new player</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nketiah started his career with Arsenal and made his debut in 2017. He played on loan at Leeds United in their 2019–20 Championship title-winning season. He was mainly a backup in Arsenal until after the 2022 World Cup Finals. He is the all-time leading scorer for England U21 national team. He has yet to play in the senior level for England, and was linked with Ghana.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Welbeck">Danny Welbeck</a> (Brighton & Hover Albion/England) * new player</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Danny Welbeck played regularly for Manchester United between 2009 and 2014. He was transferred to rival Arsenal in 2014. In 2019, he joined Watford, following his release by Arsenal before joining Brighton & Hove Albion a year later. He made his debut for England in 2011. He has gone on to represent England at UEFA Euro 2012, the 2014 World Cup and the 2018 World Cup, earning 42 caps, scoring 16 goals.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFTnUBdhBwi2CiPlCGaWNsYOzd8xzY7qM_JCf18FeYUbzwmxt5jYnmqZgDNk6o6hIF-G6YAqyCgYyxYcEQ-NtF52WSL9ol-IvCLgr1T69m5Xg3I_DOOA0Bb4082W2f7FSOBgjKOReK6P8NrQMfOQyGwhlXDYTh6GSTbziN_Rau6ugqDAaTqFsLxU0OA/s1004/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%209.44.04%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="1004" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFTnUBdhBwi2CiPlCGaWNsYOzd8xzY7qM_JCf18FeYUbzwmxt5jYnmqZgDNk6o6hIF-G6YAqyCgYyxYcEQ-NtF52WSL9ol-IvCLgr1T69m5Xg3I_DOOA0Bb4082W2f7FSOBgjKOReK6P8NrQMfOQyGwhlXDYTh6GSTbziN_Rau6ugqDAaTqFsLxU0OA/w400-h269/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%209.44.04%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Danny Welbeck</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><b><u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Players' Pool</span></u></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, Ibrahim Danlad, Iddrisu Baba, Stephan Ambrosius, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Elisha Owusu, Daniel Afriyie Barnieh, Joseph Aidoo, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Isak Hien (Sweden), Jeffrey Schlupp (Germany), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Gideon Mensah, Nikolai Alho (Finland), Richie Laryea (Canada), Denis Odoi, Alidu Seidu, Callum Hudson-Odoi (England), Kamal Sowah, Nikolai Alho (Finland), Haji Wright (USA), Osman Bukari, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Robin Quaison (Sweden), Antoine Semenyo, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Felix Afena-Gyan, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Kelvin Yeboah (Italy), Ansgar Knauff (Germany), Myron Boadu (Netherlands)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="mw-page-title-main" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></div><div><span class="mw-page-title-main" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- This team was meant to be a fantasy team that included players who turned down Ghana. Some of whom were ineligible long before the year 2022. I looked around the world for players who could play for Ghana, but I definitely missed many other players.</span></div><div><span class="mw-page-title-main" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- In total, I made 12 changes to the real World Cup team.</span></div><div><span class="mw-page-title-main" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I tried not to add any Ghanaian international players who did not make it to Qatar, but I did "perform" miracle and brought back two injured goalkeepers Joe Wollacott and Richard Ofori. But I left off Iddrisu Baba and Stephan Ambrosius because Ghana badly needed goalkeepers.</span></div><div><span class="mw-page-title-main" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ten players from other national teams were added to this World Cup team. They were </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jeremie Firmpong (Netherlands), Alphonso Davies (Canada), Yunus Musah (USA), Cody Gapko (Netherlands), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Jeremy Doku (Belgium), Ethan Ampadu (Wales), Nico Williams (Spain), Eddie Nketiah (England Youth) and Danny Welbeck (England). Nketiah and Welbeck were the only players who were not in the World Cup Finals. Firmpong did not play in Qatar, but the other seven all figured in the tournament. He and Nketiah could still switch to Ghana at the time of writing. </span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnZoqP9tKDSF4AdS1v_BoNOLaTeY6OpAREvxEcz4xK6sCYijpIfCdiOH4Z_ysSnQM-OJuKq8jnXmtW3aHdrZ5Vko0OB5Oed_8doYC411FXREXZy6WoRFqHgjQs5p4yQ9ImEti5Id2DAVZNhwkFZkrotDM0G2XCX8uikExQbuqAyXLaYPb27pEav0y6w/s1236/Screenshot%202023-05-03%20at%2011.06.01%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="1236" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnZoqP9tKDSF4AdS1v_BoNOLaTeY6OpAREvxEcz4xK6sCYijpIfCdiOH4Z_ysSnQM-OJuKq8jnXmtW3aHdrZ5Vko0OB5Oed_8doYC411FXREXZy6WoRFqHgjQs5p4yQ9ImEti5Id2DAVZNhwkFZkrotDM0G2XCX8uikExQbuqAyXLaYPb27pEav0y6w/w400-h311/Screenshot%202023-05-03%20at%2011.06.01%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Cody Gapko vs Yunus Musah</span> </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Morocco had the most foreign-born players at the World Cup, with 14 out of its 26 players being born outside their country. This imaginary Ghana team actually had 15 foreign born. Nine of the 10 new foreign international players were born elsewhere. Alphonso Davis, however, was born in Ghana. Five members of Ghana's original team were foreign-born. Tariq Lamptey (England) and Inaki Williams (Spain) switched their allegiance right before the World Cup Finals. Both Andre and Jordan Ayew were born in France when their father was playing there, but being Abedi Pele's sons made them as Ghanaian as it gets. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Alexander Djiku was also born in France. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Joe Wollacott who was one of two added goalkeepers was born in England.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I brought three players from the Dutch national team. They were Memphis Depay, Jeremie Frimpong and Cody Gapko. The Netherlands scored a total of 10 goals in Qatar. Gapko and Memphis contributed to 5 of them.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Nico and Inaki Williams are brothers. Of course, they played for different national team in the World Cup Finals. Jordan and Andre Ayew are another pair of brothers. Their father was of course Abedi Pele.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="mw-page-title-main" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The headlines of ESPN Africa's preview of Ghana's World Cup team were: "Ghana's squad a strong one, but a lack of top keeper could be disastrous". </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ghana lost both of their top two goalkeepers for the World Cup Finals through injuries. Joe Wollacott who was born in England was the regular goalkeeper before the World Cup Finals. His last international game before the World Cup Finals was on September, 2022 against Brazil. South Africa-based Richard Ofori was more experienced of the two. He suffered a knee injury.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIPBHnW5ZQpxituEw87HmtB3SXLg3ycU4Q4bFQigQD97jIBqQZ4Ox0m99A-L0nJV1V4D2bZaneblQzUEfA2hTTD7VnAk8waAJmWJMl4Pwg9a4uYV_tl-puQYqGvnA363S4gpjfwdIRL9nHva3isCE8fSdDnxuHnxm7ZJ063kor4WcUqNsP8qkw_pSdnA/s828/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2011.21.42%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="828" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIPBHnW5ZQpxituEw87HmtB3SXLg3ycU4Q4bFQigQD97jIBqQZ4Ox0m99A-L0nJV1V4D2bZaneblQzUEfA2hTTD7VnAk8waAJmWJMl4Pwg9a4uYV_tl-puQYqGvnA363S4gpjfwdIRL9nHva3isCE8fSdDnxuHnxm7ZJ063kor4WcUqNsP8qkw_pSdnA/w400-h293/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2011.21.42%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Joe Wallacott</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Lawrence Ati-Zigi became the starting goalkeeper in Qatar. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Manaf Nurudeen and </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ibrahim Danlad were the backups.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I often took injured players to my "what-if" teams. The idea of these teams was to create a fantasy and showcased that Ghana could have done better with more available players. Most of the "Europeans" I added had turned down Ghana anyway. It was actually more realistic to bring back injured players than selecting players who turned down Ghana<span>. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Joe Wollacott, Richard Ofori and </span><span>Lawrence Ati-Zigi would be my goalkeepers.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Tariq Lamptey switched to play for Ghana in July, 2022. He was one of the more high profile player doing the switch. I took him as one of my rightbacks. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Alidu Seidu played once as a rightback for Ghana in Qatar, but he was more of a central defender. </span><span>Nikolai Alho played around 20 minutes for Finland in Euro 2020. His father was Ghanian. I did not know much about him. So I left off both Lamptey and Alho. Richie Laryea (Canada) was born in Canada to Ghanaian parents too, but I did not seriously consider him. Instead, I took </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jeremie Frimpong. He was selected by the Kicker magazine on their Bundesliga Team of the 2021-2022 season. In the first half of the 2022-2023 season, he scored 5 goals and registered 3 assists. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Born in the Netherlands, Frimpong is of Ghanaian descent on his mother's side, but he grew up in England where he spoke not a word of Dutch. At the time of writing, he is an emerging talent in Europe. He is becoming one of the best right wingback in the Bundesliga.<br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Alphonso Davies was born to Liberian parents in a refugee camp in Ghana. Is he one of the best wingback in the world? Ghana would be blessed to have him. Baba Rahman received a big career break in 2015 when Chelsea signed him, but injuries kept him from making it big. He was always out on loan. For Ghana, he was their normal starter. In the World Cup Qualifier, he was injured in the two critical games against Nigeria. Gideon Mensah stepped up on both occasions. In Qatar, he started in the first game. His mistake allowed Portugal to score, but he also provided an assist. Gideon Mensah took over in the second game, and played well, But Rahman returned for the last game against Uruguay, which caused a controversy in Ghana. However, at the time of the team selection, I would not have known that. So I went with Rahman.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Daniel Amartey was considered Ghana's best defender. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Mohammed Salisu had often turned down Ghana's call ups to concentrate on his career. He only had a handful of caps by the time of the World Cup Finals, but he was probably their second best central defender after Amartey. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Alexander Djiku won the Ghana Player of the Year and Ghana Foreign Based Player of the Year in July, 2022. </span> </span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBqzxHzYSXYKTQoF60a5SZ_brSft9J2RH1xgp07NG7uX9GV-Aitun0L7xgDVr73Mhmz4vkELGQTW-P9WjMLLm1Vj5xtXliqs7qzT3ld5lp8cG-66bkzCCx60HZB4srmMV-dzW_CfLF-kZYGijhx9Lb0d7SyO5enUTyDYmHbd1EbRFMaJVll9cKl0RGHg/s1050/Screenshot%202023-05-03%20at%2010.54.50%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="1050" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBqzxHzYSXYKTQoF60a5SZ_brSft9J2RH1xgp07NG7uX9GV-Aitun0L7xgDVr73Mhmz4vkELGQTW-P9WjMLLm1Vj5xtXliqs7qzT3ld5lp8cG-66bkzCCx60HZB4srmMV-dzW_CfLF-kZYGijhx9Lb0d7SyO5enUTyDYmHbd1EbRFMaJVll9cKl0RGHg/w400-h272/Screenshot%202023-05-03%20at%2010.54.50%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Alexander Djiku and Daniel Amartey </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Joseph Aidoo (Celta Vigo) and Denis Odoi (Club Brugge) were the other central defenders from the original team</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> And I then looked into Isak Hien (Sweden) and Ethan Ampadu (Wales).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Club Brugge defiled all of the odds and reached the second round of that year's Champions' League. That helped Denis Odoi onto Ghana's World Cup team, but he only switched to represent Ghana from Belgium in March, 2022. He was 34 years old at the time of the World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Isak Hien just emerged a few months before the World Cup in 2022. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He was impressive since joining the Serie A club Hellas Verona that summer.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> He received his first call-up to Sweden's national team in August, 2022. His transfer value was 3 million euros which was more expensive than Denis Odoi who was rated as 600k only by transfermarkt. However, less than a year ago, he was not a full time starter in the Swedish league. I don't know if he had the experiences to handle the World Cup.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Joseph Aidoo was seldom used by Ghana. He was not selected for AFCON, but was brought back right before the World Cup Finals. However, he has been a regular with Celta Vigo in La Liga. Transfermarkd listed his value as 8 million. He was also in his prime. For a safer bet, I decided to take him.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- At the age of 22, Ethan Ampadu already played 37 times for Wales on the eve of the World Cup. He spent a successful loan spell in Italy while contracted to Chelsea. He was expected to return to London one day. In 2021, he became the youngest player ever to be sent off in the European Championship. Ethan Ampadu started as a defensive midfielder for Wales in Qatar, but also operated as a centre defender. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- German-born Stephan Ambrosius switched his allegiances to Ghana from Germany in July, 2022, but he missed the actual World Cup due to an injury. Unlike the goalkeeping position, I did not need a urgent upgrade. I did not suddenly "cure" his injury and brought him back. He was capped by Germany U21, but was uncapped at the senior level for Ghana. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Ghana normally used the midfield trio of </span>Iddrisu Baba, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Thomas Partey and Mohammed Kudas before the World Cup Finals, but Baba was injured. Instead, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Salis Abdul Samed started and played all three of Ghana's World Cup matches. He was in form at the beginning of the season with Lens. He was a better passer than Babas. He was still uncapped heading to Qatar, but I decided to go for him. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Elisha Owusu did not appear in the 2022 World Cup Finals. So I did not consider him.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Thomas Bartey socored two stunning long range goal for Arsenal the season before. He was a key player for Arsenal in the 2021-2022 season. However, he suffered a serious injury at the end of the season, in which Arsenal's form overall dropped in that period. Due to playing for Arsenal and Atletico Madrid before, he was probably Ghana's most famous player at the time of the World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8Lwh9OFafjEZL3wDeSUEgyjTADQrCvkrbbcZLwxAVWod8Y6DxhBp3VNwa_CYAbjLNoE4JkKurj9xbllm1xyz3d70TVTVxkNNc6Qbwy7l9lNLsgJDS4DuBD6bfyweovtRTNe9e7ymJhNcj5pJRipEHtwnt1Hcq29ZRl-6-vjGTMTR8uzRSuvH_hdVeg/s948/Screenshot%202023-05-03%20at%2010.58.45%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="948" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD8Lwh9OFafjEZL3wDeSUEgyjTADQrCvkrbbcZLwxAVWod8Y6DxhBp3VNwa_CYAbjLNoE4JkKurj9xbllm1xyz3d70TVTVxkNNc6Qbwy7l9lNLsgJDS4DuBD6bfyweovtRTNe9e7ymJhNcj5pJRipEHtwnt1Hcq29ZRl-6-vjGTMTR8uzRSuvH_hdVeg/w400-h313/Screenshot%202023-05-03%20at%2010.58.45%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Thomas Partey</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Yunus Musah (USA) gained a lot of attentions before and after the World Cup Finals. He was a bright young star in La Liga who made his US national team debut at 17. He is projected to be worth 20 million euros. He is a box-to-box midfielder. </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span>I also took </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span>Ethan Ampadu as mentioned above.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Andre Ayew was probably Ghana's best player. His participation in Qatar made Ayew the only Ghanaian player to feature at the nation's last three World Cups. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Mohammed Kudas pilgared with injuries throughout the 2021- 2022 season, but he fully recovered by the start of the 2022-2023 season. He scored four goals including one each against Liverpool and Napoli in six Champions League matches prior to the World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Georginio Wijnaldum used to carry the surname Boateng because of his Ghanian stepfather. After his mother separated from him, he dropped this surname. He was neither born in Ghana or carried Ghanian blood. I decided against taking him. In real life, he was dropped by the Netherlands for the World Cup Finals because of an injury.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- On the right, brothers Inaki and Nico Williams were obvious choices. Inaki had been deployed in the central forward position. So I put him upfront. Jeremy Doku was as highly rated as the Williams brothers<span>. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Osman Bukari starred in the Serbian league, but with the Williams brothers and Jeremy Doku on the squad, I did not need him. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Abdul Fatawu Issahaku was awarded as the best player at the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in 2021. He was projected to be Ghana's future star, but he had more caps for Ghana than appearances at club level at the time of the World Cup Finals. I still took him for his potential even my team was loaded with right side attackers. He might one day become a big star.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Before the World Cup Finals, Ghana pursued the service of Callum Hudson-Odoi, but he turned them down. He<span> </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">was the second youngest ever player to play for England, but he had been out of Chelsea's first team picture in the season before the World Cup Finals. He was sent out on loan to Bayer Leverkusen in 2022, but his season did not work out. In 2021, Rennes paid 20 million euros for Kamaldeen Sulemana, breaking the Danish transfer record. After the World Cup Finals, he was voted as the fastest player in Qatar and earned a move to Southampton. However, he did not play much in Rennes. He only played a total of 17 minutes in the last 7 games before the World Cup.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Cody Gapko operated in the middle during the World Cup Finals, but he was more of a left-side attacker. Memphis Depay was also a left wing-forward. Alphonso Davies preferred to play as a left winger. So this team had too many wide player on the left. I had no space for neither Callum Hudson-Odoi nor </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Kamaldeen Sulemana. Instead, I would add another striker.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- </span><span>Inaki Williams normally played as a center forward. He was a</span><span> key player who switched to play for Ghana right before the World Cup Finals.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAsb2l36F7zDpejpLVg_ibhIpAq1Va4wCu0K6k5ZWOs1Qt_ga8kWh5N8N4Vz1rdMjuQsLsIe0AjgLf01TgkLVUF4B5jO8HtyytYIK8taisd_wcZUAHd6uAmjIiHknTF3OnRAmfA3YzSn1ZjczhKCKt9RYeAk_rLfkpBPByhdetK4leCsxyZs5AuMlnw/s940/Screenshot%202023-05-04%20at%202.07.21%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="940" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAsb2l36F7zDpejpLVg_ibhIpAq1Va4wCu0K6k5ZWOs1Qt_ga8kWh5N8N4Vz1rdMjuQsLsIe0AjgLf01TgkLVUF4B5jO8HtyytYIK8taisd_wcZUAHd6uAmjIiHknTF3OnRAmfA3YzSn1ZjczhKCKt9RYeAk_rLfkpBPByhdetK4leCsxyZs5AuMlnw/w400-h300/Screenshot%202023-05-04%20at%202.07.21%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Inaki Williams</span></td></tr></tbody></table>-- Memphis Depay was born in South Holland to a Ghanaian father and a Dutch mother. His role with his club team Barcelona was limited following the arrival of Robert Lewandowski, but he remained the star of the Dutch World Cup team. He had scored 42 goals for the Netherlands at the time of the World Cup Finals, making him their third all-time leading scorer.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Cody Gakpo was the Dutch Player of the Year in the 2021-2022 season. In Qatar, he started all games for Netherlands. He scored in three consecutive group matches, which was a record of a UEFA player. As mentioned, he was more comfortable on the left, but he played more centrally in Qatar. He would play as a false 9 in Liverpool, where he joined immediately after Qatar.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Gareth Southgate had reportedly named Danny Welbeck in England's provisional 55-man World Cup squad, but the list was kept secret. He turned 32 right before the World Cup Finals, but he was still playing regularly in the Premiership. As comparison, Antoine Semenyo who went to the real World Cup Finals was not featured much for his club team even in the lower division. He also performed better than Jordan Ayew who was struggling in England. And if Welleck chose tom play for Ghana earlier in his career, he would have a veteran status just liked Jordan Ayew. In real life, he had 42 caps for England. With Ghana, he should have at least 80 plus caps. Both of Welbeck's parents were Ghanaians. He was also a true nine while the rest of the forwards on this team was mainly wing-forwards who could play in the center.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Eddie Nketiah was a backup in Arsenal for the 2021-2022 season. In the summer of 2022, he was undecided about his future in London, but extended his contract. In the 2022-2023 season, his club teammate Gabriel Jesus got injured in Qatar, which gave him an opportunity in Arsenal. He was one of the more productive strikers in the Premiership immediately after the World Cup Finals, but at the time of the team selection, we would not know about that. He would still be a backup in Arsenal. He scored two goals (both Europa League) in total for all competitions prior to the World Cup Finals. Nevertheless, I still carried him to Qatar. In real life, he was asked to play for Ghana around that time.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Jordan Ayew </span><span style="font-family: times;">struggled to score goals for Crystal Palace with just 3 three goals in the 2021-2022 season. His goal drought extended to the following season. His first Premier league goal of the season came on December 31, 2023 after the World Cup Finals. </span><span style="font-family: times;">In this alternative world, his 80 plus caps would be reduced due to playing at the same time as Danny Welbeck, Memphis Depay, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Inaki Williams, etc. I thought about his veteran status in my alternative world, but I decided to look into the real world. So I still took him over Kamal Sowah and Daniel Afriyie Barnieh. His surname also carried some weight, which was not fair but it was how the real world worked.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZXl5falDoMuteUbx1hDIQWjFo4MIcwbZy2I9oiVpBqGhrU6TzCfKRE4_31rxhwK0Yu7EWHrn8oqxvCq8lwgwkouGYKG2U-Q1rsViOSPyX1S5fV4H7PMvMCUPIwJ0dLP9O4VaynGL8IQMhdUOYbUcVQk5aRX1Fupe5TYHvuUKYCtZcqS7xpb0y2ewUg/s1404/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2011.26.37%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1404" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZXl5falDoMuteUbx1hDIQWjFo4MIcwbZy2I9oiVpBqGhrU6TzCfKRE4_31rxhwK0Yu7EWHrn8oqxvCq8lwgwkouGYKG2U-Q1rsViOSPyX1S5fV4H7PMvMCUPIwJ0dLP9O4VaynGL8IQMhdUOYbUcVQk5aRX1Fupe5TYHvuUKYCtZcqS7xpb0y2ewUg/w400-h283/Screenshot%202023-04-27%20at%2011.26.37%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Jordan Ayew</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">-- Kamal Sowah was a surprise selection for the World Cup Finals. He was uncapped on the eve of the World Cup Finals, but his club team Club Brugge advanced to the second round of the Champions' League right before the World Cup Finals. But he actually only scored two goals in that tournament. So I did not retain him.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Daniel Afriyie Barnieh was the only home-based outfielder on the World Cup team. He did not play in Qatar. So I dropped him.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Former Ghana international Michael Boye Marquaye claimed that Marcus Rashford was his son, but no one believed him. Rashford is Jamaican.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Mohammed Muntari played for Qatar at the World Cup Finals, and he would continue to play for them.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">I dropped Andre Ayew for a younger lineup. Depay, Kudas and Gapko are more in form player than Ayew.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/05/1920659_Ghana.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/05/1920659_Ghana.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div></span></div><h1 class="firstHeading mw-first-heading" id="firstHeading"><span class="mw-page-title-main" style="font-size: large;"></span></h1><h1 class="firstHeading mw-first-heading" id="firstHeading"><br /></h1>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-24544223808361323752023-02-17T17:17:00.024-08:002023-10-14T19:34:28.949-07:00African born Greatest All-Time Team<div style="text-align: left;"><div><u><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></u></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div></div><div><u><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></u></div><div><u><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></u></div><div><span><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIAHXctXZmxK_TnccfnAewxaYtc6kkYwADnXQUEjeMip3ZpOkaHAhMYXs9317knyA-mwM4Jl_4Y55IkTr2-HKH54nrvwRKvnVz1R2rEojIENLLyWw83GV1H3oDJyncQzF6Z3T9aim0LnQlQ28ibmim_yJsmYVDW1QcTO4QrsrE_5m6ug5VL-5KoVBaA/s400/9e679ed636105c8491c928910e7539e6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="277" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIAHXctXZmxK_TnccfnAewxaYtc6kkYwADnXQUEjeMip3ZpOkaHAhMYXs9317knyA-mwM4Jl_4Y55IkTr2-HKH54nrvwRKvnVz1R2rEojIENLLyWw83GV1H3oDJyncQzF6Z3T9aim0LnQlQ28ibmim_yJsmYVDW1QcTO4QrsrE_5m6ug5VL-5KoVBaA/w278-h400/9e679ed636105c8491c928910e7539e6.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Larbi Benbarek</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/all-africa.html">African (CAF) All-Time</a></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/ghana.html">Ghana</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/cameroon-all-time-23-member-team.html">Cameroon</a>, </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/nigeria-all-time-23-member-team.html">Nigeria</a>, </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/south-africa.html">South Africa</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/04/tunisia.html">Tunisia</a></span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/algeria.html">Algeria</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/morocco.html">Morocco</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/egypt.html">Egypt</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/12/ivory-coast.html">Ivory Coast</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/12/senegal.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Senegal</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">,</span></span><br style="font-family: Times;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span><span dir="auto"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/north-africa-greatest-all-time-23.html">North Africa</a>, </span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times;" /><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/africa-all-time-23-member-teamexcluding.html" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span><span dir="auto">The Rest of </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span><span dir="auto">A</span></span></span>frica(excluding Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Nigeria and North Africa)</span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">.</span></a></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/08/liverpool-africans.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Liverpool African or African born Best XI</span></a></div><div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><div style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/black-portuguese.html" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Black Portuguese Players</a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/11/african-american.html">Af<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">rica<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">n-American Players</span></span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/11/french-blacknoirs-de-france.html">French Black Players</a></span><br /><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/11/african-american.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Af<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">rica<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">n-American Players</span></span></span></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/11/afro-brazilians.html">Afro-Brazilian Players </a></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/05/ghana-2022.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ghana World Cup 2022</span></a></div></span></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2019, I created an <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/all-africa.html">African (CAF) All-Time</a> team for players who were capped by CAF national teams. However, there were many great African-born players who </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">played for European national teams before the founding of their own national teams. I did not know what to do with them. For my all-time teams of Algeria and Senegal, I ruled these players as eligible. The good players from that generation had no other choice, but to represent European countries. Without this rule, if a player was not good enough for France, he would be eligible while the better players became ineligible simply because they were better players and played for the Europeans. But if I considered them for the all-African (CAF) All-Time team, it would open the door for players such as Just Fontaine, Claudio Gentile, Alexandre Villaplane etc. They were Europeans born in African. And if I considered them, should I open the door for the more recent generations? Players such as Jean Tigana, Claude Makelele, etc belonged to this team as much as Claudio Gentile. This <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/all-africa.html">African All-Time</a> team would suddenly become very confusing. So I decided to select players who were capped by African countries or uncapped players only. Instead, I created this African-born All-Time Team. All players must be born in one of CAF member states.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgshf08ix1whKcmu1ZoP_YnHXN9cRDpty66IoRXGuG_YP-OpjknlfesKqmKxh625ebNOam6vGqt0OQ6HHF07CUCgpZv0DAP8FX4d3KLGPckuyHREggRFzxbG0TrqZfB--NSnb9TfdzAkXdnsg0wVpvBkvD-wsUIrB05I8i725cgteuMHJl8_n9QATLihg/s1038/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.09.09%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1038" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgshf08ix1whKcmu1ZoP_YnHXN9cRDpty66IoRXGuG_YP-OpjknlfesKqmKxh625ebNOam6vGqt0OQ6HHF07CUCgpZv0DAP8FX4d3KLGPckuyHREggRFzxbG0TrqZfB--NSnb9TfdzAkXdnsg0wVpvBkvD-wsUIrB05I8i725cgteuMHJl8_n9QATLihg/w400-h326/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.09.09%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Eusebio</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Team (birthplace/national team)</u></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_N%27Kono">Thomas N'Kono</a> (Cameroon)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thomas N'Kono was among the best keepers from the 1980's and </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">probably the most famous goalkeeper ever from Africa</span></span>. He played in three WC Finals. Gianluigi Buffon was inspired by him and named his son Thomas after him. After playing in his country with Canon Yaoundé and Tonnerre Yaoundé he moved to Spain with RCD Español in 1982. , He received the France Football African Footballer of the Year award in 1982 and in 1979.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Grobbelaar">Bruce Grobbelaar</a> (South Africa/Zimbabwe)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bruce Grobbelaar made </span></span>628 appearances for Liverpool in 13 years. He was considered among the best England-based keepers of his generation and a legend with Liverpool. He won the 1984 European Cup, 6 English league titles and 3 FA Cups. Born in South Africa, he moved to Rhodesia as a child. He played one game for Rhidesia in 1977. From 1980 to 1998, he was capped 32 times by Zimbabwe, but with several years where he was absent for the national team.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_da_Costa_Pereira">Costa Pereira</a> (Mozambique/Portugal)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Costa Pereira was the goalkeeper for both Benfica and Portugal during the golden years in the 1960's. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He played for Benfica between 1954 and 1967. He won two consecutive European Cup with them in 1961 and 1962, with Mario Coluna, Eusebio, etc and lost two other finals in 1963 and 1965. Capped 22 times between 1955 and 1965. He was not selected for the 1966 World Cup Finals.</span></span><br /><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">RB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Etame_Mayer">Lauren Etame Mayer</a> (Cameroon)</span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lauren was known for his career with Arsenal in England. He was part of Arsenal's </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Invincibles", a title given to Arsenal's team that went undefeated team in the Premiership. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year that season. He also played in Spain. With Cameroon, he won two African Cup of Nations. He also won an Olympic Gold Medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics with Cameroon.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB/RB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Gentile">Claudio Gentile</a> (Libya/Italy)</span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gentile was born in Libya. He was considered one of </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">the <span lang="it">Azzurri</span></span></span>'s greatest defenders. He had 71 caps between 1975 and 1984. He went to both 1978 and 1982 World Cup Finals. He was best remembered for stopping Diego Maradona and Zico at the World Cup Finals in 1982 as Italy won their third World Cup. His playing style was very hard. He was capped 71 times. Gentile played over a decade with Juventus. He also played for Fiorentina and other clubs.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvM9VLhfqDI8AW0QMMbwIX_RyWKEhHyrvjW3RB65K0zzn_3W-ZwrWjdSdvw9_3Y9v8CyU_ajP9jXxlRVLkDt0k5U8_NDJruLTQIBnn2ZzP_UE1XUCfPkww1ff8drpo_g3R3SUg9sW-Z_uuQNOZvW_RpxVm5kEBCI8VF8hLkBH5I_5dDi1bwOWWyqZEA/s615/Claudio-Gentile.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="615" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvM9VLhfqDI8AW0QMMbwIX_RyWKEhHyrvjW3RB65K0zzn_3W-ZwrWjdSdvw9_3Y9v8CyU_ajP9jXxlRVLkDt0k5U8_NDJruLTQIBnn2ZzP_UE1XUCfPkww1ff8drpo_g3R3SUg9sW-Z_uuQNOZvW_RpxVm5kEBCI8VF8hLkBH5I_5dDi1bwOWWyqZEA/w400-h301/Claudio-Gentile.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Claudio Gentile</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span dir="auto" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">CB: </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basile_Boli">Basile Boli</a> (Ivory Coast/France)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For club football, Basile Boli played for Auxerre, Marseille, Rangers (Scotland), Monaco and Urawa Reds (Japan). He was a member of Bernard Tapie's Marseille that won the 1993 European Cup, the first ever for a French club. He scored the only goal at the Final against AC Milan. He left the club in 1994. For France, he won 45 caps. He went to the European Championship of 1992 hosted by Sweden. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB/DM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Desailly">Marcel Desailly </a> (Ghana/France)</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Marcel Desailly</span></span> was considered to be one of the greatest defensive players during the 1990's. He played 116 times for France, winning the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 2000. He was the </span><span style="font-size: large;">first player to win the European Cup in consecutive seasons with different clubs, when he won it with </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Marseille in 1993 and AC Milan the following year. Late in his career, he played for Chelsea in England as well as clubs in the Middle East.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">CB: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Kuffour"><span style="font-size: large;">Samuel Kuffour</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> (Ghana)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Samuel Kuffour was probably Ghana's most famous defender. He spent 11 seasons with Bayern Munich, winning almost everything. He won the Champions' League in 2001. He was twice runnerup for the African Player of the Year and won Ghana Player of Year in 1998, 1999 and 2001. He was capped 59 times. He played in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany. His youth career started with Torino in Italy. He also played for Roma, Ajax and Livorno. </span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VhNUG8KkWXA/VGWiu7_xmqI/AAAAAAAAAn4/8Rb8rZCIYIc/s1600/Samuel%2BKuffour%2BGroup%2BE%2BItaly%2BeQu3Re5nO4Ml.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VhNUG8KkWXA/VGWiu7_xmqI/AAAAAAAAAn4/8Rb8rZCIYIc/s400/Samuel%2BKuffour%2BGroup%2BE%2BItaly%2BeQu3Re5nO4Ml.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Samuel Kuffour</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Evra">Patrice Evra </a> (Senegal/France)</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">Patrice Evra began his career with Nice and made his name with Monaco, but it was in Manchester United where he became one of the best left backs in the world. He played for the Red Devils from 2006 to 2014. At the time of writing, he earned 66 caps and was a key player for France since 2008. He was the captain of the national team. At South Africa 2010, he led a player revolt </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">against Raymond Domenech.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">LB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hil%C3%A1rio_da_Concei%C3%A7%C3%A3o">Hilario</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">(Mozambique/Portugal)</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hilario</span></span> was first noticed at Sporting de Lourenço Marques along with teammate Eusébio. He joined Sporting CP while Eusebio went to Benfica. He played his entire professional career with Sporting CP, appearing in nearly 450 official games and winning seven major trophies. He was the </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">starting leftback of Portugal in 1960's. He went to the 1966 World Cup finals in England.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">DM/CM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Tigana">Jean Tigana</a> (Mali/France)</span></span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jean Tigana played 52 times for France from 1980 to 1988. He was a member of the great French side of the 1980's. He won the Euro 1984 playing in the famous "Magic Square" alongside Michel Platini. He also went to the 1982 and 1986 Wolrd Cup Finals. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">He played with Bordeaux for eight years, winning three league titles and three French Cups. He also spent time with Toulon, Lyon and Marseille. He was born in French Sudan.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrL_80NltplN3uP4RVALiavfPBv2FV8x0__2lZQLn9Jm91CsHRcFUthrmDalyC7BBlCFN3_G8oLOIfSRGTgjEQNtjhjQ1HqGWUFC6DRNfdZMyFoA7ZH8G5oKPUtPWygPI6QCPpMRlhflgeN5tjc0s1A6FTlUj2sgLY9VK_YbXY4_lwVpsfAZqrhLGAKw/s1224/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.24.19%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="1224" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrL_80NltplN3uP4RVALiavfPBv2FV8x0__2lZQLn9Jm91CsHRcFUthrmDalyC7BBlCFN3_G8oLOIfSRGTgjEQNtjhjQ1HqGWUFC6DRNfdZMyFoA7ZH8G5oKPUtPWygPI6QCPpMRlhflgeN5tjc0s1A6FTlUj2sgLY9VK_YbXY4_lwVpsfAZqrhLGAKw/w400-h289/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.24.19%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Jean Tigana</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CM: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaya_Tour%C3%A9">Yaya Toure</a><span> (Ivory Coast)</span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Yaya Toure is probably one of the best African player of his generation. He went to three World Cup Finals at the 2006, 2010. He also represented them in six Africa Cup of Nations, captaining them to victory in 2015. Touré had stints with Beveren, Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos, and AS Monaco before moving to Barcelona in 2007. In 2010, Touré moved to Premier League club Manchester City where he helped City earn their first league title in 44 years. He is among the greatest Manchester City players.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CM:</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1rio_Coluna" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Mario Coluna</a> </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">(Mozambique/Portugal)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mario Coluna</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> is one of the greatest player ever for both Portugal and Benfica. He spent most of his career with Benfica, appearing in 525 official games and scoring 127 goals during 16 professional seasons. He was dubbed Monstro Sagrado (Sacred Monster). He won 19 major titles with his main club, including ten national leagues. He won two European Cup with Benfica in 1961 and 1962. He was the captain of Portugal in the 1966 World Cup. He was known to be Eusebio's greatest footballing partner and friend.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CM: </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Vieira">Patrick Vieira</a> (Senegal/France)</span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Vieira was an all-time great with Arsenal. He won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups. In England. he was famous for his rivalry with Roy Keane. He spent a season at Juventus, helping the team to the Serie A championship. Following Juventus' relegation for their part in a match-fixing scandal, Vieira played for Inter Milan and then, Manchester City for two seasons. With "Les Bleus", he won the WC in 1998 and European Championship in 2000. He earned 107 caps.</span></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGKUjjbt512WWMrPIEE_U5_IvVql34_43bV_X5jy2YQcnIkJ7CfM1UEdywJjrsqcxtfOOIAxvMmIZMUofhcq5T8Pgik3plCPVnBGOAHANLeaXTqXM3-zaBPQt_PnICl9ydwYoxX-lNl3nNgy16Cx_G8MwemZSoCN7I8Dm0vLrZYYdbk7GmTTHmF7GPw/s872/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.44.34%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="872" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGKUjjbt512WWMrPIEE_U5_IvVql34_43bV_X5jy2YQcnIkJ7CfM1UEdywJjrsqcxtfOOIAxvMmIZMUofhcq5T8Pgik3plCPVnBGOAHANLeaXTqXM3-zaBPQt_PnICl9ydwYoxX-lNl3nNgy16Cx_G8MwemZSoCN7I8Dm0vLrZYYdbk7GmTTHmF7GPw/w400-h264/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.44.34%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Patrick Vieria</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larbi_Benbarek">Larbi Benbarek </a> (Morocco/France) </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Larbi Benbarek was born and raised in Morocco in the period when the country was under the French rule. He was the first Black player to reach stardom in Europe, earning the nick name "Black Pearl". He made his name with Stade Francasis Paris. In 1948, he moved to Atletico Madrid, where he reached the height of his career and won two La Liga title. He is considered one of the greatest ever French player. He was capped 19 times between 1938 and 1954.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM/SS: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abedi_Pele">Abedi Pele </a>(Ghana)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Abedi Pele was one of the greatest African player ever. He was best remembered for his career with Marseille, where he won the first ever Champions' League title for a French club. He was African Player of the Year for three straight years between 1991 and 1993. He was voted 3rd as the African Player of the Century. He had 77 caps for Ghana. He was a member of the team that won African Cup of Nations in 1982. He was at one point the country's all-time top scorer.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PCg0lfSrX-Oy4BxE5u676weeDcDu5RC0bMo5JpW1ffLINOZoUKVthxhO0jMzGoMDlqb4oXYMQTdNe9td8U7vgQyqOXPiSc0RJ7dCmzp69YNVUEPEREVRlIB9sPDTdHiPSSv9r0FM0MIo5R7C-TgRbeUJFoCeZ_zXBy9Qb9y2KSVj_G2Xk_VzIMerPA/s1396/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.50.33%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="1094" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PCg0lfSrX-Oy4BxE5u676weeDcDu5RC0bMo5JpW1ffLINOZoUKVthxhO0jMzGoMDlqb4oXYMQTdNe9td8U7vgQyqOXPiSc0RJ7dCmzp69YNVUEPEREVRlIB9sPDTdHiPSSv9r0FM0MIo5R7C-TgRbeUJFoCeZ_zXBy9Qb9y2KSVj_G2Xk_VzIMerPA/w314-h400/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.50.33%20PM.png" width="314" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Abedi Pele </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">ST/RW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Salah" style="font-family: times;">Mohamed Salah </a><span style="font-family: times;">(Egypt) </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"Mo" Salah played with El Mokawloon in Egypt before heading to play for Basel in Switzerland. In 2013, he won the best player award in Switzerland. He earned a big move to Chelsea in 2014, but he ended up with a loan move to Fiorentina and Roma. In 2017, he moved to Liverpool after starring for Roma. In 2017, he helped Egypt for their first World Cup Finals since 1990. In the WC Finals, he scored a single goal.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">FW/LW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristiano_Ronaldo">Cristano Ronaldo</a> (Madeira, Portugal)</span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ronaldo is one of the greatest forward of his generation. He is the most expensive players in history from 2009-2013 when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid. A</span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">t the time of writing, he won the Ballon d'Or winner three times and won Champions' League titles with both Manchester United and Real Madrid. In 2016, he helped Portugal to win the European Championship, a month after winning the Champions' League with Real Madrid. In 2018, he joined Juventus after playing the 2018 World Cup Finals.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">FW/LW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadio_Man%C3%A9" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Sadio Mané</a> <span style="font-family: times;">(Senegal)</span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Sadio Mané stated with Metz. He made his name while playing for Red Bull Salzburg and Southampton. In 2016, he became the most expensive African player in history at that time when he joined Liverpool. Mané, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho made up a prolific attacking quartet dubbed the "Fab Four". He helped the club to reach the Final of the 2018 Champions' League. He scored a goal in the Final. For Senegal, he played for them at the World Cup Finals in 2018. He was the AFCON MVP as Senegal won the tournament in 2022.</span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><div class="subtitle"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">AM/FW</span><b>: </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Weah">George Weah</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">(Liberia) </span></span></span></span></span></div>In terms of individual awards, no other African player wins more awards than him. He was was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or in 1995. He won African Footballer of the Year: 1989, 1994, 1995. He was voted African Player of the Century in 1996.</span></span> <span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He had great careers with AC Milan where he won two Serie A titles. He also played for Paris St Germaine and AS Monaco in France. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">In 2017, Weah was elected as the President of Liberia.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMM11zwMyGhfP6gVggh8yo6kbkvMzAVoe9LmTkndh4B9DALWPl_lsW3fhJDUQYEZxUaitY7b4KH3vJUdqE_ONl_Ab43KK8sp7BJARWUOLVR_beNqVQ1WSHS617Uapmpsc3eRXVw4vF7qVqCqQeJFNtdm8GIwOinR1ZIrqTtV6nbBLLUsfrJdrTm3VjA/s1181/weah.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="1181" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMM11zwMyGhfP6gVggh8yo6kbkvMzAVoe9LmTkndh4B9DALWPl_lsW3fhJDUQYEZxUaitY7b4KH3vJUdqE_ONl_Ab43KK8sp7BJARWUOLVR_beNqVQ1WSHS617Uapmpsc3eRXVw4vF7qVqCqQeJFNtdm8GIwOinR1ZIrqTtV6nbBLLUsfrJdrTm3VjA/w400-h296/weah.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">George Weah</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">ST: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eus%C3%A9bio">Eusebio</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">(Mozambique/Portugal)</span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Along with Pele, </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Eusebio</span></span></span></span> was considered to be the best player in the world during the 1960's. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">He helped Portugal reach third place at the 1966 World Cup, being the top goalscorer of the tournament with 9 goals (including four in one match against North Korea) and received the Bronze Ball award. He won the Ballon d'Or award for European footballer of the year in 1965. He played for Benfica 15 out of his 22 years as a footballer. He won the European Cup in 1961.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ST: </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Fontaine" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Just Fontaine</a></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(Morocco/France)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Just Fontaine was born in French Morocco. He is the record holder for most goals scored in a single edition of the World Cup. He scored 13 goals in 6 matches in the 1958 World Cup Finals in Sweden. He won 21 caps scoring 30 goals. He started with RSM Casablanca and Nice before starring for</span><span dir="auto" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"> Stade de Reims of the 1950's. With Stade de Reims, he played with Raymond Kopa and was considered one of the greatest ever French club side.</span></span></span></span></span></div></span></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">ST: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Eto%27o">Samuel E'too </a>(Cameroon) </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Samuel E'too started his career with the academy of Real Madrid, but he made his name with Mallorca. He was a part of the famous "REM" line at Barcelona where he won two Champions' league titles. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He moved to Inter Milan in 2009 and won a third Champions' league in 2009-2010. </span></span>He won the African Player of the Year award a record four times: in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010. He was capped 118 caps with Cameroon.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sdnO302yyMp5PNU1Nsxen6JEASczUShmGZElK_yL7Fn5g96nEJP_pUUpUpT1yxv__B_3GfpxDqe9qwuxEsLuD1buK_umxj46C_YaaDtfYxtGVto5CBfyNJGRUeqFqeVXYrCExjbnGLJfTuE-bwDqOU_7L3fLWafx_RYFf5fa-aL91UAAOCfbrgoh7A/s1136/Screenshot%202023-02-15%20at%2012.02.19%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sdnO302yyMp5PNU1Nsxen6JEASczUShmGZElK_yL7Fn5g96nEJP_pUUpUpT1yxv__B_3GfpxDqe9qwuxEsLuD1buK_umxj46C_YaaDtfYxtGVto5CBfyNJGRUeqFqeVXYrCExjbnGLJfTuE-bwDqOU_7L3fLWafx_RYFf5fa-aL91UAAOCfbrgoh7A/w254-h400/Screenshot%202023-02-15%20at%2012.02.19%20AM.png" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Samuel E'too </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="-webkit-standard" style="font-size: large;"><span class="mw-headline"><b><u>Honorable Mentions</u></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Essam El Hadary(Egypt), Arthur Wharton (Ghana/Uncapped), Acúrsio Carrelo (Mozambique/Portugal), Arthur Riley (South Africa),</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Jacques Songo’o (Cameroon), Joseph-Antoine Bell (Cameroon), </span><span style="font-size: large;">Noureddine Naybet (Morocco), Lucas Radebe (South Africa), Kolo Toure (Tunisia), Abel Xavier (Mozambique/Portugal), Ibrahim Youssef (Egypt), Wael Gomaa(Egypt), Hany Ramzy (Egypt), Stephen Keshi (Nigeria), Christian Chukwu (Nigeria), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal), Mustapha Zitouni (Algeria), Taiye Taiwo (Nigeria), Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria), Kwadwo Asamoah (Ghana), Arthur Boka (Ivory Coast), William Ayache(Algeria/France), Samuel Umtiti (Cameroon/France), Alphonso Davis (Ghana/Canada), Jose Bosingwa (Zaire/Portugal), Hatem Trabelsi (Tunisia), Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast), Edward Stuart (South Africa), Geremi Njitap (Cameroon), Michael Essien (Ghana), Rifaat El- Fanagili (Egypt), Alexandre Villaplane (Algeria/France), Craig Johnstone (South Africa/uncapped), Jay Jay Okocha, Didier Drogba, Roger Milla (Cameroon), Abdelsalem Ben Miloud Salem (Algeria/France), Jay Jay Okocha (Nigeria), </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Claude Makelele (DR Congo/France), Lakhdar Belloumi (Algeria), </span><span style="font-family: times;">Seydou Keita (Mali), Mahamadou Diarra (Mali), Ahmed Faras (Morocco), Berry Nieuwenhuys (South Africa), Anthony Yeboah (Ghana), Paul Bonga Bonga (Congo), Rabah Madjer (Algeria), Mahmoud El Khatib (Egypt), Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (Algeria/France & Algeria), Salif Keita (Mali), Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia), Patrick Ntsoelengoe (South Africa), Finidi George (Nigeria), Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria), Rachid Mekhloufi (Algeria/France & Algeria), Jules Bocande (Senegal), José Águas (Angola/Portugal), Pirri (Ceuta, Spain), David Silva (Canary Islands, Spain), </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Fernando Peyroteo<span style="font-family: times;"> (Angola/Portugal).</span></span></div><div><b style="font-size: x-large;"><u><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div><b style="font-size: x-large;"><u><span style="font-family: times;">Squad Explanation</span></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- All players are born in one of CAF (Confederation of African Football) member states.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I used CAF (Confederation of African Football) to describe players from African national teams. For example, I would say Samuel Kuffour is probably CAF's greatest ever defender rather he is the greatest ever from Africa to separate him from Marcel Desailly. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Five World Cup winners were born in Africa: Claudio Gentile (Libya), Marcel Desailly (Ghana), Patrick Vieira (Senegal), Steve Mandanda (Congo DR), and Samuel Umtiti (Cameroon). Vieira and Desailly were on France's 1998 team while Unititi and Mandanda were from the 2018 team. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Eusebio, Mario Coluna and Hilario represented Portugal in the 1966 World Cup Finals. Costa Pereira was one of Portugal's top goalkeepers at the time, but he was overlooked for the World Cup. Vicente Lucas and José Águas were also on that team, but I only put them on honorable mention here. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Two Golden Boot winners were also born over there: Just Fontaine (Morocco) and Eusebio (Mozambique). </span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBQ-DdXlqIaFAl0-aAowxpHrW7r47ZKTJOZcnXeVngfJLHx1r42OaOXnp7DhX6Qlpmcl38YB-x9Q6IKYeHuJCg8WchebSbzhllhxmJ2t9sXY0DpE3ZqGBPKPnqZQbas7r_Gk1OA6gP0Urnvq5PfggFLEzZ-dsYudoO4o4MZ46XvytqIR3-dOhARIufQ/s1474/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.40.15%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1474" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbBQ-DdXlqIaFAl0-aAowxpHrW7r47ZKTJOZcnXeVngfJLHx1r42OaOXnp7DhX6Qlpmcl38YB-x9Q6IKYeHuJCg8WchebSbzhllhxmJ2t9sXY0DpE3ZqGBPKPnqZQbas7r_Gk1OA6gP0Urnvq5PfggFLEzZ-dsYudoO4o4MZ46XvytqIR3-dOhARIufQ/w400-h283/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.40.15%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Portugal World Cup team in 1966</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Race is not a factor. Cristiano Ronaldo, Costa Pereira, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Bruce Grobbelaar and Claudio Gentile are on the team. They are White Africans of European ancestry.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- As mentioned, Patrick Vieira and Marcel Desailly won a World Cup with France in 1998. In fact, the 1998 team was so full of non-White players so that the term “black blanc beur” was born (“beur” is a French term for being from Northern Africa). It was a new collective identity that showcased the new France. However, Christian Karembeu, Thierry Henry and Lillian Thuram were not from Africa, Zinedine Zidane was born in France. So only Vieira and Desailly made this team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Libya and Mali never qualified for the World Cup Finals. They also never won a AFCON. Four players here were born in Mozambique, and one each in Zimbabwe, Libya and Mali. The Libya-born Claudio Gentile was the first African-born player to win a World Cup.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Thirteen players were capped by UEFA national teams. Seven players represented France and five for Portugal. Gentile played for Italy. Larbi Benbarek had played for an unofficial Moroccan representative side before playing for France.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The surname Vieira is Portuguese. It is the maiden name of Patrick Vieira's mother, who is from Cape Verde.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ten players were "related" to French football. As mentioned, seven players represented France. George Weah and Sadio Mane started their European club career with a French club while Abedi Pele's peak years were spent with Olympique de Marseille. Mario Coluna also spent a short time in Lyon.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- North Africa is underrepresented on this team. Just Fontaine, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">Larbi Benbarek and </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mohamed Salah were the only players born there.</span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> No <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/12/french-algerian.html">French Algerian </a>were selected. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Zinedine Zidane, Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe were born in France. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I was also surprised that nobody from Belgium or the United Kingdom were selected. Both countries had a large African population. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Three Liverpool legends made this team. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">Mohamed Salah <span>(Egypt)</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">Bruce Grobbellaar (South Africa) and <span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span>Sadio Mané<span style="font-family: Times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;">(Senegal)</span> also made honorable mentions. In fact, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/08/liverpool-africans.html">Liverpool had a number of great Africans in its history</a>. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">Bruce Grobbelaar was born in South Africa, but he played for Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, where he grew up. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- With careful consideration, I ruled the "European islands" in Macaronesia as a part of Africa. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Culturally, those islands are very European, but those places are geographically closer to the African continent. Madeira is located only 434 miles west of Morocco while it is 528 miles from Portugal and mainland Europe. Canary Island is even closer. It is actually only 67 miles from Africa. They are</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> closer to the African continent than Cape Verde which is 570 miles away. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> Of course, both </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ceuta and Melilla are located inside North Africa. All Spanish footballers from there should be considered to be African-born. So I selected Cristiano Ronaldo who was born in Madeira while David Silva and Pirri were put into the pool.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iANsxtBbMuKHt4RHp8kiIteHy2FUN5zoQAJIIMEOoZE1D69XEdKNgj_16ZKUjJFvlTMgV3JeYOsBQh8pHSWkPBr5ttPC8yfqdXzAwPmw7TXoOG4TQAZ9MHvb4gZqQ9oRd4wT8E9h5tqFIij9KYiuJL_SQ3q5hIJbIrOjmxDLicySdTJohWNrDrk2doL8/s982/Screenshot%202023-10-14%20at%201.07.55%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="982" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iANsxtBbMuKHt4RHp8kiIteHy2FUN5zoQAJIIMEOoZE1D69XEdKNgj_16ZKUjJFvlTMgV3JeYOsBQh8pHSWkPBr5ttPC8yfqdXzAwPmw7TXoOG4TQAZ9MHvb4gZqQ9oRd4wT8E9h5tqFIij9KYiuJL_SQ3q5hIJbIrOjmxDLicySdTJohWNrDrk2doL8/w400-h281/Screenshot%202023-10-14%20at%201.07.55%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Cristiano Ronaldo of Madeira</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers </u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">There were not many African-born goalkeepers playing for European national teams. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In general, not many Black (or African descent) goalkeepers were playing in the top European leagues. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>I think it has to do with racism. It is similar to the lack of Black quarterbacks in American football before the 2000's. Georges Lamia, Costa Pereira, Acúrsio Carrelo, Abderrahman Ibrir, Yvon Mvogo, </span><span>Steve Mandanda, Nuno and Neno were one of the few African born players who were capped by European countries. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> Lamia, Acúrsio Carrelo and Costa Pereira were Whites, which racism would not be a major factor, I assumed (although White South African outfielders had mentioned discrimination against them in England in the 1950's). Abderrahman Ibrir is Algerian so I don't know how racism affected him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Out of this list of UEFA capped goalkeepers, I took Costa Pereira. He won two consecutive European Cups with Benfica in 1961 and 1962, and lost two finals in 1963 and 1965. He was born in </span><span>Mozambique. He was selected into World Soccer World XI in 1965. He had done more than most African-born goalkeepers.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Then I went with the same two goalkeepers from my <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/all-africa.html">African All-Time</a> team. </span><span>N'Kono was considered to be Africa's greatest goalkeeper. He inspired Gianluigi Buffon of Italy to play goalkeeper. He was named African Player of the Year twice, which was rare for a goalkeeper to win the award. Grobbelaar was very decorated during his career with Liverpool FC. During his 13-years at Liverpool, he helped the team win six league titles, one European Cup, three FA Cups, three league cups, amongst other trophies. </span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaCesIF0uDYl9V-wCJXFTpP7fz-ff8qxHuPtxZbWQO5Mh2h52XgiY6aB71J8tAmObhaZDLH0t8xBQXcPKChYyI7rM2KZnu5SGH8MUlUeIscsjuTfKbep9D858-13XSw8odOy-O6HXLNXaTCJCyZaFg2_ZsN13MQtNh_T3KXHrGb0TqjdR-YnSl4hxwg/s1192/Screenshot%202022-10-31%20at%204.18.26%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="790" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaCesIF0uDYl9V-wCJXFTpP7fz-ff8qxHuPtxZbWQO5Mh2h52XgiY6aB71J8tAmObhaZDLH0t8xBQXcPKChYyI7rM2KZnu5SGH8MUlUeIscsjuTfKbep9D858-13XSw8odOy-O6HXLNXaTCJCyZaFg2_ZsN13MQtNh_T3KXHrGb0TqjdR-YnSl4hxwg/w265-h400/Screenshot%202022-10-31%20at%204.18.26%20PM.png" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Thomas N'Kono</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Essam El Hadary was the third goalkeeper on my Africa (CAF) All-Time team. He was the starting keeper for Egypt as it dominated African Cup of Nations. He won four African Cup of Nations: 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010. He was chosen the best keeper in 2006, 2008 and 2010. I admitted that I switched my criteria all the time. Sometimes, the lack of European exposure hurt a player's chance on my blog teams, but on this occasion, I honoured the Egyptian goalkeeper for his achievement in Africa. He is probably the greatest African goalkeeper in the history of the African Nations' Cup. However, Costa Pereira's club career was too great to be ignored.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Arthur Wharton who was born in Ghana was widely considered to be the first Black professional footballer. Arthur Riley spent 15 years playing with Liverpool. He was also one of the first Africans to play in Europe. He took over the starting position from Elisha Scott in Liverpool, and Elisha Scott was considered one of Liverpool's greatest goalkeepers. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Mustafa Mansour played for Queens' Park FC in the 1930's after the 1936 World Cup Finals. Both were really ahead of their time. They set a milestone for African goalkeepers.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Cameroon is Africa's greatest goalkeeper producing countries. Jacques Songo’o and Joseph-Antoine Bell were strong contenders for the third choice. Bell was named "African Goalkeeper of the Century" by IFFHS, as part of their "Century Elections" ahead of his rival Thomas N'Kono. Carlos Kameni could easily rank in the top 10 greatest African keeper. He won an Olympic gold medal as a 16 years old. But I could not find space for him even on Cameroon All-Time team. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Both Édouard Mendy and Yassine Bounou were born in Europe. Gary Bailey grew up in South Africa, but he was born in England. They were ineligible.</span></div><div style="font-family: times; text-align: center;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></div><div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- I took four central defenders for my <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/all-africa.html">African (CAF) Greatest ever team</a> who were well-known in European club football. They were </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Samuel Kuffour, Noureddine Naybet, Lucas Radebe and Kolo Toure. For this African-born All-Time team, I only retained Kuffour. He</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> was a stalwart of Bayern Munich's defense for over a decade at a time when Bayern Munich was one of the best teams in the world. He was the BBC African Player of the Year in 2001. He might be CAF's greatest defender. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- The other central defenders were all "Europeans". </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Marcel Desailly was probably France's greatest defender. His career with France and club football spoke for itself. At the time of his retirement, he was France's most capped player. </span>Claudio Gentile was on my<a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/italy-all-time-23-member-team.html"> Italy</a> All-Time team as a rightback. <span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">In the modern game, the centerback position would be his more preferred position. He was best remembered for stopping Diego Maradona and Zico at the World Cup Finals in 1982 as Italy won their third World Cup. Desailly and Gentile were probably among the greatest ever defenders in history.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipLhHv6NCldxdA5BZ8B-1L0lLox79TsP08FXCrQQ8b8_Fpj66n1yB6NzxXMh8AsXCIrUw8l4a2ZCSSD_de6BRCUd9VRTTx490FJgajZ1zv-1M3p1JE-_7A84Hdn3Zr9aI3pyKUMNKRU4mhEJy47RKw_TR9YwnuyvKgQjJ3ZajIm1FYK5hSGO_CcJ8yuA/s826/Screenshot%202023-02-15%20at%208.29.27%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="826" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipLhHv6NCldxdA5BZ8B-1L0lLox79TsP08FXCrQQ8b8_Fpj66n1yB6NzxXMh8AsXCIrUw8l4a2ZCSSD_de6BRCUd9VRTTx490FJgajZ1zv-1M3p1JE-_7A84Hdn3Zr9aI3pyKUMNKRU4mhEJy47RKw_TR9YwnuyvKgQjJ3ZajIm1FYK5hSGO_CcJ8yuA/w400-h284/Screenshot%202023-02-15%20at%208.29.27%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Marcel Desailly</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>-- Basile Boli edged out Noureddine Naybet, Lucas Radebe and Kolo Toure for a spot on the team. Boli played for Olympique de Marseille under Bernard Tapie. He scored the winning goal that helped his club to win the 1992–93 Champions League. Boli's international career came at a point when France had the talents but performed poorly in the big international tournaments. He was a part of the team that failed to qualify for the <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/07/france-1994_22.html">1994</a> and 1990 World Cup as well as Euro 1988. They won all eight of their qualifiers for Euro 1992, but were winless in the Finals in Sweden. </div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div>-- Raoul Diagne was the son of Senegalese and French politician Blaise Diagne. Diagne senior was the former mayor of Dakar. Raoul, however, was born in French Guiana when his father was serving there. I do believe that he should be considered Senegalese, but I decided to stay strictly on birthplace. So I ruled him out of the team.</div><div>-- Abel Xavier was more famous for his hairstyle. He only played 20 times for Portugal and his club career was very limited. Jean-Alain Boumsong and Danilo Pereira were players of note who were also in consideration.</div><div>-- Ibrahim Youssef, Wael Gomaa, Hany Ramzy, Stephen Keshi, Christian Chukwu and Kalidou Koulibaly were not on my African (CAF) All-Time team. Mustapha Zitouni was capped 4 times by France in the late 1950's. They were interesting prospects, but I left them off.</div></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Lauren Etame Mayer was probably Africa CAF greatest rightback. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">In 2000, he was the runner-up of the African Player of the Year. Achraf Hakimi was the other rightback on my CAF All-time team, but he was born in Spain. I considered Jose Bosingwa who was a big part of Jose Mourinho's Porto. The other alternatives were Hatem Trabelsi, Emmanuel Eboue, Eddie Stuart and Geremi Njitap. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Eddie Stuart played for 11 years with Wolverhampton Wolves in the 1950's when they were one of the most successful team in England. He seldom got recognition as an African footballer. Perhaps, he was a white man of British descent playing in England. He also never represented South Africa in football. Geremi Njitap had done better than most Cameroonian footballers in his club career, but I somehow did not see him as a rightback. But s</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">ince I already had Claudio Gentile, I decided against taking an extra rightback. I gave the extra spot to another position.</span></div></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">As of 2023, Patrice Evra was the obvious choices. His career with Manchester United spoke for itself. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Hilário is probably </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/portugals-all-time-23-member-team.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Portugal</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">'s greatest leftback. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"> From the CAF, I also looked into Taiye Taiwo, Celestine Babayaro, Kwadwo Asamoah and Arthur Boka. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">In time, Alphonso Davis might take one of the leftback position. William Ayache of France was also a candidate.</span></div></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJRe_hC8iQ9jwSg2S4lC-Zu_jxWwX36KBcpPYS4j2pEbABT_Db35eb7h1fyrscxqkiICaqrfvnJq65MYCh-O_QBFL7XzE80kb7e0vAbpsu1zkjhV45hbtzqmxXrg4FyVNogzjk0woEduDN55b8GOS6R0Bs5xuH-lNRlpfOgkmft3pJewAH0n0pG_eNUQ/s1048/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.52.45%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1048" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJRe_hC8iQ9jwSg2S4lC-Zu_jxWwX36KBcpPYS4j2pEbABT_Db35eb7h1fyrscxqkiICaqrfvnJq65MYCh-O_QBFL7XzE80kb7e0vAbpsu1zkjhV45hbtzqmxXrg4FyVNogzjk0woEduDN55b8GOS6R0Bs5xuH-lNRlpfOgkmft3pJewAH0n0pG_eNUQ/w400-h293/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.52.45%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Patrice Evra</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Abdelsalem Ben Miloud Salem spent 10 seasons with Olympique de Marseille, winning the league title once in 1948. He was one of the first African defenders to shine in Europe. He retired from football before Morocco played its first international game in 1957. He was a left-sided defender in his time, but in the modern game, he would not be considered a leftback. </span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- My <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/all-africa.html">African (CAF) Greatest Ever Team</a> did not have enough central/defensive midfielders. For this team, I quickly added </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Mario Coluna, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Patrick Vieira and </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Jean Tigana. All three were box-to-box midfielders.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Jean Tigana was a part of the French midfield that consisted of Michel Platini, Luis Fernandez and Alain Giresse in what was known as "the Magic Square" (le Carré Magique). France won UEFA Euro 1984 with this midfield. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">It was one of the greatest midfield foursomes of all time. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Mario Coluna led Benfica to end Real Madrid's dominance of the European Cup in the 1950's. He </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">actually won their first cup before Eusebio joined the team. Patrick Vieira was a key player during Arsene Wenger's reign in Arsenal. His rivalry with Roy Keane in the Premiership was headlines news in his days. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">He was one of the greatest ever central midfielders ever graced the Premiership.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBwF50xf7WmemfvFgk1Jcufv_yOVRHo-mX5MDdIGupbP6a-YUbeRV_6qGgh5yjy7f5_P6KHVb1dwldA-d0rXFwHLLf2japPHeOFN8WQZcG3jC3qMLI057i3X9DGHdl-nfSxmkUuGRTyVt8wclFjLa_DJs-Autgm_9sqHlg8_VFWe2hw5yxxPimswaEg/s500/18404.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBwF50xf7WmemfvFgk1Jcufv_yOVRHo-mX5MDdIGupbP6a-YUbeRV_6qGgh5yjy7f5_P6KHVb1dwldA-d0rXFwHLLf2japPHeOFN8WQZcG3jC3qMLI057i3X9DGHdl-nfSxmkUuGRTyVt8wclFjLa_DJs-Autgm_9sqHlg8_VFWe2hw5yxxPimswaEg/w320-h400/18404.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mario Coluna</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Yaya Toure won the African Footballer of the Year award on four consecutive times between 2014 and 2018. At the time, he was probably the world's best central midfielders. I retained him while dropping Michael Essien and Rifaat El- Fanagili. Essien was essential to Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. However, his peak was actually short due to injuries. Rifaat El- Fanagili was chosen the best defender of the 1960 Olympic football tournament in Rome, but he played in an era when the standard of African football was low. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Pirri was born in Ceuta, Spain which is a part of Africa. He only made honorable mention because of Yaya Toure, Mario Coluna, Patrick Vieira and Jean Tigana. </span></div><div><span><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Alexandre Villaplane was the first ever player of Northern African origin to represent France. He played 25 times for France. He captained France at the 1930 WC Finals. I did weight in the fact that he was a Nazi collaborator, but I did not drop him for this reason.</span></div></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- George </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Weah and Abedi Pele were two of CAF's most important players ever. In 1995, Weah was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or, becoming the first and only player to win these awards while representing an African country internationally. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Abedi Pele built his legacy in southern France with Marseille. During the 1990's, he might be one of the best midfielders in the world. He won the African Player of the Year three times.</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Larbi Benbarek was not selected for my </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/france-all-team-23-member-team.html" style="font-family: times;">France All-Time</a><span style="font-family: times;"> team because I already had Raymond Kopa, Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini, but he was one of the best players ever played for France. He was probably the first Black star player in the history of European club football.</span></div><div><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: times;">-- Jay Jay Okocha was one of the most skillful and technical gifted players of his generation. His PSG teammate Ronaldinho understudied him and considered him his idol. He also belonged the Golden Generation of Nigeria winning an Olympic Gold medal and the 1994 AFCON. He was awarded a CAF Legend Award in 2011. However, he </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;">was less decorated in the club level than the other players selected. David Silva was born in Canary Islands, which should be considered a part of Africa. I considered both Okocha and David Silva behind Benbarek and Abedi Pele. So they only made honorable mentions.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- I discovered a player from the 1960's named Miguel Jones. He was born in what is now Equatorial Guinea.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Craig Johnston</span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> was included on my South African All-Time Team, but his nationality was an issue since he was an uncapped player. He turned down Australia and probably would have ignored the South African national team if he ever received a call-up at his time. However, this team was about "African-born" players. So he should be a candidate. In the 1980's, he starred for Liverpool. However, he gave way to two other Liverpool star players. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Mohamed Salah was more of a wing-forward than a forward. He won both PFA and FWA Footballer of the Year twice. Johnstone never came close in winning neither awards. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Sadio Mane was one of the best players on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. And Since 2019, he already won the African Player of the Year twice. He also helped Senegal to win the AFCON(please also see the forward section on Didier Drogba).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU3Jnb_GNVLT1Yaz2dcHMQzjZuVy9vgn6ONhx7PfjnjP1_unk-yk08x-n7xarcoPRjwLQt_oynvessKtymD1mBbDAZFdIY0_kvhijOTDCStyF-y0L24uxCzgt9RDGkM7837gzWG8P9H6TdBb32c22i4SJ33Nk3-0YxNaf4gdhf51D-Sk15jY7MAxNPeQ/s289/mane.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="289" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU3Jnb_GNVLT1Yaz2dcHMQzjZuVy9vgn6ONhx7PfjnjP1_unk-yk08x-n7xarcoPRjwLQt_oynvessKtymD1mBbDAZFdIY0_kvhijOTDCStyF-y0L24uxCzgt9RDGkM7837gzWG8P9H6TdBb32c22i4SJ33Nk3-0YxNaf4gdhf51D-Sk15jY7MAxNPeQ/w400-h281/mane.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Sadio Mane</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Berry Nieuwenhuys deserved a mention somewhere. Coincidentally, he also played for Liverpool. I also did not select him for my Africa CAF All-Time team.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Eusebio was probably the greatest African born footballers of all-time. In his prime, he was comparable to Pele. His teammate José Águas was also born in Angola. His career was overshadowed by Eusebio after 1961. I only put him on honorable mention.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Samuel Eto’o was named African Player of the Year four times. He is the AFCON’s and Cameroon’s highest goalscorer of all-time. I do believe either Eto'o or Weah was CAF's greatest footballers.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Didier Drogba won the African Footballer of the Year title twice. He was one of the most decorated African footballers of all time, winning four Premier League titles with Chelsea. He was also the highest goalscorer in the 2006/07 and 2009/10 Premier League seasons. But Mohamed Salah actually won more individual awards than Drogba in England. He won both PFA and FWA Footballer of the Year twice. His partnership and rivalry with Sadio Mane were well-known. Liverpool won every possible trophies with the two of them at helm. They also went head-to-head in the 2021 AFCON Final as well as the CAF's World Cup qualifying playoff later in the same year. From 2017 to 2022, the pair finished 1-2 at the African Player of the Year award with each player winning the award twice each. Furthermore, this team needed wide players. So I dropped Drogba while keeping both Mane and Salah.</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS45_DoUHMDU9GkM2VT9hR9b1tOxh541QkLG0Bmwl3QqserDvpRhVImQy3xi-Irf4nSPBLMWpRSEmuIS6otXrnAUgL61Rz-n0OtIM1tpTv8XX3V0h-CT4ptzb6bXFQbcOJ14CrlI7oeyR07eZxik2U-VrHGFLgdaksHdmiJ7Jfu4iEy7vnwhhCQ7oIOQ/s1382/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.05.16%20PM.png" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1382" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS45_DoUHMDU9GkM2VT9hR9b1tOxh541QkLG0Bmwl3QqserDvpRhVImQy3xi-Irf4nSPBLMWpRSEmuIS6otXrnAUgL61Rz-n0OtIM1tpTv8XX3V0h-CT4ptzb6bXFQbcOJ14CrlI7oeyR07eZxik2U-VrHGFLgdaksHdmiJ7Jfu4iEy7vnwhhCQ7oIOQ/w400-h279/Screenshot%202023-02-14%20at%2011.05.16%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mohamed Salah</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Roger Milla was often listed among the greatest African player. I selected him for my Africa (CAF) Greatest ever team because he has put African football and their national teams on the map with his World Cup performance in 1990. He had done a lot for African football. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">However, outside of the World Cup Finals, Roger Milla did not have a strong club career. In this team, Eusebio and Just Fontaine predated him in the history of the World Cup Finals. I was not saying that we should overlook Milla's achievement, but the bar was higher in this team. Fontaine still holds the record of the highest number of goals ever scored by one player at a single World Cup Finals. Eusebio's 1966 World Cup performance was perhaps one of the greatest ever. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">--
Gordon Hodgson scored 295 goals in England. He is the fourth in the
all-time list of top-flight goalscorers in English football with only
Jimmy Greaves (357), Steve Bloomer (317) and Dixie Dean (310) having
scored more goals. He did play for South Africa before playing for
England. I only put him on
honorable mention alongside Salif Keita and Rachid Mekhloufi. He also did not make my CAF All-Time Team.<br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- Just Fontaine was more than his 13 goal performance in the 1958 World Cup Finals. Fontaine scored 121 goals in six seasons at Stade de Reims when the club was one of the best in Europe. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeceFNgzFXLtL0IDvM7ng5I1M_JoyTGU1KQJfZztlN6Sl7hEEWJ4ZZxoD8BcPKYNBiGqZjcAbLOMxGY1--Ur5PWJ8r_YLc_h_f0rcBZBi58Z741cHQYwkc2Ln9ad3SxJZ9pCmUJ-IK6GL2Ig4iaD89dy-f14u1-2ag3hmcG-sQxJAkohws1wiiK8qY6Q/s250/Just-Fontaine.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="250" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeceFNgzFXLtL0IDvM7ng5I1M_JoyTGU1KQJfZztlN6Sl7hEEWJ4ZZxoD8BcPKYNBiGqZjcAbLOMxGY1--Ur5PWJ8r_YLc_h_f0rcBZBi58Z741cHQYwkc2Ln9ad3SxJZ9pCmUJ-IK6GL2Ig4iaD89dy-f14u1-2ag3hmcG-sQxJAkohws1wiiK8qY6Q/w400-h400/Just-Fontaine.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just Fontaine</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: times;">-- Rachid Mekhloufi is the all-time leading scorer for Saint-Etienne in France, where he played from 1954 to 1958. He disappeared from the national team duty for France against Switzerland on April, 1958 to join the FLN team. Because of that, he missed the 1958 World Cup Finals. One source called him France's best player at the time, but was he better than Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine? He later spent his career with the FLN national team, where Algeria's war for independence affected his career. So the world really did not know his true potential.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">-- I had one spot left after I completed most of the team. Claude Makelele, Jose Bosingwa,</span><span style="font-family: times;"> Didier Drogba, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Fernando Peyroteo</span><span style="font-family: times;"> and Roger Milla were the candidates for t</span><span style="font-family: times;">he last spot. I did not need an extra rightback because of Claudio Gentile. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Marcel Desailly could easily move into the defensive midfield position making Claude Makelele </span><span style="font-family: times;">expendable. Milla's career outside the 1990 World Cup was less decorated as compared Drogba and Peyroteo.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Fernando P</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">eyroteo </span></span>has established himself as the greatest scorer football has ever seen. </span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">He scored 331 times in just 197 games for Sporting, giving him a goal-to-game ratio of 1.68, the highest in football history. I thought that record was hard to ignore even through Drogba's career was actually more impressive. However, in October, 2023, I replaced him with Cristiano Ronaldo. I forgot that Madeira should be considered a part of Africa. </span></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><u><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Formation</span></span></span></span></b></u></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Most players on the team could make the starting eleven. Esuebio, Gentile, Desailly, Weah, Mario Coluna and Benbarek were the obvious choice. Eto'o was actually another obvious choice, but the team had Eusebio.</span></div><div><u style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b><br /></b></u></div><div><u style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Goalkeeper:</b></u><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> I did not have any preference. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><b><u>Defence:</u></b> Evra, Desailly and Gentile should start, but where should I put Gentile? His playing style no longer fitted the modern game. I used Kuffour on my starting lineup, but I could easily replace him with Boli. Lauren might be a better choice at rioghtback for the modern game, but Gentile is still cosnidered one of the greatest rightback of all-time.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><b><u>Midfielders:</u></b> Mario Coluna and Benbarek were automatic starters, but Vieria or Yaya Toure could easily replace Tigana.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">Forwards:</u> Eusebio was the obvious choice and followed by Cristiano Ronaldo. I thought of starting Abedi Pele on the right because he was left footed, but Salah played mainly on the right wing in Liverpool. Salah would be more natural.</span></span></span></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/10/1937410_Champions_League_Team.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2023/10/1937410_Champions_League_Team.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span></div></span></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-20299731327900932112022-12-05T06:32:00.002-08:002024-01-27T05:53:10.840-08:00What if Catalonia World Cup 2010 team<p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></p><span><span style="font-size: large;"><div><div style="font-family: times;"><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><span>His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: times;"><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FFhXbNStGUPZqOHAGYyVZPWL2GpkuWZxFH5miuXvdIU1YMXwexHxLO59weGu1opG5QlKODx4bfDQcFbkLGn13OZ0cJ_cBLv0RPUkkLzSoFvfyLxMZKBgo5XYRNQmGxZxOk-LSbhoCBDBaXgBGgkQ9aD8sJNvFPVm79y0NDJl2X0-vBiukYIAgMbrNA/s1470/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%2010.08.46%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1470" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FFhXbNStGUPZqOHAGYyVZPWL2GpkuWZxFH5miuXvdIU1YMXwexHxLO59weGu1opG5QlKODx4bfDQcFbkLGn13OZ0cJ_cBLv0RPUkkLzSoFvfyLxMZKBgo5XYRNQmGxZxOk-LSbhoCBDBaXgBGgkQ9aD8sJNvFPVm79y0NDJl2X0-vBiukYIAgMbrNA/w400-h244/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%2010.08.46%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Catalonia vs Honduras 2010</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"> </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/spains-all-time-23-member-team.html">Spain All-Time Team</a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/spain-without-catalan-players-in-2010.html">Spain without Catalan players World Cup 2010</a><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/spanish-big-two.html">Spain All-Time Team without Real Madrid and Barcelona</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/basque.html">Basque</a>, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/catalonia.html">Catalonia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/castile.html">Castile without Madrid players</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/community-of-madrid.html">Madrid Community</a>,</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/andalusia.html">Andalusia</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"><span> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/valenican-community.html"><span>Valencian Community</span></a></span></span><span>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/03/galicia.html">Galicia</a>,</span></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/11/canary-islands-ceuta-and-melilla.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/12/extremadura.html">Extremadura</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/01/murcia.html">Murcia</a>.</span></div></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/08/hungary-1950.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Hungary World Cup 1950</span></a><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/01/sweden-1950.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Sweden World Cup 1950<br /></span></a></span></span><span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/austria-hungary-1954.html">Austria-Hungary World Cup 1954<br /></a></span></span></span><span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/07/if-argentina-sent-to-this-team-to-wc.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Angels with Dirty Faces with Di Stefano in the WC 1958<br /></span></a></span></span><span><span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/09/scotland-1970.html">Scotland World Cup 1970<br /></a></span></span></span></span><span><span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/11/united-kingdom-1970.html">United Kingdom World Cup 1970<br /></a></span></span></span></span><span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/england-1974.html"><span face="">England World Cup 1974<br /></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/if-united-kingdom-went-to-spain-1982.html">United Kingdom World Cup 1982<br /></a></span></span></span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/02/what-if-italy-1992.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Italy Euro 1992<br /></span></a></span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/12/yugoslavia-1994.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Yugoslavia World Cup 1994<br /></span></a></span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/07/france-1994_22.html">France World Cup 1994<br /></a></span></span><span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/10/germany-2002.html">Germany World Cup 2002<br /></a></span></span></span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/holland-2002.html">Netherlands World Cup 2002<br /></a></span></span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/usa-2010.html"><span style="font-size: large;">USA World Cup 2010<br /></span></a></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/irelandnorth-ireland-1986.html">Ireland/Northern Ireland Combined Team 1986 World Cup<br /></a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/12/netherlands-1984.html"><span><span><span></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/12/netherlands-1984.html">Netherlands Euro 1984 with Cruyff, Van Basten, Gullit</a></span></span></span></span><span> </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-if-ussr-went-to-world-cup-2018.html">USSR World Cup 2018 <br /></a></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/yugoslavia-2018.html">Yugoslavia World Cup 2018</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/05/ghana-2022.html">Ghana World Cup 2022</a></span></span></div></span></div></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Eric Cantona, a French Catalan, controversially claimed that the 2010 World Cup victory belonged to Catalonia rather than Spain. It is worth noting that Spain's winning team included seven players from Catalonia: Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, and Victor Valdes, with four of them starting in the Final against the Netherlands. Considering this, one might wonder how things would have unfolded if Catalonia had become a FIFA member and participated in the World Cup Finals in South Africa.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">I also did a </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/spain-without-catalan-players-in-2010.html" style="font-family: times;">Spain without Catalan players</a><span style="font-family: times;"> team before I create this Catalonia World Cup team. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Andres Iniesta and Pedro were not Catalan, but they played for Barcelona. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div><b><u><span style="font-family: times;">Prediction</span></u></b></div><div>The starting lineup of Catalonia would include six key players from Spain's World Cup-winning team. However, the team's depth was notably weaker, with several players either at the end of their careers or playing in lower divisions. In a real-life match against Argentina in December 2009, Catalonia secured a 4-2 victory with a lineup similar to this team. It is important to note that Argentina was missing manager Diego Maradona and some of their 2010 World Cup starters, but still featured talented players such as Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain. While defeating Argentina with such a scoreline is impressive, it remains challenging to fully judge the capabilities of the Catalan team based on a single friendly match.</div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Spain's World Cup victory was built on a solid defense, conceding only 2 goals throughout the tournament, none of which occurred during the knockout stage. The Catalan World Cup team retained most of the key defensive players from that Spanish team. However, the right back position was relatively weaker, with Bruno Saltor having limited playing time towards the end of the 2009-2010 season. On the other hand, the midfield remained strong, featuring Xavi, Sergio Busquets, and Cesc Fabregas in Catalonia's team.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></div><div>In contrast, Spain's World Cup-winning campaign saw them score a mere eight goals, the lowest tally ever for a World Cup champion. Throughout the knockout stage, they won each match by a narrow 1-0 margin. Despite this, Spain possessed formidable forwards in David Villa and Fernando Torres, who were prolific marksmen of that era. Unfortunately for Catalonia, their World Cup team lacked offensive players from the region. Not a single forward from the World Cup team in South Africa made it to the Catalan team. </div><div><br /></div><div>However, if Catalonia managed to convince Lionel Messi to switch his allegiance, they could field a lineup featuring seven key Barcelona players, along with Joan Capdevila and Cesc Fabregas. The remaining two starters and substitutes would have a minimal impact. This would make Catalonia a strong contender for the World Cup. Without Messi, the team had to rely on Bojan, who was highly regarded in 2010 but had questions about leading the forward line of a World Cup contender. Sergio Garcia, playing in the Segunda Division, and Raul Tamudo, included for his experience, rounded out the options for the forward positions.</div></div></span></span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7eP-jGxeFG8c01ORCN0e7KUkrXDPQdiOZhQxgWSqicOol3rQa4chxXqsVeG8XTd8IZHXqC-a2EfgRl9lfiwiSlteB710RyaLHqIEHgfqrT0XRI20lhHhfnClZnfU5VRlQwLha2wUw3-oJ23H9qs7h26AMAz76XgugY33zYBcYmnFgYbWwuGHJKgadQ/s564/Catalan-Team.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="564" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7eP-jGxeFG8c01ORCN0e7KUkrXDPQdiOZhQxgWSqicOol3rQa4chxXqsVeG8XTd8IZHXqC-a2EfgRl9lfiwiSlteB710RyaLHqIEHgfqrT0XRI20lhHhfnClZnfU5VRlQwLha2wUw3-oJ23H9qs7h26AMAz76XgugY33zYBcYmnFgYbWwuGHJKgadQ/w400-h254/Catalan-Team.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Catalonia 2010</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div><span><div style="font-family: times;"><b><u>Team</u></b></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span><span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%ADctor_Vald%C3%A9s">Victor Valdes </a> (Barcelona FC)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Victor Valdes spent most of his career with Barcelona. With them, he won three Champions' league title. He also had a unsuccessful stint with Manchester United. For the national team, he only managed 20 caps due to playing behind Iker Casillas during the prime of his career. He was part of the Spanish squads that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, despite not playing in either tournament. He also played 12 times for Catalonia.</span></span></span></div><div><span><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZt8vzCDoMnDkZWpDVFjAJd_zGgX_o-OwAiwgwEwhjULyz5xXkm29q1laMCgLtoIPQNUhiL7wJGLppjazMfiLXTC4xvwwXv-H38wzw8g-T3LpbVs5R05G-wmz9mQKnK34q9x0EWOVW3cCQB2hIoAWC-cNio6ddXL1DqBJmZb7ViF9QAJ3PYnJLJyCHYg/s960/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%204.26.11%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="620" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZt8vzCDoMnDkZWpDVFjAJd_zGgX_o-OwAiwgwEwhjULyz5xXkm29q1laMCgLtoIPQNUhiL7wJGLppjazMfiLXTC4xvwwXv-H38wzw8g-T3LpbVs5R05G-wmz9mQKnK34q9x0EWOVW3cCQB2hIoAWC-cNio6ddXL1DqBJmZb7ViF9QAJ3PYnJLJyCHYg/w259-h400/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%204.26.11%20PM.png" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Victor Valdes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: times;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordi_Codina">Jordi Codina </a>(Getafe)</div><div style="font-family: times;">Codina was with Real Madrid between 2007 and 2009. He only made a single appearance. In 2009, he moved to Getafe where he stayed until 2015. He served mainly as a backup. He went to play in Cyprus before returning to Spain where he played in the lower division. He represented Catalonia national team once in 2008.</div><div style="font-family: times;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiko_Casilla">Kiko Casilla </a>(Cadiz) </div><div style="font-family: times;">Casilla started playing for Real Madrid reserve team. He went on to appear in 126 competitive matches for Espanyol over six La Liga seasons before returning to Madrid in 2015 as backup to Keylor Navas. In 2019–20, he won promotion to the Premier League with Leeds United. He had loan spell with Elche and Cadiz. He was capped once for Spain in 2014.</div><div style="font-family: times;"><br /></div><div><div style="font-family: times;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_(footballer,_born_1980)" style="font-family: Times;">Bruno Saltor</a><span style="font-family: Times;"> (Valencia)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;">Bruno began his professional career with Espanyol, and went on to appear in 128 La Liga matches, all but one of which were with Almería and Valencia. In 2012 he signed with Brighton & Hove Albion, going on to spend seven years with the English club and also acting as its captain.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dami%C3%A0_Abella">Damià Abella </a>(Real Betis)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">After starting out at Barcelona, Demia spent 4 seasons with Real Betis. Between 2010 and 2014, he played over 120 games for Osasuna. In 2014, Damià joined Middlesbrough of the Football League Championship on a free transfer, but he rarely played for the next two seasons. He represented Catalonia for 4 times.</span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB/RB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carles_Puyol">Carles Puyol</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(Barcelona FC)</span></div></div></span></span></span></div></span></div></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As an one-club man, Carles Puyol served as the long-time team captain for his only club Barcelona after taking over from Luis Enrique in August 2004, and went on to appear in 593 official games for the club and win 20 major titles, including </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> three Champions League: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">. He earned 100 caps for Spain, winning the World Cup in 2014 and the European Championship in 2008.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L5A77Tgyqso/Wnco-Pfu3yI/AAAAAAAAGC0/-8UeqUZGLEwWC8fLOc6soPR1TRC90N2eQCLcBGAs/s1600/1293694036_740215_0000000001_noticia_grande.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L5A77Tgyqso/Wnco-Pfu3yI/AAAAAAAAGC0/-8UeqUZGLEwWC8fLOc6soPR1TRC90N2eQCLcBGAs/s400/1293694036_740215_0000000001_noticia_grande.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Carlos Puyol </span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB/RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleguer_Presas">Oleguer Presas</a> (Ajax)</span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">From 2003 to 2008. Oleguer played for Barcelona FC. He started the Champions' League Final in 2006 against Arsenal in which Barcelona won their second ever title. In 2008, he joined Ajax, but he mainly played as a backup over there. He was a very educated person and had written a book. He turned down Luis Aragonés to play for Spain. However, he played 6 times for Catalonia representative side.</span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Lopo">Albert Lopo</a> (Deportivo La Coruna)</span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Over 18 seasons, Lopo amassed La Liga totals of 409 matches. From 1999 to 2006, he played for Espanyol. Then, he had two stints with Deportivo La Coruna, where he was a solid defender. In between, he played for Getafe after Deportivo went down a division. In 2006, he was selected by Spain in a friendly against Romania, but never entered the field. He remained uncapped for Spain. He played for Catalonia regional team.</span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Piqu%C3%A9">Gerard Piqué </a>(Barcelona FC)</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Gerard Pique left the youth team of Barcelona to join Manchester United's academy in 2004. He made his debut with the senior side in the same year. He returned to Barcelona in 2008. He had been ever present in Bareclona's glorious period. From 2008 to 2018, he earned 102 caps for Spain. He was a part of the Golden Generation that won the 2010 World Cup and two European Champions.</span><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX7GTALnkS2MUUueE7C6M_ovD293avdIsKU3_wxgGJdMmNG8jZDhIGRtlNlE64J2y-3nB5QbmbawA3glE1Bjd3NSztHo9B7ZC7Cwpeh53Ic0DCU9xsFE3j-7sxNAG--SKWFM5uyOW36MqMoUM0Uhb3qvF1NtBUR8av1k6MA6Cm7I2miY207qBriddxQ/s954/Screenshot%202022-12-03%20at%206.51.47%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="644" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX7GTALnkS2MUUueE7C6M_ovD293avdIsKU3_wxgGJdMmNG8jZDhIGRtlNlE64J2y-3nB5QbmbawA3glE1Bjd3NSztHo9B7ZC7Cwpeh53Ic0DCU9xsFE3j-7sxNAG--SKWFM5uyOW36MqMoUM0Uhb3qvF1NtBUR8av1k6MA6Cm7I2miY207qBriddxQ/w270-h400/Screenshot%202022-12-03%20at%206.51.47%20PM.png" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Gerard Piqué </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Navarro_(Spanish_footballer)">Fernando Navarro</a> (Sevilla)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Fernando Navarro started with Barcelona in 2000. Then, he played three seasons with Mallorca where he became a starter. From 2008 to 2015, he had a successful career with Sevilla winning two Europa Cups. Then, he played another three seasons with Deportivo La Coruna. He played twice for Spain. He was a part of the 2008 European Championship winning team.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Capdevila">Joan Capdevila</a> (Villarreal)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">At the club level, Joan Capedevila started his career with Espanyol in 1998. He later played for Atletico Madrid, Deportivo la Coruna, Villarreal and Benfica. The peak of his career was with Deportivo la Coruna and Villarreal. He was capped 60 times for Spain, in a period where Spain won the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 European Championship. He was their disputed starting leftback in that era. He was the only starting player in the 2010 Final who was not a member of Real Madrid or Barcelona.</span></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XrqoamyhjsKTIyHITWSESlbrEASE3w-Q-QCBu_8VmyQBvZYbBwVmMKJzHSTQMyzQSN8xCxiQZ72r3jkZDJst5LPhJ5aWtresIHO0AHfmXgE_mNSuRa1oeX39MKsDPKs0AtDZD1cFm9RwqedBr0fnbIbdXuF4BNiBfSuI6UWLL7cRg5Ucae45nj2QHw/s1024/Netherlands+v+Spain+2010+FIFA+World+Cup+Final+yoVbrzXUTNRx.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="722" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XrqoamyhjsKTIyHITWSESlbrEASE3w-Q-QCBu_8VmyQBvZYbBwVmMKJzHSTQMyzQSN8xCxiQZ72r3jkZDJst5LPhJ5aWtresIHO0AHfmXgE_mNSuRa1oeX39MKsDPKs0AtDZD1cFm9RwqedBr0fnbIbdXuF4BNiBfSuI6UWLL7cRg5Ucae45nj2QHw/w283-h400/Netherlands+v+Spain+2010+FIFA+World+Cup+Final+yoVbrzXUTNRx.jpeg" width="283" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Joan Capedevila</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mois%C3%A9s_Hurtado">Moisés Hurtado</a> (Espanyol)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Hurtado </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">spent most of his professional career at Espanyol, with which he played the 2007 UEFA Cup Final. He appeared in 180 official games for the club, over the course of seven La Liga seasons. In 2010, he joined Olympiakos, but he returned to Spain less than a season later with Granada. He later played Girona. He had played for Catalonia regional team.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">DM: </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Busquets">Sergio Busquets</a> (Barcelona FC)</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Known for his dirty style of play, Sergio Busquets was Spain's unsung hero at winning the 2010 World Cup and the Euro 2012 tournaments. He made his national team debut in 2009. He has earned 142 caps at the time of writing. He captained the 2022 World Cup team. At the club lebel, he started his career in 2008 with Barcelona. He has been an important member of the team ever since. His father Charles played goalkeeper for Barcelona during the 1990's.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM/CM/RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%ADctor_S%C3%A1nchez_(footballer,_born_1987)">Victor Sanchez </a> (Xerez)</span></span></div><div>Victor Sanchez made 302 La Liga appearances and scored 13 goals, starting his career with Barcelona and having loans at Xerez and Getafe. He spent 81⁄2 years at Espanyol, for whom he played 270 games in all competitions. He was uncapped by Spain, but he had represented Catalonia regional team.</div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>DM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_(footballer,_born_1976)">Sergio</a> (Deportivo La Coruna)</div><div>A hard-working central midfielder, he was adept at both defence and playmaking, and spent nearly one decade as a professional at Deportivo de La Coruña after starting at Espanyol from 1998 and 2001. Over 14 La Liga seasons, he amassed totals of 418 matches and 34 goals. He represented Spain in the 2002 World Cup. He had a total of 11 caps between 2001 and 2005.</div><div><br /></div></span></div></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM./CM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavi">Xavi</a> (Barcelona FC)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Xavi was perhaps one of greatest playmakers of his generation. He won everything in football. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Xavi has won 31 trophies, only surpassed by Andrés Iniesta as the most successful Spanish player in history. For the national team, he had 133 caps and was a part of the team that won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championship in between. He was named Euro 2008's player of the tournament. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He was finished third at the Ballon d'Or in 2010 and 2011.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_r-VmNbH--RtudqhKtFmpM_UxJGk2bHtsddoNaznxKfo-lPU4Jlm9X_M3Ze9NNq3-Gu4BYlQj300a98WZH9v26jtnJyxi48A4nKqPWvlWm4GmZ5t4JuEabqE77Ax3Iw3kifQMFrh4M8kRWkGBqUqSK-zrxSdRpWXwNusKLBW_BTeqhwPrW5ooTC74w/s990/14825254420277.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="990" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_r-VmNbH--RtudqhKtFmpM_UxJGk2bHtsddoNaznxKfo-lPU4Jlm9X_M3Ze9NNq3-Gu4BYlQj300a98WZH9v26jtnJyxi48A4nKqPWvlWm4GmZ5t4JuEabqE77Ax3Iw3kifQMFrh4M8kRWkGBqUqSK-zrxSdRpWXwNusKLBW_BTeqhwPrW5ooTC74w/w400-h225/14825254420277.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Xavi</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">LW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Crusat">Albert Crusat </a>(Almeria)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">After starting out at Espanyol, Crusat spent most of his professional career with Almería between 2005 and 2011, appearing in 212 competitive matches and scoring 34 goals over six seasons, four of those in La Liga. He also played two years in England with Wigan Athletic between 2011 and 2013. He had represented Spain in the youth level.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">CM/AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Verd%C3%BA">Joan Verdu </a>(Espanyol)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Verdu started with Barcelona B team, but never made the first time. Between 2006 and 2009, he played for Deportivo la Coruna, where he made a name. Then, he had four good seasons for Espanyol. Later, he played with Real Betis, Baniyas, Levante, Qingdao Huanghai and Fiorentina, He played for Spain at the youth level.</span></div><div style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM/SS: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesc_F%C3%A0bregas">Cesc Fabregas </a>(Arsenal)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Cesc Fabregas was lured to play for Arsenal's academy in 2003 from Barcelona FC. He made his first team debut as a teenager. he helped Arsenal to reach the Champions' league Final in 2005. He was named on the PFA Team of the Year twice. He returned to Spain in 2011 with Barcelona, but returned to England in 2014, joining Chelsea. He earned 110 caps. He was a part of Spain that won the World Cup in 2010 and two European Championships.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yjbYevEFh9hg-61vSvvN_EZBvoeJNjDLXdZCvFB2jFLyxGp3g2ehJzuVtyYKtEsIotgTu2K1Kk8piYXhEtM5V-__ZbPr4U-nx7AbFws_fnQpXdRKNr8OqocMn4aNONIcyJYTVWUqMqy_odOdQKfsq_yKmQ4ON6WyFdpX0OJ7h4rSC_qFCu-zCWO6JQ/s1082/Screenshot%202022-12-03%20at%206.49.53%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1082" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yjbYevEFh9hg-61vSvvN_EZBvoeJNjDLXdZCvFB2jFLyxGp3g2ehJzuVtyYKtEsIotgTu2K1Kk8piYXhEtM5V-__ZbPr4U-nx7AbFws_fnQpXdRKNr8OqocMn4aNONIcyJYTVWUqMqy_odOdQKfsq_yKmQ4ON6WyFdpX0OJ7h4rSC_qFCu-zCWO6JQ/w400-h304/Screenshot%202022-12-03%20at%206.49.53%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Cesc Fabregas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">CF/RW/LW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Garc%C3%ADa_(footballer,_born_1983)" style="font-family: times;">Sergio García</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Real Betis) </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: times;">Sergio Garcia played a few times for Barcelona FC before he went on to represent mainly Zaragoza and Espanyol, serving as captain of the latter. He also played for Al-Rayyan. García also represented Spain at all youth levels, as well as appearing frequently for the unofficial Catalan national team. He played twice for Spain and was a part of Euro 2008 winning team,</div><div style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Tamudo">Raul Tamudo</a> (Espanyol)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Raul Tamudo was a club legend with Espanyol, where he played from 1997 to 2010. He captained the side for a decade. He won two Copa Del Rey with the club as well as reaching the Final of UEFA cup in 2007. He is their all-time leading scorer. He also played for </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Real Sociedad, Rayo Vallecano Mexico's C.F. Pachuca and Sabedell FC. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">He picked up 13 caps for Spain between 2000 and 2007. He was a member of their 2000 silver medal winning team at the Olympics.</span></div><div style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coro_%28footballer%29">Coro </a>(Espanyol)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Ferran Corominas "Coro" spent the majority of his professional career with Espanyol, appearing in 200 competitive games and scoring 24 goals. With the club, he won the 2006 Copa del Rey. In 2017 he signed with Goa in the Indian Super League, winning several team and individual accolades and also being at one point the competition's all-time top-scorer. He was capped by Spain's youth national team. He alsi represented Catalonia regional team.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bojan_Krki%C4%87">Bojan Krkic </a>(Barcelona FC)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Bojan made his Barcelona first-team debut at the age of 17 years and 19 days, breaking the record set by Lionel Messi. In his debut season, he scored 12 goals in 48 matches. In total, he spent 4 seasons at Camp Nou, scoring 41 goals in 162 games before he was sold in July 2011 to AS Roma. He also spent time with Stoke City. He also played in J-League and the MLS. He was called up by Spain in May, 2008. He would have became the youngest ever Spanish international, but he fell ill. He earned his only cap in September of the same year.</span></div></span></div></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtuSGhlK1R5f0jY6Lm-FK-27-Fvu6dlQs2bcPYFxTpBloarD9BzCRM1onhuhABqXqR1OFgfQAZ5rVVKkezppTZys9Wg49uCxwP1XEQYtGw6uDu3HuZKyyHGkmg7JBt8VQD73m3y7KhqKy4p6BUakqZ9CmU_50EZrUj0-gxvb8W78Ir6tWvTEKwiPuyIA/s1024/Catalonia+v+Tunisa+QCcOSVwQzGYx.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtuSGhlK1R5f0jY6Lm-FK-27-Fvu6dlQs2bcPYFxTpBloarD9BzCRM1onhuhABqXqR1OFgfQAZ5rVVKkezppTZys9Wg49uCxwP1XEQYtGw6uDu3HuZKyyHGkmg7JBt8VQD73m3y7KhqKy4p6BUakqZ9CmU_50EZrUj0-gxvb8W78Ir6tWvTEKwiPuyIA/w400-h266/Catalonia+v+Tunisa+QCcOSVwQzGYx.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Bojan Krkic</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b><div style="font-weight: 400;"><b><u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Player Pool</span></u></b></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Francesc Arnau, Javi Chica, Jordi Alba, Albert Jorquera, Víctor Ruiz, Raul Rodriguez, Andreu Fontàs, Sergio Juste, Marc Batra, Sergi Roberto, Marc Muniesa, Javi Marquez, Alberto de la Bella, Óscar Serrano, Gabri, Abraham González, David Belenguer, Jonathan Soriano, Albert Luque</span></div></b></div><div><b style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><u><br /></u></b></div><div><b><u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Squad Explanation</span></u></b></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Johan Cruyff was appointed the coach of Catalonia national team (</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Selecció de futbol de Catalunya) in November, 2009. Between 2009 and 2013, Catalonia played 4 friendly matches under Trofeu Catalunya Internacional (Catalonia International Trophy). I used those matches as reference.</span></div><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="text-align: center;">Catalonia's results between 2008 and 2012</span></span></span></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">0-1 vs Argentina Under 21</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">2-1 vs Colombia</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">4-2 vs Argentina</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">4-0 vs Honduras</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">0-0 vs Tunisia</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">1-1 Nigeria (played in January, 2013)</span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Despite my initial intention to avoid relying solely on the rosters from specific matches for my team selections, I found myself ultimately using them for the team selection. Identifying eligible players outside of these rosters proved to be more challenging than I had anticipated.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Spain won the 2010 World Cup with seven Catalan players. They were Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and Victor Valdes. Four of them started in the Final against the Netherlands. They were based players for this team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0JqilmOFgypsssZRndR1UAzQJttCqtPu2tQgSJxpnUXT668vJDRJFUTJLdEWwqvYJ783isS6m-1mNJnuycNk40BKoG5whD2pU4MTxAB9CyoowrVe3091990zVxzEdfPC_mWSpHFCvb8lX3vV_nzc6KlBiXqHZxoSTpygFy6xroFmuR09i9cI3B6AIg/s960/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%2010.06.04%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0JqilmOFgypsssZRndR1UAzQJttCqtPu2tQgSJxpnUXT668vJDRJFUTJLdEWwqvYJ783isS6m-1mNJnuycNk40BKoG5whD2pU4MTxAB9CyoowrVe3091990zVxzEdfPC_mWSpHFCvb8lX3vV_nzc6KlBiXqHZxoSTpygFy6xroFmuR09i9cI3B6AIg/w266-h400/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%2010.06.04%20PM.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Xavi and Cesc Fabregas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Both Pedro and Andres Iniesta played for Barcelona FC, but they were not Catalan. Pedro hailed from the Canary Islands, while Iniesta originated from Castilla–La Mancha. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> Although Iniesta represented the Catalonia as a guest player, I have chosen to exclude all guest players from the team. All players must be ethnic Catalan or born in Catalonia.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Lionel Messi is an Argentine player so his eligibility for this team should be besides the question. However, according to FIFA rules, Messi can switch his allegiance to Catalonia if FIFA recognizes Catalonia as a member and he never plays for Argentina in an official match after Catalonia grants FIFA membership. Several players have switched to Kosovo under the same rule. Messi has lived in Catalonia since he was 14 years old. He has fulfilled FIFA's residential requirement of 5 years under the age of 21. Moreover, his great-great-grandfather Ramon Lloyd Perez was born in 1895
in El Poale, Catalona. Thus, he could be considered to be an ethnic Catalan. And the "grandfather rule" is a common practice in the football's world. In real life, he earned his Spanish passport through his Catalan roots, and Spain did try to "cap" him. The inclusion of Messi would have significantly changed the quality of this team. This team lacked a good attacker. But would Messi switch his allegiance to Catalonia? I seriously doubted that. He had mentioned numerous time that he would only play for Argentina. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Hugo Lloris of France is also of Catalan descent. Liked Messi, he would be allowed to make the switch, but I decided not to select him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Catalonia boasted a plethora of promising young talents, some of whom had yet to make their debut for their club's first team but had already received their first "caps" for Catalonia. Among them were Sergi Roberto, Víctor Ruiz, Dídac Vilà, Raul Rodriguez, Andreu Fontàs, Sergio Juste, Martin Montoya, Álvaro Vázquez, Cristian Tello, Oriol Romeu, and Aleix Vidal. Notably, Gerard Deulofeu was only 16 years old in 2010. In contrast to the actual Catalonia national team, I opted for more experienced players. Jordi Alba belonged to this talented group, but I seriously considered him. I selected Bojan Krkic due to his three seasons of experience in La Liga, which even earned him a senior cap for Spain at that point.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Six players played for Barcelona FC while Espanyol had three. Every player on the team had played or came from the academy from either Barcelona and Espanyol at one point of their careers. Thirteen of them went through Espanyol while Barcelona had 12 players. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Víctor Sánchez, Joan Verdu and Sergio Garcia were on the books of both teams, but Verdu never played for Barcelona's first team. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>-- Three players on this Catalan team made it to the World Cup All-Star team while Spain had two.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Víctor Valdés was an automatic selection due to his participation at the actual World Cup Finals. He did not play a match in South Africa. That season, he was the winner of Ricardo Zamora Trophy in Spain.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I did not have many choices for backup goalkeepers. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jordi Codina was on the roster of Catalonia's friendly match against Argentina in December, 2010. He got the nod for the second goalkeeper. He just finished his first season with Getafe after joining them from Real Madrid. In Getafe, he alternated with Argentine Oscar Ustari. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The third goalkeeper was between </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Kiko Casilla, Albert Jorquera and Francesc Arnau. I found no other goalkeeper of note from Catalona. Arnau was a third choice in Malaga during the 2009-2010 season while Casilla was on loan to Cadiz in </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Segunda División. Albert Jorquera was the starter with Girona in the Segunda División. So I took Casilla. He would be capped by Vicente Del Bosque in 2014 and his career would be the best among the players in question. He also played against Honduras in December, 2010 during the Trofeu Catalunya Internacional. Both Codina and Arnau were not available for the match against Honduras, but Casilla was highly rated at the time.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMG6Zg7UD_JGLTmytWFMmIJp6CybpC2I20dzUpCAAkFfR7P8kzZ3PJYX3eOyLjOpgeo7JXX6enBnx4IpCxD6CY6Ra2VmpcpeufA3gnw48ccyMxIqgwK5Lgz5fuiILNLsyBtM8_Zh_4eWH2a9O1_CNTo1ItUjeh_Y_sQis_djnL74VIzTpOoJpEttYTgQ/s1000/kiko-casilla-2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMG6Zg7UD_JGLTmytWFMmIJp6CybpC2I20dzUpCAAkFfR7P8kzZ3PJYX3eOyLjOpgeo7JXX6enBnx4IpCxD6CY6Ra2VmpcpeufA3gnw48ccyMxIqgwK5Lgz5fuiILNLsyBtM8_Zh_4eWH2a9O1_CNTo1ItUjeh_Y_sQis_djnL74VIzTpOoJpEttYTgQ/w400-h266/kiko-casilla-2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Kiko Casilla</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Both Kiko Casilla and Jordi Codina were with Real Madrid at the same time, but never on the first team together. They were at least together on the B team for the 2005-2006 season. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Hugo Lloris was the starting goalkeeper for France in the 2010 World Cup Finals. He was La Ligue Goalkeeper of the Year in the 2009-2010 season. Even though he is also of Catalan descent, I doubt that he would switch to Catalonia. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Spain </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">only conceded 2 goals in the entire tournament. None of the two came during the knockout stage. And three of Spain's starting back four were Catalan. They were </span><span style="font-family: times;">Gerard Pique, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Carles Puyol and Joan Capdevila.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>--</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span>Bruno Saltor was</span><span style="font-size: large;"> the only likely candidate at rightback. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_S%C3%A1nchez_(footballer,_born_1986)">Sergio Sánchez</a> would have made the team, but in January 2010, Sevilla's medical team detected some cardiac pathology in his heart. He would spend a year out of football which would keep him from South Africa 2010. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Curro Torres retired at the end of the 2009-2010 season. He played no minute for Gimnàstic de Tarragona in the Segunda División that season. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Martin Montoya was with Barcelona B team. He had not even played for Spain's Under 21 team in 2010. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabri_(footballer,_born_1979)">Gabri</a><span> was a midfielder, but also played as a rightback. He had a poor season that year. He went to play in Qatar at the end of the season. I left him off the team. Javi Chica who played both sides of the fullback positions for Espanyol was out injured until June, 2010. He could not make it in time. Without much choices, I took </span><span>Damià Abella who was playing in the second division with Real Betis, but he represented Catalonia around that time.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Joan Capdevila was one of the most used players for Spain under Vicente Del Bosque. He was one of the based players. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> Fernando Navarro and Jordi Alba were the serious candidates for the backup position. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Catalonia also had Marc Muniesa who played on Barcelona B team. I also looked into </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Alberto de la Bella and David Garcia<span>. </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>-- Fernando Navarro would turn 28 during the World Cup Finals. In real life, he was a part of Euro 2008 winning team. He was the heart and soul of his club team Sevilla. Jordi Alba was only 21 years old. He was playing in the lower division in the 2008-2009 season. Then, he represented Spain at the Under-20 World Cup Finals in the September of 2019. In the 2009-2010, he started to become Valencia's starter around March, 2010 after Jérémy Mathieu suffered an injury. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In real life, he was the heir apparent for Joan Capdevila on the Spanish national team, and he would be the same for this Catalan team. He would become one of the best leftbacks in the world, but he was only a prospect in 2010 while Navarro was one of the best in La Liga. So I went with the more seasoned Navarro.</span></div><div>-- Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol were formable defensive pairing in the center. Finding two other backup bcentral defenders was difficult. Daniel Jarque passed away in August, 2009. He just took away the captaincy from Raul Tamudo in Espanyol not so long before that. I would have selected him if he was alive.</div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXziSDaUB1Bing75OjwR1fI4T2ksOAgjUntwX5ImAQ-8SEE7bKT3tU8dUFbLoLWAhy-p7rGdrp92eNygVKkk2YqvInnhVPpISuOCbWHXH3VjgxNB_B5Ri3VWsydco5LCCXvJ0Mu-FNlVepa37MzhCRYtwtBJ2mVo-aNbObfhTWu5e8o12tg1Fmt6BOQ/s1734/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%204.08.32%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="1734" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXziSDaUB1Bing75OjwR1fI4T2ksOAgjUntwX5ImAQ-8SEE7bKT3tU8dUFbLoLWAhy-p7rGdrp92eNygVKkk2YqvInnhVPpISuOCbWHXH3VjgxNB_B5Ri3VWsydco5LCCXvJ0Mu-FNlVepa37MzhCRYtwtBJ2mVo-aNbObfhTWu5e8o12tg1Fmt6BOQ/w400-h281/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%204.08.32%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Pique and Puyol</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times;">-- Catalonia had several young central defenders coming up around the period, but they did not seem to be ready in 2010. I</span></span><span style="font-family: times;">n the 2009-2010 season, Marc Batra played mainly for Barcelona B team, but he made his first team debut in February of 2010. In real life, he would remain on the B team until 2012. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Sergi Roberto had even not played for Barcelona B team until late in 2010. I also looked into Víctor Ruiz, Raul Rodriguez, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Andreu Fontàs and Sergio Juste. Victor Ruiz did play against Honduras in December, 2010, but he only made his professional first team debut in December, 2009. I also studied David Belenguer who would play one more season after the summer of 2010. He was mainly a backup at Getafe for the 2009-2010 season.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span></span><span><span>-- For the 2009-2010, </span>Oleguer Presas was a backup to Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen at Ajax Amsterdam, but he had over 120 matches for Barcelona under his belt between 2003 and 2008. I took him because he was more famous than the other choices. </span>Albert Lopo<span> was an undisputed starter for Deportivo la Coruña. They were probably one of the few Catalan central defenders of note around this time. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Victor Sanchez </span><span style="font-family: times;"> whom I selected as a midfielder could also play central defender and rightback.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- This section of the field remained strong with Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas. They were my based players. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>-- Gerard Lopez was another big names still active in 2010. However, the prime of his career happened 10 years before in 2000 during his stint with Valencia. Injuries had kept him from being a star player. In 2010. he belonged to Girona in the Segunda Division, but he seldom played. He would later manage Catalonia national team between 2013 and 2016.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>-- Oriol Romeu was still with Barcelona B team. He represented Spain at the Under 19 level in 2010. </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabri_(footballer,_born_1979)">Gabri</a><span> </span><span>was at the end of his career in top flight football. He did played much that year. Javi Márquez was injured between March and December of 2010, which I had to leave him off this team. So I went with Moisés Hurtado. He scored one of the goals that helped Catalonia to beat Argentina in 2009. Víctor Sánchez was on loan to Xerez CD from Barcelona FC playing in La Liga that season. He was at least playing in the top division in Spain. So I had to take him alongside Sergio Busquets. Busquets was the unsung hero of the 2010 World Cup campaign. He was named on the World Cup All-Star team.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMhlNHRwCZiHM0ORFKYTQWRHJ6voNIRa0Cfde5s5GH1ujcHtd-dEPiDmU8IkIMTfPZiA5zchJr4x9sjM5HY39lkX5htip8c8iDGiWO9cF33ymnSV_rVkh2CNWxfaoYu778pW84tKK3__SzVgPYq2-_n7FjGOMFtTNTxHAoTwKSWUyDwaLjXj22reiAw/s1310/Screenshot%202022-12-03%20at%206.41.58%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1310" data-original-width="976" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMhlNHRwCZiHM0ORFKYTQWRHJ6voNIRa0Cfde5s5GH1ujcHtd-dEPiDmU8IkIMTfPZiA5zchJr4x9sjM5HY39lkX5htip8c8iDGiWO9cF33ymnSV_rVkh2CNWxfaoYu778pW84tKK3__SzVgPYq2-_n7FjGOMFtTNTxHAoTwKSWUyDwaLjXj22reiAw/w298-h400/Screenshot%202022-12-03%20at%206.41.58%20PM.png" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Sergio Busquets</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- I considered dropping Victor Sanchez for Jordi Alba. Both were very young player, but I probably need an extra midfielder more than a third leftback. In 2010, I could not predict that Alba would become one of the greatest Catalan leftbacks. So I went with the team's needs rather than things I could not foresee in 2010.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times;">Sergio Soriano</span><span style="font-family: times;"> had always been a regular member of Catalonia national team. He was 33 years old at the time of the 2010 World Cup Finals. He had been a solid player for Deportivo La Coruna for a decade. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>AM </span>Joan Verdu</span><span style="font-family: times;"> just moved back to Espanyol in the summer of 2009. He had been a regular member of Catalonia national team. Of course, I already had Xavi and Cesc Fabregas. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Albert Crusat of UD Almería had a great season. As far as I know, he never played for Catalonia, but he was born in Barcelona. He was the only player I discovered not from the national team. He was a left winger. </span>Óscar Serrano<span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;">was injured between April and December, 2010. He had to miss the World Cup Finals. So Crusat became an important player on the left.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Cesc Fàbregas was the captain of Arsenal in the Premiership. He was named to the PFA Team of the Year for the 2009-2010 season. He had 19 goals that season. It was his highest goal output in a season ever. As comparison, he only scored 22 goals in his five seasons with Chelsea.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Forward</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The forward position was very weak. I badly needed to recruit Lionel Messi. He would be a "game changer" for this team, but I remained certain that he won't abandon Argentina for Catalonia.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- By 2010, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Bojan Krkić had played 3 seasons in La Liga. Furthermore, he was an important player for the Catalan regional team in this period. For the perspective in 2010, he was highly rated in Spain. No one would predict that he failed to live up to expectation in a few years' time.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- I had limited choice so I had to take CF/RW/LW: </span>Sergio García.<span> </span><span> In 2010, Sergio Garcia was playing in Segunda Division with Real Betis, but he had been a fixture with Catalonia between 2003 and 2016. He was their most capped ever player. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxq6kO_CLDbhNOCoCmYVpLD_jpAujQCymde9VVLM8spdruvWq10Z_oiorBrWt3vcq33ufbXxUZceBICcQhmgv37Tz501jeT5GdeQU7w79muRy5lX0ft6KOMA2f612yf32TItgSst5IyXaTbi0C22dMgYVsJp9BsDl2r8NLsdn18yhN8K396m8iTI7zw/s1230/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%207.19.22%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="1230" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxq6kO_CLDbhNOCoCmYVpLD_jpAujQCymde9VVLM8spdruvWq10Z_oiorBrWt3vcq33ufbXxUZceBICcQhmgv37Tz501jeT5GdeQU7w79muRy5lX0ft6KOMA2f612yf32TItgSst5IyXaTbi0C22dMgYVsJp9BsDl2r8NLsdn18yhN8K396m8iTI7zw/w400-h350/Screenshot%202022-12-02%20at%207.19.22%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sergio Garcia</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- </span> In 2011, Álvaro Vázquez won the Silver Show at the Under-20 World Cup. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">But in 2010 he had not made his professional debut with Espanyol's first team., I decided not to take him even through he did represent Catalonia in a friendly match against Honduras in December, 2010. Oriol Riera only played 5 official matches in Segunda Division that season. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Cristian Tello was on Espanyol B team in 2010. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Jordi Tarrés left for Kitchee in Hong Kong after the 2009-2010 season. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Rafa Jordà did not enjoy his season. He moved from Hercules to Levante during the winter transfer window.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Albert Luque's stock had fallen since he moved to Newcastle United in 2005. He was a seldom used player in Malaga that season. I took him out of consideration. He was 32 years old.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>-- The last two spots were between Raul Tamudo,</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"> Ferran Corominas "</span><span style="font-family: times;">Coro", Jonathan Soriano</span><span style="font-family: times;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piti_(footballer)" style="font-family: times;">Piti</a><span style="font-family: times;">.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Raul Tamudo only played 6 league games for Espanyol in the 2009-2010 season. He struggled with some injuries and he also had a row with Espanyol's manager Mauricio Pochettino. He left the club at the end of the season. Coro was a teammate of Raul Tamudo. He only scored a single goal, but appeared 23 times (starting 11 times). Jonathan Soriano joined Barcelona B team in the summer of 2009. He scored 18 goals for them, but it was in the third tier. He also played against Argentina and Honduras for Catalonia. He was 24 years old at the time of South Africa 2010. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Piti<span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;">was playing in the Segunda División with Rayo Vallecano. He had 8 goals.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Finally, I decided to gamble with Raul Tamudo. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">His experience would be valuable to the team. I considered him one of Catalonia's greatest players and I wanted to honor him with a spot. Then, I went with Coro because Piti had no experience playing in the top division at that point. Coro also played regularly for Catalonia, which was the main reason I chose him over Piti.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/12/1905691_Dream_Team.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/12/1905691_Dream_Team.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times;"><br /></div></span></div></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-16689381273851563402022-11-29T18:27:00.006-08:002023-05-03T23:23:53.760-07:00Spain without Catalan players in 2010 World Cup Finals<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><div style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvexyMZ768pQfYvsY-uChMM5_19QcV6U6VR9OSrSWRYwlgFOHq7Y94S04ISIyQ-01JZo7S_Hg9sy4obpoyYC13BWWWgA57hH_wOEyZ4AlK19ISjzyWL1HLuALBd-DyN14O8oeZPK_U1h6q0NbNKYCGFdhS6IN7m6u0_N0oCSVsILwSKDG_FNQZZU6AoA/s782/Screenshot%202022-11-24%20at%2012.09.40%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="782" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvexyMZ768pQfYvsY-uChMM5_19QcV6U6VR9OSrSWRYwlgFOHq7Y94S04ISIyQ-01JZo7S_Hg9sy4obpoyYC13BWWWgA57hH_wOEyZ4AlK19ISjzyWL1HLuALBd-DyN14O8oeZPK_U1h6q0NbNKYCGFdhS6IN7m6u0_N0oCSVsILwSKDG_FNQZZU6AoA/w400-h308/Screenshot%202022-11-24%20at%2012.09.40%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pedro, Iker Casillas, Pepe Reina, David Villa and Fernando Llorente <br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"> </span></div></div><div style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/spains-all-time-23-member-team.html">Spain All-Time Team</a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/spanish-big-two.html">Spain All-Time Team without Real Madrid and Barcelona</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/12/what-if-catalonia-world-cup-2010-team.html">Catalonia World Cup 2010</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/basque.html">Basque</a>, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/catalonia.html">Catalonia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/castile.html">Castile without Madrid players</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/community-of-madrid.html">Madrid Community</a>,</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/andalusia.html">Andalusia</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"><span> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/valenican-community.html"><span>Valencian Community</span></a></span></span><span>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/03/galicia.html">Galicia</a>,</span></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/11/canary-islands-ceuta-and-melilla.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/12/extremadura.html">Extremadura</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/01/murcia.html">Murcia</a>.</span></div></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/08/hungary-1950.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Hungary World Cup 1950</span></a><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/01/sweden-1950.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Sweden World Cup 1950<br /></span></a></span></span><span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/austria-hungary-1954.html">Austria-Hungary World Cup 1954<br /></a></span></span></span><span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/07/if-argentina-sent-to-this-team-to-wc.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Angels with Dirty Faces with Di Stefano in the WC 1958<br /></span></a></span></span><span><span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/09/scotland-1970.html">Scotland World Cup 1970<br /></a></span></span></span></span><span><span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/11/united-kingdom-1970.html">United Kingdom World Cup 1970<br /></a></span></span></span></span><span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/england-1974.html"><span face="">England World Cup 1974<br /></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/if-united-kingdom-went-to-spain-1982.html">United Kingdom World Cup 1982<br /></a></span></span></span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/02/what-if-italy-1992.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Italy Euro 1992<br /></span></a></span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/12/yugoslavia-1994.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Yugoslavia World Cup 1994<br /></span></a></span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/07/france-1994_22.html">France World Cup 1994<br /></a></span></span><span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/10/germany-2002.html">Germany World Cup 2002<br /></a></span></span></span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/holland-2002.html">Netherlands World Cup 2002<br /></a></span></span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/usa-2010.html"><span style="font-size: large;">USA World Cup 2010<br /></span></a></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/irelandnorth-ireland-1986.html">Ireland/Northern Ireland Combined Team 1986 World Cup<br /></a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/12/netherlands-1984.html"><span><span><span></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/12/netherlands-1984.html">Netherlands Euro 1984 with Cruyff, Van Basten, Gullit</a></span></span></span></span><span> </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-if-ussr-went-to-world-cup-2018.html">USSR World Cup 2018 <br /></a></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/yugoslavia-2018.html">Yugoslavia World Cup 2018</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/05/ghana-2022.html">Ghana World Cup 2022</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><div style="font-family: Times;"><br /></div></span></span></div></span></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Eric Cantona who was a French Catalan once said that the 2010 World Cup was won by Catalonia, not by Spain. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">The topic of <a href="Catalonia World Cup 2010">Catalonia and the 2010 World Cup</a> Finals were well-covered. So I decided to do a Spain without Catalan players and a <a href="Catalonia World Cup 2010">Catalonia World Cup</a> team for the 2010.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">In total, La Roja had 7 players from Catalonia on their 2010 team. So 16 players were not from there. The 16 players would be the based players for this team. Spain's starting lineup at the World Cup Final against the Netherlands consisted of 6 players from Barcelona. However, only four of them were Catalans. Andres Iniesta and Pedro were not Catalan, but they played for Barcelona. So 7 non-Catalan players actually started in the Final. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Catalan players from the actual World Cup team</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and Victor Valdes.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Replacement Players</span></span></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Diego Lopez, Borja Valero, Bruno Soriano, Fernando Amorebieta, Nacho Monreal, Mikel Arteta and Antonio Lopez</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Prediction</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">The forward line did not change from the real Spanish team in South Africa. The defense, however, lost three starters and their main defensive midfielder. Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos remained the only defensive starters on this team, This might seriously hurt this Spanish side as they did win the World Cup with a strong defense. They only conceded 2 goals in the entire tournament. None of the two came during the knockout stage. Iker Casillas saved a penalty against Paraguay. By contrast, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">La Roja only scored eight goals in South Africa, the fewest by a World Cup winner<span><span>. In the knockout stage, they won all of the matches by a scoreline of 1-0. So they should struggle against some teams.</span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></div></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOls8P-GDTHC2LyojoDCTq_WGD8pnwoCo1WTdEYq5ZV26edYl3nOCXiibaS_O9vfvz4aMPpFOO9ScOsG9jSiqmh31q0GSohpKBD4_IUG1ENGyb5xxvFZNFkaE-SRCLp4lYMi1O--GrOTISJ8C6ERCaX6XFm-K9x8LSKiwDkI2GcEQR1VMrYMSKkcr9OQ/s1394/Screenshot%202022-11-24%20at%2012.17.07%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1394" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOls8P-GDTHC2LyojoDCTq_WGD8pnwoCo1WTdEYq5ZV26edYl3nOCXiibaS_O9vfvz4aMPpFOO9ScOsG9jSiqmh31q0GSohpKBD4_IUG1ENGyb5xxvFZNFkaE-SRCLp4lYMi1O--GrOTISJ8C6ERCaX6XFm-K9x8LSKiwDkI2GcEQR1VMrYMSKkcr9OQ/w400-h288/Screenshot%202022-11-24%20at%2012.17.07%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">F. Torres, A. Arbeloa, J.Navas, S. Ramos and R.Albiol </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iker_Casillas">Iker Casillas</a><span face=""> </span></span></span><span face="" style="font-size: large;">(Real Madrid/Madrid)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Iker Casillas is Spain's most decorated goalkeeper and widely considered to be one of the greatest ever goalkeepers. He spent 16 seasons with Real Madrid and won three Champions' League with Real Madrid. For Spain, he captained Spain into winning the World Cup in 2010 and two European Championships in 2008 and 2012. He is capped over 150 times between 2000 and 2016, appearing in every major tournaments in that period. He also played for Porto at the end of his career.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeuu-HmBRNoeufzN4XQ-WbasfDs13WarhuTvl_9H7-qadcrBkzvkRlgmOwGAhxvHjWXQHuaYHSZhWinGAKUsWLiXGZUOsWnxC-OcPrv9rZCAwNw0NWDjg173BuePqsdLswMySVUCDPMsdcZ8cqPikJ_zY946NIaguAgFdiaodsm0phRR42hA-Voeo5w/s738/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%206.52.12%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="516" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeuu-HmBRNoeufzN4XQ-WbasfDs13WarhuTvl_9H7-qadcrBkzvkRlgmOwGAhxvHjWXQHuaYHSZhWinGAKUsWLiXGZUOsWnxC-OcPrv9rZCAwNw0NWDjg173BuePqsdLswMySVUCDPMsdcZ8cqPikJ_zY946NIaguAgFdiaodsm0phRR42hA-Voeo5w/w280-h400/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%206.52.12%20PM.png" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Iker Casillas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>GK: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepe_Reina">Pepe Reina </a>(Liverpool/Madrid)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pepe Reina first became a star at </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Villarreal when he helped the club to reach the Champions' league for the first time in history. A year later, he joined Liverpool FC. At Liverpool FC, he won three Premier League Golden Glove. He was a part of Spain at World Cup 2010, Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, but served as a backup to Iker Casillas. His father was also a professional footballer who was capped 5 times for Spain.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" itemprop="name" style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_L%C3%B3pez_(footballer,_born_1981)">Diego Lopez</a> (Villarreal/Galicia) </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" itemprop="name" style="font-size: large;">Lopez started from Real Madrid, but made his name first with Villareal and Sevilla. In January, 2013, he rejoined Real Madrid after Iker Casillas suffered a serious injury. He quickly established as the starter. He maintained his starting status the following year, despite the return of Casillas. He won Copa Del Rey that season as the starter while backing up Casillas in the Champions' League as Real Madrid won it. Capped once in 2009.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" itemprop="name" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span>RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_Arbeloa">Alvaro Arbeloa </a></span></span><span>(Real Madrid/Castile and León)</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Alvaro
Arbeloa started his career with Real Madrid, but he made a name with
Liverpool in England before making a return to his mother club in 2009.
He helped Real Madrid to win their 10th European Cup in 2014. For
Spain, he was mainly used as a sub during Spain's glorious run at Euro
2008 and the World Cup in 2010, but he was their starting rightback at
the 2012 European Championship.</span></div></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB/RB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Ramos">Sergio Ramos</a> (Real Madrid/Andalusia)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ramos was an important part of the all-conquering Spanish team that won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships. He is Spain's youngest player ever to receive his 100th caps. He has been named La Liga's Best Defender a record four times. In 2005, he joined Real Madrid as a teenager from Sevilla. With Real Madrid, he won 4 Champions League. He scored the tying goal as Real Madrid won their 10th European Cup in 2014. At the time of writing, he is the captain of Real Madrid.</span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vnj3ZSevUKY/WFFDukBr8fI/AAAAAAAADVQ/cj2d7nXWkhkjZySRtLgi7ZcX0EezWsWGwCLcB/s1600/Germany%252Bv%252BSpain%252B2010%252BFIFA%252BWorld%252BCup%252BSemi%252BFinal%252BDKNmjuASssqx.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vnj3ZSevUKY/WFFDukBr8fI/AAAAAAAADVQ/cj2d7nXWkhkjZySRtLgi7ZcX0EezWsWGwCLcB/s400/Germany%252Bv%252BSpain%252B2010%252BFIFA%252BWorld%252BCup%252BSemi%252BFinal%252BDKNmjuASssqx.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sergio Ramos</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Amorebieta">Fernando Amorebieta</a> (Athletic Bilboa/Basque) </span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He played most of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 253 official games over the course of eight La Liga seasons and scoring four goals. He also played for Fulham and Middlesbrough in England, Sporting Dijon in Spain and Independiente in Argentina. Internationally, Amorebieta played for Spain as a youth, but only allowed to switch to Venezuela at senior level in 2011 after a rule change by the FIFA. He had 15 caps and played in Copa America in 2015.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span><span style="font-family: times;">CB: </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Albiol" style="font-family: times;">Raúl Albiol</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Real Madrid/Valencian)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Albiol started with Valencia CF in 2004. He joined Real Madrid in 2009, where he played until 2013. From 2013 to 2019, he played for Napoli in Italy. Then, he joined Villarreal, where he helped them to win Europa League in 2021. From 2007 onward, he earned 56 caps for Spain. He was a part of Spain's triple crown(Euro 2008 and 2012 and World Cup 2010), but he was an unused player in 2010 and 2012. He also went to the 2014 World Cup Finals.</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Marchena">Carlos Marchena </a>(Villarreal/Andalusia)</span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Carlos Marchena played for Benfica, Sevilla, Valencia, Villareal an<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">d Deportivo La Coruna. His peak came with <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">V</span>alencia, where h<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">e won the Double in 2002-2003 season. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For the national team, he had 69 caps. He was a starter at European Championship in 2008 where Spain won its first major trophy since 1964. He also played at Euro 2004 and two World Cup Finals.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><span><span style="font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacho_Monreal">Nacho Monreal </a>(Osasuna/Basque)</span><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;">Nacho Monreal started playing with Osasuna in 2005, going on to appear in 144 official games over the course of five La Liga seasons. In 2011 he signed with Málaga and, two years later, joined Arsenal, winning three FA Cup trophies with the latter club. He also played for Real Sociedad. </span><span style="font-size: large;">A full international between 2009 and 2018, Monreal represented Spain 22 times. at the 2013 Confederations Cup and 2018 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJbRHJzkRthAOCVT-LjflrlzORGRgO48YqLSY4q10mESFsQdZs-bRK1RBRtjnRY3BiiJKV6aX9BqXjltIDEDx1nhhhYV0VyiIGkhhBPTbyMVA1D8V6yfwhQwbNMpvYfmvcejZWNMQ15p08Uca8FXU5QSW8mG9QFcZkAeEIatNnXsQwM_dgNTm3RhUuw/s984/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.04.38%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="984" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJbRHJzkRthAOCVT-LjflrlzORGRgO48YqLSY4q10mESFsQdZs-bRK1RBRtjnRY3BiiJKV6aX9BqXjltIDEDx1nhhhYV0VyiIGkhhBPTbyMVA1D8V6yfwhQwbNMpvYfmvcejZWNMQ15p08Uca8FXU5QSW8mG9QFcZkAeEIatNnXsQwM_dgNTm3RhUuw/w400-h289/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.04.38%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nacho Monreal</span></td></tr></tbody></table>LB/RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_L%C3%B3pez_(footballer,_born_1981)">Antonio Lopez</a> (Atletico Madrid/Valencian)</div><div>Antonio Lopez spent most of his professional career with Atlético Madrid, appearing in more than 300 official matches and winning four major titles, including two Europa League trophies between 2000 and 2012. In La Liga, he played for Osasuna and Mallocra. Between 2005 and 2007, he was capped 16 times for Spain. He played once at the 2006 World Cup Finals against Saudi Arabia.</div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM: </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Soriano">Bruno Soriano </a><span face="">(Villarreal/Valencian)</span></span><br style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Soriano was a product of Villarreal CF's youth system. He made his debut for the first team in 2006. At the time of writing, he remained with the club. He was known as the club;'s unsung hero throughout the years. He even followed the club to Segunda Divsion. For Spain, he earned 10 caps. He made his national team debut in 2010. He made it to the European Championship in 2016, his first major international tournaments.</span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB/DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javi_Mart%C3%ADnez">Javi Martínez</a> (Atletico Bilboa/Basque)</span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 2006, Javi Martinez joined Atletico Bilboa. In 2012, he signed with Bayern Munich for €40 million, going on to win seven consecutive Bundesliga titles as well as the 2013 Champions League. A Spain international since 2010, Martínez was a member of the squads that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, and also played at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">CM:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xabi_Alonso"> Xabi Alonso </a>(Real Madrid/Basque)</span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Xabi Alonso </span></span>started with</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Real Sociedad. He joined Liverpool in 2004 winning the Champions' League trophy in his first season. In 2009, he moved to Real Madrid, winning the Champions' League again in 2014. In 2014, he joined Bayern Munich. He was a key member of the Spanish team that won the World Cup and two European Championships. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">His 114 caps make him the fifth most capped player in the nation's history.</span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2G1mdiVvYCAnwQWCJ-QWfQuUUBrfI48ZYtU8VLyUTMxB5pe9nmk2B8hQ88Se0xAwPda-gjHibd8v6lGvNcffE5_7my0oAItJF-YpEfGQMS3nh6xQ5sDRTeuuUbzC2Oz81HCHYZjttd_UutNWJhuRSN5q8N8WE9ZYPvPPZKNYLwCElf5xx2GYaxXs49g/s824/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%206.58.41%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="824" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2G1mdiVvYCAnwQWCJ-QWfQuUUBrfI48ZYtU8VLyUTMxB5pe9nmk2B8hQ88Se0xAwPda-gjHibd8v6lGvNcffE5_7my0oAItJF-YpEfGQMS3nh6xQ5sDRTeuuUbzC2Oz81HCHYZjttd_UutNWJhuRSN5q8N8WE9ZYPvPPZKNYLwCElf5xx2GYaxXs49g/w400-h320/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%206.58.41%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Xabi Alonso</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span>AM/CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikel_Arteta">Mikel Arteta </a><span>(Everton/Basque)</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Arteta began his senior career at Barcelona in 1999 but limited playing time led to a loan to Paris Saint-Germain in 2001. He then signed for Rangers, winning the Scottish Premier League and Scottish League Cup double in his debut season. After a brief return to hometown club Real Sociedad, Arteta joined Everton on loan in 2005; he later signed permanently. He signed for Arsenal in 2011, where he won two FA Cups and served as captain from 2014 until his retirement in 2016.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">AM/CM:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Mata"> Juan Mata</a> (Valencia/Castile and León)</span><br style="font-size: x-large;" /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Juan Mata was a youth academy player for Real Madrid, but he started with Valencia in 2007. From 2011 to 2014, he played for Chelsea, where he was a major star for the team. After a fallout with Jose Mourinho, he moved to Manchester United. Ironically, they would reunite again at Old Trafford. For Spain, he was a part of the team that won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship two years later.</span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borja_Valero">Borja Valero</a> (Villarreal/Madrid)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Borja Valero began his career with Real Madrid but did not have any impact with its first team, and played for Mallorca and in England for West Bromwich Albion before joining Villarreal in 2010 where he came a star. He also spent nine years in the Italian Serie A, with Fiorentina and Inter Milan. He was on the Serie A Team of the Year for the 2011-2012 season. He was Spanish Player of the Year in 2010. He was capped once for Spain in the same year.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CM/AM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Iniesta">Andres Iniesta</a> (Barcelona/Castilla–La Mancha)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Andres Iniesta scored the World Cup winning goal in 2010 that gave Spain its first ever World Cup title. At Euro 2012, Iniesta led Spain to their second consecutive continental crown, again being chosen as the Man of the Match of the final against Italy, and was named the Player of the Tournament. He also won Champion' league trophies with Barcelona. He had over 130 caps for Spain from 2006 to 2018.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqc8Tnft9XG-TXNwcBovsRmIxRXXfNtc7O_8uvgdZsaXx3oWYTw6es7_NC3pL7zvqrxWi5a37xKGmM2P-vMUf8wmlEU1TlTEV5w7NhkJI0M_-rAKVyHRYQkWowiUSY95G5e2SbMe6hJToCc3UEtAlywt2CTQzk-AlyH_JZJh9rbLXotEMwudjeckJfgQ/s916/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.00.29%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="830" data-original-width="916" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqc8Tnft9XG-TXNwcBovsRmIxRXXfNtc7O_8uvgdZsaXx3oWYTw6es7_NC3pL7zvqrxWi5a37xKGmM2P-vMUf8wmlEU1TlTEV5w7NhkJI0M_-rAKVyHRYQkWowiUSY95G5e2SbMe6hJToCc3UEtAlywt2CTQzk-AlyH_JZJh9rbLXotEMwudjeckJfgQ/w400-h363/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.00.29%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Andres Iniesta</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">RW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jes%C3%BAs_Navas" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Jesus Navas </a> (Sevilla/Andalusia)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Jesus Navas played from 2003 to 2013 for his mother club, Sevilla FC. He won two UEFA Cup. In 2013, he moved to Manchester City. He returned to Seville in 2017. He earned 35 caps for Spain at the time of writing. He was used as a sub during the World Cup Finals in 2010 and the European Champions in 2012, where Spain won both tournaments. Early in his career, he suffered from homesickness that limited his career playing outside of his hometown.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">AM/RM:</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Silva" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">David Silva </a>(Valencia/Canary Islands)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">David Silva became a starter at Valencia</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">in 2006 which forced Palbo Aimar to leave the club. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 2010, he joined Manchester City <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">helping the club to win their first Preimership in over 40 years. For <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">S<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">pain, he had over 120 caps from 2006 onward. He was a key player throughout the per<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">iod as Spain <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">won the "trip<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">le crown": two European Championship and a World Cup. He also represented Spain at every major tournament from 2008 onward.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWheqoywLNDiBnGR1qXzYo_ROqsl0iW8l08abx2apQgeSGL82I4cxyAZ5gzOJ_qQJidYEsU__ZtOTEj2iJ2FFiD8bG82Mm6VcvIJ0yBNof_vtNmC_rX_U6J_NDZOMnD6DJFcLyRKvogWjtQ6j1o7gHzEjgZxAw3GWN9zNK4Bx3hWnMzfBNcurjZC-wg/s1024/article-2039609-0E00692800000578-724_1024x615_large.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWheqoywLNDiBnGR1qXzYo_ROqsl0iW8l08abx2apQgeSGL82I4cxyAZ5gzOJ_qQJidYEsU__ZtOTEj2iJ2FFiD8bG82Mm6VcvIJ0yBNof_vtNmC_rX_U6J_NDZOMnD6DJFcLyRKvogWjtQ6j1o7gHzEjgZxAw3GWN9zNK4Bx3hWnMzfBNcurjZC-wg/w400-h240/article-2039609-0E00692800000578-724_1024x615_large.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">David Silva</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_(footballer,_born_July_1987)" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pedro</span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> (Barcelona/Canary Islands)</span><br style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Pedro won 20 titles for Barcelona from 2008 to 2015. In 2015, he joined Chelsea in the English Premier League, where he played until 2020. He then joined AS Roma before joining Lazio. He played 65 times for Spain. He was a part of the Spanish national team that won the World Cup in 2010. He again played for Spain at the European Championship in 2012 and 2016.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">ST:</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Villa" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> David Villa</a> <span style="font-family: times;">(Valencia/Asturia)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">David Villa is the all-time leading scorer for Spain. He was known for a part of the Golden Generation for Spain, where Spain won three straight international titles: Euro 2008, the World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012. He was the Golden Boot winner at Euro 2008 and the Silver boot in the 2010 World Cup Finals. He was best remembered for his club career with Valencia. He also played for Barcelona, Seville and New York City FC.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LietBO2r9Ac/YXQSJ_BIuhI/AAAAAAAAMGg/CIFKXXHd-UkDK-4Vu10iXWaYujaI9j2FQCLcBGAsYHQ/s594/Spain%252Bv%252BPortugal%252B2010%252BFIFA%252BWorld%252BCup%252BRound%252BdN0X91mknyGl.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="594" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LietBO2r9Ac/YXQSJ_BIuhI/AAAAAAAAMGg/CIFKXXHd-UkDK-4Vu10iXWaYujaI9j2FQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/Spain%252Bv%252BPortugal%252B2010%252BFIFA%252BWorld%252BCup%252BRound%252BdN0X91mknyGl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">David Villa</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>ST: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Llorente">Fernando Llorente</a><span> (Athethe Bilbao/Basque)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">
<span face="" style="font-size: large;">Nicknamed
"El Rey León", Llorente was a product of Athletic Bilbao's academy. He
spent 8 seasons with the senior side. The club reached the Final of
UEFA Cup in 2012. In 2013, he moved to Juventus. He would win three
straight Serie A title and reached the Champions' League Final in 2015.
He also played in England with Swansea and Tottenham Hotspurs. For
Spain, he won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in
2012. He was mainly used as a backup.</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">6.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Torres">Fernando Torres</a> (Liverpool/Madrid)</span></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Fernando Torres started his career with Atletico Madrid in 2001, where he became the captain at age 19. In 2007, he moved to Liverpool FC and became a big star in England. In 2011, Chelsea allegedly broke the British transfer record to buy him. He was a part of the Champions' league winning team in 2012. For the national team, he was a part of the generation that won the World Cup in 2010 and two European Championships (2008 and 2012). At Euro 2012, he was the top-scorer.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkQh8nHR13AFr_rarhncHuezlXuzfil_TsaSLJvsXMGQNUWu0Q5xgxR6cw58pbaNovCzE2P6eoBrQdjufAUxfmnO5NR5ouTwcfzZ5OBQqvfFxq129F1xqCQqgTIHJjloUZ__9cF_0EIdLjHV__Gbsermmu3pqnjci-CnE8ffzjfcUU2hM2gxKMRvanQ/s1178/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.12.10%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1178" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkQh8nHR13AFr_rarhncHuezlXuzfil_TsaSLJvsXMGQNUWu0Q5xgxR6cw58pbaNovCzE2P6eoBrQdjufAUxfmnO5NR5ouTwcfzZ5OBQqvfFxq129F1xqCQqgTIHJjloUZ__9cF_0EIdLjHV__Gbsermmu3pqnjci-CnE8ffzjfcUU2hM2gxKMRvanQ/w400-h294/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.12.10%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Fernando Torres</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><b>Player Pool</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">David De Gea,</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Andrés Palop,</span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Andoni Iraola, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Álvaro Domínguez</span><span style="font-size: large;">, David Navarro, Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Senna, Santi Cazorla, Daniel Guiza, Alvaro Negredo, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pablo Hernández, Sergio Canales, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Apoño, Pedro leon, Jose Antonio, Reyes, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Raul, Iker
Muniain, Diego Capel, Albert Rier,</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Roberto Soldado, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bojan Krkic.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The 2010 World Cup winning team of Spain had 7 players from Catalonia. Coincidently, seven players were cut from Vicente Del Bosque's 30-man provisional team. However, it was not as simple as exchanging seven Catalan players with another seven players from the provisional team.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- I had no plan to drop any non-Catalan player from Vicente Del Bosque's original World Cup team. So I started my team with 16 based players.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The seven Catalan players on the real team were Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and Victor Valdes. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Capdevila and Fabregas did not play for Barcelona at the time of the World Cup, but Cesc came from their academy and would return to the club after the World Cup. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- There were also seven Barcelona players on the original Spanish team, but Pedro and Andres Iniesta were not Catalan. Pedro was from the Canary Islands while Iniesta came from Castilla–La Mancha. Iniesta played for the national team of Catalonia as a guest player. But so did László Kubala, Hristo Stoichkov and Johan Cruyff. Lionel Messi was born in Argentina. He moved to Spain and joined Barcelona as a 14 years old. Iniesta went to Barcelona roughly around the same age while Pedro joined as a 17 years old. If Messi played for Argentina, why could not Pedro or Iniesta?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div>-- The seven players who were cut from the provisional team were Diego Lopez, David De Gea, Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Senna, Santi Cazorla, Daniel Guiza and Alvaro Negredo. </div><div>-- Diego Lopez, Borja Valero, Bruno Soriano, Fernando Amorebieta, Nacho Monreal, Mikel Arteta and Antonio Lopez were the seven new players added to this team. Diego Lopez was the only player on Vicente Del Bosque's provisional team. Three of them came from Villarreal.</div><div>-- The team has six players from Basque. They are Xabi Alonso, Fernando Amorebieta, Nacho Monreal, Mikel Arteta, Fernando Llorente and Javi Martínez. </div><div>-- Iker Casillas, Borja Valero, Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina were born in Madrid. Juan Mata and Alvaro Arbeloa came from Castile and León, and Andres Iniesta from Castile La Mancha. Antonio Lopez, Raúl Albiol and Bruno Soriano were Valencians. Pedro and David Silva came from the Canary Islands. Jesus Navas and Sergio Ramos went through Sevilla's academy together. They came from Andalusia alongside Carlos Marchena. David Villa would be the only Asturian on the team.</div><div>-- Three players played club football outside of Spain. They all played for clubs based in Liverpool. Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina played for Liverpool FC while Mikel Arteta came from Everton. Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa also played for Liverpool before moving to Real Madrid in 2009.</div><div>-- Five players played for Real Madrid, and four for Villarreal. Three each came from Valencia and Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona had two players. Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Osasuna all had one player each.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxE1PQcCJRfN-0PcnrYpwzeVxpIi8o4avfuQezwxS68nXO5nMvvd4mneSq8D3wihInKbgAV7W7Dajkyy0Nvi7yerKtIO4-yUrLFiqjpKe9_NwhXSsTA_L_Q1gvrJOLPUgD5QuXKN6yWqJBzpFSLNuEz7rmeqdWKMYFcQ685hwPLuy2ziy02H0xSm-ACA/s966/Screenshot%202022-11-24%20at%2012.16.07%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="966" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxE1PQcCJRfN-0PcnrYpwzeVxpIi8o4avfuQezwxS68nXO5nMvvd4mneSq8D3wihInKbgAV7W7Dajkyy0Nvi7yerKtIO4-yUrLFiqjpKe9_NwhXSsTA_L_Q1gvrJOLPUgD5QuXKN6yWqJBzpFSLNuEz7rmeqdWKMYFcQ685hwPLuy2ziy02H0xSm-ACA/w400-h274/Screenshot%202022-11-24%20at%2012.16.07%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Casillas, Ramos, Arbeloa, Albiol and X.Alonso</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Goalkeeper</span></span></span></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>-- Pepe Reina started with Barcelona's academy where his father was a former player, but he was not from Catalonia. He was born in Madrid. So he remained on this team. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>So I only had to replace Victor Valdes with a new goalkeeper. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>-- Vicente Del Bosque put both Diego Lopez and David De Gea in his 30-man provisional team. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">So I only considered them for this team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>-- Diego Lopez was the only other goalkeeper capped by Spain in the year prior to the World Cup Finals. He played 30 minutes against Macedonia on August, 2009. He was also the third goalkeeper at the 2009 Confederation Cup.<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>-- David De Gea was only 19 years old in 2010. He only made his first team debut in the 2009-2010 season. He had about half of a season as a starting goalkeeper in first team football So his time should come later. I went with Diego Lopez who had more experience.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>-- Andrés Palop was never capped before, but he was t</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">he third goalkeeper for Spain in Euro 2008 where he beat out Victor Valdes. So he won an important national team medal without ever being an international player. In 2010, he was still a top goalkeeper in La Liga, but I decided only to consider the two goalkeepers on the provisional team.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-size: large;">I needed to find two replacement central defenders for Carlos Puyol and Gerard Piqué, but unfortunately, not many </span><span style="font-size: large;">central defenders were used by Spain around this period. So I turned to Sergio Ramos. He started his career in Madrid as a central defender, but he was switched back to the rightback position after a season where he played in Sevilla prior joining Real Madrid. In the 2009-2010 season, Real Madrid gradually moved him back to the center, but Del Bosque used him as a rightback throughout the World Cup Finals. However, in absence of Puyol and Pique, Ramos would be one of the best central defenders from Spain. So I would select him as one of my central defenders alongside </span><span style="font-size: large;">Raul Albiol and Carlos Marchena. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> Raul Albiol was mainly a starter in Madrid that season because Pepe was injured. He sometimes partnered Ramos in the center.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1AP1zTwXSz8I8g6AbfJuL_d7-QWHshxtyNkKHc6Dpr18wfxj-0JEc2BlHjeL0_xWosFgzGZEPpIzToXvmsnB1vHxLPfF5Bdgyn_-9O4uGtrqEc_HgXlsYYGjE3goDQy8FLs2lJCuqyR-Ec-q_UevX_zw3DD484sgKhVlxDd8nUvGYQVwUZtc_NQPGw/s1092/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.06.26%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="982" data-original-width="1092" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1AP1zTwXSz8I8g6AbfJuL_d7-QWHshxtyNkKHc6Dpr18wfxj-0JEc2BlHjeL0_xWosFgzGZEPpIzToXvmsnB1vHxLPfF5Bdgyn_-9O4uGtrqEc_HgXlsYYGjE3goDQy8FLs2lJCuqyR-Ec-q_UevX_zw3DD484sgKhVlxDd8nUvGYQVwUZtc_NQPGw/w400-h360/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.06.26%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Carlos Marchena and Nacho Monreal</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">-- For the last central defender, I looked into Fernando Amorebieta, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Álvaro Domínguez and </span><span style="font-size: large;">David Navarro.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Fernando Amorebieta</span><span style="font-size: large;"> was a top defender in La Liga. Vicente Del Bosque called him up in 2008, but he did not play and remained uncapped for Spain. In real life, he would switch to play for Venezuela in 2011, but in 2010, he was still eligible to play for Spain. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Álvaro Domínguez turned 21 at the time of the World Cup Finals. He was with the Under 21 national team. In Atletico Madrid, h</span><span style="font-size: large;">e alternated between the leftback and centreback position that season. Given that I might need an extra leftback, he was a great prospect for a spot on the team, but I did not know enough about him at that point in his career. </span><span style="font-size: large;">David Navarro took the captaincy in Valencia that year, but it was not his best season. He was also known for his rough play. He tended to receive a lot of cards. In 2007, he was given a lengthy ban for his role in the brawl between Valencia and Inter Milan. Liked Amorebieta, he was called up by Del Bosque (after the 2010 World Cup Finals), but he never played for Spain. The team already had another rough player in Sergio Ramos. So I had considered that as a factor in choosing the last centerback.</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Pablo Ibáñez did not play much the season with Atletico Madrid. He had not played for Spain since 2008. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the end, I took </span><span style="font-size: large;">Fernando Amorebieta. He was also the type of players who received a lot of cards, but David Navarro was rougher of the two. Amorebieta was remembered for his "kick" against Lionel Messi' face in 2009. In the summer of 2010, Rubin Kazan also offered Athletic Bilbao 12 million euros for Amorebieta, but his club refused. He was a very valuable player at the time.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Alvaro Arbeloa was a natural rightback, but he alternated between rightback and leftback position for both Real Madrid and Spain because of Sergio Ramos. Cesar Azpilicueta was the only fullback on the provisional team who did not made it to the actual World Cup Finals. In 2010, he was an uncapped player who would turn 21 on August, 2010. Andoni Iraola<span> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">was also on the players' pool at the time. He played a few times for Spain in this period. Jesus Navas would later become a wingback at the end of his career. In 2010, I do not know if he had ever played in this position. But with both Arbeloa and Ramos on the team, I did not need another rightback.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0TsaRxW7Ipz4hfI0TjDyrpAAP4rCYw8faGWhe231VMwRp2Unhm8LL4ojJopUULTk9pvVq3jDeqLa1jlAWZvD5GapeQ-yuc2l1uPgqMAWT3pb0dyxcGVNDW90ZO_nr7PoXW8urMKUjyc6M_84m6zByfhDqG0AxNpfJrqnPaUtfsmEdgoxYtpKHFHYDbA/s1080/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%209.35.51%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="698" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0TsaRxW7Ipz4hfI0TjDyrpAAP4rCYw8faGWhe231VMwRp2Unhm8LL4ojJopUULTk9pvVq3jDeqLa1jlAWZvD5GapeQ-yuc2l1uPgqMAWT3pb0dyxcGVNDW90ZO_nr7PoXW8urMKUjyc6M_84m6zByfhDqG0AxNpfJrqnPaUtfsmEdgoxYtpKHFHYDbA/w259-h400/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%209.35.51%20AM.png" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Alvaro Arbeloa</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">-- Joan Capdevila was one of the most used players for Spain under Vicente Del Bosque. He was the only leftback on the actual World Cup team as well as on the provisional team. Vicente Del Bosque probably planned to use Arbeloa as the backup in South Africa. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div> -- Nacho Monreal was the only leftback used by Spain between the summer of 2009 and the World Cup Finals in 2010. He was capped twice in that period and was selected as a backup for many games. He would be the idea choice for this team. At that point, he was ahead of Jordi Alba who would eventually replace Capdevila. Alba himself already started for Valencia, but he is a Catalan player. <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Antonio Lopez had not played for Spain since 2007. He was the backup to
Argentine Mariano Pernía for a few seasons in Atletico Madrid. But in
the 2009-2010 season, Pernia had a serious injury while Atletico Madrid was converting Alvar Domínguez into a central defender. So Antonio Lopez became the
main starter for them. He also captained them as they won the 2010 Europa
Cup. </span></span>Fernando Navarro was born in Barcelona, which made him ineligible. </div><div>-- I had 6 defenders. Each defensive position actually had enough players to cover, but Nacho Monreal was the only natural leftback on the team. Fernando Amorebieta and Alvaro Arbeloa needed to serve as the backup leftback. So I took Antonio Lopez over rightback <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cesar Azpilicueta. He could also play as a rightback. I overlooked the fact that he had not played for Spain since 2007. <br /></span></span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div>-- I needed to find a replacement for Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas. </div><div>-- Marcos Senna was the only starter of the Euro 2008 Final team against Germany who did not make it to the real World Cup Finals. He was an important player for Spain in Euro 2008. He did play in the World Cup Qualifiers. However, he would turn 34 in July, 2010. His season was plagued with injuries. His fitness level was in question around the period before the World Cup Finals. Liked Senna, Santi Cazorla was on the Euro 2008 team. He also played for Villarreal. But he only started nine games for Villarreal that season due to injuries. Both were not fit. So I did not select them even through they were on the provisional team. Both were considered the big names being cut for the final selection. Instead, I took Boja Valero and Bruno Soriano.</div><div>-- That season, Boja Valero won Don Balón Award for the best Spanish player in the Spanish League. He was the most underrated playmaker of that generation. In real life, he was only capped once, largely because he was playing in the same era as some of Spain's greatest midfielders. Bruno Soriano finally established himself in Villarreal that season. He would later become the unsung hero of Villarreal's successes in that period. If Valero or Bruno were born in a different generation, they would be a household name in the world of football. The pair was my undisputed selections for the replacements.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPeiY-kUZDWHJBsAsMmk1bJMtNTRYfgqUTliWoMJS0ouiVeQhRs7zisLG5KGMchP674-E58cBhWDon2kjPInkpTBtXQtqCovfS4s44HeR2x0AVcysH2dMFWkfd-pVVWBEb61BHwvm3Nq86Ehr3G8LTl_WJDgbGCfWQHo2oIveshn_iJXWleNg-jz1H3g/s1018/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%209.38.23%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1018" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPeiY-kUZDWHJBsAsMmk1bJMtNTRYfgqUTliWoMJS0ouiVeQhRs7zisLG5KGMchP674-E58cBhWDon2kjPInkpTBtXQtqCovfS4s44HeR2x0AVcysH2dMFWkfd-pVVWBEb61BHwvm3Nq86Ehr3G8LTl_WJDgbGCfWQHo2oIveshn_iJXWleNg-jz1H3g/w400-h349/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%209.38.23%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Bruno Soriano</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>-- David Albelda was reduced to a bench role in Valencia. Valencia used Marchena as a defensive midfielder over him. His captain armband was given to David Navarro who was also in consideration for this team. </div><div>-- <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
season was Francisco Yeste's last season in Athletic Bilbao. He would
move to play in UAE. Joseba Etxeberria also retired at the end of the
season.<span> Xabi Prieto's Real Sociedad
was playing in the lower division. They gained promotion that season.
I did not know anything about him until after LaReal returned to the
Top Flight. He was not considered for this team. </span></span></span>I also looked at Apoño (Málaga),but I knew nothing of him.</div><div>-- The last midfield (actually the 23rd spot) position was between <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pablo Hernández, Sergio Canales and Mikel Arteta. </span></span></span></span></div><div> <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">--
Pablo Hernández was on the 2009
Confederation Cup team. Only three players from that team did not make
it to the World Cup Finals. The other two were Dani Güiza and Santi
Cazorla, but they were on the provisional team. Pablo Hernández earned 4
caps between 2009 and 2010. For Valencia, his playing time seemed to have been reduced for reasons that I did not know.</span></span></div><div>-- Racing Santander's Sergio Canales emerged as a future star of Spain that year. He started his first La Liga game for Racing Club Santander in December, 2009, where he scored 2 goals. By January, he had scored 4 goals in 5 starts. In February of 2010, he was signed by Real Madrid for the following season. He was hyped up by the media as a potential call up for the national team. In 2010, I could not predict that he would suffer several serious injuries within the next few seasons and his career had many setbacks. As of November, 2022, he only had a single cap and it happened in 2019. In 2010, however, he was a serious candidate for the World Cup team. </div><div>-- In real life, Mikel Arteta was not given any chance with the Spanish national team. He was uncapped at the senior level. However, without the Catalan players, he might have more chances with Spain. He returned to the starting lineup in Everton in January, 2010 after out injured for a year. According to various reports, his form was sensational after his return. He came from the youth ranks of Barcelona, but he was a Basque making him eligible for this team.</div><div>-- Ultimately, I went with Mikel Arteta. Sergio Canales was too young in 2010 while I was not familiar with <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pablo Hernández's status at that point. Arteta in general was a more famous player. However, my decision might have been influenced by the English media. The Premiership players tended to get overrated by the English language sources. It was believed that </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Arteta would have been selected by Spain in 2009, but an injury forced him out of the team. Meanwhile, Pablo Hernández received 4 caps during the period when Arteta was injured.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">-- Pedro Leon helped Getafe to qualify for Europa Cup that season. He was awarded on one of La Liga Team of the Season selections, I found. He was 23 years old. In 2010, expectations were high for him. But since I already had Jesus Navas, I left him off the squad. Jesus Navas appeared in three matches in South Africa, including the last 30 minutes plus extra time in the final against the Netherlands. He won the best midfielder player award at the La Liga Award that year alongside Xavi. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF8KmDfk12_pi_atXEIVqXOfPzZhTDlp4Vk4CQf8zVvo6EDhdBxqCvTqEX-bB7RGWJ8JaCrdWrlKb4iwDPRiKvjx-AphS0UDLJEcCWSvoh-UJaRhs5Ay8ELLWxJhdFwv3NNnq41xXqisuqSzguanm0jwI84Iscvj2APzuy3Ht7_cqQR7RU6W5DFouDw/s1050/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.13.56%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="1050" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF8KmDfk12_pi_atXEIVqXOfPzZhTDlp4Vk4CQf8zVvo6EDhdBxqCvTqEX-bB7RGWJ8JaCrdWrlKb4iwDPRiKvjx-AphS0UDLJEcCWSvoh-UJaRhs5Ay8ELLWxJhdFwv3NNnq41xXqisuqSzguanm0jwI84Iscvj2APzuy3Ht7_cqQR7RU6W5DFouDw/w400-h286/Screenshot%202022-11-23%20at%207.13.56%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus Navas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">-- I pinpointed the left side of the team being weak. I only carried a single leftback Nacho Monreal. I have decided to start the left midfielder position with either David Silva or Andres Iniesta. <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I would have prefer a natural left winger on the team. </span></span>Jose Antonio Reyes' peak years were with Arsenal around 2006. However, his career rejuvenated that season. He helped Atletico Madrid to win the Europa League and the Copa del Rey. In real life, he never recalled to the national team in this period. Iker Muniain was a teenage sensational. That season, he became the youngest player to score in a first division match when he scored against Real Valladolid at aged 16 years and 289 days. But I was not going to use a spot for a fresh teenage boy. Joan Verdú of Espanyol was born in Barcelona. Diego Capel lost his starting position to Diego Perotti in Sevilla, but he was starting toward the end of the season. He was 21 years old at the time of the World Cup. He was playing mainly for the Under 21 team, but he already featured once in the World Cup Qualifiers in 2008 as a 20 years old. Albert Crusat of UD Almería had a great season, but he was also from Barcelona. Albert Riera only played a few times for Liverpool that season. He had some issues with then Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez. So none of the left wing candidates seemed right. So I stayed with an extra attack midfielder.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>-- No Catalan player came from the forward position. Nevertheless, I did look at other forward for a possible replacement player. <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">-- The season was Raul's last year with Real Madrid. He only scored 7 goals that year. His output was one of his lowest in his career. I did not think it would be a good idea to bring him back to the national team. His career would rejuvenate the season after with Schalke 04, but I could not "predict" the future in the summer of 2010. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">-- Roberto Soldado scored 18 goals in La Liga that season. He was two goals ahead of Fernando Llorente and tied with Zlatan Ibrahimović who did not enjoy his season with Barcelona. However, he was absent from the national team in this period. Both Daniel Guiza and Alvaro Negredo were on the provisional team. Bojan Krkic was only 20 years old. He was still highly rated at that point. He scored 8 goals in the last 12 games of the season. But I did not see an urgent need for another forward. I already had David Villa, Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente and Pedro. The last and 23rd spot went to an attack midfielder (see the midfielder above).<br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXX-dfLQ5ySVYzmmXP5ebebhjjjzMyk9N08z3hdKePpDFWXClhGMHktWiYt-IXVTPhyGuS0kixqTvBN9W7-O00ZW9xVeSxKOufggAQPv_Fz9uCuGzouNiFp6xabTkxD-qfPd3EE4egpt4Eg0oVrtF0-7USSHEQfcxfVIiIdBkX5D4IwIc7PG6FecKww/s1408/Screenshot%202022-11-24%20at%2012.25.18%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1408" data-original-width="1038" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXX-dfLQ5ySVYzmmXP5ebebhjjjzMyk9N08z3hdKePpDFWXClhGMHktWiYt-IXVTPhyGuS0kixqTvBN9W7-O00ZW9xVeSxKOufggAQPv_Fz9uCuGzouNiFp6xabTkxD-qfPd3EE4egpt4Eg0oVrtF0-7USSHEQfcxfVIiIdBkX5D4IwIc7PG6FecKww/w295-h400/Screenshot%202022-11-24%20at%2012.25.18%20AM.png" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Fernando Llorente and Pedro</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b>Formation</b></u></div></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;">This forward line had the same pool of players as the actual World Cup team in South Africa. In South Africa, Vicente Del Bosque only started David Villa and Fernando Torres together three times. In the Final or semi-final, Pedro was their starter. In South Africa, David Silva only played in two games, starting the first game against Switzerland. He was also a different type of midfielders as Xavi. In 2010, Sergio Ramos had not developed as a top central defender yet. He played as the rightback in South Africa, but he started to play central defender in Madrid. I reunited him with his club mates Raul Albiol who started many games because of Pepe's injury. In Real Madrid, the pair played together with <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Alvaro
Arbeloa.</span></span></div></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/11/1904833_Spain.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/11/1904833_Spain.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div></span></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-89730860819034807872022-11-20T03:52:00.002-08:002022-11-29T02:07:10.337-08:00Real Madrid's current and former players at 2022 World Cup Finals<div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a></span></span></span><br /><br /></p><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/08/real-madrid.html">Real Madrid<br /></a></span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/07/real-madeud-under-florentina-perez.html">Real Madr<span>i<span>d All-Time Team Under Flore<span>ntina Perez<br /></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/08/miguel-munoz.html">Real Madrid All-Time Team Under Miguel Munoz<br /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/05/real-madrids-argentine-best-xi.html">Real Madrid Argentine Best XI<br /></a></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/05/real-madrid-castilla.html">Real Madrid Castilla Greatest All-Time<br /></a></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/01/real-madrid-all-spanish.html">Real Madrid All-Time Team for Spanish Players<br /></a></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/02/atletico-madrid-foreign.html">Atletico Madrid All-Time Team for Foreign Players</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/03/ronaldo-ronald-ronnie-ron.html">Ronaldo, Ronald, Ronnie, Ron etc All-Time Team</a></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/02/top-10-real-madrid-goalkeepers.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Real Madrid Top Ten Greatest Goalkeepers</span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/03/to-10-real-madrid-greatest-rightbacks.html">Real Madrid Top Ten Greatest Rightbacks</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/04/top-10-real-madrid-greatest-leftbacks.html">Real Madrid Top Ten Greatest Leftbacks</a></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/06/top-10-real-madrid-greatest-central.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Real Madrid Top Ten Greatest Central defenders</span></a></div><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Real Madrid is the most successful club in soccer's history. They have won more titles in Europe than any other clubs. Of course, they had plenty of good players. I select a 26 member squad from the teams at the 2022 World Cup Finals in Qatar. All players must have appeared for Real Madrid at one point in their career.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The World Cup Finals are held from 20 November to 18 December 2022. This is the first World Cup to be held in the Arab world, and the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">At the end of the World Cup, I will set a table for all players selected based on fantasy points.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Team(26 members)<br /></u></b><span>GK:</span><span><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thibaut_Courtois">Thibaut Courtois</a><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif"> (Beglium)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Thibaut Courtois joined Chelsea from Genk in 2011, but he was sent away to Atletico Madrid </span><span style="font-family: times;">immediately. He won the Europa League in his first season and then, a Copa del Rey in his second season. In his final season, Atletico Madrid reached the Final of the Champions' League, but lost to Real Madrid. He was the starting keeper for Belgium at World Cup 2014 and 2018, and Euro 2016.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4C7kTn7Sm7ERMDGs_Jy2Z-Vyn1PFminew73nJM_xVLCXqw1yZQ5D7Oy_iYNIatE4TOq4fi1AJ3E0fKtkIc5najG503MSa_ZjhQsh7IngnyMSYMBVxDKwPRxLp207brElXnHVLGsOYD1sc8PBsq2cjGyRXAaIa80HkDFJci0JQ5OZLv_QdNkE3VtWtg/s680/TELEMMGLPICT000297925030_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqwMJYxftKZExwjop9hyNEmQEwTyzLMKRxDe4NUIzb66I.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="680" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4C7kTn7Sm7ERMDGs_Jy2Z-Vyn1PFminew73nJM_xVLCXqw1yZQ5D7Oy_iYNIatE4TOq4fi1AJ3E0fKtkIc5najG503MSa_ZjhQsh7IngnyMSYMBVxDKwPRxLp207brElXnHVLGsOYD1sc8PBsq2cjGyRXAaIa80HkDFJci0JQ5OZLv_QdNkE3VtWtg/w400-h250/TELEMMGLPICT000297925030_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqwMJYxftKZExwjop9hyNEmQEwTyzLMKRxDe4NUIzb66I.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thibaut Courtois</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keylor_Navas">Keylor Navas </a>(Costa Rica)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="block oNode" data-href="/review/rolando-fonseca/1931418" itemprop="name" style="font-size: large;">After starting out at Saprissa Keylor Navas moved to Albacete in 2010, and then to Levante in La Liga. After a great performance with Levante, he won the La Liga Keeper of the Year award for 2014 with Levante. Then, he led Costa Rica to the quarter-final of the World Cup in Brazil. After the World Cup Finals, he earned a transfer to Real Madrid. With Real Madrid, he won three Champions League title as their starting keeper. He also played in the 2018 World Cup Finals.</span></span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_bWlOnW5L20/YCUQg9U0nMI/AAAAAAAAK54/ZtmN42jhKgoZya5fNMz8kLEbVGnB7LabACLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/010188.0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_bWlOnW5L20/YCUQg9U0nMI/AAAAAAAAK54/ZtmN42jhKgoZya5fNMz8kLEbVGnB7LabACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h400/010188.0.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Keylor Navas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Areola">Alphonse Areola</a> (France)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">An academy graduate of PSG, he spent the early parts of his career on loan, enjoying spells with Lens, Bastia and La Liga side, Villarreal. During his stint with the latter, Areola broke the club record for the longest period of play without conceding a goal, remaining unbeaten for a period of 620. He also spent a season with Real Madrid. Since 2016, he has returned to PSG. He served as France's backup keeper at the 2018 World Cup Finals.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaNzdcBIYXnUjSpn1LMjyov7uEv0ffBv0UcEC8SIoDrbSStybCJT4KssqCLi1fmZmTdCV7ZFOycdy9I_p80YwGjRhN9pbxhnxhrybE9NsCwdsYZlcAJBilDyXyLOML9xUDeJF458rE4Lvk6e_IM0OgpzhKBCDewQ5iu9ZjR2Why43lmMYZz0w5u2FSg/s576/157645.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="576" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaNzdcBIYXnUjSpn1LMjyov7uEv0ffBv0UcEC8SIoDrbSStybCJT4KssqCLi1fmZmTdCV7ZFOycdy9I_p80YwGjRhN9pbxhnxhrybE9NsCwdsYZlcAJBilDyXyLOML9xUDeJF458rE4Lvk6e_IM0OgpzhKBCDewQ5iu9ZjR2Why43lmMYZz0w5u2FSg/w400-h225/157645.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Alphonse Areola</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dani_Carvajal" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Dani Carvajal </a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> (Spain)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dani Carvajal went through Real Madrid's academy. In 2012, he was sold to Bayer Leverkusen. In his only season there, he established himself among the best fullback in Bundesliga. He returned to Real Madrid in a buyback clause. He was a contributor as Real Madrid won four Champions' League in his first 5 seasons. At the time of writing, he is a member of the national team. He played in the 2018 World Cup Finals.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-45RYW7VsR-k/YEB6fKgTpSI/AAAAAAAAK9E/ziKtc5Nv2ZUrOTMBTKAZ-w9fNVe2qx93wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/AC%252BMilan%252Bv%252BReal%252BMadrid%252BSSylD4qFXP2x.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="781" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-45RYW7VsR-k/YEB6fKgTpSI/AAAAAAAAK9E/ziKtc5Nv2ZUrOTMBTKAZ-w9fNVe2qx93wCLcBGAsYHQ/w305-h400/AC%252BMilan%252Bv%252BReal%252BMadrid%252BSSylD4qFXP2x.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Dani Carvajal </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achraf_Hakimi">Achraf Hakimi</a><span> (Morocco) </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Achraf Hakimi came through Real Madrid's youth academy, but he first made a name with Borussia Dortmund while on loan from Real Madrid. He later played for Inter Milan for a season. In 2021, he joined PSG in France. He won the Lion d'Or African Footballer of the Year in 2019</span>. <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Born in Spain, he was eligible to play for them, but he chose Morocco where his parents came from. He played for them at the 2018 World Cup Finals. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihiKTKAHsf8VAFnYTiYuf3L3YcsyRZmYGlr8tL-d3rKHRCpbGh5oHD0aRYmFPp2I9a6RU-325uU9hl8OLjKtMyCICRtXZ_kPg2E8s3dlm-7_s9OQwSeGhn_9BgCNLpLuSUgHKY0AHDRDZNmvUXUEcWjH415Bo_fCmTt7J7WVn9OEq5Gy4GxveDEzT1zw/s4119/784ad137b71e86a6a95713131bbb304e9d213f0a.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2746" data-original-width="4119" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihiKTKAHsf8VAFnYTiYuf3L3YcsyRZmYGlr8tL-d3rKHRCpbGh5oHD0aRYmFPp2I9a6RU-325uU9hl8OLjKtMyCICRtXZ_kPg2E8s3dlm-7_s9OQwSeGhn_9BgCNLpLuSUgHKY0AHDRDZNmvUXUEcWjH415Bo_fCmTt7J7WVn9OEq5Gy4GxveDEzT1zw/w400-h266/784ad137b71e86a6a95713131bbb304e9d213f0a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Achraf Hakimi </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89der_Milit%C3%A3o">Eder Militao</a><span> (Brazil)</span></span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Militão began his career at São Paulo, playing 57 matches over a span of two years before transferring to Porto. In 2019, after one season in Portugal, he joined Real Madrid for a reported transfer fee of €50 million. He won two La Liga titles, and the Champions League in 2022. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Militão made his senior international debut for Brazil in 2018. He was part of their squads that won the Copa América in 2019 and came runners-up in 2021.</span></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QybbFz25u1nP06zLGIRq07VCvDR-N5OcLepmwJy7gSurHPPiLE9uXR5tr7d4J3sAkJn1OcvhgtQ0BK7GqGfiPG3EnUdwaiZhzB3fHpdyWtfzpQXMuV8v7DhZyZi4RoLbQUdHFTr9us4rOy3lQnhSLISKyrJDruVnsy1fgRZZ2AwBAvRd-POLKfNRiA/s1200/imago1008830591h.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QybbFz25u1nP06zLGIRq07VCvDR-N5OcLepmwJy7gSurHPPiLE9uXR5tr7d4J3sAkJn1OcvhgtQ0BK7GqGfiPG3EnUdwaiZhzB3fHpdyWtfzpQXMuV8v7DhZyZi4RoLbQUdHFTr9us4rOy3lQnhSLISKyrJDruVnsy1fgRZZ2AwBAvRd-POLKfNRiA/w400-h266/imago1008830591h.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Eder Militao </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepe_(footballer,_born_1983)">Pepe</a><span> (Portugal)</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Born in Brazil, Pepe moved to Portugal playing for Maritimo. In 2004, he moved to Porto while he established himself as one of the best defender in Portugal. In 2007, he earned a dream move to Real Madrid. At the time of writing, he won two Champions' league with them. Although born in Brazil, he chose to represent Portugal. At Euro 2016, he emerged as one of Portugal's best player as Portugal won their first ever international trophy. He earned the Man of the Match in the Final against France.</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7RLn0ApPn8E/W4YqsBvMIKI/AAAAAAAAGz8/lfIH_fh1tyw9PpdqRk5Q2fiAvML1W0iBgCLcBGAs/s1600/Lionel%252BMessi%252BPepe%252BReal%252BMadrid%252BCF%252Bv%252BFC%252BBarcelona%252BfS8fmCQBYYBl.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="594" height="302" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7RLn0ApPn8E/W4YqsBvMIKI/AAAAAAAAGz8/lfIH_fh1tyw9PpdqRk5Q2fiAvML1W0iBgCLcBGAs/s400/Lionel%252BMessi%252BPepe%252BReal%252BMadrid%252BCF%252Bv%252BFC%252BBarcelona%252BfS8fmCQBYYBl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pepe</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_R%C3%BCdiger" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Antonio Rüdiger</a> <span style="font-family: times;">(Germany)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div>Antonio Rüdiger began his career at VfB Stuttgart. In 2015 he joined Roma, He was signed by Chelsea in 2017, where he won the UEFA Europa League in his second season, and the Champions League in 2021. In 2022, Rüdiger signed for European champions Real Madrid. He made his international debut for Germany in May 2014. He played in the 2018 World Cup, and later also took part at UEFA Euro 2020.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt8csdOH8cMQpIm5zURpjiKelGlPZkA2qt2W2_EedImboiA69pll_GoTLvI4Zj3BsIu_zs5rJzpHYcr5PMF7_bNK5UZgCH1hX6ty5WzvfOaGR9fAjqHeWwjqZ1VUFCQ6QGdo7aU81QD_MjwJcI72AEbr2p4AcjhDGWcTUFyLhc0Ukt4Qd8PYccvaVYtw/s2048/Antonio-Rudiger-Shaktar-e1665522587927.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="2048" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt8csdOH8cMQpIm5zURpjiKelGlPZkA2qt2W2_EedImboiA69pll_GoTLvI4Zj3BsIu_zs5rJzpHYcr5PMF7_bNK5UZgCH1hX6ty5WzvfOaGR9fAjqHeWwjqZ1VUFCQ6QGdo7aU81QD_MjwJcI72AEbr2p4AcjhDGWcTUFyLhc0Ukt4Qd8PYccvaVYtw/w400-h254/Antonio-Rudiger-Shaktar-e1665522587927.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Antonio Rüdiger </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapha%C3%ABl_Varane" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Raphaël Varane </a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">(France)</span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">Varane started with Lens. After one season with the French club, as a professional footballer, Varane joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2011. With Real Madrid, he won 3 Champions League in 4 years. In 2012, he made his international debut. He went to the World Cup Finals in 2014, where he was nominated as the Young Player of the Tournament. He missed the 2016 European Championship through an injury.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VhaAHfdouXY/YMNzT__k0_I/AAAAAAAALXs/VWwJPJwlsWsXdlEjbikcUOrCeQqEDDE2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Real%252BMadrid%252Bv%252BLiverpool%252BUEFA%252BChampions%252BLeague%252ByPrqjb993nZx.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1024" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VhaAHfdouXY/YMNzT__k0_I/AAAAAAAALXs/VWwJPJwlsWsXdlEjbikcUOrCeQqEDDE2wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h281/Real%252BMadrid%252Bv%252BLiverpool%252BUEFA%252BChampions%252BLeague%252ByPrqjb993nZx.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Raphaël Varane</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>LB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Hernandez">Theo Hernandez </a><span>(France)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">Theo Hernandez joined Atlético Madrid's academy in 2007 where his father played. But after an loan move to Alaves in the 2016-2017 season, he joined rival Real Madrid in 2017. On 10 August 2018, he was loaned to Real Sociedad for a season. In 2019, he joined AC Milan, where he finally made a name. He earned his first French cap in 2021. His brother Lucas played for Bayern Munich and was a part of the team that won the World Cup.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifdNkXcZMM-49WXJOJOA-5yGuHkPt22R6ppuMou8bgBEa7jkTzevrqdpIaio4Bor0UOafz-w9Sr0MVDjSlfxz9Y988KYwnG6zPzoRo10d5rY6LTH81APAyaHlC9ZpF0eZdfizr7DrzUMjYR1Ck6Z_NYHScotfDjbHU339qzqoozaGQtBzSIKLJKARlw/s612/ce24d435674317c2ab442408dca639ab.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="542" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifdNkXcZMM-49WXJOJOA-5yGuHkPt22R6ppuMou8bgBEa7jkTzevrqdpIaio4Bor0UOafz-w9Sr0MVDjSlfxz9Y988KYwnG6zPzoRo10d5rY6LTH81APAyaHlC9ZpF0eZdfizr7DrzUMjYR1Ck6Z_NYHScotfDjbHU339qzqoozaGQtBzSIKLJKARlw/w354-h400/ce24d435674317c2ab442408dca639ab.jpeg" width="354" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Theo Hernandez </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aur%C3%A9lien_Tchouam%C3%A9ni">Aurélien Tchouaméni</a> (France)</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Aurelien Tchouaméni made his first team debut for Bordeaux in 2018. He joined AS Monaco in 2020, where he made a name. He was named UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year for 2020–21 season. He was on the Team of the Season the following year. He was a top player in La Ligue. In 2022, he joined Real Madrid, where he displaced long time starter Casemiro. In 2021, he earned his first cap for France. He was eligible to play for Cameroon where his parents came from.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXAjwFf6eSX0mpLBFIWkyo8w_ehON-JoAh1dMFNgldqQxrxdC-sAy0BKBC-yl-nU92eREZdIRRJyrMrp-kvr_5iYVlpQN_mHLzH02mAyM5FsZUg83rOLXPlbo9iLBV5e0Hl08R7ZY3p_rQKYaUcYEPsdgn5bRhPp1aLc4dS1YcSF6cb32LOPmSdohnsw/s1000/oleksandr-zubkov--l--trata-de-robar-el-balon-a-aurelien-tchouameni--r--en-el-shakhtar-donetsk-real-madrid-de-champions-league-2022-23--efe-leszek-szymanski.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1000" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXAjwFf6eSX0mpLBFIWkyo8w_ehON-JoAh1dMFNgldqQxrxdC-sAy0BKBC-yl-nU92eREZdIRRJyrMrp-kvr_5iYVlpQN_mHLzH02mAyM5FsZUg83rOLXPlbo9iLBV5e0Hl08R7ZY3p_rQKYaUcYEPsdgn5bRhPp1aLc4dS1YcSF6cb32LOPmSdohnsw/w400-h265/oleksandr-zubkov--l--trata-de-robar-el-balon-a-aurelien-tchouameni--r--en-el-shakhtar-donetsk-real-madrid-de-champions-league-2022-23--efe-leszek-szymanski.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Aurélien Tchouaméni </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>DM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabinho_(footballer,_born_1993)">Fabinho</a><span> (Brazil)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">After starting off at Fluminense, he transferred to Rio Ave in 2012. He spent his entire time there out on loan, first at Real Madrid Castilla, and made one substitute appearance for the first team. He spent five years at Monaco. In his debut season at Liverpool he won the UEFA Champions League. He won the UEFA Super Cup in 2019 and also played a key role in guiding Liverpool to the Premier League title in 2020, the club’s first league title in 30 years. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Fabinho made his international debut for Brazil in 2015, and was part of their squads at the Copa América in 2015, 2016 and 2021.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQms1y6PepIlAFZGfWWDsnmSbzzzpMPM_6KQ_wt_ST8W7Kh4uVr-tXufG60bTV7mkN4TasTVu4XrKc6U8AurDJM1fCbPaellix6tjN73emXFs1Z7ZcEtVP_aaPTKRtgQMkYTKBodlwc1VrMXI5eoQzDM9rV7wftW1w1AY_E0qljK9Yc9zWVjju6Dhfdw/s1493/16534913950701.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1493" data-original-width="1293" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQms1y6PepIlAFZGfWWDsnmSbzzzpMPM_6KQ_wt_ST8W7Kh4uVr-tXufG60bTV7mkN4TasTVu4XrKc6U8AurDJM1fCbPaellix6tjN73emXFs1Z7ZcEtVP_aaPTKRtgQMkYTKBodlwc1VrMXI5eoQzDM9rV7wftW1w1AY_E0qljK9Yc9zWVjju6Dhfdw/w346-h400/16534913950701.jpeg" width="346" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Fabinho</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">DM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casemiro" style="font-family: times;">Casemiro</a><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;">(Brazil)</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Casemiro started with Sao Paulo, where he played for three seasons. In 2013, he joined Real Madrid B team(Castilla), where he would be eventually called to the first team. For the 2014-2015, he was sent to Porto on a loan. After a year, he returned to Real Madrid and quickly established as a major contributor as the club won three straight Champions' League. He would win five Champions' League with the club. In 2022, he moved to Manchester United. At the time of writing, he earned 32 caps. He played in the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8CuJmq9MiL0/XDXiCSZkFfI/AAAAAAAAHXE/QVg9q6GjRaUY6DA2No03qcNylSsgrr4KwCLcBGAs/s1600/2017-04-24t031329z_1_lynxmped3n03l_rtroptp_3_soccer-spain-rea-fcb-800.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="728" height="252" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8CuJmq9MiL0/XDXiCSZkFfI/AAAAAAAAHXE/QVg9q6GjRaUY6DA2No03qcNylSsgrr4KwCLcBGAs/s400/2017-04-24t031329z_1_lynxmped3n03l_rtroptp_3_soccer-spain-rea-fcb-800.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Casemiro </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mateo_Kova%C4%8Di%C4%87" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Mateo Kovačić </a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">(Croatia)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Kovačić began his career with Dinamo Zagreb, before joining Inter Milan in 2013. In 2015, he moved to Real Madrid, where he won the 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18 Champions Leagues. He joined Chelsea on one-year loan in 2018, signing permanently for them at the end of the season. With Chelsea, Kovačić won the 2018–19 Europa League and the 2020–21 Champions League, as well as the Chelsea Player of the Year after the 2019–20 season. He </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">represented the nation at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, as well as the Euro 2016 and 2020, reaching the final of the 2018 tournament. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzhsj7qJvULZXL5Op8kS48obTLev3oBZg1HFdWC7FVOLWezfyGj5F8XU7NHSHQDbRg7Ds9CFiurl_DmjyAvoXZpr9LdBJXybXuMZO2gvFc75g6OuM_eprApWbbavq6YiLF28YRmVQo-1PfO0lYSy3M5RPA_g_EgcVGx04uFUa0gDfwn7eNwGAcJ6IMQ/s3434/nintchdbpict0002979005111.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2405" data-original-width="3434" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzhsj7qJvULZXL5Op8kS48obTLev3oBZg1HFdWC7FVOLWezfyGj5F8XU7NHSHQDbRg7Ds9CFiurl_DmjyAvoXZpr9LdBJXybXuMZO2gvFc75g6OuM_eprApWbbavq6YiLF28YRmVQo-1PfO0lYSy3M5RPA_g_EgcVGx04uFUa0gDfwn7eNwGAcJ6IMQ/w400-h280/nintchdbpict0002979005111.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mateo Kovačić</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcos_Llorente#Style_of_play">Marcos Llorente</a><span> (Spain)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span dir="auto"><span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Developed at Real Madrid, he appeared in 39 competitive matches over three seasons, also serving a loan at Alavés. He signed with Atlético Madrid in June 2019, winning La Liga in his second season while being deployed in several positions. Llorente made his full debut for Spain in 2020. He was part of the squads at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. His father Paco Llorente also played for Real Madrid. His grand uncle was Francisco Gento.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuM2lY5siFePKgUUay-XlUnKMC8dgRcgsXSJFbIZ7ZK1AOs8uosW6ysW8ZStbnnFAjP9tbLzmPGuoXeF6O_KetfUzoKSRYcjyfgLzsosEMv2DWkt36hebjNa0OZoOU2sRhFi9avZIKYp62KNhD1rQFRG3dHaysdkatBth9xadooyztxFSgZpTdw2T0w/s1908/13331560-0-image-a-18_1557477518689.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1908" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuM2lY5siFePKgUUay-XlUnKMC8dgRcgsXSJFbIZ7ZK1AOs8uosW6ysW8ZStbnnFAjP9tbLzmPGuoXeF6O_KetfUzoKSRYcjyfgLzsosEMv2DWkt36hebjNa0OZoOU2sRhFi9avZIKYp62KNhD1rQFRG3dHaysdkatBth9xadooyztxFSgZpTdw2T0w/w400-h240/13331560-0-image-a-18_1557477518689.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Marcos Llorente </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">AM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Camavinga">Eduardo Camavinga</a> (France)</span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Eduardo Camavinga joined Rennes' youth system when he was 11. He signed his first professional contract on 14 December 2018, at the age of 16 years and one month, becoming the youngest ever professional for the club. He was also the youngest ever to play for them. In 2021, he joined Real Madrid, where he won the Champions League in his first season. In 2022, he earned his first senior cap for France. He was selected for the 2022 World Cup Finals in Qatar.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqZs9b_ZSS2F2E5kEXf4JjZhNXmlLx97mTJzI72WGoy7tjIoleUcS38UFrOWClF_ROReIUbRimnoMVbhS3rWEPPKCMOKuBeiTdDtIZPm4SOsUK78h4H-j3Y6EoqyIGZhKcPlmwolNUmki9ybT5lpiABA1S6HAG8j6lJUSRCZ6fGQ9CywUb_4YkIR-cA/s1370/Screenshot%202022-11-20%20at%209.47.34%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1370" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqZs9b_ZSS2F2E5kEXf4JjZhNXmlLx97mTJzI72WGoy7tjIoleUcS38UFrOWClF_ROReIUbRimnoMVbhS3rWEPPKCMOKuBeiTdDtIZPm4SOsUK78h4H-j3Y6EoqyIGZhKcPlmwolNUmki9ybT5lpiABA1S6HAG8j6lJUSRCZ6fGQ9CywUb_4YkIR-cA/w400-h316/Screenshot%202022-11-20%20at%209.47.34%20AM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Eduardo Camavinga </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">AM/CM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luka_Modri%C4%87">Luka Modric</a> (Croatia)</span></div></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Luka Modric </span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">is one of the greatest playmakers of his generation. He </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">earned more 90 caps for Croatia. He currently plays for Real Madrid and won the Champions' League for the 2013-2014, 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons. He also played with Dinamo Zagreb and Tottenham Hotspurs. He played in the World Cup Finals of 2006, 2014 and 2018, as well as the European Championship of 2008, 2012 and 2016. He won Ballon D'or in 2018 after his performance in the World Cup Finals.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KpjjsVdgh3Y/WXTPhc3MSTI/AAAAAAAAEgI/Bdf-RAWi4dciTIAaqU7qRfLH--D5eOqqQCLcBGAs/s1600/635514108-real-madrid-cf-v-ssc-napoli-uefa-champions-league-round-of-16-first-leg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KpjjsVdgh3Y/WXTPhc3MSTI/AAAAAAAAEgI/Bdf-RAWi4dciTIAaqU7qRfLH--D5eOqqQCLcBGAs/s400/635514108-real-madrid-cf-v-ssc-napoli-uefa-champions-league-round-of-16-first-leg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Luka Modric</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>AM/FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Sarabia">Pablo Sarabia </a>(Spain)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>After playing youth football with Real Madrid, Sarabia went on to represent Getafe between 2011 and 2016 and Sevilla between 2016 and 2019 in La Liga, amassing totals of 232 matches and 36 goals over eight seasons. In July 2019, he signed with Paris Saint-Germain, Sarabia was a former Spanish youth international. He made his senior debut in 2019, representing the side at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup. He scored two goals at Euro 2020.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio8v167S1ZxvQhBiPahMht0SkuiBhCpTYpVRZMD3kBhPWihWf7aXeU1wnkqOleuW39bWQwIdmqdVAR32QsE6x91ztActQCJwBwk8OmnoytWsNGkazGsY6r30rNLcKojgTlf6urGc4iFfG6YOragJqQckn9N6QFpnc6BifzFp7ctLKkaYjMf5Qxl4yZjA/s400/sarabia_1309715418911.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="400" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio8v167S1ZxvQhBiPahMht0SkuiBhCpTYpVRZMD3kBhPWihWf7aXeU1wnkqOleuW39bWQwIdmqdVAR32QsE6x91ztActQCJwBwk8OmnoytWsNGkazGsY6r30rNLcKojgTlf6urGc4iFfG6YOragJqQckn9N6QFpnc6BifzFp7ctLKkaYjMf5Qxl4yZjA/w400-h272/sarabia_1309715418911.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pablo Sarabia </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span>RW/CM: </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Valverde">Federico Valverde</a> (Uruguay)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Fede Valverde spent most of his youth career with Peñarol. After a season with the first team, he joined Real Madrid's Academy in 2016. For 2017-2018 season, he was sent on loan for Deportivo La Coruna. He returned to Real Madrid in 2018 where he made a name. For Uruguay, he made his senior debut in 2017. He went to the 2021 Copa America. He was named Silver Ball at the 2017 Under 20 World Cup. He was known for his long range shot.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zQmxM62cXcNG6bQ4gF7j9zmnr18eTb-KOnjcXdRH6epL3uB3N4YYHNx06UHBpVYlt26AXG4yttsEnmnO7i7rqsydqR8XxKb3l2YdG5pE9Eh10oU3kI_hp6iaK6qd6QTrbgcqU6v_AlQ3eZ2ti14u4dkznzY_whRHJ06Y6aJBDOYLOBREoxHD0qgvhA/s984/Screenshot%202022-11-20%20at%209.51.28%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="984" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zQmxM62cXcNG6bQ4gF7j9zmnr18eTb-KOnjcXdRH6epL3uB3N4YYHNx06UHBpVYlt26AXG4yttsEnmnO7i7rqsydqR8XxKb3l2YdG5pE9Eh10oU3kI_hp6iaK6qd6QTrbgcqU6v_AlQ3eZ2ti14u4dkznzY_whRHJ06Y6aJBDOYLOBREoxHD0qgvhA/w400-h304/Screenshot%202022-11-20%20at%209.51.28%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Federico Valverde </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>RW/LW: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Bale">Gareth Bale</a><span> (Wales)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Gareth Bale began his professional career at Southampton. Bale moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2007. In 2011 and 2013, he was named PFA Players' Player of the Year. His transfer to Real Madrid in 2013 was believed to be the most expensive in history. He won four Champions League titles with Real Madrid. He scored the winning goal in the 2014 version as well as two goals in 2018. He joined LAFC in the MLS. In 2016, he led Wales to reach the semifinal of Euro 2016.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA0iBhp2piEqhGJI8KhpUOTzj6bh4Lru2KJ4cC3klrq8hjHjm3-Ir1sUH6BQqQrgowVNdM1_IfR6Gl1tfje8YgMmtA3pNmH3UTrSMO36ZgwBEJo6-VwgaMv1oIysv4Z_jKrGyB9QfzkrHYsDI1oZ57MCrrJqhDazGG7WrGPmzfQoxmqQ3rlx2UdWvCpg/s4235/nintchdbpict000302831907.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2823" data-original-width="4235" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA0iBhp2piEqhGJI8KhpUOTzj6bh4Lru2KJ4cC3klrq8hjHjm3-Ir1sUH6BQqQrgowVNdM1_IfR6Gl1tfje8YgMmtA3pNmH3UTrSMO36ZgwBEJo6-VwgaMv1oIysv4Z_jKrGyB9QfzkrHYsDI1oZ57MCrrJqhDazGG7WrGPmzfQoxmqQ3rlx2UdWvCpg/w400-h266/nintchdbpict000302831907.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Gareth Bale</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">FW/RW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Asensio" style="font-family: times;">Marco Asensio</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Spain)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Marco Asensio was born in Palma, Majorca, Balearic Islands to a Dutch mother and a Spanish father. He was named after Marco Van Basten. Asensio joined RCD Mallorca in 2006. He joined Real Madrid in 2014, but he spent his first season with Espanyol. He finally joined Real Madrid for the 2016-2017 season, scoring one of the goals at the Champions' League Final against Juventus that year. Since 2016, he has been capped by Spain.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBGhhvG7V474IIVumHRnhu-tFjwygJn4_xCrxNjfBgePAkMZ4Rwm7eD-3XpQs1_e38NakgUqn30WyUh58oxjPMpdP2S6K9KJAeeawbOsf5gSd38Pr7EtSmGhKJiRMRskbs3RYF5vv2R4eBB1deZDJGrzYvlooVVMrqvRRFyg-kZTjl4t1AsChooqhrg/s858/Screenshot%202022-11-20%20at%209.57.38%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="858" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBGhhvG7V474IIVumHRnhu-tFjwygJn4_xCrxNjfBgePAkMZ4Rwm7eD-3XpQs1_e38NakgUqn30WyUh58oxjPMpdP2S6K9KJAeeawbOsf5gSd38Pr7EtSmGhKJiRMRskbs3RYF5vv2R4eBB1deZDJGrzYvlooVVMrqvRRFyg-kZTjl4t1AsChooqhrg/w400-h291/Screenshot%202022-11-20%20at%209.57.38%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Marco Asensio </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">RW/FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81ngel_Di_Mar%C3%ADa" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ángel Di María</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> (Argentina)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="mw-headline"><span style="font-size: large;">After beginning his career with Rosario Central, Di María moved to Europe in 2007 to play for Benfica, earning a €25 million move to Real Madrid three years later. He played a major role in the club's 2011–12 La Liga triumph. After winning the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid, he signed for Manchester United in 2014 for a British record £59.7 million, but joined PSG a year later for around £44 million. At the time of writing, he earned over 120 caps. He went to 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cup Finals.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span class="mw-headline"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCgfsZAxIochDJJkGObJn9_31zEfABYTS-93sag1GmDbjI7eDme9-2lKhwQvy-DIBTxw2xjCTeP137D8IRbi5wWuD1wOtiyW8WaRagIu0fzWcNPLtKS_I2HvbR46OOQjhautqLqLlfRXyawJep2CGu7HklaqKhwRZ5f-o1rfFUVfDGlqFeRTzRiBGnlQ/s960/nintchdbpict000118294875.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="960" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCgfsZAxIochDJJkGObJn9_31zEfABYTS-93sag1GmDbjI7eDme9-2lKhwQvy-DIBTxw2xjCTeP137D8IRbi5wWuD1wOtiyW8WaRagIu0fzWcNPLtKS_I2HvbR46OOQjhautqLqLlfRXyawJep2CGu7HklaqKhwRZ5f-o1rfFUVfDGlqFeRTzRiBGnlQ/w400-h301/nintchdbpict000118294875.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ángel Di María </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span>LW/FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vin%C3%ADcius_J%C3%BAnior">Vinícius Júnior</a><span> (Brazil)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Born in São Gonçalo, Vinícius began his professional career at Flamengo, where he made his senior debut in 2017, at age 16. Vinícius joined Real Madrid, for whom he signed for in a £38 million deal, which was a national record for an U-18 player. The transfer was made effective after his 18th birthday. He scoring the winning goal in Real Madrid's 2022 UEFA Champions League Final. In 2019, he made his debut with Brazil.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-y9l5n0r-y13WIDQgqnhGtETYq8OWzc1k2gWT9F_8yfS20X9-0tDlzBtaNbNMIJgz1Xhtz3vanKELycOfnw9Ng2v2oxktMtw4_G2bruomVj-22SWIxc2mhw9qFnLO5ZsXf7lLLFc3g-yuUffInDhF0IWR8vt-Aa1X2k4PEEg2DP_sAq90VYml00rKWg/s4000/68a343d2-e40d-48fc-82ab-ba450d5a2c8f.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2632" data-original-width="4000" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-y9l5n0r-y13WIDQgqnhGtETYq8OWzc1k2gWT9F_8yfS20X9-0tDlzBtaNbNMIJgz1Xhtz3vanKELycOfnw9Ng2v2oxktMtw4_G2bruomVj-22SWIxc2mhw9qFnLO5ZsXf7lLLFc3g-yuUffInDhF0IWR8vt-Aa1X2k4PEEg2DP_sAq90VYml00rKWg/w400-h264/68a343d2-e40d-48fc-82ab-ba450d5a2c8f.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Vinícius Júnior </span></td></tr></tbody></table>FW/LW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristiano_Ronaldo">Cristano Ronaldo</a> (Portugal)</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ronaldo is one of the greatest forward of his generation. He is the most expensive players in history from 2009-2013 when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid. A</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">t the time of writing, he won the Ballon d'Or winner three times and won Champions' League titles with both Manchester United and Real Madrid. In 2016, he helped Portugal to win the European Championship, a month after winning the Champions' League with Real Madrid.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LlhWm5vOjJ8/W4YtJbwB_HI/AAAAAAAAG0U/K5cPOQ0tqxQf68e0_YFKI5es7wKRwqv-wCLcBGAs/s1600/110243177-1486564309-800.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="594" height="276" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LlhWm5vOjJ8/W4YtJbwB_HI/AAAAAAAAG0U/K5cPOQ0tqxQf68e0_YFKI5es7wKRwqv-wCLcBGAs/s400/110243177-1486564309-800.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Cristano Ronaldo</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">ST/RW/LW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrygo">Rodrygo</a> (Brazil)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Born in Osasco, São Paulo, Rodrygo joined Santos' youth setup in 2011 at the age of ten. In 2017, he made his first team debut at the age of 17. In 2018, he signed for Real Madrid, where he would join in 2019. He was a top young player in the world at the time. He scored many important goals as Real Madrid won the Champions' League in the 2021-2022 season. In 2019, he made his national team debut with Brazil. He was named to the 2022 World Cup team.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmio-yzNZCLA6Z9IVrvV_FolV8R6TzfjNc-LULoT6NE6tyaNo9sO6Vi3_HZQxpzPtFQ78MAcWfFWObbB00lPmTbGVNTHBYQ3vrfxwSkaDYhDID8p7487PDHawIhNfnoFBDdQOmL9_Ji1q7shSU1-d2-8oJ1_BGAgAQcdjQKEi9jB4hdoeL5T32yy-HEg/s1202/Screenshot%202022-11-20%20at%2010.12.51%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="1202" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmio-yzNZCLA6Z9IVrvV_FolV8R6TzfjNc-LULoT6NE6tyaNo9sO6Vi3_HZQxpzPtFQ78MAcWfFWObbB00lPmTbGVNTHBYQ3vrfxwSkaDYhDID8p7487PDHawIhNfnoFBDdQOmL9_Ji1q7shSU1-d2-8oJ1_BGAgAQcdjQKEi9jB4hdoeL5T32yy-HEg/w400-h264/Screenshot%202022-11-20%20at%2010.12.51%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rodrygo</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_Morata">Álvaro Morata </a>(Spain)</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span face="-webkit-standard" style="font-size: large;"><span class="mw-headline"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Morata began his career at Real Madrid, making his debut with the senior team in late 2010, winning the 2014 Champions League. He moved to Juventus in 2014, winning the domestic double of Serie A and Coppa Italia in both of his seasons before being bought back for €30 million. With Real, Morata won another La Liga and Champions League before joining Chelsea in 2017. He also played for Atletico Madrid. Since 2014, he was capped by Spain and went to Euro 2016 and World Cup 2018.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span face="-webkit-standard" style="font-size: large;"><span class="mw-headline"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYsD7Pb1ybNutP8Dirq8bZdPfK_sAdrAWliLGNzGMvZlbHQ2SARVjVr8BAL253vs7l4KYwpNdXpmraEDF6MjhnMOxPnSTOsCpLxdrylCv5l8H7a90MRwsV66wU1uKS3h8CrhJTbCmTaHY_PaNbWPp7B_qyKT4yIuCy36Sb9DhwyICbDgxUIa1NGMwTgw/s2197/Atletico-de-Madrid-v-Real-Madrid-La-Liga.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1463" data-original-width="2197" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYsD7Pb1ybNutP8Dirq8bZdPfK_sAdrAWliLGNzGMvZlbHQ2SARVjVr8BAL253vs7l4KYwpNdXpmraEDF6MjhnMOxPnSTOsCpLxdrylCv5l8H7a90MRwsV66wU1uKS3h8CrhJTbCmTaHY_PaNbWPp7B_qyKT4yIuCy36Sb9DhwyICbDgxUIa1NGMwTgw/w400-h266/Atletico-de-Madrid-v-Real-Madrid-La-Liga.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Álvaro Morata </span></td></tr></tbody></table><b><u>Other Players</u></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Eden Hazard, </span><span>Takefusa Kubo, </span><span>Luka Jovic.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><span style="font-family: times;">Squad Explanation</span></u></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Only players selected for the World Cup Finals are eligible.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I am including all players who had appeared for the first team in Real Madrid. Actually, I was going to include Castilla players who never appeared for the first team, but no player fit the credential. Takefusa Kubo did not play for Real Madrid's first team in any official games, but he had played in the preseason. However, he was not selected. He also did not come from Castilla.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Casemiro (Brazil), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco) Dani Carvajal (Spain), Fabinho (Brazil), Marco Llorente (Spain) and Alvaro Morata (Spain) came from Castilla. Rodrygo did play for them, but I did not consider him as an academy player. He only dropped to the reserve team for a few games in his first season. He was mainly a first team player from his first day in Madrid.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The World Cup squad for the 2022 World Cup Finals consists 26 players. This team had 13 each for current and former players.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Brazil had 6 Real Madrid-related players, but only five was selected. France also had six on their team, but only three are currently with Real Madrid. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spain only had four players. Only three are current players.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Angel Di Maria left in 2014. He held the longest gap of a departed player on this team.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Only three goalkeepers ever played for Real Madrid were going to the World Cup Finals. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Thibaut Courtois joined Real Madrid in 2018, where he replaced Keylor Navas in the starting lineup. Navas was a star of the team for a few seasons. He was named on the Champions' League team of the Year the season before. Courtois won the Golden Glove at the 2018 World Cup Finals before he transferred to Madrid.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Alphonse Areola was on loan for PSG for the 2019-2020 season. He was a part of the deal that saw Keylor Navas going to the other way. He was predominantly used as a back-up option to first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. He appeared 9 times for Real Madrid.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Andriy Lunin would have made he Ukraine national team if they qualified. They went to the World Cup playoff, but failed to secure a spot in the Finals.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- At the time of writing, I don't know how Brazil's coach Tite will line Eder Militao. Brazil also featured Thiago Silva and Marquinhos. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Thiago Silva probably will start, but he is 38 years old. So </span><span style="font-size: large;">many pundits expected Eder Militao to have an important role in Qatar. He might be a rightback as Brazil lacks a strong player in that position. He had played there in Porto where he lined up next to Pepe. Tite could also start three central defenders. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Antonio Rüdiger will be a starter for Germany, but I am not sure about Pepe. He is now 39. Raphaël Varane suffered an injury in October. He was actually a surprise inclusion for France because of his injury. His form in Manchester United was also in question prior to his injury, but I did not have another alternative.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Danilo might actually start for Brazil depending how Tite started Militao. Brazil's rightback position is weak. They even selected Dani Alvas who is now 39 playing in Mexico. But the rightback position for this "Real Madrid" team is strong. Both Dani Carvajal and Achraf Hakimi are among the best rightbacks in the world. So I left off Danilo who did not enjoy his time in Real Madrid.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Ferland Mendy was surprising left for France's World Cup team. That left Theo Hernandez as the only leftback on this team. Mendy was a more defensive-oriented type of a fullback. Didier Deschamps probably preferred an offensive wingback. Mendy only had 9 caps at the time of the World Cup selections while Theo had 7. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Gareth Bale played as a leftback in the beginning of his career in England would be my emergency backup (please see later for Bale' inclusion).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- David Alaba would have solved the weakness in the leftback and central defender position if Austria qualified for the World Cup Finals.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I carried three defensive midfielders. They are Aurélien Tchouaméni, Casemiro and Fabinho. The signing of Aurélien Tchouaméni this past summer allowed Real Madrid to sell Casemiro. He proved to be a player to reckon with in Madrid. Casemiro's performance in Manchester had mixed reviews, but how could I drop him?. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Fabinho was only on loan in Madrid, but he played a few games for the first team. So he is eligible for this team. I might need an extra defensive midfielders since I had question marks over both Pepe and Varane. Pepe is 38 years old while Varane is injured at the time of writing. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I selected Fabinho over Takefusa Kubo who never played in an official game for the club.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Toni Kroos retired from the national team. This team would like to have this deep lying playmaker.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I was upset when Real Madrid sold Marcos Llorente to Atletico Madrid, but Federico Valverde proved to be a better player. Most people would disagree with me. I found the two players similar, but Fede is better. This season, his long range shots (or goals) are the best in the world. He is probably one of the best players this season in Madrid.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Eduardo Camavinga regressed this season, but I still see him as one of the brightest young midfielders in the game. Luka Modric is of course evergreen. I also took Mateo Kovačić. They kept </span><span style="font-size: large;">Takefusa Kubo off the team.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Federico Valverde had played well on the right wing.</span> Then, I also took Ángel Di María and </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Marco Asensio. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Gareth Bale </span><span style="font-family: times;">scored the 120th minute equaliser in the MLS Cup Final for LAFC, but his season had been poor </span><span style="font-family: times;">in the MLS. I was not going to take him, but his goal in the MLS Final proved that he was a big game player. Besides, he had played as a leftback where I only had Theo on the team.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Vinícius Júnior owned the left wing position, but the team lacked a backup left winger. So Asensio and Rodrygo would be my emergency backup. </span><span>Rodrygo could play across all three positions up front. He is a natural left wing forward, but he is not given much chance in Madrid because of Vinicius Junior. </span>And we could forget about Eden Hazard. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I already mentioned Marco Asensio, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Cristiano Ronaldo's relationship with Manchester United is well-documented. He has not been featured regularly for them, but I just could not ignore him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- At the time of writing, Álvaro Morata is second top scorer in La Liga with 5 goals.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- At the time of writing, Karim Benzema just suffered a thigh injury that would keep him out of the World Cup Finals. I had to edit him out of this team. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Luka Jovic and Pablo Sarabia</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> are the only other possible choices. Eden Hazard was also mentioned in the "wing" section. He had not played much this season. Jovic's performance in Serie A had been poor. I do not really know much about </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Pablo Sarabia, but he became my only choices. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This is a weaker version of Real Madrid's starting lineup for the 2022-2023 season. Benzema would have been the starter, but he is out with an injury. I start Ronaldo because I cannot leave him on the bench. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/11/1904492_Real_Madrid_CF.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="https://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/11/1904492_Real_Madrid_CF.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></span></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-40710177881969793202022-10-03T07:27:00.006-07:002023-12-16T16:21:42.559-08:00El Salvador Greatest All-Time Team<p> <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5AZ05XWDc_aKF0h2Q3ejHDYzj0acwgyV5cQtRngUDpHOJxgVLXtGBIUkCdWQLKg-EridoA6fg7jWF93rBbWncfQTXS3afQ3Y01jKBQxfcxvIsWhyLh-B4jlqD8bsGxFTTBLBV62_TL5VuictEn1Fxcm9xfpt58vT1lMqHIk9UcLIWJFH8kpqKe6J6sw/s1984/402e771be5b3e0999c329c9001fc49a3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1414" data-original-width="1984" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5AZ05XWDc_aKF0h2Q3ejHDYzj0acwgyV5cQtRngUDpHOJxgVLXtGBIUkCdWQLKg-EridoA6fg7jWF93rBbWncfQTXS3afQ3Y01jKBQxfcxvIsWhyLh-B4jlqD8bsGxFTTBLBV62_TL5VuictEn1Fxcm9xfpt58vT1lMqHIk9UcLIWJFH8kpqKe6J6sw/w400-h285/402e771be5b3e0999c329c9001fc49a3.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">World Cup 1982</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span></span></span></div></span></span></div><p><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></p><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/concacafa.html">All-CONCACAF<br /></a></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/usa-all-team-23-member-team.html">USA</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/mexico-all-time-23-member-team.html">Mexico</a>, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/costa-rica-all-time-23-member-team.html">Costa Rica</a><span>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/honduras.html">Honduras</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/10/el-salvador-greatest-all-time-team.html">El Salvador<br /></a></span></span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/central-america.html"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Central America without </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Costa Rica and Honduras.</span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/05/canada.html">Canada</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/10/trinidad-and-tobago.html">Trinidad & Tobago</a></span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/central-america.html"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/canada-or-canadian-born-all-time-team.html">Canada or Canadian born Players<br /></a></span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/jamaican-jamaican-diaspora.html">Jamaica/Jamaican Diaspora</a>, </span></span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/04/jamaican-british.html">British Jamaicans</a></span></span></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/12/jamaica.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jamaica international</span></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/02/caribbean-football-union.html">Caribbean Countries</a><span>.</span></span></div></div><p><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">The El Salvador national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de El Salvador) represents El Salvador in international football, and is governed by the Salvadoran Football Federation (FESFUT).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">In 1899, two teams from Santa Ana and San Salvador met for the first known football game in El Salvador. The national team's first match was played in September 1921, when they were invited to participate in a tournament to celebrate 100 years of Central American Independence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">El Salvador has made two FIFA World Cup appearances: first in 1970 and again in 1982, but have never progressed beyond the first stage of a finals tournament. They were the 1943 CCCF champions, and finished in second-place in the 1941 and 1961 championships. They have competed in the CONCACAF regional tournaments fourteen times, finishing as runners-up in 1963 and 1981. La Selecta also competes in the biennial UNCAF Nations Cup, the Pan American Games, the Olympics, and have won two gold medals in the Central American and Caribbean Games.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Estadio Cuscatlán, also known as "El Coloso de Montserrat" and "La Catedral del Espectáculo", is the official home stadium of the El Salvador national football team. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is my all-time team for El Salvador</span></span></span></span><span face="-webkit-standard" style="font-size: small;">. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPb_Ww_BKvZLWawMTd8AKlgxX1a3NppJMnEc6sNtMNSJ4rgzmgm8JhTD3T4BWxX9z-4fi0gG0OZWOCRJPEnQXzDLNGYNbigCV-HjGT04k6K_SJaWFdyfZ1jkwmW1oHjXDOKOeB0wwSRrAzuzm8n9N_Udiyy3caY622-qPpfa_XSPsJdon92jVXlmKJ1A/s800/4vzWW4x.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="800" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPb_Ww_BKvZLWawMTd8AKlgxX1a3NppJMnEc6sNtMNSJ4rgzmgm8JhTD3T4BWxX9z-4fi0gG0OZWOCRJPEnQXzDLNGYNbigCV-HjGT04k6K_SJaWFdyfZ1jkwmW1oHjXDOKOeB0wwSRrAzuzm8n9N_Udiyy3caY622-qPpfa_XSPsJdon92jVXlmKJ1A/w400-h278/4vzWW4x.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">World Cup 1970</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span><div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Maga%C3%B1a">Raúl Magaña</a> <br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Nicknamed Araña (spider) and even El Gran Salvadoreño (the great Salvadoran), </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Raúl Magaña played for many clubs in El Salvador as well as clubs in Guatemala and Canada. Between 1958 and 1953, he played for FAS at home, where his career was mainly linked with. Nicknamed Araña (spider) and even El Gran Salvadoreño (the great Salvadoran), Magaña represented his country at their first ever World Cup, the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>GK: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Guevara_Mora">Luis Guevara Mora </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">After the 1982 World Cup, he moved to Spanish side Real Murcia. He also played for Platense, Atlético Marte, Once Lobos, Club Xelajú MC and Aurora FC. He is</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> the youngest goalkeeper ever capped in the national team's history. D</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">uring the qualification rounds for WC Finals in 1982, he only conceded one goal, but at the WC Finals, he sadly </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">became the goalkeeper with the most goals scored against in a single match. </span></div></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misael_Alfaro">Misael Alfaro</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Alfaro was ranked number 8 in the World's Most Successful Goalscoring Goalkeepers of All Time with 31 goals. Eleven of those coming from penalty kicks. For his club career, he played for many clubs. Misael Alfaro started his career at juvenile team of Destroyer La Libertad in 1987. He played for Alianza,. Luis Ángel Firpo, San Salvador FC, Águila. He ended his career at Isidro Metapán of the Salvadoran Primera División in 2010. He had 42 caps.</span></div><p></p><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB/RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Saprissa">Ricardo Saprissa</a> <br /><span><span>Born in El Salvador of Spanish parents, Saprissa played football with RCD Espanyol, as well as in tennis, field hockey and polo. He won Spain's football national championship with RCD Espanyol in 1928, the field hockey national championship in 1924, and the tennis national championships in 1923 and 1924. He participated with Spain at the Paris Olympic Games in 1924 and on the Spanish Davis Cup team in 1930. He moved to Costa Rica, in 1932, where he founded Deportivi Saprissa, the most successful club in Costa Rica.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">CB/RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Rodr%C3%ADguez">Jamie Rodriguez</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A defender, Rodríguez played professionally for different clubs around the world. Among these were El Salvador's Alianza F.C., Mexico's Club Léon and F.C. Atlas, and Germany's Bayer Uerdingen (now known as KFC Uerdingen 05). He also played for teams in Japan's NKK, Yokohama Flügels and Finland's KPV. He was capped 30 times for El Salvador. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1982.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Francisco_Jovel">Francisco Jovel </a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Paco Jovel started playing football with the Calaveras football team in the Salvadoran second division when only 14 years old and joined Firpo in 1972. He won his only league title during a couple of seasons with Águila. He was nicknamed el Káiser because his playing style resembling that of Franz Beckenbauer. For the national team. he was capped 110 times between 1976 and 1986. He played in the 1982 World Cup Finals for El Salvador.</span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eFCyi-gmcFk/WjUblTkE6zI/AAAAAAAAFPY/y4rhW0UzCIsEtHGiW3uFkvbKTMRw5QRdgCLcBGAs/s1600/CM82-ES0A2-Mora-Jovel-590x527.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="590" height="356" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eFCyi-gmcFk/WjUblTkE6zI/AAAAAAAAFPY/y4rhW0UzCIsEtHGiW3uFkvbKTMRw5QRdgCLcBGAs/s400/CM82-ES0A2-Mora-Jovel-590x527.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: start;">Luis Guevara Mora and </span><span>Jose Francisco Jovel</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">CM/CB/LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Humberto_Rodr%C3%ADguez">Jorge Rodriguez</a> </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nicknamed El Zarco, Jorge Rodríguez started his career with Salvadoran Second Division outfit Huracán in 1989 and has played professionally for Salvadoran Premier Division sides Isidro Metapán, FAS, Águila and Alianza as well as for Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas). For El Salvador, he has earned a total of 71 caps, scoring 9 goals between 1991 and 2004.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Antonio_Regalado">Luis Antonio Regalado</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nicknamed Loco (crazy), Regalado made his debut for El Salvador in a December 1943 CCCF Championship match against Guatemala and has earned a total of 62 caps, scoring 3 goals. These numbers include non-official matches. His final game for his country was on 19 June 1955. He played for Salvadoran league clubs Libertad, Espana, Luis Ángel Firpo and Atlético Marte. He played for Luis Angel Firpo between 1939 and 1952.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Mariona">Salvador Mariona </a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>Nicknamed Chamba, he was selected to represent El Salvador for ten years and featured in qualifying and playing in the 1970 World Cup. He was their captain in the 1970 World Cup. He began his footballing career at Mario Calvo in the third division and moved up to the Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador when he joined Atlante. But he spent the major part of his career at Salvadoran giants Alianza and also played for Platense Zacatecoluca, after which he retired in 1977. </div></span></span></div></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Recinos">Carlos Recinos</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><div>Nicknamed Imacasa after the company he worked for, Recinos began his professional football career at FAS where he stayed for sixteen years. He won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup in 1979. In 1985, he joined Alianza. He also played for El Salvador for 10 years and represented his country in 16 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Recinos also played for El Salvador at the 1975 Pan American Games.</div><div><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">DM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Cer%C3%A9n" style="font-family: Times;">Darwin Cerén </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Darwin Cerén began his professional career with Juventud Independiente. In 2014, he joined Orlando City in 2014, where he was named their Player of the Year. He also won the Latino Del Año MLS in the same year. After a season with San Jose Earthquakes, he joined Houston Dynamo in 2018. With 86 caps, he is El Salvador's most capped player. He made his debut in 2012 against New Zeland. He also served as their captain. His younger brother Oscar also played for El Salvador.</span><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92-br9tgJ4dEsSaHoMwBdPUvkQQyVXEHqqbxWH-EFu_PcpC-3yfYNrYt5MrEJ7cMV9iB0GiF9rDFn3uKckj7yzcm28eNMNROdrKxtsUoQqEBGlInI9gzE67ZQciEQNjp8aLro0JkXW0y2GU9-ZP-OQ1OdwzIR8wkzphyPkLZ9u0C-awg0zcMf8O_UYQ/s3200/darwinceren_-_091314vpanamamexsport.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2134" data-original-width="3200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92-br9tgJ4dEsSaHoMwBdPUvkQQyVXEHqqbxWH-EFu_PcpC-3yfYNrYt5MrEJ7cMV9iB0GiF9rDFn3uKckj7yzcm28eNMNROdrKxtsUoQqEBGlInI9gzE67ZQciEQNjp8aLro0JkXW0y2GU9-ZP-OQ1OdwzIR8wkzphyPkLZ9u0C-awg0zcMf8O_UYQ/w400-h266/darwinceren_-_091314vpanamamexsport.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Darwin Cerén </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrado_Miranda">Conrado Miranda </a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Miranda played with Pipiles, Independiente de San Vicente, CD Alacranes(Atlético Marte), Uruguay de Coronado(Costa Rica), Atlético Marte, Club Sport La Libertad, Conrado Miranda, and Águila of San Miguel. He often served as a player-coach. He represented El Salvador as a captain most of the time from 1948 to 1955, during this period El Salvador won the Gold Medal at the VII Central American and Caribbean Games in 1954 in Mexico.</span></div><div><div><div style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></div><div><span><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CM <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norberto_Huezo">Norberto Huezo </a></span><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Huezo started his career at UES and played for ANTEL before joining Atlético Marte in 1976. He then had a spell in Mexican football but returned to Marte. He played for Spanish side Palencia and Cartagena FC. He played for Costa Rican outfit Herediano and then for Guatemalan side Jalapa. He finished his career at FAS. From 1977 to 1989, he played for El Salvador. He went to the 1982 World Cup Finals.</span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">AM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauricio_Cienfuegos">Mauricio Cienfuegos</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "time" "new" , serif; font-size: large;">Cienfuegos began his career in 1985 with Racing Junior. He also played for Soyapango, and Luís Ángel Firpo in El Salvador, </span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"> for Morelia and Santos Laguna in Mexico. He joined</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "time" "new" , serif; font-size: large;"> LA Galaxy in 1996, where he stayed until 2003. He was elected to the MLS Best XI three times, in 1996, 1998, and 1999, and played in seven MLS All-Star Games. During his MLS career, Galaxy won the 2000 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the 2001 U.S. Open Cup, and the 2002 MLS Cup. Capped 68 times.</span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xG2aik_M6KM/WjUZaNxvJ8I/AAAAAAAAFPA/sFhBcgu1PtQmcHUDFmmSaO5pUhml9bQKQCLcBGAs/s1600/mauricio-cienfuegoos.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xG2aik_M6KM/WjUZaNxvJ8I/AAAAAAAAFPA/sFhBcgu1PtQmcHUDFmmSaO5pUhml9bQKQCLcBGAs/s400/mauricio-cienfuegoos.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mauricio Cienfuegos </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">RW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauricio_Alonso_Rodr%C3%ADguez">Mauricio “Pipo” Rodríguez </a></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Mauricio “Pipo” Rodríguez began playing professionally for Atlante San Alejo in 1962. He was signed, on a one-year loan basis, by C.D. FAS. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Rodriguez permanently signed and played out his soccer career at Universidad from 1963 to 1972. He scored the winning against Honduras in 1969, which might have led to the famous Football War. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1970 for El Salvador.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">LW/CM: </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Francisco_Barraza">Juan Francisco Barraza </a></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Juan Francisco Barraza was born in 1935. He was an all-time great in El Salvador. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He made his professional debut with Dragón in 1953. In 1958 he joined Deportivo Águila, with whom he won several league titles. He played for them until 1970. He won five consecutive titles between 1959 and 1968 for them. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He earned 30 caps scored 13 goals for the national team of El Salvador in official games between 1959 and 1969. He had 24 goals in 64 caps includimng unofficial games.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM/FW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1gico_Gonz%C3%A1lez">Magico Gonzalez</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">His real name is Jorge Alberto Gonzalez. Some said that he would be ranked among the greatest players ever if he was born Brazilian or Argentine. He played for ANTEL and Independiente Nacional 1906 over the course of two seasons, before moving to Club Deportivo Fútbolistas Asociados Santanecos. He was a star at La Liga during the 1980's. He mainly played for Cadiz, where he remained very loyal despite offers from bigger clubs. He led El Salvador to the first and only World Cup Finals in 1982. He had 62 caps.</span></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QIqOAsuUYGNONmqxCT6gV51iHkr144ax7ZlLdZcMfT0GIyswP3YhuktZq0spOyhx4kKbTo4YgSHQcuTYfQ36hv9hTq3zV6AezbVbg19X88aiUu_ejvSJs1whbs5Mf4LGRNST0DBwyIkz-VzgOJk8_msajE9hYK75hFj5D-9cxahol9TnClfkbqU1EA/s1434/Screenshot%202022-10-03%20at%204.28.17%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1434" data-original-width="1262" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QIqOAsuUYGNONmqxCT6gV51iHkr144ax7ZlLdZcMfT0GIyswP3YhuktZq0spOyhx4kKbTo4YgSHQcuTYfQ36hv9hTq3zV6AezbVbg19X88aiUu_ejvSJs1whbs5Mf4LGRNST0DBwyIkz-VzgOJk8_msajE9hYK75hFj5D-9cxahol9TnClfkbqU1EA/w353-h400/Screenshot%202022-10-03%20at%204.28.17%20PM.png" width="353" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Magico Gonzalez</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">FW:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolfo_Zelaya"> Rodolfo Zelaya</a></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Zelaya started in 2005 with San Rafael. he played for many clubs in El Salvador before moving to play for Leon in Mexico. He returned to play for Alianza, where he was a big star. He had unsuccess spells Los Angeles FC in MLS, Alania Vladikavkaz in Russia and Celaya in Mexico. Between 2008 and 2019, he had 52 caps for El Salvador. He was named in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI in 2011 and 2013.<br style="font-family: Times;" /><br style="font-family: Times;" /><span style="font-family: Times;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Ram%C3%ADrez_Zapata">Luis Ramírez Zapata</a></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Nicknamed El Pelé, he spent nearly 20 years playing for Salvadoran club Águila. He also would go on to play for Atlético Marte and Alianza in his homeland El Salvador and spent time abroad playing for Cartaginés in Costa Rica, scoring 11 goals, and Puebla in Mexico. In 1990, he played for the Washington Diplomats of the American Professional Soccer League. He was a member of the El Salvador team at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. During the tournament, he scored their only goal in World Cup history.</span><br style="font-family: Times;" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />ST:</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Cerritos" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ronald Cerritos</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ronald Cerritos started his career with ADET in 1993. He has spent the bulk of his career playing in MLS, being signed by the league in 1997. His best stint was with San Jose Clash Earthquakes where he played between 1997 and 2001, winning the MLS Cup in 2001. He later played with Dallas Burn, DC United and Houston Dynamo. He was named MLS Best XI in 1997. He is a member of San Jose Earthquakes Hall of Flame. For El Salvador, he has over 70 caps between 1993 and 2008.</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVOU-pH-KAs9fKNFa9rB8WKp0roFwVd1_d4FnSiATy-KVjyE6v68GmIrVRVlHgdq6AFZX7IDg72hYOGg0VAJtcqnYU1YQwSF1MkJA9kpxnt25khEPPPIhPTUvl-G5d9OhllrMaaDGst9mvQxqb4-sm2PeF9T28abyEhVDcywyeyBqmL95cjLagz8F0A/s1186/Screenshot%202022-10-03%20at%204.48.48%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1186" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVOU-pH-KAs9fKNFa9rB8WKp0roFwVd1_d4FnSiATy-KVjyE6v68GmIrVRVlHgdq6AFZX7IDg72hYOGg0VAJtcqnYU1YQwSF1MkJA9kpxnt25khEPPPIhPTUvl-G5d9OhllrMaaDGst9mvQxqb4-sm2PeF9T28abyEhVDcywyeyBqmL95cjLagz8F0A/w400-h291/Screenshot%202022-10-03%20at%204.48.48%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ronald Cerritos</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">ST </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Cruz" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Miguel Cruz </a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;">Nicknamed el Americano (the American), Cruz played club football in El Salvador, before going to Chile to play professionally alongside compatriot Armando Chacón at Universidad Católica. In 1935, he made his international debut in El Salvador's first group stage match at the 1935 Central American Games against Cuba. He scored 16 goals for El Salvador from 1935 to 1943. He represented his country at the 1935 Central American Games.</span><br style="font-family: Times;" /><br style="font-family: Times;" /><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ST: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ram%C3%B3n_Mart%C3%ADnez">Juan Ramon Martinez </a></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mon Martinez played in the 1968 and 1970 Olympic Games and the World Cup. </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">He began his career with local club, Club Deportivo Águila in 1964</span><span style="font-family: times;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He won the Salvadoran championship for the first time in the 1967-68 season . He got his second title in 1971 with CD Juventud Olímpica . Later, he played abroad with the CSD Municipal of Guatemala and the Indiana Tigers of the United States, together with his compatriots Raúl Magaña , Rafael Búcaro and Jorge Suárez.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_D%C3%ADaz_Arce">Raul Diaz Arc</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_D%C3%ADaz_Arce">e</a> </span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Raul Diaz Arce made his name with C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo, where he would go on to win the league's top scorer 3 times in a row (1993–1996). In 1996, he joined DC United. In his first season with United, he was second in scoring for the league behind Roy Lassiter. With them, he won two MLS Cups in 1996 and 1997. In 1998, he was traded to New England Revolution. From 1999, he played for many MLS clubs. Arce was capped 68 caps for El Salvador between 1987 and 2003.</span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_D_s6eSoyB0/WjzY2EbxiSI/AAAAAAAAFU4/koTpD1Y4zHQeVfG6wzf5Z0oikXxUFg6NACLcBGAs/s1600/0a8ed76d-d1a3-4fee-8314-22bacb00b94c.jpg_525981578.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="630" height="276" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_D_s6eSoyB0/WjzY2EbxiSI/AAAAAAAAFU4/koTpD1Y4zHQeVfG6wzf5Z0oikXxUFg6NACLcBGAs/s400/0a8ed76d-d1a3-4fee-8314-22bacb00b94c.jpg_525981578.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Raul Diaz Arce</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Honorable Mention</span></u></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Luis "Manotas" Castro, Carlos Melendez, Manuel Garay, Juan Jose Gomez , Carlos Carlanga Rivera, Raul "Superman" Garcia, Gualberto "Pulpo" Fernandez, Vladan Visevic, Leonel Cárcamo, Roberto Rivas, Guillermo Castro, Víctor Velasquez, Ramon Fagoaga, Mario Castillo, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Castro Borja, Eliseo Antonio Quintanilla, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Gustavo Marroquin, Ever Hernandez, Sergio Méndez, Armando Chacon Senior, José María Rivas. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Jorgo Magico Gonzalez was El Salvador's greatest footballer. Mauricio Cienfuegos and Juan Francisco Barraza were probably also automatic selections. They were followed by Noberto Huezo, Luis Ramírez Zapata and Raul Diaz Arce. <br /></span><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- In 1970, El Salvador became the first Central American country to qualify for the World Cup. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The World Cup team of El Salvador in 1970 was under represented here. Mon Martinez, </span><span><span><span style="font-size: large;">Mauricio “Pipo” Rodríguez and </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Raúl Magaña were the only players on this all-time team. The World Cup Qualifier between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969 led to the "Football War", a brief war between the two countries. A peace treaty was not signed until 1980. Two years later, both countries qualified to the World Cup Finals in Spain.<br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">-- El Salvador's World Cup 1982 team included Carlos Recinos, Noberto Huezo, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Jose Francisco Jovel, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Jamie Rodriguez and </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Magico Gonzalez. It was not a good Finals for them where they lost 10-1 against Hungary.</span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;">-- A survey among El Salvador's journalists was conducted by <a href=" https://historico.elsalvador.com/historico/267017/los-mejores-50-futbolistas-salvadorenos-de-todos-los-tiempos.html">EDH DEPORTES in 2013</a> to determine their country's 50 greatest ever footballers. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Magico González easily won the poll. He was </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>followed by Juan Francisco Barraza and Pipo Rodríguez in that order. </span><span>Norberto Huezo, Raúl Magaña, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Luis Ramirez Zapata, </span></span><span><span style="font-size: large;">Jamie Rodríguez and Raúl Díaz Arce were also on top of the poll.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- IFFHS selected the following players as their <a href="https://www.iffhs.com/posts/1355">All-Time Best XI for El Salvador</a>: Raúl Magaña, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Jaime Rodríguez, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Francisco Jovel, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Luis Antonio Regalado, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Carlos Recinos, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Norberto Huezo, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Mauricio Cienfuegos, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Pipo Rodríguez, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Mágico González, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Luis Ramírez Zapata and </span><span style="font-size: large;">Juan Francisco Barraza.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I based on my research on three All-Time Best XI teams from El Gráfico. They were as followed:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>-- Misael Alfaro, Salvador Mariona, Jaime Rodríguez, Francisco Jovel, Norberto Huezo, Eliseo Antonio Quintanilla, Marcos Cienfugos</div><div>Juan Francisco Barraza, Magico Gonzalez, Rodolfo Zelaya and Mauricio "Pipo" Rodríguez</div><div> -- Misael Alfaro, Leonel Carcamo, Francisco Jovel, Mario Castillo, Carlos Recinos, Mauricio Cienfugos, Norberto Huezo, Luis Ramírez Zapata, Juan Francisco Barraz, Magico Gonzalez, Rodolfo Zelaya,</div><div>-- Misael Alfaro, Roberto Rivas, Jaime Rodríguez, Francisco Jovel,</div><div>Carlos Recinos, Norberto Huezo, Carlos Castro Borja, Eliseo Antonio Quintanilla, Magico Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Barraza and Rodolfo Zelaya.</div><div><div>-- El Salvador won the 1943 Central American and Caribbean gold Championship. I selected Luis “El Loco” Regalado and Miguel “Americano” Cruz. In 1954, they took the football gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games. Conrado Miranda, Francisco Barraza and Luis Regalado were from that generation. </div></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeeper</u></b></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Raúl Magaña is probably El Salvador's greatest ever goalkeepers. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Luis Guevara Mora was the all-time cap leader for El Salvador national team. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> The two goalkeepers represented El Salvador at the their World Cup Finals respectively.</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFr6_4rNjWHC6g5FWnlFWy0gUW1U2Rf9CdF_AeQd5DE_oItkD1aVo8GPVXPdlGq_-_aFYb5EDM54PRl94tUyKWjtZK3C-KASqNhDOsTbN7hs3g9tP6O8AP6swcjb_G_bBRU23hUgijT_-mAYms6vAd2utHJiAsAFno56ThcgmSq7VQCnSlZB_-Wo3gQ/s548/1587604563.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="548" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFr6_4rNjWHC6g5FWnlFWy0gUW1U2Rf9CdF_AeQd5DE_oItkD1aVo8GPVXPdlGq_-_aFYb5EDM54PRl94tUyKWjtZK3C-KASqNhDOsTbN7hs3g9tP6O8AP6swcjb_G_bBRU23hUgijT_-mAYms6vAd2utHJiAsAFno56ThcgmSq7VQCnSlZB_-Wo3gQ/s320/1587604563.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> Raúl Magaña </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"></span><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Diario AS of Spain listed Misael Alfaro as one of the greatest goal scoring goalkeepers of all-time alongside Rogerio Ceni and Jose Luis Chilavert. All three of El Gráficoll-time Best XI teams listed him as the starting goalkeeper. I picked him over Manuel "Tamalón" Garay for my third goalkeeper.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Manuel "Tamalón" Garay was ranked 10th by the IFFHS for their CONCACAF Goalkeeper of the Century election. He finished highest among goalkeepers from El Salvador. He helped his country to win the 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games. I did not find much information about him. He was largely a forgotten player even in El Salvador. His name did appear in several all-time lists in El Salvadoran source, but not ranked as high as Raúl Magaña, Misael Alfaro and Luis Guevara Mora. In English sites, of course, he was in the top two. I decided to go against him in the top three. He along with Raul Garcia or Carlos Rivera was probably my 4th choice. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I also studied those goalkeepers: Luis "Manotas" Castro, Carlos Caho Melendez, Manuel Tamalon Garay, Juan Jose Gomez , Carlos Carlanga Rivera, Raul Garcia "Superman" and Gualberto "Pulpo" Fernandez.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div><div><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Jaime Rodríguez or Francisco Jovel were considered El Salvador's greatest defenders.</span></div><div><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ricardo Saprissa is on my<a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/espanyol.html"> Espanyol All-Time</a> team. Not many people listed him as an all-timer from here. How many Salvadoran footballer had a better career in Europe than him? He was eligible for this team because he was born in El Salvador. He represented Spain and Costa Rica in tennis, not football. Deportivo Saprissa in Costa Rica was named after him. He was a rightback or central defender. Then, I selected Jaime Rodríguez (also a central defender) who was a overwhelmly selection by most all-time lists. He won the CONCACAF Champions League with FAS and the Salvadoran league title with Alianza. One El Salvadoran site ranked him as the 4th greatest footballer from there. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Many people also considered Leonel Cárcamo, but both Saprissa and Rodriguez was too big of a name. I also had Roberto Rivas.</span></div><div><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Alfredo Pacheco was mentioned as a serious candidate for the leftback. At one point, he was El Salvador's most capped footballer. However, his failure in MLS counted against him. I normally kept off field scandals or incidents away from my decisions, but his match fixing ban did cloud my decision. So Carlos Recinos was probably a safe bet for the leftback position. One of El Gráfico's selections and IFFHS also took him.</span></div><div><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Francisco Jovel was the obvious choices for my first central defender. One of El Gráfico's selections and IFFHS took </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Luis Antonio Regalado. He was on El Salavdor's 1943 CCCF Championship. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Salvador Mariona was the captain of their 1970 World Cup team.</span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- For the last central defender, I looked into Leonel Carcamo, Víctor Velasquez, Ramon Fagoaga and Mario Castillo, but I took Jorge Rodríguez. He was a standout player in Dallas Burns. Leonel Carcamo was on my Central American All-Time team I created in 2018, but when I did this team, I could not understand why. He has played all of his professional career at hometown club Luis Ángel Firpo between 1985 and 2001, becoming a club legend in the process. He has amassed a total of 84 caps in 13 years, scoring no goals. </span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmQ2vB76xAghMjj_1mnR1zbE7AxNO7D163W9wE-gJq7qEB1OY8i_I4j46Nrh82zWgCFrdWXKNXvNxDPWagrCb5eS5zqQ1Ji4bJnl7svSkL48YLGftktspHcroLxpgN8-hSNRYxFhBQp6hke322s1p9M_ox-CpQbt2VcdJ6D1RG8Zhk-x9xYYsOfTW2w/s1094/Screenshot%202022-10-02%20at%2010.46.57%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1094" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjmQ2vB76xAghMjj_1mnR1zbE7AxNO7D163W9wE-gJq7qEB1OY8i_I4j46Nrh82zWgCFrdWXKNXvNxDPWagrCb5eS5zqQ1Ji4bJnl7svSkL48YLGftktspHcroLxpgN8-hSNRYxFhBQp6hke322s1p9M_ox-CpQbt2VcdJ6D1RG8Zhk-x9xYYsOfTW2w/w400-h291/Screenshot%202022-10-02%20at%2010.46.57%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Jorge Rodríguez</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="font-family: times;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times;">Vladan Visevic a naturalised Salvadoran defender from Serbia was well-known as his time, but he only played 23 times for El Salvador. I only put him on honorable mention. I also came upon a defender named Francisco Zamora. His name was not mentioned in any of my research. He was an All-Timer for Alianza.</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">-- CB </span>Jorge Rodríguez could also play as a defensive midfielder, but I still needed more midfielders<span>. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Darwin Cerén was </span><span>Orlando City Player of the Year, but his performance in MLS was somewhat mixed. Basically, I selected him because I needed more defensive midfielders and I should also honor him because he is El Salvador's most capped player.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>-- Norberto Huezo </span><span>“El Pajarito ” </span><span>was in all six lists that I researched on. He scored the decisive goal that helped El Salvador to qualify for the 1982 World Cup Finals. He also had a brief career in Spain. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Conrado Miranda served as El Salvador's captain most of the time from 1948 to 1955, during this period El Salvador won the Gold Medal at the VII Central American and Caribbean Games in 1954 in Mexico.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Maurcicio Cienfuegos' peak was with Los Angeles Galaxy. He played seven seasons winning the CONCACAF Champions Cup, MLS Cup, the Supporters' Shield twice and was selected to MLS All-Star games 7 times. He was a big star in MLS.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Many people said that Jorge "Magico" Gonzalez was one of the greatest players ever played the game. Diego Maradona considered him one of the greatest ever players he had seen. If he was a Brazilian, he would have been a household names according to many who saw him playing in La Liga. He also played for a big European club.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Mauricio "Pipo" Rodríguez was also a key figure for the Salvadorans when they qualified for the 1968 Mexico Olympics and the 1970 World Cup. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nicknamed the "Left-Handed Professor", Juan Francisco Barraza: immortalized himself in the history of Deportivo Águila by winning five consecutive titles between 1959 and 1968.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6dMDIcSsdU4o2Ta6ZoclSaRVOJLCLIkU6pvkKOokDcH53J6IKS2vizRMy8iQrhpjkLchIktZMLkhtIeHilA4EYYlJdcCP40qx5rE82x8-3avuBGdbcVRI8qZ4PrRYRi8HWzY23uCIF8dAB95r_oTU8T2YKU1tMirn6otacyq2b5Sg2PHeo6AIg9hzw/s357/270px-J-JuanFBarraza-337x446.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="270" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6dMDIcSsdU4o2Ta6ZoclSaRVOJLCLIkU6pvkKOokDcH53J6IKS2vizRMy8iQrhpjkLchIktZMLkhtIeHilA4EYYlJdcCP40qx5rE82x8-3avuBGdbcVRI8qZ4PrRYRi8HWzY23uCIF8dAB95r_oTU8T2YKU1tMirn6otacyq2b5Sg2PHeo6AIg9hzw/w303-h400/270px-J-JuanFBarraza-337x446.jpeg" width="303" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Juan Francisco Barraza </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Nicknamed El Tamarindo, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armando_Chac%C3%B3n" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Armando Chacon Senior</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">was one of the first Salvadoran players to play abroad. He played for Universidad Católica in Chile between 1940 and 1948. I found limited information on him. So I only put him on honorable mention. His son was also named Armando Chacon. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- With 81 caps, Dennis Atlas is the third most capped player from El Salvador. However, he was banned from playing football in 2012 for match-fixing. I only put him on honorable mention. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I also looked into Carlos Castro Borja and Eliseo Antonio Quintanilla.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Forwards </u></b></span></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I first took Luis Ramirez "El Pele" Zapata who was named in top 10 greatest ever El Salvadoran player from a list I found on the internet. He was also selected to be onto IFFHS's Best Xi team.</span></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Nicknamed 'Toto', Raúl Díaz Arce is El Salvador's All-Time leading scorer. He</span><span> is one of my personal favourite player. I watched him while he was playing with DC United. His achievement in MLS put him on the list. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Juan Ramón "Mon" Martínez was the hero of El Salvador's 1970 World Cup qualification. He was their top scorer in the campaign. He scored the decisive goal that helped El Salvador to qualify for the World Cup Finals. One journalist named him El Salvador's greatest player ahead of "Magico" Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Barraza.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ronald Cerritos was a top player while in MLS, but he was mentioned less than I expected. He only scored 17 goals in 78 caps. His ratio was very lowe. Nevertheless, I still took him.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Miguel Cruz helped El Salvador to win the 1943 CCCP Cup. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>-- Rodolfo 'Fito' Zelaya was a big star with Alianza, but an injury derailed his career in Russia. His reputation further tarnished by a match-fixing ban. However, he did appear in many of the lists of El Salvador's All-Time greats. His ranking in EDH Deportes dropped scandal. </div></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4r9XtcrEzNRi4Jp9oQN86DEMfvQ6hCUweaEYAoL3LqsDAg5_SGV4u9XHz-DD_kJXUAhqP-jqqGosAZ0nnvinjbFSNNAB6c0pm5E3D9tc3kuiJrfwdyUjwpGLDFOG5gOGweWB__GZSieOnPXJzP31tUU7shqxNzlSDykkQE6MFQV2FbSAsvOWqWvIBw/s1400/GYI0061520826.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4r9XtcrEzNRi4Jp9oQN86DEMfvQ6hCUweaEYAoL3LqsDAg5_SGV4u9XHz-DD_kJXUAhqP-jqqGosAZ0nnvinjbFSNNAB6c0pm5E3D9tc3kuiJrfwdyUjwpGLDFOG5gOGweWB__GZSieOnPXJzP31tUU7shqxNzlSDykkQE6MFQV2FbSAsvOWqWvIBw/w400-h300/GYI0061520826.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Rodolfo 'Fito' Zelaya <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div><b><u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Formation</span></u></b></div><div><b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div><b><u><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/10/1899850_Champions_League_Team.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/10/1899850_Champions_League_Team.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-32053100876516256592022-08-07T06:03:00.018-07:002024-03-07T12:23:12.752-08:00What if Hungary went to the 1950 World Cup<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div><div>His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVKwaEPZb0YARRJT2v0uIU718CHKOULKvZ9E8NLeYOYkIof_bv490ligJKA6yizdjfQ5_7UJAGyYEFfrmA4BcehhQXawmwE3hfLBm4dkGEdQyutdMrRLEU5cJ1b-RQDHp5aV5D157ttWOSq6hZLFA5gUWulxDUlOQDgvEdDIksukQrPPe0ytKObP2suQ/s1025/Lengyel-magyar%202-8,%201949.06..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="1025" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVKwaEPZb0YARRJT2v0uIU718CHKOULKvZ9E8NLeYOYkIof_bv490ligJKA6yizdjfQ5_7UJAGyYEFfrmA4BcehhQXawmwE3hfLBm4dkGEdQyutdMrRLEU5cJ1b-RQDHp5aV5D157ttWOSq6hZLFA5gUWulxDUlOQDgvEdDIksukQrPPe0ytKObP2suQ/w400-h272/Lengyel-magyar%202-8,%201949.06..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Hungary vs Poland 1949</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></div></div><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/austria.html">Austria </a></span></span></span><br /><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/hungary.html">Hungary</a></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2018/01/sweden-1950.html">Sweden World Cup1950</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/austria-hungary-1954.html"><span style="font-family: times;">Austria-Hungary 1954</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/07/if-argentina-sent-to-this-team-to-wc.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Angels with Dirty Faces with Di Stefano in the WC 1958</span></a><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/09/scotland-1970.html">Scotland World Cup 1970</a></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/11/united-kingdom-1970.html">United Kingdom World Cup 1970</a></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/england-1974.html" style="font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">England World Cup 1974</span></a></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/12/if-united-kingdom-went-to-spain-1982.html">United Kingdom World Cup1982</a></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/12/netherlands-1984.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: times;">Netherlands Euro 1984 with Cruyff, Van Basten, Gulli</span>t</a></span></span></span><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/02/what-if-italy-1992.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Italy Euro 1992</span></a><br style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;" /><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/11/united-kingdom-1994.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">United Kingdom World Cup 1994</span></a><br /><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/12/yugoslavia-1994.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yugoslavia World Cup 1994</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/07/france-1994_22.html">France World Cup 1994</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/10/germany-2002.html">Germany World Cup 2002</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/holland-2002.html">Netherlands World Cup 2002</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/11/usa-2010.html">USA World Cup 2010</a></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/12/what-if-catalonia-world-cup-2010-team.html"><span style="font-family: times;">Catalonia World Cup 2010</span></a><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/05/ronaldo-and-messi-playing-together-for.html" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">If Ronaldo and Messi played for Australia in 2006</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-brazil-1982.html">Brazil 1982 with Careca,etc</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/irelandnorth-ireland-1986.html">Ireland/Northern Ireland Combined Team 1986 World Cup</a></span><br /><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/yugoslavia-2018.html">Yugoslavia World Cup 2018</a></span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><div class="separator"><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-if-ussr-went-to-world-cup-2018.html">USSR 2018 World Cup</a></span></span></div><div class="separator"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/02/paris-nation-team-in-wc-2018.html">Parisian nation team in World Cup 2018</a></div><div class="separator"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2023/05/ghana-2022.html">Ghana World Cup 2022</a></div></span></span></span></div></div></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 1949, Gusztáv Sebes assumed the helm of the Hungarian national team. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">From 1950 to 1956, Sebes meticulously constructed a formidable squad that would define an era. Their achievements were nothing short of extraordinary, highlighted by a legendary victory over England at Wembley in 1953. It was a historic moment, as they became the first continental European team to defeat England on their own soil. owever, their sole defeat came in the 1954 World Cup Final against West Germany, a team they had previously defeated 8-3 in the group stage. This loss prevented Hungary from claiming the World Cup title and solidified their status as one of the greatest teams to have never won the tournament. The Germans referred to it as the "Miracle of Bern," which cast a shadow over the otherwise exceptional record of the Mighty Magyars.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Why did I create an imaginary World Cup Finals in 1950 for Hungary? At first, I intended to recreate an alternative 1954 World Cup team with Laszlo Kubala, István Nyers and others. However, upon further study of the players, I realised that the 1950 World Cup had a bigger talent pool than in 1954.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBx5SlYGhEp_5rWuBS_RqQ3ps9I0doNuNH7dKeeCActw7qZjABe6btF8H45XLEqXmS4uxzkv39Ryaw1i0oEFC6j8l5vLbVAS9wDUzbtI0ZJ4Y-1mpiDcRka9izOtfnuyJx9ipTj9a4_f--9gMmNAIqRQAx3TLIzuzZ6Loju4Wz7TJIf8iL29ox1hPSbQ/s1511/fortepan_13743.jpeg" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1511" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBx5SlYGhEp_5rWuBS_RqQ3ps9I0doNuNH7dKeeCActw7qZjABe6btF8H45XLEqXmS4uxzkv39Ryaw1i0oEFC6j8l5vLbVAS9wDUzbtI0ZJ4Y-1mpiDcRka9izOtfnuyJx9ipTj9a4_f--9gMmNAIqRQAx3TLIzuzZ6Loju4Wz7TJIf8iL29ox1hPSbQ/w400-h251/fortepan_13743.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The Mighty Magyars had a formidable core of players, including Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, Nándor Hidegkuti, Zoltán Czibor, József Bozsik, and Gyula Grosics, who had already been representing the national team since the late 1940s. D</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">uring that period, Laszlo Kubala was touring Spain with his exile team, catching the attention of both Barcelona and Real Madrid in the summer of 1950. In 1950, Ferenc Deak was nearing his peak, but his goal output declined after that year. István Nyers was in the midst of his career at Inter Milan, later moving to AS Roma in 1954. Gyula Zsengellér continued playing in Italy, while Sándor Szűcs remained alive. Unfortunately, Ferenc Rudas suffered a serious injury in March 1950, which prematurely ended his career. In an alternative scenario, if we consider these players for the 1954 World Cup team, Sándor Szűcs, Gyula Zsengellér, and Ferenc Rudas would not be available. Additionally, there would be uncertainties regarding Ferenc Deak. The only realistic addition would be Laszlo Kubala.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div><b><u>Prediction</u></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Predicting the outcome of Hungary's performance in the 1950 World Cup would have been highly challenging. Their head-to-head record against some of the tournament's top teams provides interesting insights. It is notable that Hungary did not face Brazil or Uruguay until the 1954 World Cup Finals, where they eliminated both teams. Their match against Brazil, famously known as the "Battle of Bern," was a significant victory for Hungary. Against 3rd place Sweden, Hungary played two matches in 1949, winning one and drawing the other. Their encounters with Spain were limited to two matches in the 1920s, both resulting in losses for Hungary.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Regarding their history with England, Hungary had never defeated them until the iconic 1953 match. Prior to that, their encounters had not yielded positive results. Against Italy, since losing the World Cup Final in 1938, Hungary had faced them four times, with two losses and two draws. The most recent match took place in 1949, ending in a 1-1 draw. It is unlikely that these past matches would have been clear indications of what was to come in the 1950 World Cup.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The 1950 tournament saw many unexpected outcomes, as the two heavy favorites, Brazil and England, suffered agonizing defeats. Brazil's loss to Uruguay in the famous Maracanaço match and England's defeat against amateurs from the United States demonstrated that anything could happen in that World Cup. While Hungary might have been considered one of the favorites on paper, the unpredictability of the tournament made it impossible to foresee the final outcome.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_u8TtBwxBE6Z1g8p3vbAP76NCrn3N8vBwmMQh6HrnYbn-7NnkZEO8Cg7wD4taV5YTQDqA0iqTj2oAz6XXUlu1iJYIl46SNZaOj2hLifRXXWj2AYWC3LWWnPX7IJDXX0-bhDND4REYOLXP7ZLhSz2mMJD_BeyWJUGpqMIr_lZHmH2rtzjBtOCuVQFtA/s2968/Wembley_Stadium,_the_Hungarian_national_team_before_the_6-3_match_against_England.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2005" data-original-width="2968" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_u8TtBwxBE6Z1g8p3vbAP76NCrn3N8vBwmMQh6HrnYbn-7NnkZEO8Cg7wD4taV5YTQDqA0iqTj2oAz6XXUlu1iJYIl46SNZaOj2hLifRXXWj2AYWC3LWWnPX7IJDXX0-bhDND4REYOLXP7ZLhSz2mMJD_BeyWJUGpqMIr_lZHmH2rtzjBtOCuVQFtA/w400-h270/Wembley_Stadium,_the_Hungarian_national_team_before_the_6-3_match_against_England.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Hungary vs England in 1953</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;"></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Team(only 22 players in 1950)</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyula_Grosics">Gyula Grosics</a> </span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gyula Grosics </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">was part of the legendary Golden Team of the 1950s. He was nicknamed "Black Panther". He played in three World Cup Finals: 1954, 1958 and 1962. He won the Olympic Gold medal in 1952. He was the starting keeper when Hungary beat England in the historical match in 1952. At the club level, he played for the legendary Honved FC, but transferred to </span></span><span dir="auto" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">FC Tatabánya after the 1956 Revolution.</span></span></span><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9za_Henni">Henni Géza </a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Henni Géza started his career in Kiskunhalas. He later played for Ferencvárosi between 1945 and 1950. from Kiskunhalas. From 1950 to 1956, he played for Újpest FC. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>He played in 16 matches for the Hungary national football team from 1948 to 1953. He was also part of Hungary's squad at the 1952 Summer Olympics, but he did not play in any matches. </span><span>In 1956 he left for the United States . He played for a while, and then he finished active football.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jen%C5%91_Buz%C3%A1nszky">Jenő Buzánszky</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Buzánszky made his debut for Hungary on 12 November 1950 in a 1–1 draw with Bulgaria. He subsequently played 48 times for Hungary and as one of the legendary Mighty Magyars. Unliked his teammates, he never played for Honved or MTK in his club career. He started with Pécsi Vasutas SK. He spent majority of his career with Dorogi between 1947 and 1960. He was ranked as one of Hungary's greatest rightbacks.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RB/LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1ndor_Balogh">Sándor Balogh</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>At the age of 16, he played in the Pesterzsébet MTK team for the first time in the league. From 1940 to 1953, he was a footballer for Újpest. Three-time Hungarian champion (spring 1945, 1945–46, 1946–47), runner-up twice (1940–41, 1941–42) and third place twice (autumn 1950, 1951, 1952). Between 1942 and 1950, he appeared in the national team 24 times. </div><div><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB: </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyula_L%C3%B3r%C3%A1nt" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Gyula Lorant </a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">After the War, Gyula Lorant tried to escape to the West, but was captured by the Communists. He was released from detention so that he could represent Hungary. </span></span>He held 37 caps from 1949 to 1955. He was a member of </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">the <i>Mighty Magyars</i> that won the Olympic Gold Medal in 1952, beat England twice in 1952 and went the World Cup Final in 1954. He was one of Hungary's most famous defender. At the club level, he also joined the super team Honved during the early 1950's.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9L509zbvUmTwtADYWForUzYbg73RncXLk9WjULyHjyHhPcy7uJP6fVJGsebJqocFSyP3y1L1KZB0btgkmobrXrFvpUjB66o1_ouEDftx4XushZd7AzHYmpqMzzuDMuq5wjycfx7qTK04JaqeMOGtcH6ZEuh4ZQVUplaUkrW1QiINiBgfD2opYPIKVg/s450/e40c467da4eb1440e19951557dc1ff7d.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="253" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9L509zbvUmTwtADYWForUzYbg73RncXLk9WjULyHjyHhPcy7uJP6fVJGsebJqocFSyP3y1L1KZB0btgkmobrXrFvpUjB66o1_ouEDftx4XushZd7AzHYmpqMzzuDMuq5wjycfx7qTK04JaqeMOGtcH6ZEuh4ZQVUplaUkrW1QiINiBgfD2opYPIKVg/w225-h400/e40c467da4eb1440e19951557dc1ff7d.jpeg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Gyula Lorant </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span>CB: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1ndor_Sz%C5%B1cs">Sándor Szűcs</a></span></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto">Sándor Szűcs</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span>played the best of his career playing for</span> <span>Újpest FC in the 1940's. He was capped 19 times from 1941 to 1948. He played briefly with Ferenc Puskas on the national team. Szűcs was tricked into defecting by the ÁVÓ. The state police captured him not far from the border. He was sentenced to death for High treason during a secret, pre-arranged trial and later executed in 1951. He was only 29 years old.</span></span></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">LB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mih%C3%A1ly_Lantos">Mihaly Lantos </a></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mihaly Lantos is also a member of </span><span style="font-size: large;">the Mighty Magyars. He played for </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">MTK Hungária FC and won three Hungarian titles, a Hungarian Cup and a Mitropa Cup. In 1955, as Vörös Lobogó SE, they also played in the first ever European Cup. Lantos, scoring three goals, including two penalties, helped the club reach the quarter-finals.. He was capped 52 times and scored 5 goals. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>DM/LB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zsef_Zakari%C3%A1s">József Zakariás </a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Zakariás spent the peak of his career at MTK Hungária FC. Between 1949 and 1954, Zakariás won 35 caps for Hungary. As one of the legendary Mighty Magyars, he helped Hungary become Olympic Champions in 1952, Central European Champions in 1953 and defeated England twice. He then helped Hungary reach the 1954 World Cup final. During the World Cup finals he played in four of the five games Hungary played in. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zsef_Bozsik">Jozsef Bozsik </a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jozsef Bozsik was considered the second best Hungarian player of all-time after his childhood friend Ferenc Puskus. He was one of the greatest central midfielders in world football history. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He was also a member of </span><span style="font-size: large;">the Mighty Magyars of the 1950's. At the club level, he played for Honved. After the Revolution of 1956, he returned to Hungary and continued to play for both Hungary and Honved. He picked up 101 caps for Hungary between 1947 and 1962.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VENlBmlIpC4/VG7BsKbasrI/AAAAAAAAAys/b028Z7uFYBU/s1600/bozsik-jozsef-labdarugo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VENlBmlIpC4/VG7BsKbasrI/AAAAAAAAAys/b028Z7uFYBU/s400/bozsik-jozsef-labdarugo.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Jozsef Bozsik </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1nos_B%C3%B6rzsei">János Börzsei</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Between 1942 and 1945, he became a top footballer as a player for Elektromos. In 1946, he played for a short time in Cluj, then signed a contract with MTK. He played there until his retirement. Between 1948 and 1956, he appeared in the national team 23 times. In 1952, he was a member of the Olympic team in Helsinki, but did not play, so he did not receive a gold medal. He was Gyula Lóránt's reserve in the Golden Team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_S%C3%A1rosi">Béla Sárosi</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Béla Sárosi was the brother of </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">György Sárosi. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In Ferencváros, he appeared in 326 matches between 1937 and 1946. In 1946, he moved aboard, where he played for Bologna and Bari in Italy. And then, he went to South America to play for Junior Barranquilla. He was player-coach with Porto, and finally with Real Zaragoza, Lugano and Millonarios FC. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Between 1939 and 1945, he appeared 25 times in the national team. He went to the 1938 World Cup, but did not play.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">RW:</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1ndor_K%C3%A1roly_(labdar%C3%BAg%C3%B3)">Károly Sándor</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Sandor </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">earned 75 caps between 1949 and 1964 for Hungary, scoring 27 goals. Sándor was a member of the Golden Team, but manager Gusztáv Sebes favored Laszlo Budai in the early 1950's. H</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">e also participated in the World Cups in 1958 and 1962. He was their captain from 1962 onward. Sándor </span><span style="font-family: times;">started playing football in Kinizsi Móraváros in his hometown of Szeged. He then </span><span style="font-family: times;">played club football for MTK for the rest of his career between 1947 and 1964. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcvP2xbOIvAY0vtf74kc_9n2c29CjgcshbB7tIoXt_WAxPJenYSywCw18JNlAt9-6nTD0NMbzufwl3HD8P_ljwy7QejwGJveFxntEbyVlEk5Ujsxl51nlY0ZdAkeLfLG0sLXjuSxIeW5TZOCXh1pehYDoETTL9g_bTebxMs_6Fn5t66f4_HKzGtrK_Q/s878/Screenshot%202022-08-06%20at%209.37.25%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="668" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcvP2xbOIvAY0vtf74kc_9n2c29CjgcshbB7tIoXt_WAxPJenYSywCw18JNlAt9-6nTD0NMbzufwl3HD8P_ljwy7QejwGJveFxntEbyVlEk5Ujsxl51nlY0ZdAkeLfLG0sLXjuSxIeW5TZOCXh1pehYDoETTL9g_bTebxMs_6Fn5t66f4_HKzGtrK_Q/w304-h400/Screenshot%202022-08-06%20at%209.37.25%20PM.png" width="304" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Károly Sándor</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Budai">László Budai</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Budai was born in Budapest and played as a midfielder and forward for Ferencvárosi TC, Honvéd and Hungary. During the 1950s he was a member of the legendary Hungarian national team known as the Mighty Magyars. He won the Olymipic gold in 1952. Other members of the team included Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik and Nándor Hidegkuti. The stadium of Rákospalotai EAC was named after him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">LW/FW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istv%C3%A1n_Nyers">Istvan Nyers</a> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Istvan Nyers was of the same age as the members of the Mighty Magyars, but he was not a member of them. He was capped twice by Hungary between 1945 and 1946. </span></span>Born in France of Hungarian immigrants, he moved back to Hungary and played for various clubs in Eastern Europe. He joined Inter Milan in 1948, where he won two Serie A titles and finished as the top scorer of the league. He was considered a legend in Inter Milan.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">LW: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zolt%C3%A1n_Czibor" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Zoltan Czibor</span></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zolt%C3%A1n_Czibor"> </a><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Zoltan Czibor was widely considered to be one of the greatest left winger in history. He was also a member of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">the Mighty Magyars of the 1950's. After 1956. he fled to the West. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He joined Ladislao Kubala and Sándor Kocsis to play for FC Barcelona. Together with </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ramallets, Evaristo and Luis Suárez, they formed the great Barcelona team of the 1950's. He later played for Espanyol, t FC Basel, FK Austria Wien and Primo Hamilton FC.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7snQIl6v4MA/XiWd2n-lETI/AAAAAAAAJSk/6EmXf70U9U8BM-WNu0olFS9Fs-UK16xSQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/9I6x3Yw.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="750" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7snQIl6v4MA/XiWd2n-lETI/AAAAAAAAJSk/6EmXf70U9U8BM-WNu0olFS9Fs-UK16xSQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/9I6x3Yw.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Zoltan Czibor</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferenc_Szusza">Ferenc Szusza</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">As of 2021, Szusza was the all-time second-top scorer in Hungary's top division, and the 11th highest among all top division players in the world. He played his entire career with Újpest FC between 1941 and 1960. Their stadium, Szusza Ferenc Stadium, is named after Szusza. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He played 24 times for Hungary scoring 18 goals between 1942 and 1956, but was a surprise omission from the side that won gold at the 1952 Summer Olympics. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>FW/SS/AM: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Kubala">Laszlo Kubala</a><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Born in Hungary of a multi-cultural background, Laszlo Kubala was known as one of the greatest Barcelona players ever. He still managed to win 4 Li Liga titles in the 1950's in an era dominated by Real Madrid. He also played for Ferencváros, Slovan Bratislava, etc. In 1961, Barcelona eliminated Real Madrid from the European Cup, the first ever loss by Real Madrid at the tournament. He was capped by Hungry, Spain and Czechoslovakia. He was a guest player for Catalonia national football team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNgX1nlgOZMANW5jUrRRxNL8YhaXU3qcTaYe-FjbGodtnk7xwg0x6HXVYi9MYI4bC13daKQg-OfTmP1FSVounqZmpS2voZjKieVJVWCeAZ0EQh4YRV8NEooAOHWjm-d3ZlyVxAkELcaGd_EIgM1gqT7lBsgniYBEhy6KN_e3vJpgT2PCuZcv9XSOl4g/s514/B-ZfHlgIQAAJlD-.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="360" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNgX1nlgOZMANW5jUrRRxNL8YhaXU3qcTaYe-FjbGodtnk7xwg0x6HXVYi9MYI4bC13daKQg-OfTmP1FSVounqZmpS2voZjKieVJVWCeAZ0EQh4YRV8NEooAOHWjm-d3ZlyVxAkELcaGd_EIgM1gqT7lBsgniYBEhy6KN_e3vJpgT2PCuZcv9XSOl4g/w280-h400/B-ZfHlgIQAAJlD-.jpeg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Laszlo Kubala</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW/AM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A1ndor_Hidegkuti">Nandor Hidegkuti</a> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Nandor Hidegkuti was a key member of the Mighty Magyars of the 1950's. He was best remembered for the game vs England in 1953, where he scored a hat-trick. Playing as a "False 9", the English defenders did not know how to defend him. A new position was born and the game was revolutionized. Unlike some of his teammates from the Mighty "Mgyars", he stayed in Hungary after 1956 and went to the 1958 World Cup Finals as an aging player.At the club level, he played for MTK Budapest.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">FW/AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9ter_Palot%C3%A1s">Peter Palotas </a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Palotás spent all his entire playing career at MTK Budapest FC between 1950 and 1959. While at MTK that Palotás, together with Nándor Hidegkuti and coach Márton Bukovi, pioneered the deep-lying centre-forward. I</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">n 1955 he scored the first ever hat-trick in a European Cup game. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Between 1950 and 1956, Palotás won 24 caps and scored 18 goals for Hungary. He was a rival with his club mate Hidegkuti in the national team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ST: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1ndor_Kocsis" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sandor Kocsis </span></a><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sandor Kocsis was a prolific goalscorer for the Mighty Magyars in the 1950's. He scored 75 goals in 68 appearances for Hungary between 1948 and 1956. He scored 11 goals at the World Cup in 1954, the second highest for a single tournament. He played for Honved at home before he went to play for Barcelona after the Soviet invasion in 1956. With fellow Hungarian exiles </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ladislao Kubala and </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Zoltan Czibor, Barcelona became a force in Europe.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihi6D9rieQEvj6TpCr2NMvnS0ZMkAX4RGWYgz3dN9tWf7F5fUo20Vfr_t1dupoh9OkB5Y3UsBT4Iw7Zf7Yn4WnKczCB34yXJBoCTVTUMl1OcLXQrbKDzs3lo-8CdY9u7CESZet7jXnMOg02xvfXIdi85bXN3vG-zwFfV8a0KDiKzMf5dHzekhjAGujSw/s826/Screenshot%202022-08-06%20at%209.43.35%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="826" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihi6D9rieQEvj6TpCr2NMvnS0ZMkAX4RGWYgz3dN9tWf7F5fUo20Vfr_t1dupoh9OkB5Y3UsBT4Iw7Zf7Yn4WnKczCB34yXJBoCTVTUMl1OcLXQrbKDzs3lo-8CdY9u7CESZet7jXnMOg02xvfXIdi85bXN3vG-zwFfV8a0KDiKzMf5dHzekhjAGujSw/w400-h326/Screenshot%202022-08-06%20at%209.43.35%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Sandor Kocsis </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferenc_De%C3%A1k_(footballer)">Ferenc Deak</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">With over 795 goals in official matches scored during his career, Deák is the seventh top goalscorer of all time. He topped the European top scoring list three times, in the 1945-46, 1946-47 and 1948-49 seasons. His best season was the 1945/46 league season, when he scored 66 goals in 34 matches, and because of it, he was voted the Hungarian Player of the Year. He played 20 matches for the Hungary national team from 1946 to 1949, scoring 29 goals, which is the highest goal ratio in international football.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST/FW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferenc_Pusk%C3%A1s">Ferenc Puskas </a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ferenc Puskas was one of the greatest footballers in history. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He scored 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary, a team known as Mighty Magyars. He became Olympic champion in 1952 and led his nation to the final of the 1954 World Cup where he was named the tournament's best player. He played with Honved at home and went to Real Madrid in 1958 after the Soviet invasion. With Alfredo Di Stefano, Raymond Kapo, etc, Real Madrid became the greatest club team in history.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VCbo6C0srzQ/XiWcBxAqZQI/AAAAAAAAJSQ/7PJAmBaDEGENolV9yYBM6YVFw3mlDH3nwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/PA-489889.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1200" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VCbo6C0srzQ/XiWcBxAqZQI/AAAAAAAAJSQ/7PJAmBaDEGENolV9yYBM6YVFw3mlDH3nwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/PA-489889.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ferenc Puskas</span><br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Player Pool</span></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div>Sándor Gellér, János Palotai, István Turai, Sándor Ruzsa, <span style="font-family: times;">Imre Kovács, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Béla Kárpáti, József Kovács, József Újlaki (France), Ferenc Szojka, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Béla Egresi, Gyula Szilagyi I, Nandor Banyai, György Babolcsay, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Mihály Nagymarosi, Jenő Buzánszky, Gyula Zsengellér.</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></div></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation </u></b><br />-- Liked all of my blog teams, I am the manager of this team, but I used Gusztáv Sebes' selections as reference.<br />-- "A 5-2 pasting away to Czechoslovakia in April 1949 was a watershed moment for Hungarian football. Recently appointed coach Gusztáv Sebes did away with the established stars; in came youthful, malleable fresh faces like Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor," wrote Matthew Watson-Broughton on UEFA.com. <br />--</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">During the early stages of Gusztáv Sebes' tenure, he made the decision to drop several of Hungary's star players, a move that drew criticism from those who believed it was influenced by political pressure and correctness of the time. While it is suggested that these dismissals may have been politically motivated rather than based on sporting needs, it is important to recognize the remarkable transformation that took place under Sebes' leadership. He successfully molded the national team into one of the greatest in history, simultaneously revolutionizing tactical approaches of the time. The question arises: were the players truly "unjustly" dismissed, as previously mentioned? It becomes apparent that Sebes' motives behind these dismissals, whether political or sporting, should be considered irrelevant. What truly matters is the success that Sebes achieved both on and off the field. He must have been doing something right in terms of team performance and fostering a positive environment within the locker room. It is worth noting that Sebes was not the first coach, across any sport, to build a team consisting of players he believed would fit into his system. Arrigo Sacchi also dismissed many of the Italian veterans when he took over the <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/02/what-if-italy-1992.html">Azzurri in 1991(this blog was about Euyro 1992</a>).</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2wwENs6YNDhfkeVz74rqdo8zWePlqJbItDCMZkdT4-HkoCAB3C_IGrBvVjINYuo_A1zTdlS5tCJ1pRZk1AWQYqxAOzXXaBIs0613DURDl4fkRESKxO_0MKAE6WiIoMNGoXVv2hhBG8z8WRh1igxD0btRGeBdj_UmcnzDCN34NbOuHw63s0-KXNox4mw/s1050/b_sebes-gusztav.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2wwENs6YNDhfkeVz74rqdo8zWePlqJbItDCMZkdT4-HkoCAB3C_IGrBvVjINYuo_A1zTdlS5tCJ1pRZk1AWQYqxAOzXXaBIs0613DURDl4fkRESKxO_0MKAE6WiIoMNGoXVv2hhBG8z8WRh1igxD0btRGeBdj_UmcnzDCN34NbOuHw63s0-KXNox4mw/w293-h400/b_sebes-gusztav.jpeg" width="293" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Gusztáv Sebes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Gusztáv Sebes' selections from 1950 onward might be a much better team than the so-called superstars I tried to form into this super team of 1950 World Cup Finals. Let's be honest. Only a handful of people in this world who knew and had seen those individual players are still alive. I am not one of them. <b>Gusztáv Sebes knew all of the players inside out. His team should be much better than mine. </b></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b>I do not believe the additional of better players would have changed much in football and the fortune of any team. It takes more than just better players to win a World Cup. </b><b>My team I felt was more of an All-Star team with no tactics in mind. So why did I create this team? The pretentious answer would be to showcase the talent level of Hungarian football in the 1950's, but the true answer.... it is just for fun and why not?</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-brazil-1982.html">Brazil's World Cup team of 1982</a> was a mythical team. I only wanted to alter it with the minimum changes. The three new players Careca, Emerson Leão and Reinaldo have been mentioned by many people long before I started that blog team. Their inclusion were actually not too revolutionary. The Mighty Magyars was also a "mythical" team. But unliked Brazil in 1982, I did not have an actual team in the 1950 World Cup Finals to work with. So my idea was to add super stars from Hungary in late 1940's while maintaining the core of Gusztáv Sebes' team of the 1950's. <br />-- One of Gusztáv Sebes' ideas as the national team coach was to based their strength on having almost the entire national team from one or two clubs. Ferencvárosi won the league title in the 1948–49 season, but the code of the team was dissolved as a result. Kispest FC became the army team and was renamed Honvéd. Sándor Kocsis, Zoltán Czibor and László Budai joined them from Ferencvárosi. Honvéd also added Gyula Lóránt and Gyula Grosics. Since they already had Ferenc Puskás and József Bozsik, Honvéd became the backbone of Mighty Magyars and the super team in Hungary during the time. MTK were taken over by the secret police and subsequently the club became known as Textiles SE. Péter Palotás, Nándor Hidegkuti, Mihály Lantos and József Zakariás were their star players in the 1950's. They were the other super team of the era. Meanwhile, Ferenc Deák and goalkeeper Henni Géza left Ferencvárosi for Budapesti Dózsa Sport Egyesület (Újpest) the police team.<br />-- Many of my information came from this <a href="https://www.magyarfutball.hu/">website</a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ferenc Puskas and Laszlo Kubala were born in the same year. At 18, Puskas was already capped by Hungary A team, but Kubala only played on the B team on the same year. In 1948, Kubala returned to Hungary and played his only 3 games for the national team. He shared the same field with Puskas, Deak and Bozsik. He failed to score any goal.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The undefeated streak by Hungary in the 1950's before the "Miracle of Bern" was monumental. I googled "Hungary undefeated record". The result has always been the same. Hungary went undefeated from 1950 to 1954. Their last defeat was against Austria in May, 1950. The RSSSF has the <a href="https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/unb-hungary-29.html">list</a> of the games they played in that period. In actuality, on May 27th, 1952, Hungary lost to Moscow XI <a href="https://www.transfermarkt.com/soviet-union_hungary/index/spielbericht/2382528">2-1</a>. It was the second match of a two game series played in Moscow. Their opponent was actually the preliminary team of the Soviet Union preparing for the 1952 Olympic. The game featured Hungary's regulars so I considered it a full team. I found a Russian <a href="https://www-rusteam-permian-ru.translate.goog/history/1952_00_04.html?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc">match report</a> of the first game that ended in 1-1. However, it was not a full international game. The referee was from the Soviet Union.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Goalkeeper</u></b></div>-- No set number of goalkeepers was required for the World Cup in 1950. Some teams I noticed had one goalkeeper on their team. My <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/01/sweden-1950.html">Sweden's alternative 1950 World Cup team</a> had three. <br />-- Between 1949 and 1950, Henni Géza and Gyula Grosics were Hungary's goalkeeper of choices. Géza played more times in 1949 while Grosics took over in 1950. Both were on the 1952 World Cup team. Grosics was of course Hungary's first choices throughout their Golden period. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mm1jnKv5WZY/XiWggFVsYbI/AAAAAAAAJTE/R4Q3LiUg2UgZrNdwBN-qLJ1NEIgiofQKQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/gyulagrosics7a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="740" height="221" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mm1jnKv5WZY/XiWggFVsYbI/AAAAAAAAJTE/R4Q3LiUg2UgZrNdwBN-qLJ1NEIgiofQKQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/gyulagrosics7a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Gyula Grosics</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Henni Géza was the best goalkeeper in Hungary after the war. He helped Ferencvárosi to win the league title in the 1948–49 season, but the core of the team was dissolved for political purposes. He was one of the players who moved from Ferencvárosi to Budapesti Dózsa Sport Egyesület (Újpest) in 1949. According to a source, he signed for the police team because Sándor Csáki, the vice-president of Újpest promised to release his brother from prison. He twice represented Hungary in 1951. I found no information why he did not represent Hungary after 1953. His last cap was in 1953 against Bulgaria, but it was the B team. He left for the United States in 1956.<br />-- György Tóth was capped 15 times in the 1940's. He was 34 in 1950. So I would take a younger goalkeeper. He was married to a handball goalkeeper. Their son Zoltan was also an international goalkeeper for Hungary. His grandson Chris represented the USA in beach soccer. <br />-- Sándor Gellér would have been my third goalkeeper (see below for Béla Sárosi). He</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">was the backup at the 1952 Olympics. He earned his first cap in April, 1950. He entered the field as a sub at the "March of Century" in 1953 against England. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times;">János Palotai, István Turai and Sándor Ruzsa also belonged to this generation. </span><span><span style="font-family: times;">I had no information on István Turai and János Palotai. Turai was described as spending a short time at the top flight. János Palotai's brother Karoly captained the 1964 Olympic Gold medal winning team. Sándor Ruzsa only made two substitution appearance for Hungary between 1949 and 1950. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Géza Gulyás was also the backup at the 1954 World Cup. He earned his first cap in 1952.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></div>-- In the 1950's, national teams usually carried less defenders than the modern teams.<br />-- For my <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2015/11/united-kingdom-1970.html">United Kingdom Team of the 1970 World Cup Finals</a>, I did not include Duncan Edwards. He would be 34 years old in 1970. I have debated with myself whether it was unethical to include a dead person in my series of alternative teams. It might be considered to be "giving" the life back to Edwards if I included him, but it would be weird to see Edwards playing against Pele and Franz Beckenbauer in 1970. In the end, I could not include Edwards onto that team. However, Sándor Szűcs was alive in 1950. He tried to deflect in 1951, and was sentenced to death in the same year. In 1947, he captained Hungary four times. His record was later erased by the government. He was probably Hungary's best defender in that period of time. So I could not deny him of a place on the team. I was giving his life back in a way.<br />-- Gyula Lorant also tried to escape to the West. In fact, he was the chief organizer of a group defection of Hungarian players in 1949, but the Communists arrested him. Gusztáv Sebes considered him a big part of the national team. He himself interfered with the Minister of the Interior and he was set free. Lorant joined the national team in 1949, and later became a member of Honvéd.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Both Mihaly Lantos and Jenő Buzánszky were key players under Sebes. Lantos made his debut in 1949 and became a fixture on the team. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb00hYNNygwsiXT6ky8_u56rCyY0uO3iDnipXTGRqhodO4nnKrvGhXQrw9F87NiC3pW_xmdqnUlNYZPztxzqP39e-0IcLqApCynv9E0q8gp9xIJd-8YLcR4dWQDNLyL5ED3dZATwNswqr3aILKKQRTP-UDbvMmQPTghyhlgb7JLjoqixx9R0EWO7oHGA/s1226/Screenshot%202022-08-06%20at%2010.54.41%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1226" data-original-width="880" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb00hYNNygwsiXT6ky8_u56rCyY0uO3iDnipXTGRqhodO4nnKrvGhXQrw9F87NiC3pW_xmdqnUlNYZPztxzqP39e-0IcLqApCynv9E0q8gp9xIJd-8YLcR4dWQDNLyL5ED3dZATwNswqr3aILKKQRTP-UDbvMmQPTghyhlgb7JLjoqixx9R0EWO7oHGA/w288-h400/Screenshot%202022-08-06%20at%2010.54.41%20PM.png" width="288" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> Mihaly Lantos</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Buzánszky's first international match did not come until the end of 1950. He did not play again until a year later in 1951. In between, he only played two international matches. He finally played regularly for the nation team in 1952. In the year 1950 and before, Sándor Balogh was a regular member of the national team. His last international game was May, 1950. He would be 30 years old at the time of the World Cup Finals. He was the captain of the national team as late as 1948. He altered the rightback or leftback position. He seemed to be the logic player over Buzánszky. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ferenc Rudas was one of the best defenders in the post-War period. He was the Hungary Player of the year in 1946. He captained Ferencvárosi as they won the 1948-1949 league title. Key members of the team were forced to leave the club in a political move that centralised all of Hungary's top players into two clubs, Honved and MTK (see above). He however remained with Ferencvárosi. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">His active years with the national team were between 1943 and 1949. </span><span style="font-family: times;">He suffered a serious injury in March, 1950. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I took an injured Denis Law to the 1970 World Cup Finals for both <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2015/11/united-kingdom-1970.html">United Kingdom</a> and <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/09/scotland-1970.html">Scotland</a>. However, Rudas' injury was a career ending one. He did try to make comeback in 1951 and 1952, but he hardly ever played after his injury. It was realistic to take him. So I went back to Buzánszky. He was one of two primary members of the Mighty Magyars who did not play for Honved or MTK. He was uncapped at the time of the World Cup Finals, but he won't be the first ever uncapped player in the tournament. He was 25 years old in 1950.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- CM/CB/LB: Ferenc Sipos was born in 1932. He was 18 years old in 1950. He did not make his debut for Hungary until 1957. His older brother István Sipos a rightback was 22 years old, but he was only capped once in 1953. I did not consider him. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Leftback Jenő Dalnoki of the Olympic team in 1952 was 18 years old in 1950, but he was playing on the first team of Ferencváros. Central defender Mihály Kispéter played poorly in a 7-2 loss against Sweden in 1942. He seldom got selected for the national team after that, but his last cap was in 1953. He replaced Ferenc Rudas as the captain of after Rudas retired from his injury in Ferencvárosi. They were not selected.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>-- Josef Posipal was an important defender on West Germany's national team in the 1954 World Cup, and he was one of the top defenders of his time. He was born in Lugoj, Romania. His father was a Danube Swabian, living in the Hungarian part of town, and his mother was Hungarian. The Hungarian spelling of the name Poszipal can be found in the register of the Roman Catholic Church of Lugosch. He understood Hungarian, and said to be an advisor to German coach Sepp Herberger before and during the 1954 World Cup Finals on the Mighty Magyars. Ferenc Puskas said to have talked to Posipal during the first World Cup game between Germany and Hungary about defender Werner Liebrich who was guarding and later injured Puskas. In the 1940's, he had Romanian citizenship not Hungarian before becoming a German citizen. He was ineligible, but I might have taken him if he had a Hungarian passport at any time.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Hungary-born Július Schubert was killed in 1949 at the Superga Air Disaster. He was projected to be Valentino Mazzola's heir apparent in a few years' time. He only played for Torino less than a year (5 games) and was used as a backup for Mazzola. Since he was dead in 1950, I would not have selected him. In the 1945-1946 season, he scored 34 goals for his club team un Hungary, but barely made it in the top ten scoring table. Ferenc Deák had 66 goals and </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Gyula Zsengellér with 55 goals. Ferenc Puskas then 19 years old had 36 goals. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 1946, he was transferred to ŠK Bratislava, as a part of the resettlement campaign between Czechoslovakia and Hungary, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">which led to him representing Czechoslovakia at the international level. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">So he was ineligible for this team, but he had an interesting story. In 1949, László Kubala was also due to play for Torino on the same trip, but he did not go because his son was ill. Ferenc Deak was offered a contract by Torino, but he opted to stay in Hungary. They avoided the air disaster.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- József Bozsik needed no introduction. I would then take his midfield partner József Zakariás. </span>Gyula Lorant could also play here, but I needed a few more midfielder. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Several Hungarian sources described József Zakariás as a leftback, but most English source said that he was a defensive midfielder. He came from the village of Budafok, where Gusztáv Sebes also considered home. It was said that Sebes allowed him to drink alcohol before Hungary's matches because of their special Budafok connection. He made his deb</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ut in 1947 and was a key player on the "Aranycsapat".</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHYHgYpurWVwZ_5f_kBaEU5h1B7lP85-AE0egp-1259khRlttAcAWII8bsTc5V6-sOmwoMgPsY-JmvC6EMV37foVlf1cppc2xJT2PGQXxd7RwEd4OLdPxa7hP7n1TSqGrojqKAQarlOemg8zcg012CMAqg_c5OPMqdNOa2LX0nvT88L7B0AULJ_I54xw/s402/BhpdlnZCQAAeJUT.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="402" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHYHgYpurWVwZ_5f_kBaEU5h1B7lP85-AE0egp-1259khRlttAcAWII8bsTc5V6-sOmwoMgPsY-JmvC6EMV37foVlf1cppc2xJT2PGQXxd7RwEd4OLdPxa7hP7n1TSqGrojqKAQarlOemg8zcg012CMAqg_c5OPMqdNOa2LX0nvT88L7B0AULJ_I54xw/w400-h255/BhpdlnZCQAAeJUT.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">József Zakariás bicycle kick</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Imre Kovács and János Börzsei seemed to be the obvious choices. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">János Börzsei was well-established from 1948 onward. After 1950, Imre Kovács played more games, but at the time of the World Cup Finals, he only had two caps. A third cap was a B international game against Romania in 1948. It was his last cap before his next senior cap in September, 1950. I</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">n total, he was only capped 8 times for his entire career. Börzsei would have 11 caps at the start of the 1950 World Cup Finals. He was more experienced in 1950 and the more logical choice.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-</span><span style="font-family: times;">- Pál Imre Kovács who was born in 1917 retired in 1950. His name was similar with Imre </span><span style="font-family: times;">Kovács which caused confusion during my research. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ferenc Szojka was 19 years old in 1950. He just started with his club team </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Salgótarján BTC.</span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">György Sárosi's brother </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Béla Sárosi would turn 31 years old a month before the World Cup Finals. In the 1949-1950 season, he was playing in Serie A's Bari. His statistics said that he played 21 games that season. He was known for his powerful</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> physique. He </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">was described as strong both defensively and offensively. From 1939 to 1945, he played 25 times for Hungary. He was the youngest member of the World Cup team that finished second in 1938, but did not play a single game. Basically, he was a player I came across on the internet. I had no idea about his level in 1950. He continued to play across Europe after 1950. His inclusion would depend if I took Sándor Gellér as my third goalkeeper. Gellér only played once for Hungary right before the World Cup Finals. So he was inexperienced while Sárosi would bring World Cup experience to the team. I decided to gamble on Sárosi the unknown player.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Károly Sándor and László Budai were rivals for the right wing position through their careers. Budai was 4 months older than his counterpart. He was the main right winger of the "Golden Team" . Gusztáv Sebes preferred him over Sandor because he formed a world-famous partnership with Sándor Kocsis at the club level. In the view of the fact that Budai played in the more high profile games, he was more famous than Sandor outside of Hungary, but Sandor might have a better overall reputation inside Hungary. Károly Sándor was not even on the 1952 Olympic team, and he was only a non-playing member on the 1954 World Cup team. Between 1949 and 1964, he was capped 75 times and scored 27 goals. In the early fifties, he was mostly a reserve, but he became the captain of the national team from 1962 onward. Nevertheless, he was recognised one of the greatest Hungarian footballers of that era. So both were selected.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJ43RtQBk9LCsRoA-t__pENvIKmtKG9CXVXfvBqSioTiUTK6oZ-s8UEnLv757a2KGd_pJK8-Rpxf2uhpPKf0YjDlTfDDnOjercKkEKKsC0cAuX1xcGuzw9Sj_OzGzJz8QcEr0zYBxAeH6G_uA8gfAxMdIj1RFoqKrYiLiJnksDoaTkpNbimeWHxLOvQ/s450/p0472.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="253" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJ43RtQBk9LCsRoA-t__pENvIKmtKG9CXVXfvBqSioTiUTK6oZ-s8UEnLv757a2KGd_pJK8-Rpxf2uhpPKf0YjDlTfDDnOjercKkEKKsC0cAuX1xcGuzw9Sj_OzGzJz8QcEr0zYBxAeH6G_uA8gfAxMdIj1RFoqKrYiLiJnksDoaTkpNbimeWHxLOvQ/w225-h400/p0472.jpeg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">László Budai </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- József Újlaki appeared twice with </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">the Hungarian youth national team in 1947. He played with Sandor Kocsi, Peter Palotas, László Budai and Mihaly Latos. He is seventh on the French league's all-time scorer list with 190 goals in 438 top-flight matches. However, between 1952 and 1960, he was capped 21 matches for France. He was a right wing so I did not need him. I did not even ponder about his eligibility nor I looked into his status in 1950. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- József Tóth played in all positions of the offensive line in his club team Csepel SC. In the national team, he only played on the right wing. Mihály Tóth was more famous due to starting in the 1954 World Cup Finals as well as the famous match against Brazil (known as the "Battle of Berne"), but he actually had a total of 6 caps. The two Toths were not brothers. Critics of</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Gusztáv Sebes said that he should not start leftwing </span><span style="font-family: times;">Czibor Zoltán on the right and the inexperienced</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Mihály Tóth on the left in the 1954 final against West Germany. According to Mihály Tóth, Czibor Zoltán played as a right wing alongside him when they were youth players on the railroad team. They</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"> had no chance with so many famous wingers on the team despite the fact that they were very famous themselves. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- In the 1949-1950, István Nyers scored 30 goals in 36 games for Inter Milan. He was Serie A's second highest scorer that season. It was one of his best seasons in Inter Milan. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Béla Egresi was also a winger. He had no chance with the players ahead of him. I also came across right wing Mihály Kincses who was on Juventus's 1946-1947 Serie A winning team. He had 17 caps for Hungary between 1939 and 1943.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>-- I do not need to get into Nandor Hidegkuti, Sandor Kocsis and Ferenc Puskas. They became the core of the national team around the time of the World Cup Finals. They were automatic selections.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEnN6s7sRsdmkl116av_EJpSB6PUP21OB6YLz7goqxkh82uO7O9FgSF9_YKwxX0AQtxS5LnlnGDuTMzWtPKlpeY1wL0EdDZTkvru-NqM7KLCOLeZOk-qvqdu1sbVaO4WLjgRWmhqVCSkCXWRWmsevVWOMk4cY2wd3ntvw2_w6ppzCt680WI9wh1Rfqw/s1558/Screenshot%202022-08-06%20at%2010.58.50%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1558" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEnN6s7sRsdmkl116av_EJpSB6PUP21OB6YLz7goqxkh82uO7O9FgSF9_YKwxX0AQtxS5LnlnGDuTMzWtPKlpeY1wL0EdDZTkvru-NqM7KLCOLeZOk-qvqdu1sbVaO4WLjgRWmhqVCSkCXWRWmsevVWOMk4cY2wd3ntvw2_w6ppzCt680WI9wh1Rfqw/w400-h263/Screenshot%202022-08-06%20at%2010.58.50%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nandor Hidegkuti</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>-- At MTK, coach Márton Bukovi pioneered the deep-lying centre-forward that turned his club team into a powerhouse in Hungarian football in this period. Hungary later borrowed this tactics fined-toned by both Nandor Hidegkuti and Peter Palotás at the club level. Hidegkuti became famous for this position because of the game against England in 1953. However, Peter Palotás was viewed as the same level with Hidegkuti for both club and country. So I had to take Palotas as well.</div></span></div>-- Ferenc Szusza scored 518 league goals in 472 matches for Újpest FC. Their stadium Szusza Ferenc Stadium is named after him. In July 1949, he suffered a serious injury. It was said that he was never the same gain, but I found no information to confirm that. He continued to play for Hungary until after Hungary's loss in 1952 against Moscow XI (see above for this loss). He only played once after 1956. He cited an off field incident after the game in Moscow and a personal difference between him and Gusztáv Sebes as the main reasons for his snub. He was a big name in 1950 so I took him.<br />-- Laszlo Kubala played three games for Hungary in 1948 featuring alongside Deak and Puskas, but failed to score. He came into the game as substitute for Nandor Hidegkuti against Romania. I did not know where he played in the game. In January 1950, Kubala with his brother-in-law Ferdinand Daučík as coach, formed his own team Hungaria, which was made up of fellow refugees fleeing Eastern Europe. I found almost very very little information on this team, but this team beat Real Madrid and Spain, a team preparing for the 1950 World Cup Finals. In May 1950, Kubala was allegedly scouted by Real Madrid chairman Santiago Bernabeu in those games, but Josep Samitier took him to Barcelona instead. His fitness level in that summer was not in question.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Now, I had to study the two big stars of Hungarian football who posted the biggest question marks for this team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Gyula Zsengellér would be 34 years old at the time of the 1950 World Cup Finals. By late 1940's, it seemed that Zsengellér had passed his prime. He only played 6 times for AS Roma in the 1948-1949 season. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The following season (the season before the World Cup Finals), he was playing with AC Ancona in Serie C helping them to reach Serie B in that year. He did not return to Ancona the following year because of a FIFA ban on Hungarian exiles playing professionally abroad around that time. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He then joined a group of Hungarian refugee players a team called Hungaria FbC Roma playing exhibition games. He was one of my original reasons to create this 1950 team, but in the end, I would not take him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- From 1947 to 1949, Ferenc Deák scored 121 goals in 81 games for Ferencvárosi TC. In the 1945-1946 season, he netted 66 goals. It remained a world record for the number of goals scored in a single season. In the late 1940's, his numbers were better than Ferenc Puskas in the Hungarian league. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In the 1948-1949 season, his club team Ferencvárosi scored a staggering 140 goals in 30 matches, with Deák contributing 59 of them. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">However, his career took a downturn when he clashed with ÁVH officers at a party in 1950, leading to his replacement by Nándor Hidegkuti and branding him a political risk. Additionally, his playing style, reminiscent of a physical, old-fashioned English striker, did not align with Gusztáv Sebes' system. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">His last international match was on November, 1949. That year, he</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">scored eleven goals in eight games which would be his last year playing for the national team. During the 1949-1950 season, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ferencváros (then, known as </span><span style="font-family: times;">ÉDOSZ SE) finished second in the league. I read that h</span><span style="font-family: times;">e played 23 times only scoring 21 goals, but his statistics was milky. In wikipedia, he was not listed among the top scorer for the season. It listed his teammate </span><span style="font-family: times;">Sándor Kocsis scoring 21 goals as the 4th highest scorer</span><span style="font-family: times;">. But in Kocsis' entry in wikipedia, he scored 30 goals that year, which would make him the second highest scorer. Another fan's blog also said that he scored 30 goals. I had no clue which was the correct statistic. </span><span><span style="font-family: times;"> His status was unclear in the year 1950, but I would not ignore him given of his reputation at the time.</span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mWP_oWE962DN74EZwyjlyZsU1hE-AxpojB59RK8abPwyGZ9Vn8jSYI2VDSAT0CEKhHA5X6CH1-UocMTi6Pi_qioF0Tey5P3DjGKE9g_-EI9vnZsNOunvsYp3BSqXpaKr3zld3PVUel1hjR-DJxJ_wzcUK43lP-bIOQEgkGbmxtqRr_Rj2yBQkjhroQ/s812/EhP-5ItXkAU-ely.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="660" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mWP_oWE962DN74EZwyjlyZsU1hE-AxpojB59RK8abPwyGZ9Vn8jSYI2VDSAT0CEKhHA5X6CH1-UocMTi6Pi_qioF0Tey5P3DjGKE9g_-EI9vnZsNOunvsYp3BSqXpaKr3zld3PVUel1hjR-DJxJ_wzcUK43lP-bIOQEgkGbmxtqRr_Rj2yBQkjhroQ/w325-h400/EhP-5ItXkAU-ely.jpeg" width="325" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ferenc Deak</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times;">-- As mentioned earlier, Gusztáv Sebes favored Nándor Hidegkuti over Ferenc Deák for the national team after 1950. Hidegkuti, known for his versatility and adaptability, did not fit the mold of an old-fashioned English striker like Deák. Known as "Golden Head", Sándor Kocsis's heading technique was celebrated at the time, but he seemed to be similar with Deak who had much better statistics while playing together for both club and country. Upon further inquiry, Kocsis was also described as "mobile", "good at </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">positioning" and "with fine passes" by a Hungarian source. He seemed to be more than a target man.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Désiré Koranyi whose brother Lajos was on Hungary's 1936 World Cup team was still an active player in the French league. He was 36 years old in 1950. His prime would have been in the war years. He was also capped 5 times by France and never by Hungary. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">The importance of Gusztáv Sebes cannot be underestimated. His tactics – especially the concept of a deep lying centre forward – revolutionised a game where the majority of club and international sides had played the WM formation for the previous 20 years. The introduction and success of the Hungarian 3–2–3–2 formation led other managers and countries to experiment with the 3–2–3–2 eventually evolving into the 4–2–4 formation.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Basically, I wanted to play Ferenc Puskas and Ferenc Deak up front. I am not sure if <span style="font-family: times;">Laszlo Kubala</span> had ever played as a false 9 and Nandor Hidegkuti was a big part of Hungary's offence in the 1950's. He could take his position back, and I replaced Ferenc Deak with Kubala. Deak in the 1949-1950 seemed to have duped in form. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Sándor Szűcs was not a leftback, but I wanted to field the best three defenders on the field.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/08/1893083_Hungary.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/08/1893083_Hungary.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /><b><u>World Cup 1954</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Although this team was about the World Cup in 1950, most football history buffs would have imagined what would happen if some of those new players went to the 1954 World Cup Finals. I could not help not to think about it. </span> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I have not studied the players at the time of the 1954 World Cup so the 22 member squad was not set. Laszlo Kubala and István Nyers seemed to be the only player who would be selected for my alternative team. István Nyers had a temporary setback the season before the World Cup. In the 1953-1954 season, he had a disagreement with Inter Milan's management. He was often benched and managed only 8 goals, but he was considered a big star player at the time. He moved to AS Roma in the summer of 1954, where he did enjoy two more great seasons. Meanwhile, Ferenc Deak was a shadow of himself while Ferenc Rudas had retired. Ferenc Szusza, Károly Sándor and Henni Géza might be going to Switzerland on my team, but I needed further research on the subject.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cxpulB-cmEo/XiWfLwVDvlI/AAAAAAAAJS4/aYMKctdf06sbDRiv1xGws-8Ycv28Rer-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/2611078_L1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cxpulB-cmEo/XiWfLwVDvlI/AAAAAAAAJS4/aYMKctdf06sbDRiv1xGws-8Ycv28Rer-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/2611078_L1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Hungary 1954</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I have been doing a series of alternative teams. They were just for fun. The addition of new players might look good on the paper, but it would take more than good players to win a game. Some of the star players at the time were removed for political reasons, but Hungary without them went through an undefeated run unprecedented in history. It would be hard to build a better team than the original Mighty Magyars. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>The "Miracle of Bern" happened for many reasons. Of course, an injured Ferenc Puskas was often cited as the main issue that caused Hungary's defeat in the Final. He was inserted into the starting lineup when he was not 100% ready. </span><span>The new players might be able to replace him in the World Cup final. However, Puskas probably would have started in the Final regardless of the situation. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Mario Zagallo did start Ronaldo at the 1998 World Cup final. According to various source, Ronaldo wanted to play. I do not know what I would have done if I were Mario Zagello, but I understood why Mario Zagello started Ronaldo. It was the biggest stage of Ronaldo's career at that point, and it would be difficult to deny his biggest star's insistence to start. Ronaldo's situation in 1998 (he suffered a severe fit, and his heart allegedly stopped beating) was far worse than Puskus' ankle injury. In fact, Puskas was reportedly ready to start in the semifinal, but Sebes stayed put. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also persuaded West German coach Jupp Derwall to start him despite doubts about the player's fitness at the 1982 World Cup final. So if I were the manager of Hungary in 1954, I probably would have started Puskas even through I had Kubala and possibly Deak or Szuszaat at my disposal.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><b>My starting lineup against West Germany</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">On the original lineup, Gusztáv Sebes placed </span><span style="font-size: large;">Zoltán Czibor on the right wing while benching </span><span style="font-size: large;">László Budai and starting </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Mihály Tóth. No one was sure why Sebes did this, but playing Czibor as an inverted winger was probably not what he had in his mind. On my lineup, I restored Czibor the left while starting </span><span>Budai on the right. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Kubala could replace either Kocsis or Hidegkuti. For me, I started Hidegkuti because he was big part of Hungary's offensive tactics. So I took Kocsis.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/08/1893089_Hungary.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/08/1893089_Hungary.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Prediction</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">The outcome of the team was hard to predict. The rainy weather on the day of the Final favored the Germans' style of play. They also had received newly designed Adidas boots prior to the final that helped them to play in such condition. It was alleged that the Germans used methamphetamine, a performance-enhancing drugs that was not a banned in 1954. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Ferenc Puskás also scored a late goal, but the linesman ruled it offside. However, this decision turned out to be more likely wrong. So it was also down to bad luck that Hungary lost the game. And Laszlo Kubala or anybody could not change that.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>Conclusion</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">The Revolution of 1956 would eventually the downfall of Hungarian football. They had missed their golden opportunities in 1950 and 1954 to win the World Cup. </span><span style="font-family: times;">In the 1950's, West Germany was a country that needs healing for its wartime past. The "Miracle of Bern" gave the nation its hope, but it would take 18 years before West Germany could claim its football to be the best in Europe. The 1972 </span><span style="font-family: times;">European Championship was often perceived to be the turning point in European football. In quarterfinal, West Germany first beat England for the first time in history, and then displaced the Soviets as the top team in Europe by winning the Final. Ironically, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Hungary's "last dance" at the top of European football also came at the 1972 European Championship. They reached the semifinal with star players such as </span><span style="font-family: times;">Ferece Bene and </span><span style="font-family: times;">Florian Albert. No other star player was produced after that generation. They never reached the same height again. In fact, it took them another 34 years before they qualified for the next European Championship Finals, and they only managed to play in three World Cup Finals since then.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><div><br /></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-49833306051771641212022-05-05T19:20:00.004-07:002024-02-14T06:40:29.697-08:00Northern Macedonia Greatest All-Time Team<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div></span></span></span></div><div style="font-size: x-large;"></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="font-size: x-large;"></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br style="font-family: Times;" /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTjPVpVnKBqBudNAwp1k9vCuaGqztCNofEqHs3QxbA_nILDeiYbnPvlATuzbpadAOQs50-c4mcYz0UQ_Imu8G5J7IOjbLP-f3qJa1ipY_FPnxWv0lQxPiEV8bLvc-pTNsa2UzCVom5NICGOoPi2bHtJOm95PeLqb57NmV9eiHucgZeNkNx815IXr9vw/s1594/Screenshot%202022-04-26%20at%206.51.11%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1594" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBTjPVpVnKBqBudNAwp1k9vCuaGqztCNofEqHs3QxbA_nILDeiYbnPvlATuzbpadAOQs50-c4mcYz0UQ_Imu8G5J7IOjbLP-f3qJa1ipY_FPnxWv0lQxPiEV8bLvc-pTNsa2UzCVom5NICGOoPi2bHtJOm95PeLqb57NmV9eiHucgZeNkNx815IXr9vw/w400-h278/Screenshot%202022-04-26%20at%206.51.11%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Euro 2020 Finals</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div></div><div></div></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-family: times;">Yugoslavia</span></a></span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/03/yugoslavia-after-breakup.html">Yugoslavia after break up</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/serbia.html">Serbia</a>, </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/croatia.html">Croatia</a></span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/bosnia-and-herzegovina.html">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a></span></span></span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/03/montenegro.html">Montenegro</a>,</span></span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/the-former-yugoslavia-without-croatia.html">Macedonia/Montenegro/Kosovo</a>,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/slovenia.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Slovenia</span></a><span>.</span></span></span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/yugoslavia-2018.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Yugoslavia World Cup 2018</span></a></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2015/12/yugoslavia-1994.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">What if Yugoslavia went to USA 1994</span></a></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/12/croatian-australians.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Croatian Australian All-Time Team</span></a></div></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Historically, Yugoslavia is loaded with football talents, but they did not perform as well as they should have. They only reached two European Championship Final in the 1960's and an Olympic Gold Medal in 1960. After the breakup of Yugoslavia,</span></span></span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/null">Croatia</a><span face="" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/serbia.html">Serbia</a><span face="" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/slovenia.html">Slovenia</a></span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"> and <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/bosnia-and-herzegovina.html">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> have qualified for major tournaments. I have created individual all-time teams for them. This is the all-time team for </span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Northern Macedonia.</span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div><div>In 1994, following the independence and dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Macedonia joined FIFA and UEFA as a separate entity. Under the guidance of coach Andon Dončevski, their inaugural match took place on 13 October 1993, resulting in a resounding 4-1 victory against Slovenia in a friendly. They continued their winning streak by triumphing over Slovenia and Estonia in their subsequent friendly matches.</div><div><br /></div><div>North Macedonia made their long-awaited debut in the Finald of European Championships in 2020, which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Competing in Group C, they faced Austria, Ukraine, and the Netherlands, unfortunately experiencing defeats in all three matches. Notably, Goran Pandev scored an equalizer against Austria in the 28th minute, while Ezgjan Alioski found the net against Ukraine. North Macedonia became the second team, alongside Finland, to make their debut in the tournament.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This is my all-time team for </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Northern Macedonia</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">. If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament. </span></div></span><div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2XiOWrair8CorD0-Knyg4l1HdimANPlRjcoQ7oehKJ9nbkHvHat4CJX84KsDxiyl3UQczpzDWJL4F9I6tGRrp8xB_4uoIkFmyqmmSMEyKz2Dw2FwLh471f90JfUf2EVWRXVe-wRHX8zVIRiCUHXRsETK2U0tutqrRGJNY3-KAhdzr2F-AfTcWisuIA/s996/Screenshot%202022-04-26%20at%207.09.19%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="996" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr2XiOWrair8CorD0-Knyg4l1HdimANPlRjcoQ7oehKJ9nbkHvHat4CJX84KsDxiyl3UQczpzDWJL4F9I6tGRrp8xB_4uoIkFmyqmmSMEyKz2Dw2FwLh471f90JfUf2EVWRXVe-wRHX8zVIRiCUHXRsETK2U0tutqrRGJNY3-KAhdzr2F-AfTcWisuIA/w400-h271/Screenshot%202022-04-26%20at%207.09.19%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">First ever World Cup Qualifiers in 1996</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Team </span></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">GK: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blagoje_Vidini%C4%87" style="font-family: times;">Blagoje Vidinić</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Yugoslavia)</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">Vidinić played for FK Vardar, Radnički Beograd and OFK Beograd in Yugoslavia, and then with FC Sion of Switzerland. In 1967, he joined Los Angeles Toros, and the team became San Diego Toros in the newly formed NASL, before moving to St. Louis Stars. </span><span face="" style="font-size: large;">He played for Yugoslavia in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics, winning silver in the former and gold in the latter. He also played in the 1960 European Championship when Yugoslavia finished second.</span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uh2ITA37Ji0/XhmW1D7sT6I/AAAAAAAAJQ0/_CTpK3HIYbAQeYf9vbWU0nNEYv5c1VkHACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/cc7ac3361f9c2069f574de7ec2fc7dcf.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uh2ITA37Ji0/XhmW1D7sT6I/AAAAAAAAJQ0/_CTpK3HIYbAQeYf9vbWU0nNEYv5c1VkHACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/cc7ac3361f9c2069f574de7ec2fc7dcf.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Blagoje Vidinić </span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blagoje_Istatov">Blagoj Istatov</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 1963 he started playing for FC Belasica. He played for FC Belasica until 1968, when he signed for FC Pobeda from Prilep, and for which team he played 31 matches. In 1973 he signed for Partizan, for which team he had played 44 matches, and with this team he won first place in the 1975-1976 season in the Yugoslav First Football League. From 1976 to 1978 he played for FC Utrecht. </span></div></div><div><span face=""><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petar_Milo%C5%A1evski">Petar Miloševski</a> (Northern Macedonia)</span></span></div><div><span face=""><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Petar Miloševski was capped over 50 times for Northern Macedonia. He made his senior debut for Macedonia in a March 1998 friendly match against Bulgaria and has earned a total of 59 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a February 2009 friendly against Moldova. He started football in FK Pelister club and later, played for FK Vardar in the 1997-1998 season. He transferred to Trabzonspor from FK Vardar in 1998 . After 3 years of playing in Trabzonspor, he was transferred to Malatyaspor. </span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span face=""><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RB/CB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vujadin_Stanojkovi%C4%87">Vujadin Stanojkovic</a> (North Macedonia)</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">Vujadin Stanojkovic was capped 21 times and scored 1 goal for Yugoslavia between 1988 and 1992, including two matches at the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy. Between 1994 and 1995 he got 7 caps for the newly established Macedonian national team. His main club was FK Partizan where he played between 1989 and 1993. Later, he played in Sweden for Degerfors IF and Trelleborgs FF. He retired in 1998. Born in what is now Macedona, he is an ethnic Serb.</span></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2XvwjhLxV0/XhnzQk3nGJI/AAAAAAAAJRA/CgqJlwaVEegvbVrBD23U0zKoguUNGirwACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/63db5550352cab5f5b5c3b17325e993d.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="626" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2XvwjhLxV0/XhnzQk3nGJI/AAAAAAAAJRA/CgqJlwaVEegvbVrBD23U0zKoguUNGirwACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/63db5550352cab5f5b5c3b17325e993d.jpg" width="338" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Vujadin Stanojkovic</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">CB/LB: </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilija_Najdoski">Ilija Najdoski</a> (Yugoslavia/Northern Macedonia)</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ilija Najdoski played for Red Star Belgrade and was part of their European Cup victory in 1991. He also played in Spain for Real Valladolid in Spain's La Liga and Denizlispor in Turkey's Super Lig. He represented both Yugoslavia and Republic of Macedonia in international matches. He played in the first ever official match of Macedonia, played on 13 October 1993, against Slovenia.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiril_Doj%C4%8Dinovski">Kiril Dojčinovski</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dojčinovski started playing in the youth team of FK Vardar in 1958. He successfully made his way into the senior squad, and after a few seasons he made a transfer to Red Star Belgrade. During his club career he played for Vardar Skopje, Crvena Zvezda, Troyes and Paris FC. With Red Star he won one Yugoslav championship and one cup. Between 1968 and 1970, he played 8 times for Yugoslavia.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times;"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikol%C4%8De_Noveski">Nikolče Noveski </a> (Northern Macedonia)</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">Noveski moved from FK Pelister Bitola to F.C. Hansa Rostock in 1998, but did not play much. He then played in the lower divsion around Germany. After Mainz 05 was promoted to the Bundesliga, they signed him in 2004. He beame their captain during the 2007–08 season. He held the second appearance record for the club. For the Macedonian national team Noveski played 64 international matches and scored five goals. </div></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">CB: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goce_Sedloski">Goce Sedloski</a><span face="" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span face="" style="font-size: large;">(North Macedonia)</span><br /><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">Goce Sedloski started his career at Pobeda Prilep at home in 1994 before leaving it for Hajduk Split. H</span><span style="font-size: large;">e then played for Sheffield Wednesday in England before joining Dinamo Zagreb in 1998. He also played for Japan's Vegalta Sendai, Turkey's </span><span style="font-size: large;">Diyarbakirspor and Germany's SV Mattersburg. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Sedloski made his debut for the Northern Macedonian national team in 1996, earning a total of 100 caps and scoring 8 goals from then until 2010.</span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVMjzpXhyqh3S5NykxD_f7e_aEH0Q3Vp0RcOxNezMV0q9f5VJr61z6P0D7X2jCxQew9in1kT2aftbb0VDOG1XW5yhPpMH3ushUp-n2nZlZAN2HyxdK1fX6Ij7gXV6UAvCBnD6b-gIYJG67zxr3VCd7NTC7Z62QqLcQIuqnkDUdbDa7uy4pPLKTctOIA/s750/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.09.08%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="532" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVMjzpXhyqh3S5NykxD_f7e_aEH0Q3Vp0RcOxNezMV0q9f5VJr61z6P0D7X2jCxQew9in1kT2aftbb0VDOG1XW5yhPpMH3ushUp-n2nZlZAN2HyxdK1fX6Ij7gXV6UAvCBnD6b-gIYJG67zxr3VCd7NTC7Z62QqLcQIuqnkDUdbDa7uy4pPLKTctOIA/w284-h400/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.09.08%20PM.png" width="284" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Goce Sedloski </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiril_Simonovski"><span style="font-size: large;">Kiril Simonovski</span></a><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">(Yugoslavia) </span></div></span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Kiril Simonovski started with a local club in Skopje named FK Jug, before moving to Gragjanski Skopje in 1938. He also played with Macedonia Skopje, FK Vardar and FK Partizan. He played two matches for the Bulgarian national team (as Kiril Simeonov) in 1942 when the region was occupied by Bulgaria. After the war, he was capped 10 times by Yugoslavia between 1946 and 1949.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LW/LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikica_Klin%C4%8Darski">Nikica Klinčarski </a> (Yugoslavia)</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nikica Klinčarski played a total of 518 matches for FK Partizan between 1978 and 1985 being by this the second player with most games played in the club, behind Momčilo Vukotić with 752. He played in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the United States under the name of Nicky Klincarski in the mid-1980's. He also played in Sweden. He played 8 times for Yugoslavia between 1980 and 1983. He went to the 1980 Summer Olympic.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragi_Kanatlarovski">Dragi Kanatlarovski</a> (Yugoslavia/Northern Macedonia)</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Kanatlarovski played for FK Pelister before moving to FK Vardar where he will play 4 seasons. In 1989, he moved to Red Star Belgrade. He played one season in Belgrade., After that season he moved to Spain where he helped Deportivo La Coruña to be promoted back to La Liga. He earned his only cap for Yugoslavia in 1990. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia he represented Macedonia 9 times between 1993 and 1995. He played in the first ever official match of Macedonia in 1993.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><br /></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo%C5%A1ko_Gjurovski">Boško Gjurovski </a></span></span><span style="font-family: times;">(Yugoslavia/Northern Macedonia)</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Boško Gjurovski was a long-time servant of Red Star Belgrade, where he played for eleven years. He was very much loved by Red Star fans, especially after his brother, Milko, joined bitter rivals FK Partizan. Between 1989 and 1995, he played for Servette in Switzerland. He earned a total of 4 caps for Yugoslavia. In 1994, he accepted a call-up to represent Northern Macedonia. He earned a total of 7 caps, scoring 3 goals.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">AM/RW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elif_Elmas">Eljif Elmas</a> (Northern Macedonia)</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">Elmas started his career at FK Rabotnički in his native Macedonia. After two seasons with Fenerbahçe, he moved to Napoli in 2019. Elmas was born in Macedonia to a family of Turkish descent. He represented Northern Macedonia in football. At the time of writing, he has 38 caps. He is one of the country's best players. He helped the national team to reach the Finals of Euro 2020 as well as a wonderful run in the World Cup Qualification for Qatar 2022.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitToAXhoTe703QCunN4ZYBvD8ciQ0ZHBFSVrR7rK6X167XEnCn2slzYGRmtfYuTz_q8iVzm4LVeL_78xkj_OlY-prQ5in1pvBExAVAdWWdNPY9kb20pExO3Szomj8wBP9CK9k7BeQRkUEsczZhuHeKN4xX4PpEq9e151JSSEFZS2V2Agnli13WSs-5eQ/s918/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.19.59%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="918" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitToAXhoTe703QCunN4ZYBvD8ciQ0ZHBFSVrR7rK6X167XEnCn2slzYGRmtfYuTz_q8iVzm4LVeL_78xkj_OlY-prQ5in1pvBExAVAdWWdNPY9kb20pExO3Szomj8wBP9CK9k7BeQRkUEsczZhuHeKN4xX4PpEq9e151JSSEFZS2V2Agnli13WSs-5eQ/w400-h295/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.19.59%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Eljif Elmas </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;">AM/LW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enis_Bardhi">Enis Bardhi </a> (Northern Macedonia)</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;">Bardhi started his career for KSF Prespa Birlik in Sweden. From 2014 to 2017, he played for Ujpest in Hungary. In 2017, he joined Levante in Spain. He became a star with the team. He was eligible to represent North Macedonia , Albania or Kosovo in football. Since 2015, he played for Northern Marcedonia. He was Macedonian Footballer of the Year in 2017. He is one of the country's best players. He helped the national team to reach the Finals of Euro 2020 as well as a wonderful run in the World Cup Qualification for Qatar 2022.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;">WF: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metodije_Spasovski">Metodije Spasovski </a>(Yugoslavia)</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">Spasovski played a total of 647 games in all competitions between 1963 and 1974 for hometown club Vardar, scoring 212 goals and ranking him second on both the club's record appearances and scorers lists. He later played for FC Saarbrücken in Germany. He made his senior debut for Yugoslavia in a December 1968 friendly match against Brazil in which he immediately scored a goal and has earned a total of 3 caps, scoring 3 goals. </div></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragoslav_%C5%A0ekularac">Dragoslav Sekularac</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></span><br /><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Dragoslav Sekularac</span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"> was considered one of the best player in Yugoslavia and Red Star Belgrade history. From 1955 to 1966, he played for Red Star Belgrade. He later played for Independiente Santa Fe in Colombia for five seasons, before transferring to Millonarios from Bogotá and ending his playing career in the German Bundesliga with Karlsruher SC. For Yugoslavia, he played 41 times. He played in the 1958 and 1962 World Cup Finals, where his team reached the semifinal in 1962. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6t084ce9bYnMAB65GEveaAkW_e8qoFKjGZFgOSYRFkz8DbqqRVhUx5kPor7_NLY3C-E6PA611GCl5ejeqH7Ap2oZb5juG8WvEmn2vtwgozuAolEwjc3ivH5gknoKp-eRw4F9GxxI5DFAEz_L_CJwd0B7Ih_RFDxK0FAZyzo1Jvpm_uVJUcgqR9hborg/s624/eb603.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="624" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6t084ce9bYnMAB65GEveaAkW_e8qoFKjGZFgOSYRFkz8DbqqRVhUx5kPor7_NLY3C-E6PA611GCl5ejeqH7Ap2oZb5juG8WvEmn2vtwgozuAolEwjc3ivH5gknoKp-eRw4F9GxxI5DFAEz_L_CJwd0B7Ih_RFDxK0FAZyzo1Jvpm_uVJUcgqR9hborg/w400-h266/eb603.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Dragoslav Sekularac</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">CM : </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Savevski" style="font-family: times;">Toni Savevski</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Yugoslavia/Macedonia)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Savevski is widely regarded as one of the best foreign players to have played in the Greek football league. H</span><span style="font-size: large;">e started his career in Pelister Bitola and then played for Vardar Skopje until 1988.He spent 13 years with AEK, winning the Greek championship 4 times (1989, 1992, 1993, 1994) and the Greek cup (1996, 1997, 2000) 3 times. </span><span style="font-size: large;">He earned 2 caps for Yugoslavia before debuting for Macedonia in1994. He earned another 8 caps for Macedonia.</span></span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasil_Ringov">Vasil Ringov</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ringov played with FK Partizan and FK Teteks. where he would become the club's main star. From 1977 to 1983, he played for FK Vardar. He became the main player at the club, having played until 1986. He had a half season spell in NK Dinamo Zagreb, and near the end of his playing career, another half season spell, this time in 2. German Bundesliga club Eintracht Braunschweig.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuzman_Sotirovi%C4%87">Kuzman Sotirović</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Sotirović first started playing in youth sections at BSK Belgrade, and, after becoming a standard first-team member, won the best championship scorer in 1928, scoring 6 goals in 5 appearances. The very next season he went to France and played for FC Sète and Montpellier SC. Between 1928 and 1931 Sotirović also played for Yugoslavia. He is considered to be the first player born on the territory of modern-day North Macedonia to play in the Yugoslav national team.</span></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><div><br /></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">FW/LW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goran_Pandev"><span style="font-size: large;">Goran Pandev</span></a><span face="" style="font-size: large;"> (North Macedonia)</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Goran Pandev was the greatest and the most important footballer for North Macedonia after the post-Soviet era, He began his football career with FK Belasica. He played for Lazio from 2004 to 2009. He also played for Inter Milan, where he won the 2010 Champions' League Final, starting in the Final match on the left side. He also played for Napoli, Galatasaray and Genoa. With Napoli, he won Coppa Italia: 2011–12, 2013–14. He was capped over 100 times for Macedonia. </span></span></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GeR-Zn6QOq4/Xhn2xXb8i9I/AAAAAAAAJRM/FmbEQvUqqXQrMofdQvRblIPiwx_LkBpuQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/17883584.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="650" height="327" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GeR-Zn6QOq4/Xhn2xXb8i9I/AAAAAAAAJRM/FmbEQvUqqXQrMofdQvRblIPiwx_LkBpuQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/17883584.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Goran Pandev </span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" face="" style="font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokrat_Mojsov">Sokrat Mojsov </a>(Yugoslavia) </span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" face="" style="font-size: large;">Sokrat Mojsov started his career with Vardar as a youth player, and quickly moved up the ranks to the senior team. He played 362 times and scored 166 goals in all competitions for them. He played 2 years in France for Stade Rennais, in Ligue 1 and retired in 1973. He played 3 times for Yugoslavia between 1964 and 1966. He was known for his header ability. His first international was against the Soviet Union.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" face="" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" face="" style="font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milko_Djurovski">Milko Gjurovski </a>(Yugoslavia/North Macedonia)</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" face="" style="font-size: large;">Djurovski started out at Red Star Belgrade, making his senior debut in 1979, aged 16. He spent a total of 7 seasons in their first team, winning two national championships. In 1986, Djurovski made a controversial move to rivals Partizan. He stayed for four years. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Internationally, Djurovski represented both Yugoslavia and Macedonia. He earned six caps for Yugoslavia between 1984 and 1985, scoring two goals. He briefly played for Macedonia, making 3 appearances in 1994. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" face="" style="font-size: large;">ST: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darko_Pan%C4%8Dev"><span style="font-size: large;">Darko Pancev </span></a><span face="" style="font-size: large;">(Yugoslavia/North Macedonia)</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">Darko Pancev was the European Golden Boot winner in 1991 when he scored 34 goals. With Red Star Belgrade, he </span></span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">scored 84 goals from 91 league appearances, and winning the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup in 1991. In 1992, he made a move to Inter Milan, but his career never took off after the European Cup. He also played for Fortuna Düsseldorf in Germany. He was capped 27 times for Yugoslavia and 6 times for Macedonia.</span></span></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVCvwroisEf_62HzA5skK0eEkaIie8I97KWImw_6f0tw36T9RlIN0okrUxS0n5EiPBS8KI7KMCvqC9cVzVWYhafwpBo1NEgCud9uQDODmSso7OLK3p1KbrM98G2z1KuhT3lvJvJCwJysWzxQpTvUoclR4PH0GKrSwlRWhYIBu7hA0hR6TCjEhXU1VwQ/s980/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%206.32.07%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="662" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVCvwroisEf_62HzA5skK0eEkaIie8I97KWImw_6f0tw36T9RlIN0okrUxS0n5EiPBS8KI7KMCvqC9cVzVWYhafwpBo1NEgCud9uQDODmSso7OLK3p1KbrM98G2z1KuhT3lvJvJCwJysWzxQpTvUoclR4PH0GKrSwlRWhYIBu7hA0hR6TCjEhXU1VwQ/w270-h400/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%206.32.07%20PM.png" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Darko Pancev </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b style="font-family: times;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">Honorable Mention</span></u></b></div><div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Stole Dimitrievski, Oka Nikolov, Jane Nikolovski, Tome Pachovski, Igor Mitreski, Boban Babunski, Čedomir Janevski, Stefan Ristovski, Nikica Klinčarski, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kočo Dimitrovski, Branko Klenkovski, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Artim Šakiri,</span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Veliče Šumulikoski, Spasoje Nikolic, Vanco Balevski, Kuzman Sotirović, Milko Gjurovski, Ezgjan Alioski, Mitko Stojkovski, Agim Ibraimi, Ilija Nestorovski, Gjorgji Hristov, Ilija Nestorovski, Saša Ćirić, Aleksandar Trajkovski.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><u><b><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">Squad Explanation</span></span></b></u><br /><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- The blog team was created in 2014 as the "former Yugoslavia all-time team without Croatia and Serbia" team. In 2020, I decided to separate Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia from this team. Thus, the team became <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-former-yugoslavia-without-croatia.html">Northern Macedonia/Monetenegro/Kosovo</a> all-time team. Finally, I created a separated team for </span></span><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/03/montenegro.html">Montenegro</a> and </span></span></span></b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Northern Macedonia, but Kosovo is a difficult team top research.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- Northern Macedonia is relatively new to international football. So </span><span face="" style="font-size: large;">I found this team very hard to research. So I am unsure if I got my selections correctly.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- The ethnic issue is very sensitive in the region. I used both birthplace and/or ethnicity as criteria for players who played under the former Yugoslavia. I used national team as the criteria for the players after the breakup of Yugoslavia.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- </span></span><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kiril Simonovski is known as the first Macedonian to play for the national team of Yugoslavia. However,</span> <span style="font-family: times;">r</span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">esearchers later concluded </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Kuzman Sotirovic who was born in Gostivar but grew up in Belgrade </span></span>was the first footballer from here capped by Yugoslavia. He represented the country in the 1928 Olympics. He</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> played for Sete and Montpellier in France between 1928 to 1932.</span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- The Euro 2020 Finals was Northern Macedonia's first major tournament that they had qualified. After the tournament, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">North Macedonia reached the UEFA World Cup qualifying play-offs by finishing second in their group behind Germany. They won five of their ten games, including a 2-1 victory over the Germany. In the playoff, they beat the defending European Champion Italy 1-0 before losing to Portugal in the final playoff match. I selected three players from that generation. They were </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Eljif Elmas,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Enis Bardhi and Goran Pandev. Pandev is probably the greatest player ever from this region in terms of contributions. </span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- M</span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">aski Magazin named their <a href="https://maskimagazin.faktor.mk/najdobrite-makedonski-fudbakeri-na-site-vreminja">5 greatest players from North Macelonia</a> in 2021. Goce Sedloski, Artim Šakiri, George Hristov, Enis Bardi and Goran Pandev.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The IFFHS created their All-Time Dream Team for North Macedona. Their starting eleven were Blagoje Vidinić, Vujadin Stanojković, Ilija Najdoski, Kiril Dojčinovski , Kiril Simonovski, Dragi Kanatlarovski, Boban Babunski, Toni Savevski, Vasil Ringov, Darko Pančev and Goran Pandev.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The off.net.mk named their All-Time Best XI in 2023. Their lineup was as followed: Dragan Mutibarić, Vujadin Stanojkovic, Ilija Najdoski, Kiril Dojčinovski , Kiril Simonovski, Metodija Spasovski, Toni Savevski, Kočo Dimitrovski, Darko Pančev and Goran Pandev.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- Blagoje Vidinić was often mentioned as their greatest goalkeeper. He played in the 1960 European Championship Final against the Soviet Union. The Soviet goalkeeper on that match was Lev Yashin.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Petar Miloševski is the most capped goalkeeper for Northern Macedonia. He edged out another post-Yugoslavia goalkeeper Tome Pachovski.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRa8FL6tfCAqfaME5O0Sebc88RMxiV-M6i9pu0iNn3W0kfUpGCAH1l9YC1liAyZmXM7bW5fJGQvVTQF-_Z6I9V2UTCHO6fPcK159POtM-Bq19RUYjgQ4Ffr6fw357uSBXK3oueTikRVTEMku12tUho2wzBhYFO64uk4rCf5UYh_7YJrQhT_cWyHOU_-A/s1132/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.28.46%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="1132" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRa8FL6tfCAqfaME5O0Sebc88RMxiV-M6i9pu0iNn3W0kfUpGCAH1l9YC1liAyZmXM7bW5fJGQvVTQF-_Z6I9V2UTCHO6fPcK159POtM-Bq19RUYjgQ4Ffr6fw357uSBXK3oueTikRVTEMku12tUho2wzBhYFO64uk4rCf5UYh_7YJrQhT_cWyHOU_-A/w400-h284/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.28.46%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Petar Miloševski</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">-- The big question was Dragan Mutibarić. He actually was born in Serbia. He joined Varder in 1966 at the age of around 20 years old. However, he was often honored as an all-time great in Macedonia even through he was not from the region. He simply played club football over there. For the former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, I found many such cases. In order to maintain consistency across all my teams, I made the decision to base my selections on birthplace and ethnicity as the primary criteria. Consequently, I opted not to choose Mutibarić for this particular case.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- </span><span>After careful consideration, I ultimately chose Blagoje Istatov for the third spot. Although his name did not appear in any English language rankings, I came across numerous Macedonian sources that praised his exceptional skills. One particular Macedonian source even mentioned that Dragan Mutibaric, a respected figure, regarded Istatov as one of the finest goalkeepers from the region. According to his wikipedia profile page in Macedonian, he played for the Yugoslavian national team. However, I found no information on it. His Obituary from Partizan made no mention of it. </span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">- Stole Dimitrievski was the starting goalkeeper at the Euro 2022 Finals. At the time of writing, he is the starting goalkeeper at Rayo Vallencano. However, most of his career was spent on the lower division. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">The German-born Oka Nikolov's career was between between the top two divisions. I also looked into </span><span style="font-family: times;">Jane Nikolovski. </span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defender</u></b></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) listed </span><span style="font-size: large;">Kiril Dojčinovski and </span><span style="font-size: large;">Ilija Najdoski as their starting central defenders on their Northern Macedonia All-Time Best XI team. I took both of them. I was going to take Najdoski without looking at IFFHS. He was a member of my Red Star Belgrade All-Time team. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Then, I selected Goce Sedloski who had played 100 times for Northern Macedonia and served many times as their captain. He was their second most capped player. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-size: large;">--</span><span style="font-size: large;"> I opted to select Nikolče Noveski over Čedomir Janevski. While Janevski appeared in numerous lists, his playing time during his club career in Belgium was limited. On the other hand, Noveski enjoyed a lengthy and successful tenure with Mainz 04, where he holds the esteemed title of being the second-highest appearance record holder. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdh3fmy8w7mwe4cJ9HoDqPFCJoMf4PfFahYQQ3Horbb0-X8x0NPDob4fYe2_Im85AJYTfIPgmCrUTDwmYz06Jc0hRNj5XkxR_cNDF7RZ-5vso6JyIqhCWQURlxFe1Hyk3QmYdCHIoWFY-ZqXbCdPA8QWDyUVG88UYI4POTICjATXk6utdYXLXl8urkjw/s838/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.35.07%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="552" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdh3fmy8w7mwe4cJ9HoDqPFCJoMf4PfFahYQQ3Horbb0-X8x0NPDob4fYe2_Im85AJYTfIPgmCrUTDwmYz06Jc0hRNj5XkxR_cNDF7RZ-5vso6JyIqhCWQURlxFe1Hyk3QmYdCHIoWFY-ZqXbCdPA8QWDyUVG88UYI4POTICjATXk6utdYXLXl8urkjw/w264-h400/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.35.07%20PM.png" width="264" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nikolče Noveski </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Then, I took Vujadin Stanojkovic who played as both central defender and rightback. He had experience playing in the World Cup. He is an ethnic Serb, but he chose to play for Macedonia, where he was born. So he is eligible due to his national team. Ideally, I should take another rightback. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Stefan Ristovski of their Euro 2020 team made honorable mention.</span></div></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Kiril Simonovski (North Macedonia) was the first Macedonian to play for the post-1945 Yugoslav national team. He was the first Macedonian captain of the national team . I honoured him with a spot for his historical role. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nikica Klinčarski is the second player with most games played in the Partizan. He was listed as a left wing, but I believed he was also a leftback. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;">Ezgjan Alioski<span> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">had been an important player for Leeds United, but he mainly played in the lower division. He made honorable mention along with </span><span style="font-family: times;">Mitko Stojkovski who played in the Bundesliga. </span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Boban Babunski was also mentioned. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Babunski had two sons, David and Dorian. The former played youth football with FC Barcelona, whilst the latter did the same at Real Madrid. They might be the only brothers who had played for the two rivals in La Liga.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Midfielders/Wingers</b></u></span></span></div>-- I did not have many choices for defensive midfielders. I selected Dragi Kanatlarovski and Boško Gjurovski. Both were mentioned frequently. Kanatlarovski seemed to be one of FK Vardar's greatest midfielders. Boško Gjurovski was a legend with Red Stars Belgrade. His brother Milko made honorable mentions as a forward (see below). </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Arijan Ademi was banned by UEFA for two years after he failed a drug test. This did not affect his status with this team, I just did not select him. Veliče Šumulikoski was another option at this position. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Branko Klenkovski who spent many seasons playing for Red Stars Belgrade was listed among the greatest from here. He was one of the most decorated players in the club's history. I believed that he was a defensive midfielder. However, I did not take him because he was born in Belgrade. I did not know how he was connected to the region.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- During my research on AEK Athens, I discovered Toni Savevski, who is widely regarded as one of the three greatest foreign players to have ever graced the Greek league. He played a pivotal role in AEK's most successful period. In fact, a fan poll even named him as AEK's greatest foreign player, surpassing the likes of Rivaldo.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- I also looked into Blerim Džemaili who was born in Northern Macedonia, but grew up in Switzerland.. He made 280 appearances in Serie A, but he was ineligible because he played for Switzerland.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><span face="">-- </span></span>Born in what is now Northern Macedonia, Dragoslav Sekularac's father was Montenegrin heritage, a factor that led me to include him on<span><span face=""> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/03/montenegro.html">Montenegro All-Time teame</a>. He</span></span><span><span> </span><span>was nicknamed "King of Dribble". </span></span>Regarded as one of the finest players to emerge from Yugoslavia, he made the Team of the Tournament in Euro 1960, where Yugoslavia finished second as well as helping Yugoslavia to reach semi-final of the 1962 World Cup. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- At the time of writing, </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Eljif Elmas is only 22 years old, but he has done enough to be on this team. He already made his mark for Napoli in Italy. He was Northern </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Macedonian Footballer of the Year in 2019. He played in a major tournament (Euro 2020) and contributed to Northern Macedonia's great World Cup qualifying campaign in 2022 as one of their most important players. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Enis Bardhi is a versatile player. He is an attack or central midfielder, but he can also play as a left winger. He is one of Levante's greatest footballers. He is their highest ever foreign scorer. He is probably one of greatest player ever from North Macedonia.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-MaKS5xorpA4w1QCOgiFjZJunE9gfD8ZVnHGB0blWcGuyxVPOCt-iU25Wxo3bkWPAByL770RtbkaYP0IWh1f263W8aaXmcQGqhflO7APVcu9RLkauwmxHNGnYN9Y8NzSwCn5YUcX-itRIXLDIC1s6IPZvaW8_u9Kw_KfkqYWSC_xPXLePTvDQtMTCA/s716/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.22.59%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="572" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-MaKS5xorpA4w1QCOgiFjZJunE9gfD8ZVnHGB0blWcGuyxVPOCt-iU25Wxo3bkWPAByL770RtbkaYP0IWh1f263W8aaXmcQGqhflO7APVcu9RLkauwmxHNGnYN9Y8NzSwCn5YUcX-itRIXLDIC1s6IPZvaW8_u9Kw_KfkqYWSC_xPXLePTvDQtMTCA/w320-h400/Screenshot%202022-04-30%20at%208.22.59%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Enis Bardhi</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I do not know which side of the wing Metodije Spasovski played on, but he was mentioned many times as one of Northern Macedonia's greatest footballers.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Vasil Ringov was a hero of Vardar. He was selected by the IFFHS on their All-Time Northern Macedonia Best XI.</div></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Spasoje Nikolic played in Italy and France during the 1950's. He was a pioneer in football, but I only put him on honorable mention.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Agim Ibraimi won Northern Macedonia Player of the Year twice. </div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">He was left footed, but played on the right wing. But I decided not to select him. </div></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Goran Pandev had a long successful career playing in Italy, including winning the Champions' League with Inter Milan. His national team career lasted for more than 20 years. He led them to Euro 2020 Finals. He is the most important player ever from here. He is the country's all-time top scorer with 38 goals.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- In 1991, Darko Pancev won the prestigious European Golden Boot with an impressive tally of 34 goals. Although his career beyond his time at Red Star Belgrade faced challenges, he was honored as Macedonia's UEFA Jubilee player, a title bestowed upon him as the nation's most outstanding player over the past 50 years.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Andon Dončevski is FK Vardar's all-time leading scorer. I rewarded him for being a local hero. I also selected Sokrat Mojsov for the same reason.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Kuzman Sotirović might be a surprise selection. He was the first player born here to have represented Yugoslavia. He played in the French league.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzQQmsxU-TPFowuv7FzL6wLW6WwGgAKcz7PSHhubs_0KBzoTF5XcLmfp381JcnOSlqKfCEXwlA4wtt6SekrAFsl-xBDl7_F47groEsFEjE8b3SOUypknnxz_pkv-FyHiN-9Y1_r8vObiVwRNItnVsqtvDfiKjVjM--1Q8Jo-DhlP-lcAr2UKg_MUekA/s314/205px-Kuzman_Sotirovic%CC%81_(1928).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="205" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzQQmsxU-TPFowuv7FzL6wLW6WwGgAKcz7PSHhubs_0KBzoTF5XcLmfp381JcnOSlqKfCEXwlA4wtt6SekrAFsl-xBDl7_F47groEsFEjE8b3SOUypknnxz_pkv-FyHiN-9Y1_r8vObiVwRNItnVsqtvDfiKjVjM--1Q8Jo-DhlP-lcAr2UKg_MUekA/w261-h400/205px-Kuzman_Sotirovic%CC%81_(1928).jpeg" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kuzman Sotirović</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Aleksandar Trajkovski is the second all-time leading scorer for Northern Macedonia. He was named North Macedonia Player of the Year in 2015. He scored the winning goal against Italy that sent the national team to the UEFA World Cup playoff against Portugal in 2022. However, his career within the top flights in Italy and Spain did not standout. He spent more time in lower division over there. I only out him on honorable mention.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Aleksandar Trajkovski is the second highest goal scorer in the history of Northern Macedonia, has made a significant impact on the national team. One of Trajkovski's most memorable moments arrived when he scored the decisive goal against Italy, securing his team's place in the UEFA World Cup playoff against Portugal in 2022. However, Trajkovski's career within the top flights of Italy and Spain did not reach great heights, as he predominantly featured in lower divisions. While recognizing his talents, I have only placed him in an honorable mention category. </div></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- When Milko Gjurovski moved to Partizan from Red Stars Belgrade, it caused a big controversy in Yugoslavia at the time. His transfer was ranked the 13th most important and significant in the history of Yugoslav football. He was t</span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">he 23rd player taken. </span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- I also studied Gjorgji Hristov, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Ilija Nestorovski</span><span style="font-family: times;"> and Saša Ćirić.</span></span></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><b><u> Formation</u></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/04/1883474_Champions_League_Team.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/04/1883474_Champions_League_Team.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"> </div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><br /></span></div></div></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-45405946591785113892022-03-30T06:12:00.006-07:002024-02-12T06:56:05.069-08:00Montenegro Greatest All-Time Team<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div></span></span></span></div><div style="font-size: x-large;"></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="font-size: x-large;"></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIwJ3goPEmTK58OcTY6PP7kkm7zIJmR8EBEsJHXWBdlP9jmt3MPKGtYnnD0wz46gQJcm1xFWmGhGS4fXNXWIMLIGeA2oGYmTIgD_Ovmk-e7Z8QvdBuAcEdHjf7zJ2fEIIAvhiMODhEnk-zymvo6PJWE1Y-muXOTCg1vEVqaKZZfrwBQnJNA0UH7F3Kg/s1599/Montenegro_line-up,_Czech_Rp.-Montenegro_EURO_2020_QR_10-06-2019.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1599" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIwJ3goPEmTK58OcTY6PP7kkm7zIJmR8EBEsJHXWBdlP9jmt3MPKGtYnnD0wz46gQJcm1xFWmGhGS4fXNXWIMLIGeA2oGYmTIgD_Ovmk-e7Z8QvdBuAcEdHjf7zJ2fEIIAvhiMODhEnk-zymvo6PJWE1Y-muXOTCg1vEVqaKZZfrwBQnJNA0UH7F3Kg/w400-h266/Montenegro_line-up,_Czech_Rp.-Montenegro_EURO_2020_QR_10-06-2019.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Montenegro national team in 2021</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></div><div></div><div><div><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-family: times;">Yugoslavia</span></a></span></span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/03/yugoslavia-after-breakup.html">Yugoslavia after break up</a></span></span></div><div><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/serbia.html">Serbia</a>, </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/croatia.html">Croatia</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/05/macedonia.html">Northern Macedonia</a></span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/bosnia-and-herzegovina.html">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a></span></span></span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/the-former-yugoslavia-without-croatia.html">Macedonia/Montenegro/Kosovo</a>,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/slovenia.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Slovenia</span></a><span>.</span></span></span></b></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/yugoslavia-2018.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Yugoslavia World Cup 2018</span></a></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2015/12/yugoslavia-1994.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">What if Yugoslavia went to USA 1994</span></a></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/12/croatian-australians.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Croatian Australian All-Time Team</span></a></div></div></div><div><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">On January 26, 2007, Montenegro was granted full membership in UEFA, marking an important milestone for their national team. Shortly after, on March 24, 2007. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Prior to 2006, Montenegro was a part of Yugoslavia. Milovan Jakšić holds the distinction of being the first player from Montenegro to participate in a World Cup, serving as the Yugoslav goalkeeper in the 1930 tournament. Since then, Montenegrin players, such as Dragoljub Brnović, Dejan Savićević, and Predrag Mijatović, have been well-represented in the Yugoslav and Serbia and Montenegro teams, establishing themselves as some of the most prominent Yugoslav players of all time. In recognition of his Montenegrin heritage, Dragoslav Šekularac's father, he has earned a spot on this team.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro continued to compete under FR Yugoslavia before briefly adopting the name Serbia and Montenegro national football team. They participated in the 1998 World Cup Finals and the 2000 European Championship.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">According to a report in 2020, Montenegro has 627,809 citizens. As comparison to other European countries, Luxembourg has a population of about 604, 245 while Cyprus has 1.1 million. It is the smallest among the former republics of Yugoslavia. North Macedonia has about 2 million citizens.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This is my all-time team for </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Montenegro</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">. If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milovan_Jak%C5%A1i%C4%87">Milovan Jakšić</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Remembered mostly as "El Grande Milovan", the nickname he earned for his excellent saves in the game that Yugoslavia won against Brasil in the First World Cup in Uruguay 1930 FIFA World Cup. He is considered one of the major contributors for Yugoslavia reaching the semi-finals in that tournament. He played 17 times for Yugoslavia. For his club career, he played for FK BASK. He played for SK Ljubljana and ND Ilirija at the end of his career.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4r_QcSGlb9l4I7bDX6N6QPTnI_OVweEYIUOXdbOOOxAY2NPCrR_8luHYqzvPGQDQEL2cz8LS1KXn5z7HfnJ2Q6lTGYlKGE2avLnHxfoSh_COB7ZJt8bjXLTa7mahu21SIlVC_YRvr9Tvr-GrIVJo7ngRrR6F6O6HOqndJdK_cpzg9aSiKn5goImXtQ/s1348/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2010.49.37%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1348" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4r_QcSGlb9l4I7bDX6N6QPTnI_OVweEYIUOXdbOOOxAY2NPCrR_8luHYqzvPGQDQEL2cz8LS1KXn5z7HfnJ2Q6lTGYlKGE2avLnHxfoSh_COB7ZJt8bjXLTa7mahu21SIlVC_YRvr9Tvr-GrIVJo7ngRrR6F6O6HOqndJdK_cpzg9aSiKn5goImXtQ/w400-h328/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2010.49.37%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Milovan Jakšić </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragoslav_Jevri%C4%87">Dragoslav Jevrić </a>(Serbia and Montenegro)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><div>Jevrić was born in Ivangrad, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia which is now Berane, Montenegro. He started playing with FK Ivangrad, and then with FK Rudar Pljevlja and FK Priština. before moving to Belgrade top-league sides FK Obilić and Red Star. He was a member of Serbia and Montenegro for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Jevrić was the only player on the team born in Montenegro as Mirko Vučinić withdrew before the tournament due to injury</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoran_Simovi%C4%87">Zoran Simović </a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In his professional career, Zoran Simović played for Napredak in Serbia, NK Hajduk Split in Croatia and Galatasaray in Turkey. He was named Yugoslav Footballer of the Year in 1983. He is best remembered as one of the most legendary goalkeepers of Galatasaray S.K., where he played between 1984-1990. He won two championships with Galatasaray in seasons of 1986-87 and 1987-88. He played 10 times for Yugoslavia between 1983 and 1984.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDeljko_Petrovi%C4%87">Zeljko Petrovic</a> (FR Yugoslavia)</span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Zeljko Petrović made his debut with Budućnost in 1987. He later played for Dinamo Zagreb, Sevilla, Den Bosch, Waalwijk, PSV and Urawa Red Diamonds. Petrović made his debut for Yugoslavia in 1990. Due to Yugoslavia's international ban, he would play for Yugoslavia again five years after his debut. He went to the 1998 World Cup Finals.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Maru%C5%A1i%C4%87">Adam Marušic</a> (Montenegro)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">In 2010, Adam Marušic started with Voždovac in the third tier of the Serbian football pyramid. In 2014, he joined joined K.V. Kortrijk. After two seasons, he went to h K.V. Oostende. In 2017, he went to Italy to play for Lazio. Although Marušić was born in Belgrade, he accepted an invitation to play for the Montenegro national team. He made his debut for Montenegro on 27 March 2015. At the time of writing, he was capped 47 times.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn0dZ56rh2BurnQ3hdTS2XMHlkmAkhXMwC6DpC8imuOiGWWO7K6DOPXKs58e85Dt5qgWphVw6cKJucoABX2_axZQA7FfCCi0SSdFKlGgigb1vkTiI6ti2bb_LE7x-h0kabthB4bVc7I25sU9CLXEQbBjvl3k48rIxQdKz4ehPT5-CJsX2P9Ob7wWpJVw/s876/ANP131121108-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="876" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn0dZ56rh2BurnQ3hdTS2XMHlkmAkhXMwC6DpC8imuOiGWWO7K6DOPXKs58e85Dt5qgWphVw6cKJucoABX2_axZQA7FfCCi0SSdFKlGgigb1vkTiI6ti2bb_LE7x-h0kabthB4bVc7I25sU9CLXEQbBjvl3k48rIxQdKz4ehPT5-CJsX2P9Ob7wWpJVw/w400-h300/ANP131121108-1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Adam Marušic </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branko_Ra%C5%A1ovi%C4%87"><span style="font-size: large;">Branko Rašović</span></a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> (Yugoslavia) </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Branko Rašović played five years in Partizan, from 1964 until 1969. The peak of his career was the 1966 European Cup Final in Brussels, when Partizan played in the final agains Real Madrid. In 1969, he moved to Borussia Dortmund, where he played from 1969 to 1974. He was capped 10 times, helping the team to qualify for the 1968 European Championship.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marko_Ba%C5%A1a">Marko Baša</a> ( Serbia and Montenegro/Montenegro)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Marko Baša started with Trstenik. Between 2000 andn 2005, he played for OFT Belgrade. In 2005, he moved to Le Mans in France/ , He quickly received the captain's armband in Le Mans. He joined tLokomotiv Moscow and signed a four-year contract. In July 2011 . went to the French champion Lille, where he remained until 2017. He was capped 3 times for Serbia and Montenegro, and another 37 times for Monetenegro. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Savi%C4%87">Stefan Savić</a> (Montenegro)</span><br style="font-family: times; font-size: large;" /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Stefan Savić started his career at Brskovo, before moving to BSK Borča, and then to FK Partizan. He won the double with Partizan, and then joined Manchester City in 2011, winning the Premier League title in his only season there. In 2012, he was transferred to Fiorentina, before signing with Atlético Madrid in 2015, where he won the Europa League in 2018. Since 2010, he has played over 50 times for Montenegro.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">CB: </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ljubomir_Radanovi%C4%87" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Ljubomir Radanović</a> </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">(Yugoslavia) </span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Ljubomir Radanović started with Lovćen in the Yugoslav Second League. He moved to Partizan in 1981, where he played until 1988. He later played for Standard Liège in Belgium, Nice in France, and Bellinzona in Switzerland. Radanović earned 34 caps for Yugsolavia and scored three goals for Yugoslavia between 1983 and 1988. He attended Euro 1984 in France. He won the bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qAqBYCOTUQ6I8zJHtLQZtcAbCNH7mhZA_Qnfky3ZlEonIuF-rBvriYmBcrrrvEf7UzNOHqygrRxqRewVdEdoeOr-00RNlx4_wotA6sp6EgN4qgDQp4MoBjaoyjDboe-LsVFd1fVKylETz2XCg1rxdMZttcIkIxQeZqFz_XKq-pKRG1dWDiouCWqEqA/s433/rushhsh.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="433" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qAqBYCOTUQ6I8zJHtLQZtcAbCNH7mhZA_Qnfky3ZlEonIuF-rBvriYmBcrrrvEf7UzNOHqygrRxqRewVdEdoeOr-00RNlx4_wotA6sp6EgN4qgDQp4MoBjaoyjDboe-LsVFd1fVKylETz2XCg1rxdMZttcIkIxQeZqFz_XKq-pKRG1dWDiouCWqEqA/w400-h306/rushhsh.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ljubomir Radanović </span></td></tr></tbody></table>LB/CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budimir_Vuja%C4%8Di%C4%87">Budimir Vujačić </a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><div>Vujačić began his career with local outfit OFK Petrovac. In 1985, he moved to SC Freiburg. Then, in 1988, he returned home with FK Vojvodina. From 1989 to 1993, he played for FK Partizan, where he was an important player as they won the league. .He then joined Sporting CP and in Japan with Vissel Kobe. From 1989 to 1996, he played 12 times for Yugoslavia. He was included on the Euro 1992 that was banned for the Finals due to the war.</div><div><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><div>LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slobodan_Marovi%C4%87">Slobodan Marović </a> (Yugoslavia) </div><div>Slobodan Marović was born in Bar, SR Montenegro. He started his career with NK Osijek. He played for Red Star Belgrade between 1986 and 1991. With Red Star Belgrade, he was part of their European Cup victory in 1991. Later, he played for IFK Norrköping, Silkeborg IF and Shenzhen. For his national team career, he earned four caps for the Yugoslavia national football team between 1987 and 1989.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branko_Brnovi%C4%87">Branko </a></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branko_Brnovi%C4%87">Brnović</a> (Yugoslavia) </span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Branko Brnović</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> started with local club Budućnos and signed with Partizan in 1991. In 1994, Brnović joined RCD Espanyol and played there until 2000. Then, he played a season with Koln in Germany. From 1989 to 1998, he played 27 times for Yugoslavia. He </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">was selected for the 1998 World Cup in France. He was a member of the talented Yugoslav under-20 team that won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRQs9JcVdlbbX46s29zOG99Q10f1Z5FW6kUZRumq829GA1bBhJqnzw69x4wRUrgWwM9mCcfMzUv98dagRClcABop4bqlaQMIoQpyVIGaIz3yU72FFi4fHaA5ZBlvhOo5U5_plqJqpShNE1zp-oUV5xjEOjxZuzDRKMutSriI3fg-_D8RlNkjfVvGrFQ/s1826/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2011.03.53%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1298" data-original-width="1826" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRQs9JcVdlbbX46s29zOG99Q10f1Z5FW6kUZRumq829GA1bBhJqnzw69x4wRUrgWwM9mCcfMzUv98dagRClcABop4bqlaQMIoQpyVIGaIz3yU72FFi4fHaA5ZBlvhOo5U5_plqJqpShNE1zp-oUV5xjEOjxZuzDRKMutSriI3fg-_D8RlNkjfVvGrFQ/w400-h284/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2011.03.53%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Branko Brnović </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">DM/RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refik_%C5%A0abanad%C5%BEovi%C4%87" style="font-family: times;">Refik Šabanadžović</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Refik Šabanadžović began with OFK Titograd before he moved to Sarajevo's Željezničar in 1983. He helped the club to reach the UEFA Cup semifinals in the 1984–85 season. He played for Red Stars Belgrade from 1987 to 1991, where he won the European Cup in 1991. With AEK, he won three league championship in the 1990's. He also played for Olympiacos and Kansas City Wizards. He was capped 8 times. He played 4 games at the 1990 World Cup Finals.</span></div></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragoljub_Brnovi%C4%87">Dragoljub Brnović </a>(Yugoslavia)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Dragoljub Brnović played for OFK Titograd, Budućnost Titograd, and Partizan, winning the Yugoslav Cup with the Crno-beli in the 1988–89 season. He subsequently moved to France and joined Metz. Before retiring from the game, Brnović also played professionally in Sweden and Luxembourg. His younger brother Branko also represented Yugoslavia. He himself earned 25 caps for Yugoslavia from 1987 to 1990. He went to the 1990 World Cup, where he played in most games.</span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragoslav_%C5%A0ekularac">Dragoslav Sekularac</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></span><br /><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Dragoslav Sekularac</span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"> was considered one of the best player in Red Star Belgrade history, where he played from 1955 to 1966. He is the second (and one of only five players) to have been awarded the Zvezdina zvezda status. He later played for Independiente Santa Fe in Colombia for five seasons, before transferring to Millonarios from Bogotá and ending his playing career in the German Bundesliga with Karlsruher SC. He earned 41 caps for Yugoslavia. He played in the 1958 and 1962 World Cup Finals, where his team reached the semifinal in 1962. </span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">RW/AM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dejan_Savi%C4%87evi%C4%87">Dejan Savicevic</a> (</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Montenegro)</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Dejan Savicevic was a part of the Red Star Belgrade team that won the 1990–91 European Cup before joining A.C. Milan in 1992. With Milan, he won three Serie A titles and the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, beating Barcelona 4-0 in the Final. He represented Yugoslavia at the 1990 and 1998 FIFA World Cups. However, his international career was limited by the FIFA ban on Yugoslavia during the prime of his career. He did not appear in the European Championship of 1992 as a result.</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ebUzrLnLqSo/VGmOR786l-I/AAAAAAAAAuw/h_Tc1_xGVms/s1600/Dejan%2BSavicsevic.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ebUzrLnLqSo/VGmOR786l-I/AAAAAAAAAuw/h_Tc1_xGVms/s1600/Dejan%2BSavicsevic.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Dejan Savicevic</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">LW/FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilijas_Pa%C5%A1i%C4%87" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ilijas Pašić</span></a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> (Yugoslavia)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Ilijas Pašić started playing football at Romania, but at the age of 18 he made a move to FK Željezničar. He is one of the best goalscorers in history of the club. He joined Dinamo Zagreb in 1959, scoring 31 goals in period of three seasons. However, injury stopped his career to rise even more. He later played in Austria and Switzerland. He had 8 caps for Yugoslavia.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vojin_Bo%C5%BEovi%C4%87" style="font-family: times;">Vojin Božović </a> (Yugoslavia)</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Vojin Božović was among the best players in the history of Montenegro and during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Since 1931, he played for Budućnost Podgorica, SK Jugoslavija, SK Obilić, SK Jugoslavija and SK Anastas. His best years were spent while playing in BSK Belgrade where, alongside the best country's players Aleksandar Tirnanić, Đorđe Vujadinović, Moša Marjanović, and Svetislav Glišović. After the end of World War II, he played for SR Montenegro. He played 8 matches for the Yugoslavia national football team, having scored five goals. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">AM/FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevan_Joveti%C4%87#AS_Monaco" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Stevan Jovetić </span></a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span face="">(</span><span face="">Montenegro) </span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Stevan Jovetic began his career with FK Partizan, winning the double of Serbian Superliga and Serbian Cup in 2008. He spent 5 seasons with Forentina. With Manchester City, he won the League Cup and the Premier League. He then played for Inter Milan, Sevilla and AS Monaco. He made his senior international debut in 2007, in Montenegro's first international football match as an independent country. He is their all-time leading scorer.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRPPfLffWZs9oAa7nHGW3LfQpV9l4OeR72RJaDRNcT0fPG82W_JDOfteZvPJ4cJYaDcEZm5hPeeAoOMXwq_pYJd1OCOfvARkpsdCovzb6I6ey2JjAOLyOysJzPhjJMvzwqg9JT4GxtS3GMhoFWt-LH9zNvC8CtXyh2-g7O4HirXsfYPeKTR8ePuGHCA/s758/vm-kvalifikation-danmark-montenegro.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="758" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRPPfLffWZs9oAa7nHGW3LfQpV9l4OeR72RJaDRNcT0fPG82W_JDOfteZvPJ4cJYaDcEZm5hPeeAoOMXwq_pYJd1OCOfvARkpsdCovzb6I6ey2JjAOLyOysJzPhjJMvzwqg9JT4GxtS3GMhoFWt-LH9zNvC8CtXyh2-g7O4HirXsfYPeKTR8ePuGHCA/w400-h269/vm-kvalifikation-danmark-montenegro.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Stevan Jovetić </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: times;">ST: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vojin_Lazarevi%C4%87" style="font-family: times;">Vojin Lazarević</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Lazarević started out at Sutjeska Nikšić. He was the Yugoslav Second League (Group East) top scorer on three occasions, before moving to Red Star Belgrade in 1966. He subsequently moved abroad and played for RFC Liège (Belgium) and Nancy (France), before returning to Red Star Belgrade in 1972. In the 1972–73 season, Lazarević was the league's joint top scorer with 25 goals, as the club won the title. He represented Yugoslavia internationally, earning five caps </span></div></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">FW: </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirko_Vu%C4%8Dini%C4%87" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Mirko Vucinic</a> </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">(Montenegro)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Mirko Vučinić started out at his hometown club Sutjeska Nikšić before joining Italy's Lecce in 2000. From 2006 to 2011, he played AS Roma. Then, he played 3 seasons with Juventus. He played a single season with Al Jazira in UAE. He played 3 times with Serbia and Montenegro between 2005 and 2006. An injury kept him out of the 2006 World Cup team. Then, he opted to play for Montenegro where he played </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">45 times from 2007 to 2017. He won the Player of the Year in</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> Montenegro 7 times.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7B9xZUYLgSgAk6rX7g-7phF11OArvGIaOJM5Lvej4SA0diMKQarLdUs3mPxJ0hdEjbp35PkEiC3dEimP5npX4NX9BsuLKYgTvvhE-0lXEMk8hNB6EOoN2MDPgwhl0f7V1Yb90yqzuI32Zbj09KGrqSYYjkB1Kp5SuZ33PO6vOTBlrQzHmhK3WxR57w/s1484/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2011.54.29%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1484" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7B9xZUYLgSgAk6rX7g-7phF11OArvGIaOJM5Lvej4SA0diMKQarLdUs3mPxJ0hdEjbp35PkEiC3dEimP5npX4NX9BsuLKYgTvvhE-0lXEMk8hNB6EOoN2MDPgwhl0f7V1Yb90yqzuI32Zbj09KGrqSYYjkB1Kp5SuZ33PO6vOTBlrQzHmhK3WxR57w/w400-h286/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2011.54.29%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mirko Vučinić </span></td></tr></tbody></table>FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoran_Filipovi%C4%87">Zoran Filipović</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Zoran Filipović made his name with Red Star Belgrade, during more than ten seasons at the club (5 June 1969 to 29 June 1980). He played a total of 520 games for the club scoring 302 goals. He played for Club Brugge in Belgium before joining Benfica in 1981. Benfioca finished runner-up in the UEFA Cup in 1983. Filipović ended his career with Boavista FC (1984–1986). From 1971 to 1977, he played 13 times for Yugoslavia.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto">ST: </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predrag_Mijatovi%C4%87">Predrag Mijatović </a>(Montenegro)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">At club level, Predrag Mijatović played for six different clubs: Budućnost Podgorica, Partizan, Valencia, Real Madrid, Fiorentina and Levante. He is best remembered for scoring the winning goal against Juventus as Real Madrid won the 1998 Champions' league, its first title since 1966. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">He played 73 times for Yugoslavia. In 1997, Mijatović was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or, behind Ronaldo and ahead of Zinedine Zidane. He played in the 1998 World Cup Finals.</span></span></span><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgXq0neyDCCu3V9CY8EPRi-F7gLTqsjDsZmWgfyGeKHA5WekPvUed7Nja_PjzWZpVxkt57YufmU2_8_UqDusm8fV0ctv0kgYshs8Q2i5V1Lr3_6b1hme-MjQiJ1VNyjyR4w59kt34YzDU8xMOo9CmEYjk1qudDOB4t0HQqZ8bZK7FFmYGdX-WdduSAQ/s1048/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2011.58.34%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="702" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgXq0neyDCCu3V9CY8EPRi-F7gLTqsjDsZmWgfyGeKHA5WekPvUed7Nja_PjzWZpVxkt57YufmU2_8_UqDusm8fV0ctv0kgYshs8Q2i5V1Lr3_6b1hme-MjQiJ1VNyjyR4w59kt34YzDU8xMOo9CmEYjk1qudDOB4t0HQqZ8bZK7FFmYGdX-WdduSAQ/w268-h400/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2011.58.34%20PM.png" width="268" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Predrag Mijatović </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><b><u>Honorable Mentions</u></b></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">Ivica Kralj, Dragoje Lekovic, Vasilije "Čiko" Radovic, Niša Saveljić, Mladen Božović, Vukašin Poleksić, Nikola Jovanović, Duško Radinović, Elsad Zverotić, Miodrag Krivokapić, Miljan Zeković, Ante Miročević, Anto Drobnjak, Sreten Banović, Nikola Vukčević, Duško Radinović, Milutin Pajević, Dejan Damjanović, Lazar Radovic, Fatos Bećiraj, </div></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Squad Explanation</span></span></b></u><br style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;" /><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- Montenegrin players were included in my blog <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-former-yugoslavia-without-croatia.html">Northern Macedonia/Monetenegro/Kosovo</a> all-time team. In March/April, 2022, I decide to create separated teams for each country. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Montenegro is the smallest among the former republics of Yugoslavia. The population of the country is about 627,809 citizens. North Macedonia has about 2 million citizens. So the player pool is small. As comparison to other European countries, Luxembourg has a population of about 604, 245 while Cyprus has 1.1 million. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- Because ethnicity is a sensitive issue in the region, I use various criteria for eligibility. All the players from Yugoslavia era were selected through ethnicity and birth place. Many footballers had a multi-racial background. This has given me plenty of head aides. I tried my best not to be offensive to people. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">After the breakup, I used the "cap-tied rule" with national team as the criteria. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Dragoslav Sekularac, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Predrag Mijatović </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">and Dejan Savicevic are on my</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html">Yugoslavia All-Time Team</a>. They were the automatic selections on this blog team. Dragoslav Sekularac was born in modern day Northern Macedonia to a Montenegrin father. Since I considered ethnicity an important factor, I ruled him eligible. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFKO_pR_IQ8eF7vyJKFlq-5cuOW8F7DKoQ7uaJ7tTfhhfmJ5rs-QM5gsZTx1-VFc6HaIN2bK3C565xs1_iSUzKR_Q3BuOxe3f1Tdem2ezqO_0muxnQrAHJOQHm47B_3_AnxdmxRaMGCQnLOjWmszCQlH-_SAg-8rctOULSGzMySfV7zZge7-6yUTgnw/s226/6381158adc2511dfc23381144a80a40a.jpeg" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="181" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFKO_pR_IQ8eF7vyJKFlq-5cuOW8F7DKoQ7uaJ7tTfhhfmJ5rs-QM5gsZTx1-VFc6HaIN2bK3C565xs1_iSUzKR_Q3BuOxe3f1Tdem2ezqO_0muxnQrAHJOQHm47B_3_AnxdmxRaMGCQnLOjWmszCQlH-_SAg-8rctOULSGzMySfV7zZge7-6yUTgnw/w320-h400/6381158adc2511dfc23381144a80a40a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Dragoslav Sekularac</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Mirko Vucinic is probably the best player from here after the independence of Montenegro. However, I only selected Mijatović and Savicevic to my <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/03/yugoslavia-after-breakup.html">Yugoslavia after the breakup</a> team. Both played their prime before and after 1992.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- The first player from Montenegro to play in a World Cup was Milovan Jakšić who was the Yugoslav goalkeeper at 1930 World Cup. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Yugoslavia's Golden Generation of the 1990's was much talked about. Four Montenegro-born players were on the 1990 World Cup team. They were Refik Šabanadžović, Dragoljub Brnović, Dejan Savićević </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">and Dragoje Leković.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Yugoslavia was banned for the Euro 1992 Finals. However, they released an official squad. That team included 6 Montenegrins: Predrag Mijatović, Dejan Savicevic, Duško Radinović, Budimir Vujačić, Duško Radinović and Dragoje Lekovic. The first four names are on this team while Radinović and Lekovic are on honorable mention.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- FR Yugoslavia featured Predrag Mijatović, Dejan Savicevic, Željko Petrović and Branko Brnović at the 1998 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- IFFHS created a Dream Team All-Time team for this country. Their lineup was as followed </span>Dragoje Leković, Branko Rašović, Budimir Vujačić, Ljubomir Radanović, Slobodan Marković, Željko Petrović, Ante Miročević, Dragoljub Brnović, Dejan Savićević, Zoran Filipović and Predrag Mijatović.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- </span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Milovan Jakšić played a crucial role for Yugoslavia during their journey to the semi-finals in the 1930 World Cup Finals. His outstanding performance in the group match against Brazil earned him the nickname "El Grande Milovan." This match held significant importance in the tournament, as Brazil was seen as a potential semi-final opponent for host nation Uruguay. The victory was celebrated by local fans. He was also one of the founders of Red Star Belgrade, further cementing his contributions to the sport.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Dragoje Lekovic is widely regarded as one of Montenegro's most notable goalkeepers. He helped Yugoslavia to win the 1987 World Youth Cup. He was expected to be the starting goalkeeper for the national team in Euro 1992, but unfortunately, Yugoslavia faced a ban from participating in the tournament. However, throughout his club career, he failed to make a significant impact anywhere. He performed adequately during his time with Kilmarnock in Scotland, his departure from the club was marked by an awkward situation stemming from a contractual loophole. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Instead, I took Dragoslav Jevrić. He was a member of Serbia and Montenegro for the 2006 World Cup Finals. He was the only player on the team born in Montenegro after Mirko Vučinić withdrew before the tournament due to an injury. He did sit on the bench for Serbia in a single game, but he never entered the field. Officially, he was not cap-tied to them.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Zoran Simović was named the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year in 1983. He also won the Turkish Footballer of the Year award for three consecutive years (1985, 1986, and 1987). He is on my<a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/galatasaray.html"> Galatasaray All-Time</a> Team. He was often listed as one of the greatest goalkeepers ever played in the Turkish league.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivica_Kralj">Ivica Kralj</a> was well-known because of the 1998 World Cup Finals, but his club career outside of FK Partizan was mainly as a backup. Vasilije "Čiko" Radovic only earned 3 caps for Yugoslavia. I did not know how good he was. He was a year younger than Milutin Šoškić and a few years older than Ilija Pantelić. So his chance with the national team must have been limited. Vukašin Poleksić also captained the national team 6 times with over 30 caps. Mladen Božović played in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying rounds. They made honorable mentions.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Marko Baša was born in Serbia, but he chose to play for Montenegro. He won Montenegrin Footballer of the Year in 2014. He is extremely appreciated by Lille OSC fans. He edged out Niša Saveljić (Montenegro) who played 34 times for FR Yugoslavia. </div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Branko Rašović was known for his career with Partizan Belgrade, in which his club reached the Final of the 1966 European Cup. He earned 10 caps, but missed the European Championship of 1968. Ljubomir Radanović (Montenegro) scored the winning goal at the stoppage time against Bulgaria in the Euro 1984 qualifier, which helped Yugoslavia to qualify for the Finals in France. He also earned 34 caps.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- At the time of writing, Stefan Savić has been named Montenegrin Footballer of the Year 5 times. He also firmly established in La Liga for many years. He is probably the best central defender from here.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQIYFjLe55A/XanHdMtXrPI/AAAAAAAAI3U/9z12HDP3zoAFOUGP6o_oqCQ1U8S-zKuCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Russia%252Bv%252BMontenegro%252BUEFA%252BEURO%252B2016%252BQualifier%252BmXLH_M4gKqol.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="600" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQIYFjLe55A/XanHdMtXrPI/AAAAAAAAI3U/9z12HDP3zoAFOUGP6o_oqCQ1U8S-zKuCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Russia%252Bv%252BMontenegro%252BUEFA%252BEURO%252B2016%252BQualifier%252BmXLH_M4gKqol.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Stefan Savić </span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Nikola Jovanović made a high profile transfer to Manchester United in 1980, but he was a flop there. He is known for being first player from outside the British Isles to join Manchester United. His transfer fees was Red Star's and Yugoslav First League record transfer fee at the time. Nevertheless, he was a well-known central defender from Montenegro. Dusko Radinovic from the banned Euro 1992 team was also seriously considered. I put them on honourable mentions.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Željko Petrović was probably their greatest rightback. Elsad Zverotić is Montenegro's second most capped player, but instead, I chose Adam Marušic. He had a long career with Lazio in Italy. He was born in Serbia, but chose to play for Montenegro. Duško Radinović who helped Red Star Belgrade winning the 1992 European Cup made honourable mention. He was also on the Yugoslavian team that was banned for the Euro 1992 Finals.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- With an HPI of 55.53, Budimir Vujačić is the 10th most famous Montenegrin footballers. He could operate as a central defender. The second leftback was between Miljan Zeković and Slobodan Marović Both starred for Red Stars Belgrade. Slobodan Marović was voted as their second best leftback for the club in a poll I found online, but polls tended to favour contemporary players. Miljan Zeković was on the 1954 World Cup team, but did not play. In the end, I took Marović because his name was mentioned more frequently.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- I also studied Miodrag Krivokapić closely. He could play both as a leftback and a central defender. </div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Ethnicity and eligibility were big problems for me in all of my all-time teams for the former Yugoslavia. Dragoslav Sekularac and Refik Šabanadžović were the two footballers in question for this team. Dragoslav Sekularac was often listed as a Serbian footballer. He was born in modern day Northern Macedonia to a Montenegrin father and a Macedonian mother. He grew up in Belgrade, but I used ethnicity and birthplace for eligibility. He was nicknamed "King of Dribble". He made the Team of the Tournament in Euro 1960, where Yugoslavia finished second, and Yugoslavia also reached semifinal of the 1962 World Cup. He was one of the best ever players from Yugoslavia.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">Refik Šabanadžović, a Bosniak by ethnicity, was born in Montenegro. Despite his birthplace, I made the decision to also include him in my <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/bosnia-and-herzegovina.html">Bosnia and Herzegovina All-Time</a> team.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span face="" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">--</span></span>Dejan Savicevic stands as one of the most underrated players in history and was among the world's best players in the 1990's. However, due to the ban on international football for Yugoslavia, he missed out on the opportunity to participate in the 1992 European Championship and the 1994 World Cup Finals. In 1992, Denmark emerged victorious in the European Championship, effectively replacing Yugoslavia in Sweden. This could have been a defining moment for Savicevic. Nonetheless, he managed to contribute to AC Milan's victory in the European Cup in 1994, showcasing his exceptional talents on a different stage.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- Stevan Jovetić was Montenegro Player of the Year twice. He is also their all-time leading scorer. He was an attack midfielder or secondary striker.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- Ante Miročević holds the distinction of being the first football player from a Montenegrin club to represent the Yugoslav national team. He was also the captain of the Olympic team that won fourth place in Moscow in 1980. Although Miročević became the first Yugoslav player to venture into English football, his time at Sheffield Wednesday was underwhelming, despite being the club's record signing. Besides, I already had Dragoslav Sekularac, Dejan Savicevic and Stevan Jovetić.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- Branko and Dragoljub Brnović are brothers. Both earned over 20 caps for FR Yugoslavia. They played in 1990 and 1998 World Cup Finals respectively. Branko Brnović was a right wingback at one point. </span>Branko Bošković, distinguished as an attacking midfielder, merits an honorable mention. It is important not to confuse him from Branko Brnović.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMhkuJfWHNWuLipTYY4ZUDvTMYollLLtkUV-zbedsTY277evqvoPvJPL7ek-0herxcCoT_PspGL6JdiPfMxQtHrEWwyDIEGBpf0AOTf-1or48qRvNDpfp0GCXssyZywtsjNe7oryjRhld_p7YxbeVhK5lc9ShHbBSJpd1aQpddf9JQGvUwDIZVx_U5Q/s874/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2011.44.56%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="874" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMhkuJfWHNWuLipTYY4ZUDvTMYollLLtkUV-zbedsTY277evqvoPvJPL7ek-0herxcCoT_PspGL6JdiPfMxQtHrEWwyDIEGBpf0AOTf-1or48qRvNDpfp0GCXssyZywtsjNe7oryjRhld_p7YxbeVhK5lc9ShHbBSJpd1aQpddf9JQGvUwDIZVx_U5Q/w400-h271/Screenshot%202022-03-27%20at%2011.44.56%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dragoljub Brnović </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- I did not select any right winger, but Dejan Savicevic played as a right winger while Mirko Vučinić could play on either side of the flank.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- Ilijas Pašić was sometimes listed as the first ever international footballer from FR Bosnia and Herzegovina largely because he was one of FK Željezničar Sarajevic's greatest players. He was born in Herceg Novi, modern day Montenegro. By birth right, he is eligible for this team. And I needed a left winger.</span></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></div></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">-- </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">In my opinion, Predrag Mijatović, Mirko Vucinic, and Zoran Filipović were the top forwards. Here are some notable achievements for each player.</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Mijatović attained legendary status during his time with Real Madrid, particularly for his decisive goal against Juventus in the 1998 Champions League Final. This goal secured a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid, marking their first triumph in the tournament since 1966. </span><span>Vucinic, who won the Player of the Year award in Montenegro an impressive seven times, played a crucial role during a period when Montenegro achieved its best results since gaining independence. </span><span>Filipović excelled as the top scorer in the UEFA Cup during the 1982-1983 season while representing Benfica. Although Benfica finished as runners-up in the tournament, the final marked their third loss in a final since the inception of the infamous "curse of Bela Guttmann."</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Vojin Božović's career was sandwiched between the Second World War. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He was considered one of the best players in the history of pre-war football in Montenegro and one of the best strikers in Yugoslav football until 1941.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Vojin Lazarević scored over 130 goals for Red Stars Belgrade. He is their 6th highest ever scorer.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Anto Drobnjak helped Lens to win the league in the 1997-1998 season. He was their top scorer. However, he was not selected to Yugoslavia's final squad for the 1998 World Cup. Fatos Bećiraj is the most capped player for Montenegro. Both made honourable mention only.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Dejan Damjanović is AFC Champions' League All-Time leading scorer. In his prime, he was probably one of the best foreign players playing in Asia. I only put him on honourable mention.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>Formation</b></u></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Mirko Vucinic could operate on the left. Refik Šabanadžović played with Dragoljub Brnović at the 1990 World Cup Finals, but I chose to start Branko </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Brnović. Something in me wanted to start a pair of brothers. Dejan Savicevic was also on that team. He was subbed out for Dragoljub Brnović on the first match against West Germany. I almost started Željko Petrović as my rightback.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/03/1880869_Montenegro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/03/1880869_Montenegro.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div></span></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-49241031669958608312022-03-17T00:27:00.011-07:002024-02-11T17:49:24.932-08:00Yugoslavia after the breakup All-Time 23 member team<div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jLSqdphlMb4/W0yAiaORPBI/AAAAAAAAGiw/V0tAFqyilJQ-3jiMu1gDd3nv2NcHOMfqACLcBGAs/s1600/TELEMMGLPICT000168807422-xlarge_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqDfH7F16Xk0VA0Enc8HeGHvFoLljmXhozfM9em-tFupw.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1281" height="248" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jLSqdphlMb4/W0yAiaORPBI/AAAAAAAAGiw/V0tAFqyilJQ-3jiMu1gDd3nv2NcHOMfqACLcBGAs/s400/TELEMMGLPICT000168807422-xlarge_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqDfH7F16Xk0VA0Enc8HeGHvFoLljmXhozfM9em-tFupw.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Croatia World Cup 2018</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></div><div></div><div><div><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-family: times;">Yugoslavia</span></a><span style="font-family: times;">, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/serbia.html">Serbia</a>, </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/croatia.html">Croatia</a></span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/bosnia-and-herzegovina.html">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a></span></span></span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/03/montenegro.html">Montenegro</a>, </span></span></span></b><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/05/macedonia.html">Northern Macedonia</a></span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/the-former-yugoslavia-without-croatia.html">Macedonia/Montenegro/Kosovo</a>,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/01/slovenia.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Slovenia</span></a><span>.</span></span></span></b></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/10/yugoslavia-2018.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Yugoslavia World Cup 2018</span></a></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2015/12/yugoslavia-1994.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">What if Yugoslavia went to USA 1994</span></a></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/12/croatian-australians.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Croatian Australian All-Time Team</span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Historically, Yugoslavia was loaded with football talents, but they did not perform as well as they should have. I have created a <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html">Yugoslavia All-Time</a>. </span>This is the all-time team for Yugoslavia after breakup. Only players whose career existed around 1992 were eligible. I chose the year 1992 because it was when Croatia and Macedonia became FIFA members. The country Yugoslavia was no longer intact. Players from FR Yugoslavia were also included. I put players before the breakup on my Yugoslavia All-Time Team over here. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The national teams of Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia were born in 1992. Serbia and Montenegro continued to play under FR Yugoslavia until 2006. The national team of FR Yugoslavia continued to exist until 2003 when it became Serbia and Montenegro. In 2006, Serbia and Montenegro separated into two national teams. Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina came into being in 1995. Kosovo became a FIFA member in 2018. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Croatia had the best record since Yugoslavia broke up. They finished as runner-up at the 2018 World Cup Finals as well as finishing 3rd at the 1998 and 2022 World Cup Finals. At the time of writing, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"> and Northern Macedonia had qualified for a major tournaments. Croatia met FR Yugoslavia for the first time in 1999 during the qualifying round for Euro 2000. Both matched were heated battles. Due to the historical background of the two countries, the Croatia-Serbia rivalry is one of the most intense in European football. Meanwhile, Slovenia qualified for their first major tournament in 2000. They were on the same group as FR Yugoslavia, and they played each other on the first match. The match ended in 2-2 tie.</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGPzA8OVIlVTRQc-Ae8VyxJwYJhoSiP44HawuhQHNP4sKTomH7Ccpoh27c1HKdoM7nrw8zeW6-bJ3QgHllWjKCyOs0POGx9P5Uo6RPQIhk3mazl2oljCFZ7Rcyl2pjLzrTTVwti7TtBOtlbnMAYJ0XWuhxTFiDIgz-3mqLFL2Y3yqZFUY-Ei0wqUmkmg=s609" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="609" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGPzA8OVIlVTRQc-Ae8VyxJwYJhoSiP44HawuhQHNP4sKTomH7Ccpoh27c1HKdoM7nrw8zeW6-bJ3QgHllWjKCyOs0POGx9P5Uo6RPQIhk3mazl2oljCFZ7Rcyl2pjLzrTTVwti7TtBOtlbnMAYJ0XWuhxTFiDIgz-3mqLFL2Y3yqZFUY-Ei0wqUmkmg=w400-h306" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Croatia vs FR Yugoslavia Euro Qualifiers in 1999</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">Team</span></u></b></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Oblak">Jan Oblak </a>(Slovenia)</span><br /><span face="" style="font-size: large;">Jan Oblak made his debut for Olimpija Ljubljana at hime in the 2009–10 season aged 16 before joining Benfica in 2010. Starting in 2014, he plays for Atletico Madrid in Spain. At the time of writing, he has won La Liga's Zamora Trophy three times for their best goalkeeper. At the international level, he became the first-choice goalkeeper of the national team after the international retirement of Samir Handanović at the end of 2015.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span face=""><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samir_Handanovi%C4%87">Samir Handanović </a></span></span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">(Slovenia)</span></span><br /><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">From 2004, Samir Handanović was capped over 80 times for Slovenia. He went to the World Cup Finals in 2010. For club football, he was best remembered as a top keeper in Serie A. He mainly played from Inter Milan where he started in 2012. He was voted the best goalkeeper for 2013 in Italy. He is one of only three non-Italian keepers to be named Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year, winning the honor twice. He is nicknamed Batman due to his acrobatic saves.</span></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nbQLFRkuJBQ/XhKfsv5-XCI/AAAAAAAAJOc/nNaYwAs6tNorLA0tjh-z-ooYbETHU62ygCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Samir%252BHandanovic%252BAlgeria%252Bv%252BSlovenia%252BGroup%252BuuXd8R_68Uml.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="594" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nbQLFRkuJBQ/XhKfsv5-XCI/AAAAAAAAJOc/nNaYwAs6tNorLA0tjh-z-ooYbETHU62ygCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Samir%252BHandanovic%252BAlgeria%252Bv%252BSlovenia%252BGroup%252BuuXd8R_68Uml.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Samir Handanović </span></td></tr></tbody></table>GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danijel_Suba%C5%A1i%C4%87">Danijel Subašić</a> </span></span><span face="" style="font-size: large;">(Croatia) </span><br /><span face="" style="font-size: large;">Danijel Subašić made his name with Hajduk Split between 2009 and 2012. In 2012, he joined Monaco in France, winning Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year: 2016–17. Between 2010 and 2018, he earned 44 caps for Croatia. He was the starting keeper at Euro 2016. He was a hero of the 2018 World Cup team, where he saved 4 penalties in two penalty shootouts in the knockout stage as Croatia reached the Final.</span></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">RB: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darijo_Srna">Darijo Srna</a> (Croatia)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Darijo Srna was one of the best wingbacks of his generation. He started Hajduk Split in 1999. He was best remembered for playing over 10 years for Shaktar Donetsk and winning the UEFA Cup with them in the 2008-2009 season. He is both captain for his club and country. He played 134 times for Croatia, having represented his country at the 2006 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, as well as at UEFA Euro 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branislav_Ivanovi%C4%87">Branislav Ivanović </a>(Serbia)</span><br style="font-family: times;" /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ivanović began his career with FK Srem. He later played with OFK Beograd and Lokomotiv Moscow. In January 2008, he joined Chelsea. He won nine major honours with Chelsea, including the Champions League and the Europa League. He is only five foreign players to appear in over 300 matches for the club. He has the most appearances for the Serbian national team in its history, having played 105 matches. He went to 2010 and 2018 World Cup.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemanja_Vidi%C4%87">Nemanja Vidic</a> (Serbia)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Nemanja Vidic spent 9 seasons as the starting center-back at Manchester United from 2006 and 2014, where he won every major trophy and established himself as one of the best center-backs of his generation. He also played for Red Star Belgrade and Spartak Moscow. He went to the World Cup Finals in 2006 and 2010. He was part of the "Famous Four" Serbian national team defence that conceded just one goal during the 2006 World Cup qualification campaign.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gBYFEHbBULA/Wpaz23zKcbI/AAAAAAAAGO0/irx4oATV8FcufGNpI3UiFs6IM5aggWccwCLcBGAs/s1600/523000005DC-874_634x535.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="624" height="330" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gBYFEHbBULA/Wpaz23zKcbI/AAAAAAAAGO0/irx4oATV8FcufGNpI3UiFs6IM5aggWccwCLcBGAs/s400/523000005DC-874_634x535.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Nemanja Vidic </span><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kova%C4%8D">Robert Kovac</a> (Croatia)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span>Robert Kovac had 84 caps for Croatia. He represented them in two World Cup Finals, 2002 and 2006, and has also participated at two European Championships, 2004 and 2008. He was the captain of the national team after his brother Niko retired. </span><span>He made his name with Bayer Leverkusen. He played a few of the biggest clubs in the world, notably with Bayern Munich</span></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span>and Juventus. He ended his career with Dinamo Zagreb.</span></span></span><br /><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miroslav_%C4%90uki%C4%87">Miroslav Djukic</a> (Serbia)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Miroslav Djukic spent 14 years of his professional career in Spain, notably at the service of Deportivo de La Coruña and Valencia, amassing La Liga totals of 368 games and 11 goals, and winning six major titles for the two clubs combined. In 1994, Đukić missed a penalty kick in the game's last minute (eventual 0–0 draw) for Deportivo. As a result FC Barcelona were crowned champions instead. He had 48 caps and played at Euro 2000 for Yugoslavia.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB/DM/LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sini%C5%A1a_Mihajlovi%C4%87">Sinisa Mihajlovic </a>(Serbia)</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Sinisa Mihajlovic was capped 63 times between 1991 and 2003 for Yugoslavia. He won the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade. In 1992, he moved to Italy and became was one of the best defender in Serie, notably played for Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio and Inter Milan. With Lazio, he won UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1998–99. He was part of the golden generation of Yugoslav players who won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FjlUAwQr3BA/WkXAvHuKi9I/AAAAAAAAFcY/gIrab-Ou-gQrzvyeH0ige7Sd-W-9GhkpACLcBGAs/s1600/1040656-1487160802-800.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="594" height="272" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FjlUAwQr3BA/WkXAvHuKi9I/AAAAAAAAFcY/gIrab-Ou-gQrzvyeH0ige7Sd-W-9GhkpACLcBGAs/s400/1040656-1487160802-800.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sinisa Mihajlovic</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">LB:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jarni"> Robert Jarni </a> (Croatia)</span></span><br style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Robert Jarni was a member of Yugoslavia's Golden Generation of the 1990's. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1990 with Yugoslavia and later, represented Croatia at the World Cup Finals in 1998, where they reached the semifinal. Professionally, he began Hadjuk Split had played in big clubs such as Juventus and Real Madrid as well as Real Betis where he played the longest. He also played in England and Italy.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">LB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandar_Kolarov" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aleksandar Kolarov </span></a><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">(Serbia)</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aleksandar Kolarov began his career at Red Star Belgrade, but he moved onto Čukarički in 2004. Two years later, he joined OFK Beograd before signing for Lazio in Serie A. In 2010, he joined Manchester City, with which he won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup. He now plays for AS Roma in Italy. He has over 70 caps for Serbia. Kolarov was a member of Serbia's squads for the 2010 and 2018 World Cup Finals. He was named Serbian Player of the Year in 2011.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemanja_Mati%C4%87">Nemanja Matić </a> (Serbia)</span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nemanja Matić began his career at Kolubara, before joining Slovak side Košice in 2007. He moved to Chelsea in 2009. With Benfica, he won the Primeira Liga Player of the Year award. He returned to Chelsea in 2014. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2014–15 season. In 2017, he joined Manchester United. With Serbia, he has over 48 caps since 2008. He went to 2018 World Cup. He was the Serbian Player of the year twice.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CM: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luka_Modri%C4%87" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Luka Modric</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> (Croatia)</span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">Luka Modric </span></span><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;">is one of the greatest playmakers of his generation. He </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">earned more 90 caps for Croatia. He currently plays for Real Madrid and won the Champions' League for the 2013-2014, 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons. He also played with Dinamo Zagreb and Tottenham Hotspurs. He played in the World Cup Finals of 2006 and 2014, as well as the European Championship of 2008, 2012 and 2016. He was voted the best player of the World Cup Finals in 2018 as Croatia finished second.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXXD-hmceWpw5OfyAZ0WhWXx4FIRBg7eHPlkg28nUDHWmlDEQWUDXG8Jvknv7CtKh360TTDrfNRftOeTgHJ9sGD2YKpaePE2-LWamDVhGINZw0MmfCwaxoAj_bCeVS_h1EWmio73pzuj5c_sTQuGCAK37lTxN-Uu-WBrYiSEpW4mF44EDLZZEa86pE4A=s1444" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1444" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXXD-hmceWpw5OfyAZ0WhWXx4FIRBg7eHPlkg28nUDHWmlDEQWUDXG8Jvknv7CtKh360TTDrfNRftOeTgHJ9sGD2YKpaePE2-LWamDVhGINZw0MmfCwaxoAj_bCeVS_h1EWmio73pzuj5c_sTQuGCAK37lTxN-Uu-WBrYiSEpW4mF44EDLZZEa86pE4A=w400-h275" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Luka Modric</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Rakiti%C4%87">Ivan Rakitic</a> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">(Croatia)</span></div></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">Born in Switzerland of Croatian background, Rakitic started his career with FC Basel. He played with Schalke 04 from 2007 and 2011. Then, he moved to Sevilla in 2011. At Sevilla, he won the Europa Cup in 2014. He moved to Barcelona. For Croatia, he earned 100 caps at the time of writing. He played in the midfield with Luka Modric as Croatia reached the Final of the 2018 World Cup Finals.</span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM/CM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zvonimir_Boban">Zvonimir Boban</a> (Croatia)</span></span><br style="font-family: times;" /><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Zvonimir Boban was the captain of the national team that finished third at the World Cup in 1998. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">He was also an important player of the highly talented Yugoslavia under-20 team that won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship. He was also remembered for his career with AC Milan </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">with whom he won four Serie A and one UEFA Champions League titles. He also played Bari and Celta Vigo at the club level.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dejan_Savi%C4%87evi%C4%87">Dejan Savicevic</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">(Montenegro)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dejan Savicevic was a part of the Red Star Belgrade team that won the 1990–91 European Cup before joining A.C. Milan in 1992. With Milan, he won three Serie A titles. He was a key player for winning the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League. He represented Yugoslavia at the 1990 and 1998 World Cups. However, his international career was limited by the FIFA ban on Yugoslavia during his prime. He did not appear in the European Championship of 1992 as a result.</span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NBJ3MDbg5-M/XpkrGg8Wn9I/AAAAAAAAJts/op9tlAeXlhsvQiuq6iYKVxAvbLCCwsJkACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1996-Yugoslavia-Malta-Dejan-Savicevic.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="640" height="251" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NBJ3MDbg5-M/XpkrGg8Wn9I/AAAAAAAAJts/op9tlAeXlhsvQiuq6iYKVxAvbLCCwsJkACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/1996-Yugoslavia-Malta-Dejan-Savicevic.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Dejan Savicevic</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">A</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">M:</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Prosine%C4%8Dki" style="font-family: times;">Robert Prosinecki</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Croatia)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">Robert Prosinecki was considered one of the most talented players from Yugoslavia in the 1990's. In 1987, Prosinečki was named the tournament's best player as Yugoslavia won the World Youth Championship. He then played for Yugoslavia at the 1990 World Cup and for Croatia at the European Champion in 1996, and both of the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. For his club career, he played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, but he failed to establish himself at neither club.</span><br /></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">RW/RB: </span></b></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Salihamid%C5%BEi%C4%87" style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">Hasan Salihamidžić</span></a><b style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">(<span dir="auto">Bosnia and Herzegovina</span>)</span></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">Hasan Salihamidžić</span><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> is best remembered for playing 9 seasons with Bayern Munich. With Bayern, he won the 2001 Champio</span></span></b><span><span style="font-size: large;">ns' League final, scoring one of the penalties in the shootout win in the Final.</span></span><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"> He also played for Juventus and Wolfsburg. At the international level, h</span></span></b><span style="font-size: large;">e earned 43 caps and scored six goals for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is regarded by many as one of the most successful Bosnian football players in recent times.</span></span><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZoAiNwQGa9k/WprX-vXgYqI/AAAAAAAAGQ4/44YhwgcSR4oLZz4WWp9LUSc3ldh9pySKwCLcBGAs/s1600/imagesss.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZoAiNwQGa9k/WprX-vXgYqI/AAAAAAAAGQ4/44YhwgcSR4oLZz4WWp9LUSc3ldh9pySKwCLcBGAs/s400/imagesss.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Hasan Salihamidžić </span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">LW: </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Peri%C5%A1i%C4%87">Ivan Perisic</a> (Croatia)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ivan Perisic is a product of the Hajduk Split and Sochaux youth academies, he played for Club Brugge, where was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for 2011. He later played for Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg before joining Inter Milan in 2015. For Croatia, he had over 111 caps. He played in Euro 2012 and 2016, and the World Cup Finals of 2014 and 2018.</span></div><div><br /></div></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" face="" style="font-size: large;"><span>ST</span>: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edin_D%C5%BEeko"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Edin Džeko</span></b></a> </span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">(<span dir="auto">Bosnia and Herzegovina</span>)</span></b></span><br /></span><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Edin Dzeko is probably the most famous player for Bosnia and Herzegovina not from the era under Yugoslavia. He has played over 80 times for his country and scored 52 goals since 2007, becoming the highest Bosnia and Herzegovina goalscorer of all time. He led </span></span></span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span dir="auto">Bosnia and Herzegovina to q</span></span></b><span><span dir="auto">ualify for the World Cup in 2014. He had a great career with Wolfsburg and moved to Manchester City in 2011. At the time of writing, he plays for Roma, helping the club to reach the semifinal of the Champions' League in 2018.</span></span></span></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdWbyeMer6cRWAr5ND-3dU-gO2tOrJEDyqg0_T1dfv0vwaGjai6H3x2EZJEqC-cmnVK6KmFcqjIe1NGASQ7ZMVEd4ESYkgKoy7Zkq-hTJ597vo-ZVUtnlaNW2UqgmjCXne8OeEJvbujBK7a_eRrR3wiC3CP9QufgOXFqBfVg4HDExQ5RY2LgCZT1Gs8g=s1024" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="1024" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdWbyeMer6cRWAr5ND-3dU-gO2tOrJEDyqg0_T1dfv0vwaGjai6H3x2EZJEqC-cmnVK6KmFcqjIe1NGASQ7ZMVEd4ESYkgKoy7Zkq-hTJ597vo-ZVUtnlaNW2UqgmjCXne8OeEJvbujBK7a_eRrR3wiC3CP9QufgOXFqBfVg4HDExQ5RY2LgCZT1Gs8g=w400-h315" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Edin Džeko</span></td></tr></tbody></table>ST: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alen_Bok%C5%A1i%C4%87">Alen Bokšić</a> (Croatia)</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto"><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">Alen Boksic </span></span><span face=""><span style="font-size: large;">won the 1992–93 UEFA Champions League, and was voted fourth in the 1993 European Footballer of the Year poll. That same year, he was named Croatian Footballer of the Year. He also won two Serie A titles in 1997 and 2000 with Juventus and Lazio respectively, and is regarded as one of the best foreign players in the history of Serie A since 1980's. He played for both Yugoslavia and Croatia. He missed the 1998 World Cup Finals due to an injury.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto">ST: </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davor_%C5%A0uker">Davor Suker</a> (Croatia)</span></span><br style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Davor Suker was a part of Yugoslavia's Golden Generation in the 1990's. He later played for Croatia, where he is the all-time leading scorer. He is best remembered for finishing the top scorer at the World Cup Finals in 1998, where Croatia reached the semifinal. For his club career, he won a Champions' League in 1998 with Real Madrid. He also played with Sevilla, Arsenal, West Ham and 1860 Munich. He was Croatian Footballer of the Year: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto">ST: </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predrag_Mijatovi%C4%87">Predrag Mijatović</a> (Montenegro)</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">At club level, Mijatović played for six different clubs: Budućnost Podgorica, Partizan, Valencia, Real Madrid, Fiorentina and Levante. He is best remembered for scoring the winning goal against Juventus as Real Madrid won the 1998 Champions' league, the club's first title since 1966. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">He played 73 times for Yugoslavia. In 1997, Mijatović was runner-up for the Ballon d'Or, behind Ronaldo and ahead of Zinedine Zidane. He played in the 1998 World Cup Finals.</span></span></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4jOcof1XxI8/Wpa0-LEjdiI/AAAAAAAAGPI/F_1i-FyKwfcrQJZPVgK9CW4plmFpnu4ZgCLcBGAs/s1600/oooiiuhj.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="480" height="297" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4jOcof1XxI8/Wpa0-LEjdiI/AAAAAAAAGPI/F_1i-FyKwfcrQJZPVgK9CW4plmFpnu4ZgCLcBGAs/s400/oooiiuhj.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Predrag Mijatović </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"></div></div><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></span></span></div><div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Asmir Begovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Stipe Pletikosa (Croatia), Vladimir Stojković (Serbia), Dražen Ladić (Croatia), Stefan Savić (Montenegro), Josip Šimunić (Croatia), Domagoj Vida (Croatia), Dario Šimić (Croatia), Dejan Lovren (Croatia), Neven Subotić (Serbia), Niko Kovač (Croatia), Igor Tudor (Croatia), Vedran Ćorluka (Croatia), Igor Štimac (Croatia), Ivica Olić (Croatia), Sergej Milinković-Savić (Serbia), Dragan Stojkovic (Serbia), Niko Kranjčar (Croatia), Zlatko Zahovič (Slovenia), Dušan Tadić (Serbia), Vladimir Jugović (Serbia), Miralem Pjanić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Darko Kovačević (Serbia), Mateja Kežman (Serbia), Savo Milošević (Serbia), Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia), </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Goran Pandev (North Macedonia), </span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Any player who played international football for any of the former Yugoslavia republics after 1992 the year where most republics broke off from Yugoslavia are eligible. Serbia and Montenegro remained with Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FR Yugoslavia) and played under that name until 2003. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Players from FR Yugoslavia are eligible for both <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html">Yugoslavia All-Time</a> Team and this team. The definition of this team is after the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992. FR Yugoslavia in reality consisted of two republics. They were Serbia and Montenegro in another name. The players in question were in the same generation as some of the players selected from Croatia, Slovenia, etc. I did not want to exclude them. However, I also included them on my Yugoslavia All-Time Team because they still officially played under the banner of Yugoslavia until 2003. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- I placed emphasis on careers after 1992.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- I am opened to players who played for national teams not from one of Yugoslavia's former republics. Many footballers were refugees from the war who did not a chance to represent their "home" countries. However, contribution to the national team was a big factor in my selection process. I set a higher standard for evaluation. Zlatan Ibrahimović was born in Sweden. Both of his parents left Yugoslavia long time before the breakup of Yugoslavia. I did not consider him. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Sinisa Mihajlovic, Dejan Savicevic and Predrag Mijatović are also on my <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html">Yugoslavia All-Time </a>Team. All three of them played for FR Yugoslavia. Dragan Stojkovic was arguably one of the best players from Yugoslavia and Serbia. However, I felt that his prime ended around 1991 when he became injury prone. His international career did last until 2001. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Eleven players were from Croatia and six from Serbia. Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia had two each. Both of Slovenia's players were goalkeepers.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div>-- Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, Ivan Rakitic and Danijel Subašić helped Croatia to finish second at the 2018 World Cup Finals. A few of them again helped Croatia to finish third in the 2022 World Cup Finals. Zvonimir Boban, Robert Jarni, Davor Suker and Robert Prosinečki came from the 1998 World Cup team. Alen Bokšić was also from that generation, but he missed the World Cup due to an injury.</div><div>-- No one would know about the potential of Yugsolavia playing in Euro 1992. Many people had written about them. I have created a hypothetical imaginary <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2015/12/yugoslavia-1994.html">Yugoslavia 1994 World Cup </a>team. Alen Bokšić, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Jarni, Davor Suker, Robert Prosinečki, Siniša Mihajlović, Predrag Mijatovic, Dejan Savicevic and Miroslav Djukic are on my team.</div></span></span></div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: center;"><b><u>Goalkeeper</u></b></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> -- At the time of writing (2022), Jan Oblak has been one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He won Ricardo Zamora Award a record 5 times in 6 years. Samir Handanović was one of four non-Italian goalkeepers to have won the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year. </div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- When I created the original Yugoslavia All-Time Team (including players from former republics in 2014, I included Asmir Begović, but I probably overrated him. At the time, he was a goalkeeper on the rise with Stoke, but his career after 2015 seemed stalled. But when I separated that team into two teams, namely <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html">Yugoslavia</a> and this Yugoslavia after the breakup in 2022, I felt that Danijel Subašić might deserve more. He helped Croatia to finish second at the 2018 World Cup Finals, including winning two penalty shootouts. He was also a top goalkeeper with Ligue One for many years.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Stipe Pletikosa performed well for Croatia, but he did not have a great run in a big tournament. Dražen Ladić also deserved some credit for the 1998 World Cup Finals and Dominik Livaković also for the 2022 World Cup run.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: center;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- The four fullbacks were all well-established. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Branislav Ivanović (Serbia), </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Robert Jarni (Croatia) and </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Aleksandar Kolarov (Serbia) were household names in the world. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Darijo Srna was lesser known due to playing mainly in Ukraine. He was probably one of Shaktar Donetsk's greatest players. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Vedran Ćorluka (Croatia) made honorable mention.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Nemanja Vidic was one of the best centerbacks in the world during his prime. Siniša Mihajlović was a top defender in Serie A at the time when the league was the best in the world. He could also play in multi-position.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Stefan Savic had been underrated. I wanted to take him, but Miroslav Đukić established himself with both Deportivo La Coruna and Valencia at the time when both clubs were among the best in Europe. SW Igor Štimac was also a serious candidate.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- The Kovac brothers were well-known players because they played in the Bundesliga. Both brothers played more than 80 times for Croatia. Niko was a long time captain of the national team, but Robert was a better player. Robert was not a leader like his brother in the locker room of Croatia, but he lasted for ten years at the highest level of club football, proving himself in Bayern and Juventus while Niko did not establish himself with Bayern Munich. His peak was with HSV Hamburger and Hertha Berlin. So I took Robert Kovac over his brother Niko.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtn4S0WMB8Rwb5XHtc-lJ_pb4Yl1tUeEBQEWaMEA2wKDZqdBo5lCfmv-KkzWdVmutskekJoea7vSf6UwWd6xASmmmTpCTIgE-I7cMi3MH9YiY3IgNaApcguGT9ara3xbf2xdaSHUVF0IoZ2Ep-MVrUP9b3a9RTXk4pjYoK-6viYltmWKBTWE9olytHtQ=s916" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="916" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtn4S0WMB8Rwb5XHtc-lJ_pb4Yl1tUeEBQEWaMEA2wKDZqdBo5lCfmv-KkzWdVmutskekJoea7vSf6UwWd6xASmmmTpCTIgE-I7cMi3MH9YiY3IgNaApcguGT9ara3xbf2xdaSHUVF0IoZ2Ep-MVrUP9b3a9RTXk4pjYoK-6viYltmWKBTWE9olytHtQ=w400-h321" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Robert Kovac</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- Igor Tudor spent 9 seasons with Juventus. He was a part of the mighty defensive unit of Juventus from 1998 to 2007, but he was not a starter. </span>Dejan Lovren was also on the shortlist. </div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Injuries kept Neven Subotić (Serbia) from greatness. He was one of the best in Bundesliga for a few seasons with Borussia Dortmund. He only managed to play 36 times for Serbia.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-align: center;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Luka Modric was one of the main reason why Real Madrid won four Champions League in 5 years. He led his country to the World Cup Final in 2018 while winning the Golden Ball award as well as the following Ballon d'Or. No other player form the former Yugoslavia could claim that. He is the greatest ever from the former Yugoslavia. </div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- Dejan Savicevic was among the best player in the world. Along with Zvonimir Boban, he helped AC Milan to win the Champions' League in 1994. They destroyed Barcelona's "Dream Team" in the Final. His performance in the Final was one of the greatest individual displays seen in the competition. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- Dragan Stojkovic and Robert Prosinecki were big question marks. Stojkovic was a better player than Zvonimir Boban, but Boban was in his prime in the post-1992 period while Stojkovic's club career stalled. His best stint was playing in Japan. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Robert Prosinecki's injury situation while he was with both Real Madrid and Barcelona affected my opinion of him. He ended up journeying across Europe throughout his career in the mid-1990's. Boban was a star with AC Milan. He also captained the 1998 World Cup team for Croatia. After Luka Modric, </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Dejan Savicevic and Zvonimir Boban occupied three spots for attack midfielders, I did not have spots for Stojkovic and Prosinecki (see below for the 23rd player). Niko Kranjčar, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Zlatko Zahovič and </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Vladimir Jugović were also top attack midfielders from the former Yugoslavia after 1992. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Both Ivan Rakitić and Dejan Stankovic were versatile players, but I saw them as box-to-box midfielders rather than playmakers. Miralem Pjanić was comparable. He was on the Serie A Team of the Year in 4 straight years. Stankovic was selected into Inter Milan Hall of Fame, but I took Rakitić over Pjanic because of his careers with Sevilla and Barcelona as well as his role with Croatia's 2018 World Cup run.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Yugoslavia did not have enough candidates for defensive midfielders. Siniša Mihajlović could be a ball winner in the midfield, but this team needed a few more defensive midfielders. </span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Both Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitić were decent defensively, but at the 2018 World Cup Finals, they had Marcelo Brozovic securing their backs. For their club careers, Modric and Rakitić had Casemiro and Sergio Busquets respectively. This team could not depend on the pair for defensive cover. If I could not trust the two of them, how could I select Miralem Pjanić or Dejan Stankovic for this role? So</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> I needed a real defensive midfielder. Marcelo Brozovic and Nemanja Matić were the only realistic candidates.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">-- Marcelo Brozovic was an unsung hero for Croatia at the 2018 World Cup Finals, but his exposure outside of the World Cup Finals was limited. He was great with Inter Milan, but Serie A was at its weakest point in history. He became a even more serious candidate after the 2022 World Cup Finals. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Matic was on the Premier League team of the Year for the 2014-2015 season. He was one of the best defensive midfielders in England or even in Europe for about three seasons. So I took him over Brozovic.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- On wings, I selected Hasan Salihamidžić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Ivan Perisic (Croatia). Salihamidžić had a glory career with Bayern Munich that lasted 9 seasons. Ivan Perisic was sensational at the 2018 World Cup Finals.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- At the end of the selection, I had one more spot left. Dragan Stojković, Dejan Stankovic, Robert Prosinecki, Mario Mandžukić, Marcelo Brozovic and Miralem Pjanić were in contention for the last spot. I probably needed another defensive midfielder, but I went with the best player left. Before I started this team, I never thought that Dragan Stojkovic and Robert Prosinečki would not make the team. Both players had some issues with injuries after 1992. In the end, I took Prosinečki because he was one of the standout players at the 1998 World Cup Finals. He was probably the most talented midfielders of his generations. Stojkovic was one of the greatest players from Yugoslavia, but his prime was at the 1990 World Cup Finals as well as his career with Red Star Belgrade. Furthermore, I already honoured him with a spot on the Yugoslavia All-Time team. I know this was a ludicrous reason, but I felt bad for Prosinečki being left off from both teams.</div></div></span></div></span></span></span></div></span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Predrag Mijatović won the 1998 Champions' League with Real Madrid. He scored the winning goal in the Final against Juventus. Davor Suker, of course, was the hero of the 1998 World Cup Finals, where he was the top scorer. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x-mLT8H00Fg/VGmPNWE1oCI/AAAAAAAAAvA/G_HHt8uG5mo/s1600/Davor%2BSuker.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x-mLT8H00Fg/VGmPNWE1oCI/AAAAAAAAAvA/G_HHt8uG5mo/s1600/Davor%2BSuker.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Davor Suker</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"></span><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- After helping Marseilles to win the European Cup, Alen Bokšić came fourth in the 1993 Ballon d'Or. He was the French Ligue Foreign Player of the Year and Croatia Player of the Year for the same year. In his prime, he was as good as Davor Šuker. Davor Šuker went to the World Cup Finals and became the top scorer while Bokšić stayed home. Edin Džeko was the Bundesliga Players' Player of the Year for the 2008–09 season. He was top scorer in two different leagues, namely Serie A and Bundesliga. Bokšić and Džeko edged out Mario Mandžukić. He did not have those individual awards to back his credentials. Otherwise, he was a top player for the region.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">-- Mario Mandžukić was on the shortlist for the 23rd player. I took Robert Prosinečki even through I already had three other attack midfielders. Prosinečki's club career after 1992 was subpar as compared to Mandžukić. However, most people recognised Prosinečki as one of Croatia's greatest ever players. Mandžukić on the other hand was very underrated. He spent most of his career as a starter on a big club. He scored one of the greatest goal ever in a Champions' League Final. </div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">-- Darko Kovačević, Mateja Kežman, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Goran Pandev and </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Savo Milošević were all considered. </span>Darko Pančev's peak was around 1991 when he played for Red Star Belgrade. </div><div>-- Brazil-born Eduardo da Silva might have been a strong candidate if he never suffered a serious injury in 2008.</div></span></span></span></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7TLjUTPNYqM/XhcA0wQ4GOI/AAAAAAAAJPY/eUNaNvp84A8k29lgpjU49_Fc0gsNCIWPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/cbb3237cf28ddbbccbe155e7d470f979.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="651" height="236" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7TLjUTPNYqM/XhcA0wQ4GOI/AAAAAAAAJPY/eUNaNvp84A8k29lgpjU49_Fc0gsNCIWPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/cbb3237cf28ddbbccbe155e7d470f979.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Bosnia and Herzegovina World Cup 2014</span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: times;"></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/03/1879983_Champions_League_Team.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/03/1879983_Champions_League_Team.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-77715219350458572672022-02-28T17:00:00.007-08:002022-05-19T19:12:46.715-07:00Belarus Greatest All-time 23 member team<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times;"><u>Artur Yanturin</u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. I also updated mine periodically. I made mistakes. He is from Russia. He should know the topic much more than I do, but he still kept my mistakes. He will copy this Belarus All-Time Team. Please look at my other teams from the former Soviet Union. He copied all of them.</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Этот блогер <u>Артур Янтурин</u> из России скопировал многие из блог-команд. Этот блог был одним из них. Здесь была моя российская сборная всех времен. Его команда была написана в 2020 году, но моя была загружена в 2014 году. Я также периодически обновлял свою. Я сделал ошибки. Он из России. Он должен знать тему гораздо больше, чем я, но он все равно сохранил мои ошибки. Он будет копировать эту белорусскую сборную всех времен. Пожалуйста, посмотрите на другие мои команды из Советского Союза. Он скопировал их всех.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Гэты блогер <u>Артур Янтурын</u> з Расіі скапіяваў многія блог-каманды. Гэты блог быў адным з іх. Тут была мая зборная Расіі ўсіх часоў. Яго каманда была напісана ў 2020 годзе, але мая была загружана ў 2014 годзе. Я таксама перыядычна абнаўляў сваю. Я зрабіў памылкі. Ён з Расеі. Ён павінен ведаць гэтую тэму значна больш, чым я, але ён усё роўна захоўваў мае памылкі. Ён будзе капіяваць гэтую зборную Беларусі ўсіх часоў. Паглядзіце, калі ласка, на іншыя мае каманды з былога СССР. Ён скапіяваў іх усе.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPelRMYALSr93FILuQ18WK5302utzVuRXP53uOgL1qJkoUjTBi3bd5Q2VZcQ6dOeg_yx4dSy4L66nZLc9JrDOEZauw5vp63Lkyh-fuiHbPRp2UvyhkLJVH9HqPCFamJnsdMetqKqzo77f1v0tI_cfHDAk6LL3iBB4JmBpvQZNRzJ-jkA8CgYCk7ec4HA=s645" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="645" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPelRMYALSr93FILuQ18WK5302utzVuRXP53uOgL1qJkoUjTBi3bd5Q2VZcQ6dOeg_yx4dSy4L66nZLc9JrDOEZauw5vp63Lkyh-fuiHbPRp2UvyhkLJVH9HqPCFamJnsdMetqKqzo77f1v0tI_cfHDAk6LL3iBB4JmBpvQZNRzJ-jkA8CgYCk7ec4HA=w400-h321" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Belarus Winner of 2002 LG Cup<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span><span face="">Please also see my</span><span face=""> <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span face=""><span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/01/soviet-union.html">Soviet Union</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/russia.html">Russia</a></span></span>,<a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/09/georgia.html"> <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Georgia</span></span></a></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2018/03/central-asia.html">Central Asia</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/ukraine.html">Ukraine</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><span face=""><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/10/armenia-or-armenian-diaspora.html">Armenia/Armenian diaspora</a></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/the-former-soviet-union-without-ukraine.html">Former Soviet Union except Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia</a></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/dynamo-kyiv.html">Dynamo Kyiv</a></span></div></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span face="">I created the former <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-former-soviet-union-without-ukraine.html">Soviet Union without Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Central Asia All-Time</a> team in 2016. The team was edited many times. Players from Georgia were included on that team. Later, when I created a </span></span></span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/09/georgia.html" style="font-family: times;">Georgia</a><span style="font-family: times;"> All-Time Team, I decided to take away all of the players from there. However, when I started this All-Time Team for Belarus, I decided to keep Belarusian players over there. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Of course, </span><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>Artur Yanturin of Russia</u></b> copied both blog teams. </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span>Please see for yourself: </span><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-gruzii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5f8b465d5282a97827a5be28">Georgia </a><span> and </span><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sovetskii-soiuz-bez-ukrainy-rossii-i-gruzii-sbornaia-vseh-vremen-5f89dcc6a70d4515e743acfa">Soviet Union without Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Central Asia All-Time</a><span>.</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div>After the split of the Soviet Union, Belarus played their first match against Lithuania on 20 July 1992.[3] Before that, several Belarusian players played for the Soviet Union national team. The first FIFA-recognized international was a friendly against Ukraine on 28 October 1992, and their first win came in a match against Luxembourg on 12 October 1994.</div><div><br /></div><div>Belarus have never qualified for either the FIFA World Cup, or the UEFA European Championship. Despite the lack of any significant success during the 1990s, some notable results were still achieved, like a home win against the Netherlands in the qualifiers for Euro 1996, and two draws against eventual runners-up Italy during Euro 2000 qualifiers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Under coach Eduard Malofeyev, the team came very close to playing Germany in a play-off round to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, but were defeated by Wales in the last group stage match, missing the chance to overtake Ukraine, who drew their last game, finishing the group second behind Poland.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is my all-time team for Belarus. If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament. I am including players from the Soviet Union. </div></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Prokhorov">Aleksandr Prokhorov</a> (USSR)</div><div>Prokhorov played with Dinamo Minsk, Dynamo Kyiv, etc. In 1972, he moved to Spartak Moscow where he played until 1975. He was awarded the Ogonyok magazine prize as the best goalkeeper of the USSR in 1974 and 1975. He made his debut for USSR on March 20, 1976, in a friendly against Argentina. He played in the UEFA Euro 1976 quarterfinal (USSR did not qualify for the final tournament). He had 6 Olympic caps and 3 senior caps.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFGf3SOcBzd8U8fz79t2FdEF4AQUZkr91FGfQSz6REyKTZNefxrShGf2L8o6cPQ8ey1iBqSJbVbnSBt7to0WyrTBK9eNVOXl6lZ0EUPqoCjvvsrWecBwWALVprjljGitulIF4_8wRISeZCm7pLfrllWocRxZ83g9_2xKdbr8oD-967Yajbn4HRemzxuQ=s1920" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFGf3SOcBzd8U8fz79t2FdEF4AQUZkr91FGfQSz6REyKTZNefxrShGf2L8o6cPQ8ey1iBqSJbVbnSBt7to0WyrTBK9eNVOXl6lZ0EUPqoCjvvsrWecBwWALVprjljGitulIF4_8wRISeZCm7pLfrllWocRxZ83g9_2xKdbr8oD-967Yajbn4HRemzxuQ=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gennady_Tumilovich">Gennady Tumilovich </a> (Belarus)</div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Tumilovich started his career at FC Dinamo Brest of Soviet Second League. He then moved to Dinamo Minsk. In 1996, he joined Metallurg Krasnoyarsk of Russian First Division. He then played for Zarya Leninsk-Kuznetsky. In 1998, he joined Zhemchuzhina Sochi. He also played in Israel and Belgium. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> Between 1998 and 2004 he has been capped 32 times for Belarus. He was Belarus' Player of the Year in 2001.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Vergeyenko">Mikhail Vergeyenko</a> (USSR)</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Mikhail Vergeenko began playing in FC Gomel. In 1968 he moved to the Dinamo Minsk. He made his debut in the 1971 season . For 13 years. he played for the team, where he was their captain. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Mikhail Vergeenko played for the youth team of the USSR, where they came second in the 1972 European Youth Championship. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He played for the national team of the Byelorussian SSR at the 1979 Spartakiad.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><span><div><br /></div><div>RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Borovsky">Sergei Borovsky</a> (Belarus) </div><div>During his entire club career, Sergei Borovsky played for FC Dinamo Minsk. He was the captain of Dynamo in 1978-1979 and 1984-1985. He won the Soviet Union premier league in 1982, the club's only title. He is the all-time appearance leader in the Soviet league. That same year, he went to the World Cup Finals with the Soviet national team in Spain. In total, he earned 21 caps between 1981 and 1985. He won Master of the Sport in 1979.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFLRUzBIoy6VN8h8Rdl9wpowRuuC3sDEjXFTHPLmNPDd7qtyVsYHBWvogz1VodQ21fhtCQtF5r5RTOgMEVQYu02NeFiMGTUBvH9QEJwH9WQJx_PJip0B7sYaRMDzewL-wYOt9cr2Xxv2VZb2NhhD8d7cuAoT7FdEGswXN2yi0lprKtza0FNuzoitCJQA=s1608" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="1608" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFLRUzBIoy6VN8h8Rdl9wpowRuuC3sDEjXFTHPLmNPDd7qtyVsYHBWvogz1VodQ21fhtCQtF5r5RTOgMEVQYu02NeFiMGTUBvH9QEJwH9WQJx_PJip0B7sYaRMDzewL-wYOt9cr2Xxv2VZb2NhhD8d7cuAoT7FdEGswXN2yi0lprKtza0FNuzoitCJQA=w400-h258" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sergei Borovsky </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div>CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syarhey_Shtanyuk">Sergey Shtanyuk </a> (Belarus)</div><div>Shtaniuk played with Dynamo-93 and Dynamo Minsk before he joined Dynamo Moscow in 1996 where he spent four years. After a short spell with Royal Antwerp he joined Stoke City in 2001. He won the Stoke player of the year award. He later played for Shinnik, Metalurh Zaporizhya, Luch-Energia Vladivostok, Rostov and Alania Vladikavkaz. He played 71 times for Belarus between 1995 and 2007.</div><div><br /></div><div>DF: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yanushevsky">Viktor Yanushevsky </a>(Belarus)</div></div><div>In 1977, Yanushevsky started with Dinomo Minsk. He was named in the list of 33 best football players of the season in the USSR : 1980, 1982 (both times - No. 3). He then played for CSKA Moscow, Aldershrt (England) and Tennis-Borussia. He was a part of the 1979 World Youth Cup team. He played twice for the Soviet national team.</div><div><br /></div><div>CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyaksandr_Martynovich">Alyaksandr Martynovich</a> (Belarus) </div><div><div>Martynovichi s the most capped Belarusian defender. From 2006 to 2010, he played for Dinamo Minsk. He joined FC Krasnodar of Russia in 2010. He has played over 10 seasons for them. From 2009 to 2020, he earned 75 caps for Belarus. He served as their captain. He was part of the Belarus U-21 squad that participated in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg18HmYYXckc_YVqhSOpyQCFKXBhP93u4l4FkSy6ECxnl0c7tkb1sVon4DIAHeqDqSNzOIfeD7zUbFPKKas1XKsELu6BZX1CcEccjhy3gNki3G1zAsAq6mxWFSCSC7z-_d--RLOb_SGNCDylPzGIaVCMfHnwNKi0t80ioBEQa7zasv6pj9ViUwPey5xoA=s1590" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="1590" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg18HmYYXckc_YVqhSOpyQCFKXBhP93u4l4FkSy6ECxnl0c7tkb1sVon4DIAHeqDqSNzOIfeD7zUbFPKKas1XKsELu6BZX1CcEccjhy3gNki3G1zAsAq6mxWFSCSC7z-_d--RLOb_SGNCDylPzGIaVCMfHnwNKi0t80ioBEQa7zasv6pj9ViUwPey5xoA=w400-h311" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Alyaksandr Martynovich </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>SW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Shishkin">Viktor Shishkin</a> (USSR)</div><div>As a player, Shishkin is best known for his performances for Lokomotiv Moscow and Dinamo Minsk. Later, From 1974 to 1979, he played for Uralmash and Dinamo Minsk. He spent four seasons at Dinamo Minsk, and in 1982 won the national title. From 1986 to 1988 he played for Locomotive Moscow. In 1984, he played once for the Soviet Union.</div><div><br /></div><div>CB/LB: <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A8%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%86%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87">Vasili Shvetsov</a> (USSR)</div></div><div>Vasily Shvetsov made his debut for Dinamo Minsk in 1973 . The following season, Vasily became the main player of the team. From 1976 to 1983, he played for CSKA Moscow, where he immediately became one of the main defenders. Then, he spent some time as a soldier in East Germany. In 1993 he played in the Kimry Sputnik. He was selected to the lists of the 33 best football players of the season of the USSR in 1976 and 1980.</div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></span></div><div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><div>LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Gurenko">Sergei Gurenko</a> (Belarus)</div><div><div>Sergei Gurenko began his career in Khimik Grodno in 1989. </div><div>In 1995, he was transferred to Lokomotiv Moscow. He played for AS Roma, Real Zaragoza, Parma, Piacenza before returning to Lokomotiv in 2003. Between 1994 and 2006, he played 80 times for Belarus, where he served as their captain. He is the second most capped Belarusian player.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Zygmantovich">Andrei Zygmantovich</a> (USSR/Belarus)</div><div>Zygmantovich started playing for FC Dinamo Minsk. In 1982, he appeared 30 times to help his hometown side win the only Soviet League in their history. He also had a spell with FC Groningen. From 1993 to 1996, he played for Racing de Santander in Spain. From 1984 to 1990, he played 36 times for the USSR. He went to the 1990 World Cup Finals, where he scored a goal. He was also capped 9 times for Belarus.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-S0aV1Nej42jKIAVuN7gKAK5t8qWq9NvlUApobthSGNtfoizKc3rUR-KPOktjtFu32-STfu4ywngFNahslNxoPbZJUcWDGUGK4uJ6RlaFV6LNiJFfyrzSJC_OnNhBWtraPL4XEB3sHZLZAibn6V6Q2xHpjJLTX5LLtcDPFt5w5nufeDJs0VA734kWHA=s1296" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1296" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-S0aV1Nej42jKIAVuN7gKAK5t8qWq9NvlUApobthSGNtfoizKc3rUR-KPOktjtFu32-STfu4ywngFNahslNxoPbZJUcWDGUGK4uJ6RlaFV6LNiJFfyrzSJC_OnNhBWtraPL4XEB3sHZLZAibn6V6Q2xHpjJLTX5LLtcDPFt5w5nufeDJs0VA734kWHA=w400-h313" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Andrei Zygmantovich</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyaksandr_Kulchy">Alyaksandr Kulchy</a> (Belarus)</div><div>With 102 caps, Kulchy is the most capped player for Belarus. He played for the national team from 1994 to 2012. He started his club career with FC Gomel in 1991. He played for many clubs in Russia and Belarus, including Dinamo Moscow, Rostov, FC Slavia Mozyr, etc. His longest stint was with FC Shinnik Yaroslavl in Russia. He was the Belarusian Footballer of the Year in 2009.</div><div><br /></div><div>DM:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyaksandr_Khatskevich"> Alyaksandr Khatskevich</a> (Belarus)</div><div>Khatskevich started with Dinamo Minsk, where he played from 1992 and 1996. He made his name with Dynamo Kyiv from 1996 to 2004. His club reached the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Champions League in the 1997/1998 and 1998/1999 seasons , He later played in China and Latvia. From 1993 to 2005, he earned 38 caps with Belarus. He also represented the CIS in the youth level. He was The best football player of Belarus in 1998 and 2000.</div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="">CB/DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Aleinikov" target="_blank">Sergei Aleinikov</a> (USSR/Belarus) </span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="">From 1981 to 1989, Aleinikov played for Dinamo Minsk, winning the Tip Soviet League in 1982. In 1989, he became one of the first Soviet players to play in the rest when he joined Juventus. He later played for Lecce and Gamba Osaka. He played in two World Cup Finals and an European Championship for the USSR. He also played at Euro 1992 for CIS. He was capped 4 times for Belarus. He was Belarus's selection for UEFA Julibee Player.</span></span></span></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikiuKREw5jvDevx6WzwnXYV5PMPUAnELAZsBWfMaSPBthZHm4ntBaGS9quCbzaS8mpwBqJECCclqXdgZq9dkIRVX6f-cGybC71qgQHaT42ko_YbNP7eY-9GMkEygadbAlOpIgmk7ei9bMyjin2Hjy1ES1RaWgS0Mgwh_trom4c6sUW4JdZ2D-qFvn9qg=s1278" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="1278" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikiuKREw5jvDevx6WzwnXYV5PMPUAnELAZsBWfMaSPBthZHm4ntBaGS9quCbzaS8mpwBqJECCclqXdgZq9dkIRVX6f-cGybC71qgQHaT42ko_YbNP7eY-9GMkEygadbAlOpIgmk7ei9bMyjin2Hjy1ES1RaWgS0Mgwh_trom4c6sUW4JdZ2D-qFvn9qg=w400-h278" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sergei Aleinikov </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">CM: <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_%D0%A2%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87">Aleksandr Prokopenko </a>(Belarus) </div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">From July 1972 to 1983, Prokopenko played for Dinamo Minsk, becoming the champion of the USSR in 1982. In 1983, he was expelled from the team for a systematic violation of the regime. From 1983 to 1984, he played for Torpedo Minsk. He also played for Neftçi PFK and FC Dnepr Mogilev. He played once for the USSR in 1980. He won a bornze medal at the 1980 Olympics.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span>LM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maksim_Romaschenko">Maksim Romaschenko </a>(Belarus)</div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div>Romaschenko is the all-time leading scorer for the national team of Belarus. He earned over 60 caps. He is also the Footballer of the Year of Belarus in 2004. he began his adult career in Ukraine, in the club "Polygraph" . Since 1993 he played in Belarus for Dnipro, Fandak and MPKC. He played for Dynamo Moscow from 1997 to 2006. He also played Gaziantepspor, Trabzonspor, Torpedo and Bursaspor.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;">LM/FW/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Gotsmanov">Sergey Gotsmanov</a> (USSR/Belarus) </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">From 1979 to 1990, Sergey Gotsmanov played for FC Dinamo Minsk first team, winning the Soviet championship in 1982 under manager Eduard Malofeyev. He later played in England for Brighton and Southampton, and in Germanty for Hallescher FC. For the USSR, he played 31 times and 3 times for Belarus. He appeared in the Euro 1988. He was Belarusian Footballer of the Year four times (in 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989).</span></div></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><br /></div></span></span><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en">AM/RW/LW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hleb">Alexander Hleb </a>(Belarus)</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><div style="text-align: center;"><span></span></div></span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto">Alexander Hleb is best remembered for his stints with Stuttgart and Arsenal. In the Bundesliga, he was among the top assisters, which led to a big transfer to Arsenal in 2005. </span></span></span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span><span dir="auto">He became the first ever Belarusian footballer to play in the Champions League Final while playing for Arsenal. From 2008 to 2012, he was with Barcelona, but he mainly spent his time on loan. He also played in Turkey. He had 80 caps for Belarus.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIN6vn9rla8cOvGn-7THdLYI8ml3RXu6KQQL5Ef7CUWeavuAILRe9KWbRHy28Kh9EYEoTI-uKbO6PQCl_nxfjzvxoeu7UX1eC-bEH7aLJdPEPv0hRcTC87k57IKtQ6TjDuOmfTXFJX-2xLU0IQODaGZGEsfDh5vQ37VFfa0O_yBV9xqy5A1e_8yu6EaA=s1484" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1484" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIN6vn9rla8cOvGn-7THdLYI8ml3RXu6KQQL5Ef7CUWeavuAILRe9KWbRHy28Kh9EYEoTI-uKbO6PQCl_nxfjzvxoeu7UX1eC-bEH7aLJdPEPv0hRcTC87k57IKtQ6TjDuOmfTXFJX-2xLU0IQODaGZGEsfDh5vQ37VFfa0O_yBV9xqy5A1e_8yu6EaA=w400-h276" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Alexander Hleb</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span></div></div></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valyantsin_Byalkevich">Valyantsin Byalkevich </a> (Belarus)</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">From 1991 to 1994, Byalkevich played for Dinamo Minsk. In 1996 , together with his teammate Alyaksandr Khatskevich, he moved to Dynamo Kyiv . He spent the majority of his career with Dynamo Kyiv, where he was part of the team that reached the semi-finals of 1998–99 UEFA Champions League. He played over 220 matches scoring 50 goals. He also played 56 times for Belarus between 1992 and 2005.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgy_Kondratyev">Georgy Kondratiev</a> (USSR)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">In 1980, Kondratiev was invited to Dinamo Minsk, where he played until 1988. He won the 1982 Soviet league with them. In 1989 he moved to Odessa , where he spent two seasons with Chernomorets. In 1991, he played for Lokomotiv Moscow. He later played for Austria, Finland, Ukraine and Germany. Kondratiev played 14 times for the Soviet Union between 1984 and 1986.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">ST: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitaliy_Starukhin" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Vitaliy Starukhin</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> (USSR)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">In 2011, Vitaly Starukhin, together with Oleg Blohin and Igor Belanov was named as "the legends of Ukrainian football" at the Victory of Football awards. He was considered to be the greatest player for </span><span dir="auto" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Shakhtar Donetsk. He played for them between 1973 and 1981. He was the Soviet Player of the Year in 1979. He was capped once by USSR in 1980. He had played for Ukraine for Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR.</span></span></div><div><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><div><div class="firstHeading" lang="en"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkfddVgpl4Jp6NuP8RF-wF2IYbIRwMkDQTnhF3jtJ8oS2zKp0fxzeHiqrwvDa4deLe7OMyHzupb7HAMQVBjhrXKkzHBXT2uZPA0wUsVWh4fCJIiA29GWb5i36_C3_mCCAUgob3E2g1n2tzamrCjlX3qXZD0HMoWKxakW4vzTr2O2J0FWX8IANFQqvwfA=s400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkfddVgpl4Jp6NuP8RF-wF2IYbIRwMkDQTnhF3jtJ8oS2zKp0fxzeHiqrwvDa4deLe7OMyHzupb7HAMQVBjhrXKkzHBXT2uZPA0wUsVWh4fCJIiA29GWb5i36_C3_mCCAUgob3E2g1n2tzamrCjlX3qXZD0HMoWKxakW4vzTr2O2J0FWX8IANFQqvwfA=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Vitaly Starukhin</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto"></span></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;">ST: <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87,_%D0%98%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8C_%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87">Ihar Hurynovich </a>(USSR/Belarus)</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;">Ihar Hurynovich played for Dynamo Minsk for 10 years - from 1977 to 1987, then returned to the team for another two years: from 1988 to 1990. He was a part of their Soviet Top league winning year in 1982. He made first team of 33 best football players of the season in the USSR : 1982, 1983. He had stints in England with Brighton briefly as well as clubs in Poland and Spain. He played once for the USSR in 1984 and 3 times in Belarus.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitali_Rodionov">Vitali Rodionov</a> (Belarus)</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en" style="font-family: times;">Rodionov began his career in Lokomotiv-96 Vitebsk, before he played 57 games for Torpedo. He transferred to BATE Borisov in 2005. he played there until 2017. The club won the league every year while he was there. He was joint league top scorer three times in 2008, 2013 and 2016. As of July 2016, he has netted 20 goals in European tournaments, the most of any Belarusian player. He played 46 times for Belarus between 2007 and 2017.</div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span dir="auto"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi23nlES9CHsKUnkNe1gdUQVQmC8S0y43xPwli863L16uwIiq_ko5gENCOpsqLwgoVk60-Y2MwHPx3s5ugQHoJYuqSjrqa1L5ca1jmoval4iSiWMxibqPm6JEzo7_c1bF5_trlSEilVX2L8wKbXEwjto_lPoMs53GPkz9H4UNp2zd8nGOqlJubS1vS2Bw=s1480" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="1480" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi23nlES9CHsKUnkNe1gdUQVQmC8S0y43xPwli863L16uwIiq_ko5gENCOpsqLwgoVk60-Y2MwHPx3s5ugQHoJYuqSjrqa1L5ca1jmoval4iSiWMxibqPm6JEzo7_c1bF5_trlSEilVX2L8wKbXEwjto_lPoMs53GPkz9H4UNp2zd8nGOqlJubS1vS2Bw=w400-h304" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Vitali Rodionov </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></div></div></div><div><div style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span><span face=""><span face="">Yury Kurbyko, Yuri Zhevnov, Alyaksandr Myatlitski, Erik Yakhimovich, Eduard Zarembo, </span></span></span>Ivan Savostikov, Yegor Filipenko, Alyaksandr Myatlitski, Timofey Kalachyov, Andrei Lavrik, Ihar Hurynovich, Renan Bressan, Ihar Stasevich, Syarhey Kislyak, Vitali Kutuzov, Syarhey Amelyanchuk. </div><div style="font-family: times;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div><u><b>Squad Explanation</b></u></div><div>-- The Soviet-era players were based on ethnicity and birth place. The post-Soviet Union players were based on the national team. I do not consider playing for one of the republics at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR as "cap-tied". Several Belarus-born players chose to play for other national teams after independence. They are ineligible for this team. </div><div>-- A number of players who were mentioned as Belarus' greatest ever were ineligible due various reasons. Sergey Gorlukovich (capped by Russia), Artem Milevskiy (capped by Ukraine), Yuri Pudyshev (Russian), Eduard Zarembo (born in Azerbaijan), Yuri Kurnenin (Russian), Vladimir Sakharov (Russian), Mikhail Mustygin (Russian), Nikolai Barmashev (Russian), Anatoly Baidachny (Russian) and Eduard Malofeev (Russian) were all big names in the area (see below for further explanation for some of the players). I do find myself being too strict for this blog. Without them, the team became very thin, but I decide to keep this team for now.</div><div>-- I began the selection process by adding Aleksandr Prokhorov, Vitaliy Starukhin, Sergei Aleinikov, Sergei Borovsky, Sergei Gurenko, Alexander Hleb and Sergey Gotsmanov to the team. They were members of my <a href="Sergei Borovsky (Belarus) Sergei Gurenko (Belarus)Alexander Hleb (Belarus)Sergey Gotsmanov (Belarus) ">Soviet Union Without Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Central Asia All-Time Team</a>. Sergei Aleinikov was probably Belarus' greatest ever player, but Alexander Hleb was probably the best known player because of his club career in the West. He was also an automatic selection.</div><div>-- Sergey Borovsky became the first Belarusian player to represent the USSR in the World Cup Finals when he was selected onto the 1982 team. In 1990, we saw three Belarusian on the World Cup team. They were Sergei Aleinikov, Andrei Zygmantovich and Sergei Gorlukovich. Gorlukovich, however, was ineligible because he chose to play for Russia after the end of the Soviet Union. </div><div>-- Sergey Gotsmanov and Sergei Aleinikov were on the Soviet national team that finished second at Euro 1988. Both started in the Final against the Netherlands.</div><div>-- In March 28, 1984, the Soviet Union played against West Germany </div><div>in a friendly match. Eduard Malofeyev was their manager. The Soviet team used 5 players from Belarus. Viktor Shishkin, Andrei Zygmantovich, Ihar Hurynovich, and Sergei Aleinikov were starters. Viktor Yanushevsky came on from the bench. Yuri Pudyshev who played for Dinamo Minsk also started, but he was Russian. The match ended in a 2-1 loss for the CCCP. </div><div>-- Both Viktor Yanushevsky and Ihar Hurynovich played in the Final of the 1979 World Youth Cup where Diego Maradona first made a name. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Goalkeeper</u></b></div><div>-- A Russian website ranked Aleksandr Prokhorov as the 8th greatest Soviet goalkeeper of all-time. He was Soviet Goalkeeper of the Year in 1974 and 1975. Most lists suggested that he and Mikhail Vergeyenko were the top two greatest ever from Belarus.</div><div>-- Alexei Khomich played for Dinamo Minsk and was perhaps their greatest ever goalkeeper, but he was Russian who was playing with Dinamo Moscow before heading to Minsk in 1953. </div><div>-- Belarus nearly qualified for the 2002 World Cup's UEFA playoff round. They lost to Wales on the last match. It was Belarus' greatest campaign since its independence. Gennady Tumilovich was the hero of the campaign. According to a Russian website, he was the greatest Belarusian goalkeeper of all-time. Another Belarusian source listed him as Belarus' 10th greatest player, the first among goalkeepers. I took him as the third goalkeeper.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKUTEjYzw41gWa70s4iiFhFsoCGzk5WBshC_NWOqzEFbwzhpKnQbOpiGt478AVO_wn8kyiDbp7Ke1U37FZKNdjMVHWcUUG-_CLImBPbj0A3sF0913uyE-aaPOpBwJ99mcsHlwlip-6wgVFC3vBVAAZ6AWdSiXPoQjexEWtRrgMzKFrMnlAQm00d7HSEg=s1618" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1618" data-original-width="1146" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKUTEjYzw41gWa70s4iiFhFsoCGzk5WBshC_NWOqzEFbwzhpKnQbOpiGt478AVO_wn8kyiDbp7Ke1U37FZKNdjMVHWcUUG-_CLImBPbj0A3sF0913uyE-aaPOpBwJ99mcsHlwlip-6wgVFC3vBVAAZ6AWdSiXPoQjexEWtRrgMzKFrMnlAQm00d7HSEg=w284-h400" width="284" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Gennady Tumilovich</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>-- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yury_Kurbyko">Yury Kurbyko</a> played over 10 years with Dinamo Minsk. He led them to become the Soviet Top Champions in 1982. Some lists pointed him to be the third goalkeeper. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Zhevnov">Yuri Zhevnov</a> was also widely mentioned. In fact, both of them were probably on par with Tumilovich.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>Defenders</b></u></div><div>-- I started by selecting two fullbacks Sergei Borovsky and Sergei Gurenko. Borovsky had over 20 caps for USSR in the 1980's while Gurenko was among the greatest player from Belarus after the Fall of the USSR. Gurenko helped Lokomotiv Moscow to reached the playoff of the Champions League.</div><div>-- Sergey Shtanyuk was listed as Belarus' greatest central defender by a Russian website. He also played at a time when Belarus enjoyed its greatest results. </div><div>-- Viktor Yanushevsky's death remained a mystery. I could not find much information about his actual playing position. He was probably a centerback. He played in the famous World Youth Cup in 1979 against Diego Maradona. He was also mentioned frequently. </div><div>-- Both Alyaksandr Martynovich and Syarhey Amelyanchuk have over 70 caps for Belarus. I took Martynovich over Amelyanchuk. Syarhey Amelyanchuk was the last defender cut.</div><div>-- Juan Usatorre was a Spanish central defender of Basque origin born in Moscow. His family was political exiles. In his career, he played with Torpedo Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and Dinamo Minsk. From1962 to 1965, he starred for Minsk. He was capped by the USSR 10 times. The fact that he was born in Moscow changed his status and spent time playing for Moscow clubs before coming to Belarus. He was ineligible. </div><div>-- I also came up with Ivan Savostikov numerous times in my research. In an interview, Juan Usetorre described him as a leftback. I did not know much about him. I put him on honourable mention.</div><div>-- LW/MF/LB: Yuri Kurnenin was born in Russia. He was a Dinamo Minsk legend, but he played for Dynamo Moscow before joining the club in 1976. CB Sergei Gorlukovich was born in Belarus, but he was capped by Russia between 1991 and 1996. So I ruled both of them out. </div><div>-- Eduard Zarembo (Эдуард Зарэмба) was born in Azerbaijan. Many times, he was listed as one of Belarus' greatest defenders. He was a rightback, I presumed. Although he was born in Azerbaijan. he started and played his entire career in Minsk. He played for the Soviet Union, but I could not find his completed record on line. He did represent the national team against a French club team Stade Français in October, 1965. The game also featured Lev Yashin, Valentine Ivanov, Mikheil Meskhi, Valery Voronin, Anatoliy Banishevskiy and Albert Shesternyov. So the Soviet team was almost a full team. Unlike the other players, he seemed to have grow up in Belarus. So I had no idea how to rule his eligibility. Furthermore, I need to drop someone else. So I put him on honourable mention.</div><div>-- CB Yegor Filipenko's career in La Liga was horrible. So I left him off. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Midfielders</u></b></div><div>-- In the 1980's, Sergei Aleinikov was a key player with the Soviet Union. He is probably Belarus' greatest ever player. He joined Juventus in 1989 as one of the first Soviet players playing in the West. He was one of the more obvious players selected. Then, I took Andrei Zygmantovich who had 35 caps for USSR and Sergey Gotsmanov 31 caps. Gotsmanov played most of the matches for the USSR at Euro 1988.</div><div>-- Alyaksandr Kulchy is the most capped player from Belarus with 102 caps.</div><div><div>-- Valyantsin Byalkevich and Alyaksandr Khatskevich played with Andriy Shevchenko and Serhiy Rebrov in Dynamo Kyiv. Byalkevich was ranked third greatest ever from Belarus by a list I found on the net. Notably, Dynamo Kyiv reached the semi-final of the 1999 Champions' League with both players featured regularly.</div><div>-- I preferred Alexander Hleb, Aleksandr Prokopenko and Valyantsin Byalkevich over Brazil-born Renan Bressan. I also left off Ihar Stasevich who won the Belarusian Premier League Player of the year 5 times. <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_%D0%A2%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87">Aleksandr Prokopenko </a> was a key player as Dinamo Minsk won the Soviet Top League in 1982. He was named first team of the best 33 Soviet Players of the Year that year. He was a fan favourite in Belarus.</div></div><div>-- I did not have spaces for Andrei Lavrik and Yuri Pudyshev. Which midfielders can I drop for them?</div><div>-- Right winger Ivan Moser of Dinamo Minsk was born in the former Czechoslovakia. He was listed as an Ukrainian by wikipedia. He played club football there before going to Minsk.</div><div>- Alexander Hleb could play on the right, but I might need Timofey Kalachyov who was a true right winger. I do believe that the team had too many defensive midfielders. In the end, I kept the midfielders.</div><div>-- I had two great left-side players. Sergey Gotsmanov is one of Belarus' greatest players. Maksim Romaschenko is the all-time leading scorer for Belarus. He also did well with Dynamo Moscow. He was mainly a left midfielder. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYklvuNgyk39o107jKOP01o8rbAveF_zT12lOxHJO0jVIYwnP9tewxEt6l6Su2qWpKTBd_4Q_1N9r2aqolxaiCKXOIjmAdP_co0X8tBkuYIEGpQ6KE3lPhpE4vey3BvrI0Ugrj3bVvqgGuEx3CkPJB1KXOjDBK6mZSavgM4YGaPAd04gKCGDKVqN3RcQ=s700" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="700" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYklvuNgyk39o107jKOP01o8rbAveF_zT12lOxHJO0jVIYwnP9tewxEt6l6Su2qWpKTBd_4Q_1N9r2aqolxaiCKXOIjmAdP_co0X8tBkuYIEGpQ6KE3lPhpE4vey3BvrI0Ugrj3bVvqgGuEx3CkPJB1KXOjDBK6mZSavgM4YGaPAd04gKCGDKVqN3RcQ=w400-h235" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sergey Gotsmanov </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Forward</u></b></div><div>-- Eduard Malofeyev was born in Russia. He played for Russian clubs before coming to Minsk in 1963. He was Dinomo Minsk's greatest player. As a coach, Malofeyev led Dinamo Minsk to the championship in the Soviet Top League in 1982. He was a hero of Belarus, but I ruled him ineligible.</div><div>-- Nikolai Barmashev (Бармашёв Николай Михайлович) was a star player for Dinamo Minsk in the 1950's. He was awarded the Great Patriotic War degree for his services in the War. He was listed as being born in Rostov. </div><div>-- Vladimir Sakharov, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Mustygin">Mikhail Mustygin</a> and Anatoly Baidachny were also born in Russia. They were all-timer for Dinamo Minsk. Artem Milevskyi chose to play for Ukraine, despite representing Belarus at the youth level.</div><div>-- In 2011, Vitaly Starukhin, Oleg Blohin and Igor Belanov were named as "the legends of Ukrainian football" at the Victory of Football awards, but Vitaly Starukhin is from Belarus. He is an all-time great with FC Shakhtar Donetsk. He was named the Best 33 of the Soviet Union 3 times (once on the first team). The award was independent from the Soviet Player of the Year in which he won in 1979. </div><div>-- Georgy Kondratiev were the starting striker for Belarus All-time Best XI for two of my two Russian sources. And in the eighties he was called the most inconspicuous attacker of the USSR.</div><div>-- The last two spots were between Vitali Kutuzov, Ihar Hurynovich, Vitali Rodionov and Sergei Kornilenko. In the end, I took Rodionov and Hurynovich.</div><div>-- Radionov was ranked one of top 5 greatest in this country from a poll I discovered. He was a hero of FC BATE Borisov, a club team that dominated Belarusian domestic league in his era. Sergei Kornilenko is the 4th most capped player and the 2nd highest goal scorer for Belarus. His name also came up in many sites and information. However, his club career was limited. Ihar Hurynovich on the other hand was on the Dinamo Minsk team that won the Soviet League in 1982. He was on the first team of 33 Best football players of the season in the USSR that year (also 1983). He joined Brighton after Sergey Gotsmanov left for Southampton. His work permit issue cut his career short. </div><div> -- Vitali Kutuzov did so and so in Italy in 2000's, but he had one of the better careers for Belarusian attackers playing in the West. However, who do I drop for him? I rewarded Radionov for his performance with BATE Borisov.</div><div> </div><div><b><u>Formation</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/02/1878884_Belarus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/02/1878884_Belarus.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>https://footbolno.ru/izvestnie-belorusskie-futbolisty-luchshie-igroki-belarusi.html</div></span></div></div></span></span></span></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-88356515063417047252022-02-02T20:49:00.005-08:002022-11-29T18:43:21.012-08:00Aragon All-Time Team<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRXSY2qmWr59JjIum0hWU8tm9zd9TL8xYbUFPfW2kqTJDt6Hw8sShCaMr07hjurwAc2Y0mbK438EmbKtjJe-hqY5TP0L7By8J5He77NXXpL-tkChZ7qSRQrO5wdb-sIrL0qAt8_KQj7_-PoLEP66nEe9J2F1GCg81p5RK7Sp2yfoBL54fJPfmFjaI92A=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRXSY2qmWr59JjIum0hWU8tm9zd9TL8xYbUFPfW2kqTJDt6Hw8sShCaMr07hjurwAc2Y0mbK438EmbKtjJe-hqY5TP0L7By8J5He77NXXpL-tkChZ7qSRQrO5wdb-sIrL0qAt8_KQj7_-PoLEP66nEe9J2F1GCg81p5RK7Sp2yfoBL54fJPfmFjaI92A=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div><br /> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/spains-all-time-23-member-team.html">Spain All-Time Team</a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/spanish-big-two.html">Spain All-Time Team without Real Madrid and Barcelona</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/basque.html">Basque</a>, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/catalonia.html">Catalonia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/castile.html">Castile without Madrid players</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/community-of-madrid.html">Madrid Community</a>,</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/andalusia.html">Andalusia</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"><span> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/valenican-community.html"><span>Valencian Community</span></a></span></span><span>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/03/galicia.html">Galicia</a>,</span></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/11/canary-islands-ceuta-and-melilla.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/12/extremadura.html">Extremadura</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/01/murcia.html">Murcia</a>.</span></div><div><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/09/real-zaragoza.html">Real Zaragoza</a></div><div><span><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/spain-without-catalan-players-in-2010.html">Spain without Catalan players World Cup 2010</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div><div>Aragon is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza. The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a historic nationality of Spain.</div><div><br /></div><div>People might assocate the region with Ferdinand II of Aragon. The Crown of Aragon that Ferdinand inherited in 1479 included the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia, and Sicily, as well as the principality of Catalonia. His marriage to Queen Isabella I of Castile is regarded as the "cornerstone in the foundation of the Spanish monarchy". They sponsored Christopher Columbus' first voyage in 1492. That same year, the couple defeated Granada, the last Muslim state in Western Europe, thus completing the centuries-long Reconquista.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Historically, Aragon's most successful football club is <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/09/real-zaragoza.html">Real Zaragoza</a>. They have won six Copa del Rey titles from 1964 to 2004, and the 1995 European Cup Winners' Cup.A government survey in 2007 found that 2.7% of the Spanish population support the club, making them the seventh-most supported in the country. SD Huesca is the second best club in the region.</div></div></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Jos%C3%A9_Nogu%C3%A9s">Juan José Nogués</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nogués played keeper from Zaragoza C.D. (later became Real Zaragoza in 1932). He made his La Liga debut for FC Barcelona in 12 1930. During his playing career with the club he helped them win the Campionat de Catalunya five times. Between 1932 and 1941 he also played 10 games for the Catalan XI. He also played once in a quarter-final replay against Italy at the 1934 World Cup Finals, replacing Ricardo Zamora who had been injured in the first game</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTlNvvwetwkOHGQQmMGsj-GKVI-tOoiY4CNYNARHk6AKDkHw8hhtZptHvTNMw_GdpZU7qjesepqd3zgWwojJZJYOwxBo1-dIf_XRQ-VexYAsfiYxoob44hB0KE8EY8IT1v328_1OsizmnMi2sJFtpZUNQwglKSKv1wLQW8Myt6sEw6IfcxhtHJcXXlhw=s460" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="332" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTlNvvwetwkOHGQQmMGsj-GKVI-tOoiY4CNYNARHk6AKDkHw8hhtZptHvTNMw_GdpZU7qjesepqd3zgWwojJZJYOwxBo1-dIf_XRQ-VexYAsfiYxoob44hB0KE8EY8IT1v328_1OsizmnMi2sJFtpZUNQwglKSKv1wLQW8Myt6sEw6IfcxhtHJcXXlhw=w289-h400" width="289" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Juan José Nogués</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jes%C3%BAs_Angoy">Jesús Angoy </a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Angoy was a product of FC Barcelona's youth ranks. He made his professional debut with CD Logroñés. He spent several seasons with the Catalans' B-team, playing three years in the second division. He appeared 9 times for Barcelona first team in the mid-1990's. He spent some time with at Córdoba CF before retiring. He married the daughter of Johan Cruyff who was managing Barcelona at the time.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_L%C3%A1inez"><span style="font-size: large;">César Láinez</span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Láinez started with Real Zaragoza B. He made his La Liga debut during a six-month loan stint at Villarreal CF. He </span><span style="font-size: large;">had to wait until the 2001–02 campaign to become first-choice with Zaragoza, but his team would again be relegated. He played in the famous victory in 2003 where they won the Copa del Rey after an extra time win against Real Madrid. He represented Spain at youth level.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Torres_(footballer,_born_1930)">Manuel Torres</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Manuel Torres joined Real Zaragoza in 1953 and became their starting right defender for them in the Second Division. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">After the starting right-back Ángel Atienza was injured in Madrid, Torres came to Real Madrid on loan from Real Zaragoza for 6 months, where he started in the 1957 European Cup Final playing alongside Francisco Gento, Alfredo Di Stefano, Raymond Kopa, etc. He returned to Zaragoza after the loan deal. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He was known as "El expresso de la banda" for his speed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Belsu%C3%A9" style="font-family: times;">Alberto Belsué </a></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">After playing with lowly Endesa de Andorra between 1986 and 1988, Alberto Belsué joined La Liga club Real Zaragoza, where he helped to win the 1994 Copa del Rey and the following year's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He also played for Alavés and Numancia at the end of his career. He was capped 14 times for Spain between 1994 and 1996. He played at the European Championship in 1996, converting one of the penalties against England in the quarterfinal.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAa555WhDDhwG1J7ZIEVjP8Gd4MAvRwppVNRHydwPtfsYLSqtxF8nM8xa8dKbP4TlajwLwxtyIl8ayKp4DQ625fKHjS8CnF1n6Uk3to2QFNNlbXHQpITCs0es4cn5EksV_3hCiHXkbDWaZhQ-OfvjoI2DjIm5LlF-T5A6-YVCwR5BiY9yotGA_0C6wDA=s1346" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1346" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAa555WhDDhwG1J7ZIEVjP8Gd4MAvRwppVNRHydwPtfsYLSqtxF8nM8xa8dKbP4TlajwLwxtyIl8ayKp4DQ625fKHjS8CnF1n6Uk3to2QFNNlbXHQpITCs0es4cn5EksV_3hCiHXkbDWaZhQ-OfvjoI2DjIm5LlF-T5A6-YVCwR5BiY9yotGA_0C6wDA=w400-h316" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Alberto Belsué </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Alfaro">Pablo Alfaro</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Alfaro started his career with his hometown's Real Zaragoza. In the summer of 1992, Alfaro signed with FC Barcelona, being rarely used in his only season. He went on to represent Racing de Santander and Atlético Madrid, being an undisputed starter in Cantabria. With Sevilla, he formed a fearsome partnership as stopper with Javi Navarro, but following the emergence of club youth graduate Sergio Ramos, he lost his place.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Cuartero">Luis Cuartero</a></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Cuartero was born in Zaragoza, Aragon. He made his senior debut with hometown's Real Zaragoza in1993. He went on to appear in 178 La Liga games, plus the 2002–03 season in the second division. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">From 2006 to 2009, however, Cuartero would only play three league matches combined, severely hindered by knee injuries. He represented Spain at the youth level.</span></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LM/SW/LB: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Luis_Violeta">José Luis Violeta </a> </span><br style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">José Luis Violeta made his debut with Club Deportivo Puertollano in 1962. He played for 14 seasons with Real Zaragoza (1963-1977) as a part of the glorious era for the club. He became a symbol of the club. He won two Copa del Generalísimo(now Copa del Rey) in 1964 and 1966. From 1966 to 1974, he was capped for Spain 14 times, scoring a single goal. He made his international debut in June, 1966 against Uruguay.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">LM/LB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Villarroya"><span style="font-size: large;">Francisco Villarroya</span></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Francisco Villarroya made his professional debut with hometown's Real Zaragoza in 1984. In 1990, he signed with Real Madrid, where he played until 1994. He spent two seasons with Deportivo de La Coruña, being relatively used and adding another Copa del Rey to his trophy cabinet. He also played for Sporting de Gijón. Between 1989 and 1992, he played 14 times for Spain, including all games in the 1990 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb2GPi31fz_slah1yLzhG5HZ7wq94m1uUrZY3GZy0xdljrPEp2Pxe-UD5OqgG-EVuAr5dZFjjWTR1S59NfZvvmXp4tvaMplbFkYjJ87aGHC_oqFibLdmFFX1Yvhgz6O2OR4FNT3OXSozTdAWMazMScGiuV_SJ95QYcWMcjxA-mIq2X0t799yV3rmNDXw=s1022" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="1022" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb2GPi31fz_slah1yLzhG5HZ7wq94m1uUrZY3GZy0xdljrPEp2Pxe-UD5OqgG-EVuAr5dZFjjWTR1S59NfZvvmXp4tvaMplbFkYjJ87aGHC_oqFibLdmFFX1Yvhgz6O2OR4FNT3OXSozTdAWMazMScGiuV_SJ95QYcWMcjxA-mIq2X0t799yV3rmNDXw=w400-h303" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Francisco Villarroya</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">CM: </span><a href="https://es-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Javier_Planas?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc" style="font-family: times;">Javier Planas</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Born in 1949, Javier Planas started with Deportivo Aragon. he later played with Lagreo before joining Real Zaragoza in 1968. He stayed there until 1977. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He played once for the Spanish national team in Glasgow on November 20 , 1974 against Scotland. His brother Miguel Planas was also a professional footballer who also played for Real Zaragoza. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">HM: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Torralba">Ramón Torralba </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ramón Torralba was popularly known as the old man for his long career in the Barça first team, where he was the team's starter for more than 15 years. He played as a midfielder, where he formed a great core line with Sancho and Josep Samitier. For many years he held the record for games played at the club until it was surpassed by Joan Segarra in the 1960s. He played a total of 475 games and scored 16 goals between 1914 and 1928. </span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacio_Camacho">Ignacio Camacho</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">An academy graduate at Atlético Madrid, Camacho made his senior debut at the age of 17. He spent the next three years at the club, making 50 appearances and winning Europa League and UEFA Super Cup titles. In 2011 he signed for Málaga, where he spent six and a half years and played competitive 199 matches before joining Wolfsburg. He captained the Spain under-17 team to the title at the 2007 UEFA European Championship. In 2014, he received his only senior cap.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTGbsB1LIxg8dUhqLP1QWHZIO1rLbhLthqh1GeQoF2EAlkdh7oPoE7zznRaYnkt4EHkq2S2eRyN5VSneCwU4zpFTdeov6aX0YgpNDYMgMqhhqnBjmaShFyhjUvkEyY0hos-43yv3TbrsiIElzGDtbvCziPtw83qhbh_--YsedhgYXLc_s03Tpro2VRpA=s1920" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1920" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTGbsB1LIxg8dUhqLP1QWHZIO1rLbhLthqh1GeQoF2EAlkdh7oPoE7zznRaYnkt4EHkq2S2eRyN5VSneCwU4zpFTdeov6aX0YgpNDYMgMqhhqnBjmaShFyhjUvkEyY0hos-43yv3TbrsiIElzGDtbvCziPtw83qhbh_--YsedhgYXLc_s03Tpro2VRpA=w400-h255" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ignacio Camacho</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">MF: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_G%C3%BCerri" style="font-family: times;">Francisco Güerri</a><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Francisco Güerri started with Deportivo Avagon. He then spent 10 years with Real Zaragoza between 1978 and 1988. From 1988 to 1991, he played for Las Palmes. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics. He had four senior caps between 1983 and 1984. Three of his caps came during the qualification for Euro 1984. He did not make the team for the Finals in France.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Milla_(footballer,_born_1966)" style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">Luis Milla</a><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Milla made his debut with Barcelona in 1984. He was a regular for the first team from 1988 to 1990. Then, he joined rival Real Madrid in 1990 on a free transfer. He was an important first-team element in the conquest of two leagues and one Copa del Rey. Milla finished his career in 2001 after four years at Valencia CF. Over a three-month period beginning in late 1989, he earned himself three caps for the Spain national team. His first match was against Hungary.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: times;">RM/CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cani_(Spanish_footballer)" style="font-family: times;">Cani </a><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></div></span></div></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Cani started with his hometown team Real Zaragoza in 2002. He won the 2004 Copa Del Rey and Supercopa de España with them and. From 2006 to 2015, he played for Villarreal. He appeared in 32 games for the 2007–08 runners-up. In 2015, he moved to Deportivo La Coruna. After a season, he returned to Real Zaragoza. He also played on loan with Atletico Madrid. He was called up by Spain manager Luis Aragonés in 2006, but never earned a cap.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jes%C3%BAs_Garc%C3%ADa_Sanju%C3%A1n">Jesús García Sanjuán</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">A youth product of Real Zaragoza, Sanjuán was born in Zaragoza, and made his debut in 1991. Almost never an undisputed starter for the Aragonese, he featured heavily during his seven-and-a-half professional seasons with the club, most notably amassing totals of 93 games and four goals in La Liga from 1991 to 1994, winning the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup. He also played in Spain with Villarreal CF and Córdoba CF, and Wolves in England.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%ADctor_Mu%C3%B1oz">Víctor Muñoz</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Victor started with Real Zaragoza in 1976. He joined Barcelona in 1981. He spent most of his professional career with them, winning a total of eight major titles and amassing La Liga totals of 332 games and 25 goals. He also played for Sampdoria and St Mirren. Víctor played 60 times for Spain between 1981 and 1988. He represented the country in the 1986 World Cup Finals and the European Championships of 1984 and 1988.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGxeRXM8HQTwvngld3iIlyOfYG3PQQUm5R-63b1JR8ZZlZcwDadMEWD0oIWFFN898sENvhjVJTkzWwX4qUZOkh84CQkpCaV_8WroAV-CGgCE51Pc8oE6ORBdKzvh6ZXACAsEZhHTNs2A52_vc_fJ5_aJgYbzfhk3ZNGFoV0CL1fDzBOFZ3uugZO3drzA=s1296" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="1296" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGxeRXM8HQTwvngld3iIlyOfYG3PQQUm5R-63b1JR8ZZlZcwDadMEWD0oIWFFN898sENvhjVJTkzWwX4qUZOkh84CQkpCaV_8WroAV-CGgCE51Pc8oE6ORBdKzvh6ZXACAsEZhHTNs2A52_vc_fJ5_aJgYbzfhk3ZNGFoV0CL1fDzBOFZ3uugZO3drzA=w400-h311" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Víctor Muñoz</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>FW/CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacho_Conte">Nacho Conte</a><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Nacho Conte moved to Sevilla from the youth team of Real Betis in 1989. He had a relatively successful career with Sevilla. He </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">signed for CD Tenerife in 1993 and stayed there until 1997. Then, he played for Racing de Santander and Hercules CF. In 1991, he played once for Spain in a Euro 1992 qualifying match against Czechoslovakia. He appeared as a sub. He had represented Spain at the youth level.</span></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_%C3%81ngel_Bustillo" style="font-family: times;">Miguel Ángel Bustillo</a><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Bustillo started his career with the reserve side of Real Zaragoza, Deportivo Aragón. He spent time on loan at UD Mahón, before joining Barcelona in 1969. He received a serious injury on his debut with Barcelona. He only played a few games for them. From 1972 to 1977, he played for Malaga. He was capped five times by the Spain national football team between 1968 and 1969, scoring twice.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LW/FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Lapetra">Carlos Lapetra</a> </span><br style="font-family: times;" /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Carlos Lapetra began his career with CD Guadalajara in 1958. He spent ten of his 11 years as a professional with Real Zaragoza, appearing in 279 official games (62 goals) and winning three major titles with the club during the Golden period of the club. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Lapetra played in the Final of the 1964 European Nations' Cup against the Soviet Union, where Spain won its first ever major tournament. He also went to the 1966 World Cup Finals in England. He had 13 caps in total.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMX4XLzDfBqR3TePULAVoZ3mVxk549nma06JsN-gxy76r9S_du4ruzGkCtzXKZnZlMPBlTAGC_v-W6HptSxJpy2YpX4eAADXaovXjkSTovwT-0O_KDAWt2DhPjiajvy6_XzHy7bkIUq2J5VBhqQY8IL4Cy19BttD40MX45RQkUIbQacruTgHOabpkY0w=s486" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="378" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMX4XLzDfBqR3TePULAVoZ3mVxk549nma06JsN-gxy76r9S_du4ruzGkCtzXKZnZlMPBlTAGC_v-W6HptSxJpy2YpX4eAADXaovXjkSTovwT-0O_KDAWt2DhPjiajvy6_XzHy7bkIUq2J5VBhqQY8IL4Cy19BttD40MX45RQkUIbQacruTgHOabpkY0w=w311-h400" width="311" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Carlos Lapetra</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Porta">Enrique Porta</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Porta began his career in his native region of Aragon, spending the 1967–68 season with SD Huesca in the Tercera División and scoring 34 goals. Subsequently, he signed for Granada CF in La Liga. In the 1971–72 campaign, however, his 20 goals in 31 matches – no penalties – earned him the Pichichi Trophy for the league's top scorer to help the Andalusians to a best ever sixth position. In1 975, Porta moved to fellow league side Real Zaragoza.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%C3%A1s_Hern%C3%A1ndez">Tomas Moreno</a><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Moreno spent four years of his career with FC Barcelona, after signing from UD Huesca in 1952. In the 1952–53 league conquest, he scored 22 goals in just 30 matches, only trailing Telmo Zarra in the Pichichi Trophy race. He was part of the Blaugrana's attacking line which also featured César, László Kubala, Eduardo Manchón and Mariano Martín. He also played </span>with UD Las Palmas and Real Zaragoza, Moreno earned two caps with Spain, both in July 1953.</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salva_Ballesta">Salva Ballesta</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">A goalscorer noted for his flair and workrate, he played for seven top-division clubs, most notably Atlético Madrid, Valencia – with whom he won his sole team trophy – and Málaga. He amassed totals of 235 games and 86 goals over 11 La Liga seasons, adding 126 matches and 52 goals in Segunda División. He won the Pichichi Trophy in the 1999–2000 season, scoring 27 goals to lead La Liga's scoring charts for Racing de Santander. Salva played four matches with Spain.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisZ2SrqRtDEd11wGqPD9eZNOJuvulUf5KFec5A5TUoyrr_RQatODbODb3bpnt_YjDz842cbLK9jqZnNbiNcgmVQqoQZCLnxv4eXwV-TCF72R_09jCo4mtmkdQw08LQ0qcHVJzYm3KqN8C3m3rNPpa-1bfewGtZGjaiFxsg_vY-B1Xi0yGqLvoG6O_aUw=s1936" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1544" data-original-width="1936" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisZ2SrqRtDEd11wGqPD9eZNOJuvulUf5KFec5A5TUoyrr_RQatODbODb3bpnt_YjDz842cbLK9jqZnNbiNcgmVQqoQZCLnxv4eXwV-TCF72R_09jCo4mtmkdQw08LQ0qcHVJzYm3KqN8C3m3rNPpa-1bfewGtZGjaiFxsg_vY-B1Xi0yGqLvoG6O_aUw=w400-h319" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Salva Ballesta</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>José Luis García Traid, Juli Gozalvo, Jesús Vallejo, </span><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mois%C3%A9s_Garc%C3%ADa_(footballer,_born_1971)#:~:text=known%20simply%20as-,Mois%C3%A9s,-%2C%20is%20a%20Spanish">Moises</a>, Raul Guti, Agustín Abadía, Alberto Zapater, José María Encontra, Josete, Manuel Cros, Francisco León Fandós, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerardo_Garc%C3%ADa_Le%C3%B3n">Gerardo</a>, Ismael Comas, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Luis Cuartero, Víctor Laguardia, Jesús Vallejo. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>Players who grew up in Aragon but not born here</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Álvaro Arbeloa, Anders Herrera.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Squad Explanation</b></span></span></u></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Only 14 players from here ever played for Spain. The player pool is very limited. At the time of writing (2021-2022 season), only a handful of Aragonese footballers are playing in La Liga. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Víctor Laguardia, Jesús Vallejo, Alberto Soro, Jorge Pompo, Jorge Miramón, Raul Guti, Dani Calvo and Roberto López are the only players I found playing in La Liga. Both Real Zaragoza and </span><span style="font-size: large;">SD Huesca are now playing in the lower division.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I do not know much about women football. But during my research, I discovered a number of Aragon-born female players to have played for Spain. Silvia Meseguer, Adriana Martín, Cristina Estévez, Mapi León, Patricia Larqué, Marta Cardona and Bárbara Latorre all played for Spain. I do not know enough about the topic to comment. I am just using this as a miscellaneous information.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Juan José Nogués was the first ever player here to represent Spain. The occasion was the quarterfinal of the 1934 World Cup Finals against host and eventual winner Italy. The game was a remplay after the first game ended in a draw. He replaced</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Ricardo Zamora who had been injured in the first game. With 60 caps, Víctor Muñoz is the all-time leading cap holder for the region.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- There were four Aragonese players who had represented Spain in World Cup Finals. As mentioned above, Nogués played in the 1934 World Cup Finals. Víctor Muñoz played 5 games in the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico. Francisco Villarroya played 4 games in the 1990 World Cup Finals while Carlos Lapetra appeared once in the 1966 edition. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Marca created an all-time Best XI for Aragon. Their team was different from mine. It consisted of Juan José Nogués, Alberto Belsué, Francisco Villarroya, Pablo Alfaro, José Luis Violeta, Ander Herrera, Carlos Lapetra, Cani, Victor Munoz, Luis Milla and Salva. They featured Francisco Villarroya as their central defender. I did not select Anders Herrera who was born in Basque.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Víctor Muñoz, Carlos Lapetra, </span><span>Alberto Belsué,</span><span> Cani, </span><span>José Luis Violeta, Pablo Alfaro, Francisco Villarroya, Jesús García Sanjuán, Luis Cuartero and Miguel Ángel Bustillo </span><span>all played for local club Real Zaragoza. Tomas Moreno and Enrique Porta were the only players chosen who had played for Sociedad Deportiva Huesca.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- I also noticed many players had played for Barcelona. Víctor Muñoz, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Juan José Nogués, Ramón Torralba, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Moreno, Jesús Angoy, Pablo Alfaro and Miguel Ángel Bustillo were on the book of Barcelona FC at one point.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeeper</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>-- </span>Juan José Nogués was the obvious choice for the starting goalkeeper. I found many goalkeepers from this area. Jesús Angoy might not be better than some of the other goalkeepers from here, but he got name recognition for being a former Barcelona's goalkeeper. He was also Johan Cruyff's son-in-law, which some fans might also know that information. The football fans might also remember him for being the kicker for NFL Europe side Barcelona Dragons. Some people should know who he was. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Then, I took César Láinez who played over 100 games for Real Zaragoza. He was the starting keeper for them as they upset Real Madrid in the Final of the 2004 Copa Del Rey. The match marked <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-beginning-of-end-of-galacticos-in.html">the beginning of the end for Galactico One</a>. Ismail Comas spent 8 seasons with Barcelona FC, but never figured much on the first team.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Goalkeeper Enrique Yarza played his entire career with different clubs in the city of Zaragoza, but he was born in </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Basque Country. He was probably Real Zaragoza's greatest goalkeeper. He was ineligible.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-size: large;">Álvaro Arbeloa's family moved to Zaragoza when he was four years old. He started playing football at Real Zaragoza, joining Real Madrid's youth system at the age of 18. He was often listed as a player from here, but I stayed with birth place as a criteria. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes, I bended the eligible rule to select a great player. I did not do it for Arbeloa because that would have kept </span><span style="font-size: large;">Alberto Belsué off the starting lineup. Alberto Belsué is the second most capped player from Aragon. He also played for a local club Real Zaragoza. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The backup rightback position was between Gerardo and Manuel Torres. Gerardo played over 240 matches in La Liga. He appeared scarcely for Valencia, but started in the 2000 Champions League final loss to Real Madrid. He had his most successfully period at Málaga CF, playing five seasons for a side that had four consecutive mid-table positions and also helping them win the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Meanwhile, </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Manuel Torres played a season on loan with Real Madrid in 1957. That season, he started in the European Cup Final against Fiorentina. Both players also played in the lower division. In the end, I took Torres because he remained the only player to have played and won the European Cup. I considered a big milestone for Aragon in football. Jesús Vallejo won the Champions' League with Real Madrid, but he only used once in the entire campaign.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>-- The central defender position was difficult to select. José Luis Violeta was listed as a left midfielder as well as sweeper and leftback. He was on my Real Zaragoza All-Time team. Luis Cuartero made honourable mention for them. Pablo Alfaro amassed many La Liga games. Moreover, he was selected by Marca on their Aragon All-Time Best XI. </div><div>-- Th fourth central defender was difficult to choose. It was between Víctor Laguardia and Jesús Vallejo. I put both of them into the pool for the last player considered(see below). The old-fashion fullback was usually central defender, but RB Manuel Torres was winger/rightback. He was known as "El Expresso de la banda" for his speed. </div><div>-- Both José Luis Violeta and Francisco Villarroya could be used as a leftback. Villarroya whom I considered to be a winger was battling for starting leftback position with Mikel Lasa in Madrid before the emerge of Roberto Carlos. I also discovered Josete who played for Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano, etc. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></div><div>-- For midfielders, I began by taking all of the capped players, namely Ignacio Camacho, Luis Miller, Francisco Güerri, Javier Planas and Víctor Muñoz.</div><div>-- Víctor Muñoz was the "lung" of the Spanish national team in the 1980's. He also represented Spain at the 1980 Olympics with Francisco Güerri. Luis Miller played many games with both Barcelona and Real Madrid. He was relatively successful for both giants.</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHP5JeBs64F4cely8VQ6ofWMOrRqkp4XLaCEO5OzC6-4yW0BotjzZdcG0FXZ-opSMHplkFcMktE81CeORxKLOaw-B0QrBSJn0tsFU-7yQC3PmR9bAlzys5LIPrJVQIqs5eKntKs9eZuWYX1N86irsVt34UyRCLgELNGroSTKBb0FyblThl5DE5qsQueA=s894" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="798" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHP5JeBs64F4cely8VQ6ofWMOrRqkp4XLaCEO5OzC6-4yW0BotjzZdcG0FXZ-opSMHplkFcMktE81CeORxKLOaw-B0QrBSJn0tsFU-7yQC3PmR9bAlzys5LIPrJVQIqs5eKntKs9eZuWYX1N86irsVt34UyRCLgELNGroSTKBb0FyblThl5DE5qsQueA=w358-h400" width="358" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Luis Milla <br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>-- Then, I took Ramón Torralba who was a club legend with Barcelona FC. He was at one point their appearance leader. Their official website described him as a "holding midfield player who stood out for his strength and limitless capacity for sacrifice." He moved to Catalonia at a young age, but his birth place gave him the right to be on this team.</div><div><span>-- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juli_Gonzalvo">Juli Gozalvo</a> was born in Aragon, but his two brothers </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Gonzalvo">José Gonzalvo</a><span> </span><span>and </span><span>Mariano Gonzalvo were born in </span><span>Mollet del Vallès, Catalonia. Both brothers were capped by Spain and starred for Barcelona FC. Juli, however, was lesser known. He never played for Barcelona first team. He only made honourable mention.</span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ander Herrera was born in Bilbao, although he spent the first four years of his life in Vigo. He moved to Aragon in 1993 when his father took a job with Real Zaragoza. I ruled him ineligible because of his birth place.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- AM Santiago Aragón was an all-timer for Real Zaragoza, but he was born in Andalusia. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Luis Aragonés was born in Madrid. But</span><span style="font-size: large;"> according to a website, "Aragonés" meant "Aragonese, from Aragón" in the Spanish and Aragonese languages. But I would not consider that as a factor for their inclusion.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- I watched plenty of Cani in his prime. He was awesome with Villarreal. He was called up by Spain, but he never received a cap. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Miguel Angel Bustillo made his debut with Barcelona against against Real Madrid in 1969. He scored two goals in the second and fifth minute before he was seriously injured by a tackle from Pedro de Felipe. He never played for Barcelona again. He later played for CD Málaga.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Tomas Moreno was known as "Moreno" because of his dark skin. In the 1952–53 season, he scored 22 goals in just 30 matches, only trailing Telmo Zarra in the Pichichi Trophy race.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Salva won the Pichichi Trophy for the 1999–2000 season. He was less effective while with Valencia, but he won a La Liga title with them. Enrique Porta also won the title in the 1970-1971 season. He also played for Sociedad Deportiva Huesca and Real Zaragoza. In May 2015, the main entrance to Granada's Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes was named after Porta. The stadium of Villanueva CF, from his hometown, is also named after him. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- <a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Cros_i_Grau">Manuel Cros</a> played in the 1920's at the same time as Ricardo Zamora and Josep Samitier in Catalonia . He was born in Avagon, but considered himself a Catalan. He was probably a big star at his time, but I was not sure if he deserved a spot. The forward position was well-stocked. I put him on honorable mention only.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mois%C3%A9s_Garc%C3%ADa_(footballer,_born_1971)#:~:text=known%20simply%20as-,Mois%C3%A9s,-%2C%20is%20a%20Spanish">Moises</a>' <span>career was between the top and second level. The other attackers all had represented Spain or won the Pichichi Trophy. His brother</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerardo_Garc%C3%ADa_Le%C3%B3n" style="font-family: times;">Gerardo</a><span style="font-family: times;"> also made honorable mention.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- The last player was a decision between Alberto Zapater, Agustín Abadía, Jesús García Sanjuán, Víctor Laguardia and Jesús Vallejo. My team had only 6 defenders. Laguardia and Vallejo should be the priority. However, Laguardia spent parts of his career in the Segunda División. But since 2016, he played mainly in La Liga. Jesús Vallejo had some experience playing in the English Premier League and Bundesliga. However, his career had been stalled since his return to Real Madrid in 2021. His loan spell with Granada was only fair. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Midfielder Alberto Zapater appeared over 300 matches for Real Zaragoza, a local team, but parts of his career was spent in the Segunda División. He also </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">played with Genoa in Italy, Sporting SP in Portugal and FC Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia before returning to Real Zaragova in 2016. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I also looked into Agustín Abadía who played many seasons with CD Logroñés in the top divisison. Jesús García Sanjuán </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">helped Real Zaragoza win the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup. I considered that as a contribution to local football. He also had a long career playing La Liga, but not always as a starter. He seemed to be the best choice among the midfielders.<br />-- In the end, the decision was between Jesús García Sanjuán or a central defender. In the end, I took Jesús García Sanjuán. Althrough he was never a starter with Zaragoza, he was playing most of his career in the top division. I just had to leave the team short with a defender. I would reexamine Jesús Vallejo later in his career.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Francisco Villarroya had played the leftback position for both Spain and Real Madrid. Both of my midfielders were known for their grit. This team might need some creativity. The team was more of an English team than a Spanish team. Cani was a very good passer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/02/1876426_Spain.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/02/1876426_Spain.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-32543191692984961822022-01-13T01:24:00.020-08:002022-11-29T18:43:57.782-08:00Murcia All-Time Best XI<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3LioxNGRa8o2aQrlMqXglKZfy1ViVRGz7C3wgjJg9qPj15_9fr2NginFyxdJIyLQN1KHnZT4PT8E0cnOM0Ju6zZgyCW2wiOREhCZN44EelpmQydd1aLWx8anUbjL8dpzdrRFD5uljJiOoyQwWH2EP7e4b0OUjkAIRqf-P2-Htk7qU1FyyWmH1isOwXw=s981" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="981" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3LioxNGRa8o2aQrlMqXglKZfy1ViVRGz7C3wgjJg9qPj15_9fr2NginFyxdJIyLQN1KHnZT4PT8E0cnOM0Ju6zZgyCW2wiOREhCZN44EelpmQydd1aLWx8anUbjL8dpzdrRFD5uljJiOoyQwWH2EP7e4b0OUjkAIRqf-P2-Htk7qU1FyyWmH1isOwXw=w400-h260" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/spains-all-time-23-member-team.html">Spain All-Time Team</a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/basque.html">Basque</a>, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/catalonia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Catalonia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/castile.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Castile without Madrid players</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/community-of-madrid.html">Madrid Community</a>,</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/andalusia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Andalusia</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"><span> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/valenican-community.html"><span>Valencian Community</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/03/galicia.html">Galicia</a>,</span></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/11/canary-islands-ceuta-and-melilla.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/12/extremadura.html">Extremadura</a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/02/aragon.html">Aragon</a>.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/spain-without-catalan-players-in-2010.html">Spain without Catalan players World Cup 2010</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div></span></span></span>The region is centered on a historical region of the same name in what is now southeastern Spain. It is heir to the ancient Kingdom of Murcia, which traditionally included, as a bi-provincial region,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7">[6]</sup> the provinces of Albacete and Murcia. During the transition to democracy (<i>la Transición</i>), Albacete became part of Castilla–La Mancha. The region is 11,313 km<sup>2</sup> (4,368 sq mi) in area and had a population of 1,511,251 as at the start of 2020.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Football is not a major sport here. Real Murcia is the main club in the region. Officially founded in 1919 as <i>Levante Foot-ball Club</i>
(records show earlier denominations, such as 1903's <i>Foot Ball Club de Murcia</i> and 1906's <i>Murcia Football Club</i>), Real Murcia was named as such, in 1923–24, by King Alfonso XIII.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">The region has limited numbers of players. I can only create a Best XI team.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Zambudio_Velasco">Juan Zambudio Velasco</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Velasco signed with FC Barcelona in 1942, when he was 21. He was the starting goalkeeper of FC Barcelona until he got injured in his eyes, in which he lost his place to Antoni Ramallets, and he never got back to the main place. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">In 1954 he left FC Barcelona to play in CE Sabadell FC, where he retired one season later. </span><span style="font-family: times;">He played with the Spanish B selection officially.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chendo">Chendo</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Chendo
was a product of Real Madrid's academy. He played his entire career
with Real Madrid between 1982 and 1998. He won 17 major trophies with
the club. He was a part of the team that won back-to-back UEFA Cup
titles in the mid-1980's. He retired after the 1998 European Champions'
League Final. For international football, he had 26 caps for Spain.
He represented them at both World Cup Finals in 1986 and 1990., where he
was the starter in 1990 edition.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjI5sy3vlbHpxOelW01xQlq-xDPztvwxejtEoiWYIsR92Y_nef_GICbB0gQDW7E9_SM5MJKsSAQOyWC1RkREt72DwIwoMmmVi2gg_CFD_YWBQ4RhWVF8pGW_p5hGGvnEXhubhVGJeutsJhIbnfn9gCSej_UXXgDahKN9X50ZrpXlx_eb7pBol3AoR3Z5A=s647" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="502" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjI5sy3vlbHpxOelW01xQlq-xDPztvwxejtEoiWYIsR92Y_nef_GICbB0gQDW7E9_SM5MJKsSAQOyWC1RkREt72DwIwoMmmVi2gg_CFD_YWBQ4RhWVF8pGW_p5hGGvnEXhubhVGJeutsJhIbnfn9gCSej_UXXgDahKN9X50ZrpXlx_eb7pBol3AoR3Z5A=w310-h400" width="310" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Chendo</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmelo_Navarro">Carmelo Navarro </a></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Navarro spent two seasons with Portuense and earned him a move to Salamanca in 1979. He later played with Real Betis and Recreativo de Huelva. Between 1987 and 1997, he played for Cadiz, where he made his name. Except for a single season, he played in La Liga for them. He left Cádiz after 260 appearances and four goals. He is a legendary figure in the club's history, having served as club captain during one of their most successful periods. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;">CB/RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Mart%C3%ADnez_Mart%C3%ADnez">Casuco</a> </span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span face="" style="font-size: large;">Born in Lorca, Region of Murcia, Juan Martínez Martínez was better known as Casuco. He wasa youth product of Real Madrid, but he started with CF Lorca Deportiva. From there he went to Granada CF ,played with Granada CF and then the Elche CF in the 1970's. He joined Real Zaragoza in 1979, where he spent ten years and played his best career as a player, becoming their team captain. He helped Real Zaragoza to win the Copa Del Rey in 1985-1986. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>LB: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Antonio_Camacho">Jose Antonio Camacho</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jose Camacho</span></span> is widely considered to be Spain's greatest leftback. He earned 81 caps for Spain. He played at </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups, as well as the Euro 1984 and 1988. Spain reached the Euro Final in 1984. After playing youth football at Albacete Balompié he moved to La Liga giants Real Madrid at age 18. He spent 15 seasons with Real Madrid. He played with the great Real Madrid side of the 1980's. He won 19 titles with Real Madrid, including two back-to-back UEFA Cups: 1984–85, 1985–86.</span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QQ9LPYA7SnU/WVSLT_59zVI/AAAAAAAAEaY/YD5UE9tSxuA5WgOtXspnqlwKVy9AnjWuwCLcBGAs/s1600/1986-Historias-del-Real-Madrid-Camacho-Irlanda-3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QQ9LPYA7SnU/WVSLT_59zVI/AAAAAAAAEaY/YD5UE9tSxuA5WgOtXspnqlwKVy9AnjWuwCLcBGAs/w245-h400/1986-Historias-del-Real-Madrid-Camacho-Irlanda-3.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Camacho</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">DM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javi_Garc%C3%ADa" style="font-family: times;">Javi Garcia</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Javi Garcia was a youth product of Real Madrid who progressed to the first team before making a name with Benfica. He played for them between 2009 and 2012. He also played for CA Osasuna. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Between 2012 and 2014, he played for Manchester City. Then, he spent a further three seasons in Russia with Zenit before returning to Spain in 2017 to join Real Betis. Between 2012 and 2013, he was capped twice by Spain</span><span style="font-family: times;">. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">CM: </span></span><span style="font-family: times; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><a href="https://es-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Carlos_Castillo_Garc%C3%ADa-Tudela?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc">José Carlos Castillo</a></span></span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jose Carlos Castillo made his FC Barcelona debut in 1926. He remained at the club until 1932, being a starter since 1927, highlighting the 1928-29 season where the club won the first Spanish league. He played 207 games and scored 5 goals. In 1932 he joined Atlético de Madrid where he played two seasons and was promoted to the first division. He represented Spain once in 1931 against Ireland as well as several times for Catalonia.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNBmjYzP-RFVw3UWsCc-OwNujcPRwA-sIzDsZkPT71TtJIODIPaxleTTjnrkTw0hMBN-WqkKSkMPXxlbZnzM8ylu9uQaUDvwSlGp-sil8jCsfQTL1H-aq6qYHVP3_fp5y5uy_Q1rweRvDzr9r_L6-TAF9NvXCBSaHwX_FRxy4iRlW504xDontYvDSzzg=s613" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="381" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNBmjYzP-RFVw3UWsCc-OwNujcPRwA-sIzDsZkPT71TtJIODIPaxleTTjnrkTw0hMBN-WqkKSkMPXxlbZnzM8ylu9uQaUDvwSlGp-sil8jCsfQTL1H-aq6qYHVP3_fp5y5uy_Q1rweRvDzr9r_L6-TAF9NvXCBSaHwX_FRxy4iRlW504xDontYvDSzzg=w249-h400" width="249" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">José Carlos Castillo</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>CM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Ruiz_(footballer)">Antonio Ruiz </a></span></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ruiz played 5 years for Real Madrid between 1956 and 1963, winning a title per year while there, including four European Cups. In 1962, he joined Deportivoi la Coruna on loan. Released by the Merengues, he spent five of the following seven seasons in Segunda División, one of the two exceptions being 1964–65 with Real Murcia – top level relegation. He retired in 1970 at the age of 33, with Spanish first division totals of 103 games and five goals.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">RW: </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Le%C3%B3n" style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pedro Leon</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Born in Murcia, Pedro Leon made his debut with Real Murcia in 2005. He spent two seasons with them before moving to Levante in 2007. He then played for Valladolid and Getafe before joining Real Madrid in 2010. After 3 unsuccessful seasons in Real Madrid., he returned to Getafe before playing for Eibar between 2016 and 2021. He joined Fuenlabrada in 2021. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> Between 2007 and 2009, he represented Spain at the Under 21 level. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZiok33UZxrsIySujCvxatux-QIepVFVznZfPlneHc8CaCR_OvkTo6qT2y1YoJgwSyoEb5pR0ZUkPQDMQvu6z7GO9zt0-NB4yeHSyUa2XuPN1EdfOQ4recPt3lKtjY5kjxCJsPpprKaClovMnYoQGvGsVExxqj0EZt7I3Rsn23_GA-AVCa88sDusMkYw=s1142" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="922" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZiok33UZxrsIySujCvxatux-QIepVFVznZfPlneHc8CaCR_OvkTo6qT2y1YoJgwSyoEb5pR0ZUkPQDMQvu6z7GO9zt0-NB4yeHSyUa2XuPN1EdfOQ4recPt3lKtjY5kjxCJsPpprKaClovMnYoQGvGsVExxqj0EZt7I3Rsn23_GA-AVCa88sDusMkYw=w323-h400" width="323" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>Pedro Leon</span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">LW: <a href="https://peoplepill.com/people/antoni-alcazar-i-alonso">Antonio Alcázar Alonso</a></span></span><span style="font-family: times; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Alcazar played in the First Division for three seasons as a player for Club Esportiu Europa between 1928 and 1931, these being the only campaigns of the Catalan club in the highest category of Spanish football. He was the first Murcian footballer to play for the Spanish soccer team and one of the first to do so in the First Division. He was capped twice with Spain in 1925.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mista_(footballer)">Mista</a></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">An Real Madrid youth graduate, Mista started with CD Tenerife in 1999. He would make a name for himself with Valencia between 2001 and 2006, helping the club win a total of four major titles. In the 2004 UEFA Cup Final, he scored the second goal in the 2–0 win against Olympique de Marseille.He then played for Atletico Madrid and Deportivo La Coruna before joining Toronto FC in 2010. He represented Spain twice in 2005.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><u><b><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Honorable Mention</span></span></span></b></u></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">José Macanás, <a href=" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manolo_(footballer,_born_1960)">Manolo</a>, Robert Sánchez, Jose Luis Borja, Andrés Fernández, Juanmi, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Patricio Pelegrín, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Manuel Nunez, Murciano.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></span></div></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- At the time of writing, around seven players born in Murica have played for Spain. So the pool is very limited. I only have the resource to build an All-Time Best XI. Usually, I had difficulties to build all-time teams because of fullbacks and goalkeepers. Murica has enough good players in the two positions, but I could not come up suitable candidates for other positions. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- If I can build a Best XI team for Murcia, I do believe that I can do the same for each regions for </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/castile.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Castile</a>. </span> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- Marca created an all-time Best XI for Murcia. Their team was different from mine. It consisted of </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Juanmi, Chendo, Camelo, Tatono, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Casuco</span></span>, Camacho, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Antonio Alcázar, Javi Garcia, </span></span></span></span>Pedro Leon, Mista, Ricardo. We had four different selections. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">They listed Ricardo as their starting forward. I had no idea who he was. I
found Ricardo Alos who played for Murcia, but he was born in Valencia.
Richi (</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ricardo Pérez de Zabalza Goytre) who also played for Murcia was born in Madrid.</span></span><b> <br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Normally, I awarded players with connections to a local club, but only Pedro Leon played briefly for Real Murcia. Antonio Ruiz spent some time with them at the end of his career. They were not considered legends of the club. Real Murcia greats such as Amador, José Sierra, </span></span></span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Richi, José Sánchez Vidaña, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manolo_(footballer,_born_1965)">Manola</a> and Pepe Aguilar were not born in Murcia.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- M</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">any of the players on this pool played for Real Madrid. Until 1980, Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha were the same region, but the distance between Madrid and Murcia was probably a non-factor. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Camacho, Chendo, </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Casuco, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Javi Garcia, Mista, Antonio Cruz and Pedro Leon</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> were all at one point or another on the books of Real Madrid. Jose Luis Borja and Juanmi who was on my honorable mentions also came from the club.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- Marca listed </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanmi_(footballer,_born_1971)">Juanmi</a> </span>as Murcia's goalkeeper on their All-Time Best XI. He had a single cap for Spain. But I discovered </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Juan Zambudio Velasco and selected him for my Best XI. </span>ESPN Deportes listed him among the greatest goalkeeper for Barcelona FC. He was their staring goalkeeper before the emerge of Antoni Ramallets. In fact, only an eye injury forced him out of a starting lineup and gave way to Ramallets. At the time of writing, Robert Sánchez appeared once for Spain in 2021. He went to the Finals of Euro 2020 as the third goalkeeper. Sanchez is a young goalkeeper with a career ahead of him. Jose Luis Borja who played for Real Madrid and Espanyol was on honorable mention. Andrés Fernández also played several seasons in La Liga.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- I do not know if Murcia is known for producing its fullbacks, but Chendo and Camacho were born here. Because of them, the region could claim to have one of the best fullback corps in Spain. Manolo who played for Barcelona FC between 1979 and 1988 was also born in Murcia. He was listed as a fullback. <a href="https://second.wiki/wiki/tatono">Tatono</a> was selected by Marca for their Murcia's Best XI. He was a rightback.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"> They made honorable mentions. Juan Valera spent many seasons with Atletico Madrid. He also played with Real Murcia. Rightback Manuel Nunez was considered to be Real Murica's greatest. I put him on honorable mention.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Carmelo Navarro was the only suitable central defender I found. He was an all-timer with Cadiz. He was born in Murcia, but he grew up in Galicia and Andalusia. According to wikipedia, Cadiz was considered his hometown team. From 1987 to 1992, he played in La Liga for them. Nevertheless, I used birthplace as my criteria for this team.</span><span class="VIiyi" lang="en"><span class="JLqJ4b ChMk0b C1N51c" data-language-for-alternatives="en" data-language-to-translate-into="es" data-number-of-phrases="17" data-phrase-index="3"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Alberto Botía was mainly a journeyman. So I selected </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casuco"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Casuco</span></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"> who played nearly 300 games for Real Zaragoza and is a member of my Real Zaragoza All-Timer team. He was a rightback, but also played centerback. However, I did not know much about his playing level as a central defender.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="VIiyi" lang="en"><span class="JLqJ4b ChMk0b C1N51c" data-language-for-alternatives="en" data-language-to-translate-into="es" data-number-of-phrases="17" data-phrase-index="3"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Javi Garcia was mainly a defensive midfielder, but I considered using him as a central defender. In the end, I selected him as a defensive midfielder.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="VIiyi" lang="en"><span class="JLqJ4b ChMk0b C1N51c" data-language-for-alternatives="en" data-language-to-translate-into="es" data-number-of-phrases="17" data-phrase-index="3"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikWG9n89aeuxERJMsWiyHLZiYa2eglMZ5chsdcly1myX5qRqQDNTe14bYf5HbcsKdzLP4NFmsNGuaiFWqPTj4qspjeUws0g_gGcSNbxAMNKKLOakqaZ897I6pniDoay0A5hYBIUpEouB_MY-YIT4CFUkzBthDo2LQYzokmoXv6yO0uBSoyxKEFdKAkeQ=s3000" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikWG9n89aeuxERJMsWiyHLZiYa2eglMZ5chsdcly1myX5qRqQDNTe14bYf5HbcsKdzLP4NFmsNGuaiFWqPTj4qspjeUws0g_gGcSNbxAMNKKLOakqaZ897I6pniDoay0A5hYBIUpEouB_MY-YIT4CFUkzBthDo2LQYzokmoXv6yO0uBSoyxKEFdKAkeQ=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Javi Garcia</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- For Murcia, I did not have much candidates for midfielders. I was seriously considering </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_Villar_(footballer)" style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gonzalo Villar</span></a>. <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> My plan was to play Javi Garcia as a central defender and drop Casuco who was a rightback playing as a central defender. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">At the time of writing, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_Villar_(footballer)" style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Gonzalo Villar</span></a> <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">is only 23 years. He already played for Spain which is a milestone for this region. His cap, however was during the COVID 19 pandemic when the Spanish Under 21 side played as their senior team. So I kept Casuco who is an all-timer with Real Zaragoza. I could also reward Murciano who was an all-timer with Real Murcia for a spot, but his career was mainly spent in the lower division. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Gonzalo Villar spent his youth career with Elche and Valencia. In 2018, Gonzalo Villar made his debut with Elche. In 2020, he joined AS Roma in Italy. In 2021, he made his senior debut for Spain against Lithuania. Because of the COVID 19 pandemic, Spain's senior national team was forced to isolate after Sergio Busquets tested positive so Spain featured their Under 21 team for this senior game.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- In the six seasons with Real Madrid, Antonio Ruiz won 4 European Cups playing along side Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskas and Francisco Gento. Although he never played international football, he had done more than most footballers from here. He was listed on the "legends" section of Real Madrid's official website. The website described him as an industrialist midfielder.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Jose Carlos Castillo was born in Murcia, but grew up near Barcelona. He spent many seasons with Barcelona. </span><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">He became the first from Cartagena to play a match with the Spanish team, also being the second from Murcia to do so after </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Antonio Alcáza</span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">r. However, his name was not listed among Murcia-born players who played for Spain in two of my sources. I do not understand.</span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- On the right side, I selected Pedro Leon. He was a decent player with Getafe, but his move to Real Madrid was a disappointment. Nevertheless, he was a long time La Liga player.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- Left-winger Antonio Alcázar Alonso moved to Catalonia at a young age. He also represented them in football. He was the first player from Murcia to play for Spain.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><u><b>Forwards</b></u></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- Normally, I rewarded players who were heros of the local clubs. But I chose Mista over Patricio Pelegrín of Real Murcia. In his prime, he played around the same time as Raul, Fernando Morientes, Fernando Torres, David Villa. So he only earned two caps in his career. He made a name for himself with Valencia, helping the club win a total of four major titles during a five-year spell. He have achieved at the club level. He played with manager Rafael Benítez, who first coached him at Real Madrid Castilla. He also worked with the player at CD Tenerife, and then Valencia CF.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/01/1874525_Spain.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2022/01/1874525_Spain.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-28365424922343769582021-12-19T01:00:00.015-08:002022-11-29T18:45:18.016-08:00Extremadura All-Time Best XI<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div><div style="font-size: x-large;"><span><b><br /></b></span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo9azJu0XfzeYPedVhe0Q1BuIME8IAizMT2u1TlbaKeRwWHfFiYEPk4Lou5C0QyASAXW1PL10TPeofuXExz8FTLVzvBRDREUL1pc8nTOGbDppS-pY369zU0F-Vz4laujRa0UVHRBxMGkQRW9Kj7z9RZ_p9VP6j5Jtkg6j0uIROA8u7mYTNkZXEr2D4LQ=s1052" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="834" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo9azJu0XfzeYPedVhe0Q1BuIME8IAizMT2u1TlbaKeRwWHfFiYEPk4Lou5C0QyASAXW1PL10TPeofuXExz8FTLVzvBRDREUL1pc8nTOGbDppS-pY369zU0F-Vz4laujRa0UVHRBxMGkQRW9Kj7z9RZ_p9VP6j5Jtkg6j0uIROA8u7mYTNkZXEr2D4LQ=w318-h400" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Fernando Morientes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/spains-all-time-23-member-team.html">Spain All-Time Team</a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/basque.html">Basque</a>, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/catalonia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Catalonia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/castile.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Castile without Madrid players</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/community-of-madrid.html">Madrid Community</a>,</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/andalusia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Andalusia</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"><span> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/valenican-community.html"><span>Valencian Community</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/03/galicia.html">Galicia</a>, </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/11/canary-islands-ceuta-and-melilla.html"><span>Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla</span></a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/01/murcia.html"><span>Murica</span></a>, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/02/aragon.html">Aragon</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span face=""><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/spain-without-catalan-players-in-2010.html">Spain without Catalan players World Cup 2010</a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This is my selection of All-time Best XI team for Extremadura. </span></div></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, Extremadura is crossed from east to west by the Tagus and Guadiana rivers. The autonomous community is formed by the two largest provinces of Spain: Cáceres and Badajoz. Extremadura is bordered by Portugal to the west and by the autonomous communities of Castile and León (north), Castilla–La Mancha (east) and Andalusia (south).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Founded in 1924, CF Extremadura was the region's major football team, but it folded in 2010. Extremadura Unión Deportiva is the only major club left. It was founded in 2007. At the time of writing, it never reached the Primera División, the top tier of the Spanish league. </span><span style="font-size: large;">José Antonio Reyes played for them for a few games before he passed away.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Joaquín Vázquez was the first player born in Extremadura capped by Spain. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>He competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics, where Spain win a silver medal. </span><span>Rafael Gordillo is the most capped player born here. Extremadura autonomous football team (</span><span>Selección de fútbol de Extremadura) played a few games in 2007 and 2008.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b><br />GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_S%C3%A1nchez">César Sánchez</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 20 La Liga seasons, César Sánchez played 401 games, with Valladolid, Real Madrid, Zaragoza, Valencia and Villarreal, being first choice in three of those clubs and winning seven major titles with the second, including the 2002 Champions League. He started five out of nine UEFA Champions League matches during the capital side's victorious campaign, He also appeared once for Spain in 2000 when Spain played against Germany.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDyGneuquLLX5ysS8hbdDpFCQhmuQG_Wm6JtbxJhHNmxb2kgNeXSnW9P7SInBl8kFMFtmGJMGUVNg3a2g1GzycKz_pWa8XAkiQbxBQAKEMuCcMb5QeWN8sOvg2Llk49zFCA6kG7NO2nPauWo-cm43SGIgxr7zUiZa9zN2NjyIB8KqaObVgH5QyPjpAag=s1124" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1124" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDyGneuquLLX5ysS8hbdDpFCQhmuQG_Wm6JtbxJhHNmxb2kgNeXSnW9P7SInBl8kFMFtmGJMGUVNg3a2g1GzycKz_pWa8XAkiQbxBQAKEMuCcMb5QeWN8sOvg2Llk49zFCA6kG7NO2nPauWo-cm43SGIgxr7zUiZa9zN2NjyIB8KqaObVgH5QyPjpAag=w400-h326" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">César Sánchez</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span>RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Melo_(footballer)">Francisco Melo</a><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 1964, Francisco Melo started with Real Valladolid where he would play for four seasons. He played for Atlético de Madrid between 1968 and 1976, winning the Spanish League in 1970 and 1973, and the Intercontinental Cup in 1975. He played in the 1974 European Cup Final, which Atlético lost. Paco Melo played two games with the Spanish national team, was called up in another five games.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Jos%C3%A9_Lorenzo">Pedro José</a><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Pedro José's career was closely associated with CF Extremadura, and he only played with teams from his native region in 25 years as a senior. He represented his main club in all four major levels of Spanish football, helping it promote twice to La Liga, in 1996 and in 1998, and appearing in more than 600 competitive matches during his spell (72 goals). He left the side in 2004 at almost 37, and played a further six years in amateur football, with Mérida UD and Imperio de Mérida CP.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejo_Indias">Alejo Indias</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Alejo began his career with Barcelona, but never made an appearance for the first team. He then became a member of the legendary Figueres team that almost earned promotion to La Liga in 1991–92, playing alongside players such as Toni, Luis Cembranos, Pere Gratacós, Tab Ramos and Tintín Márquez. He joined Celta Vigo in late 1992, and made 158 top flight appearances during four and a half seasons with the club. Alejo then played for Elche. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">LB/LW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Gordillo"> Rafael Gordillo</a> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Rafael Gordillo</span></span> was known as the greatest left wingback in Spanish history. He played at the same time as Camacho for both club and country. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Both players started on the left side. Camacho supported him defensively.</span></span> He was a legend at both Real Betis and Real Madrid. He was voted the Best Player in Spain for 1979-1980 season. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He played with the great Real Madrid side of the 1980's, winning 5 La Liga titles and an UEFA Cup. He appeared in nearly 80 matches for Spain and representing the nation in five international tournaments.</span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vun4lMIPys8/XjgbSx6SdbI/AAAAAAAAJWQ/RE11XVSaFJw3I1JruT1VQ_f4sG71xZWGgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/12919.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vun4lMIPys8/XjgbSx6SdbI/AAAAAAAAJWQ/RE11XVSaFJw3I1JruT1VQ_f4sG71xZWGgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/12919.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Rafael Gordillo</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div>DM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Marina">Roberto Marina</a> </div><div>Marina started his professional career with Atlético Madrid, being definitely promoted to the first team for the 1982–83 season. He scored the 3,000th league goal for the club. Marina finished his 15-year career with spells with RCD Mallorca and CD Toledo (the latter in the second division), retiring at the age of nearly 34. He earned his first (and only) cap for Spain: on 26 May 1985 he played six minutes in a friendly with the Republic of Ireland, in Cork.</div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">CM: </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelardo_Rodr%C3%ADguez">Adelardo Rodriguez</a><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">Adelardo spent 17 years with A<span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">tle<span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">t<span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">ico Madrid. He held the appearance record for the club. He played over 550 matches for the club from 1959 to 1976. <span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">During his spell, the club won three La Liga titles (65–66, 69–70 and 72–73), five Copa del Reys (1960, 1961, 1965, 1972 and 1976), the 1962 European Cup Winners' Cup, the 1974 Intercontinental Cup. <span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">He earned 14 caps for Spain between 1962 and 1970<span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">. <span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">H</span>e went to the World Cup in 1962 and 1966.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUMGAyGUQsSCZWw4TwypmqdJ3Hp2E-KmQ9ZWY-3i3izpdRSRO4t0IER0aBiC9ETrnhk9F-DlR6JUG1mwvNtLS4fWT44PIlhlKsKg3xwBRjK11paQgZ2QKxGBaQOtBZ3g-z7ge8BIuSL8sMeABe1zB4lD8SEG8XxGCblgLSOr4qSltRaJxMITARp2x4Bw=s268" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="188" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUMGAyGUQsSCZWw4TwypmqdJ3Hp2E-KmQ9ZWY-3i3izpdRSRO4t0IER0aBiC9ETrnhk9F-DlR6JUG1mwvNtLS4fWT44PIlhlKsKg3xwBRjK11paQgZ2QKxGBaQOtBZ3g-z7ge8BIuSL8sMeABe1zB4lD8SEG8XxGCblgLSOr4qSltRaJxMITARp2x4Bw=w281-h400" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Adelardo Rodriguez </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">CM: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ito_(futbolista)">Ito</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">Ito started playing professionally with local CF Extremadura. He spent a season with Celta before joining Real Betis in 1998. He joined Espanyol in 2004. With Espanyol, Ito won the 2006 edition of the Copa del Rey and, although a reserve in the Catalan team's 2006–07 league campaign. Ito earned his sole cap for Spain on 23 September 1998, appearing in the last two minutes of a 1–0 friendly win over Russia.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">AM/FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Higuera">Francisco Higuera</a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif">Nicknamed Paquete, Higuera started with Mallocra in 1982. In summer 1988, Higuera signed with Real Zaragoza, being instrumental in their 1995 triumph in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, all this while often partnered offensively with Juan Esnáider, Miguel Pardeza and Gustavo Poyet. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Higuera joined Mexico's Puebla FC in 1997, being accompanied by Pardeza in the adventure. He played 6 times for Spain between 1992 and 1995.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjahTdEq_Ga1AZ3lb-wvb1es0XCkLmT5QhEcmUM5K44iKeHdZoRVFkY8b8CaRtw00YDx7EO_6wYf5qBuBOIGr-N80jfc-sgi4ZjTaaVRiitwX6FyCGtuw97uCGJXIN8LQNhr4GpnBYtNmIEiL7lc4bGSulUe6vstR4EdErPci_hn2g6HdngcTsX5B12Gg=s611" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="419" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjahTdEq_Ga1AZ3lb-wvb1es0XCkLmT5QhEcmUM5K44iKeHdZoRVFkY8b8CaRtw00YDx7EO_6wYf5qBuBOIGr-N80jfc-sgi4ZjTaaVRiitwX6FyCGtuw97uCGJXIN8LQNhr4GpnBYtNmIEiL7lc4bGSulUe6vstR4EdErPci_hn2g6HdngcTsX5B12Gg=w274-h400" width="274" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Francisco Higuera </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Morientes">Fernando Morientes</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Morientes started with Albacete. He later signed with Zaragoza in 1995. Between 1997 and 2005, he played for Real Madrid, winning three Champions' League titles. He was a starter until the signing of Ronaldo in 2002. Then, he had a loan stint with AS Monaco FC. He also played with Liverpool, Valencia, etc. Morientes earned 47 caps for the Spain national team, representing the country in two World Cups (totalling five goals) and Euro 2004.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manolo_(footballer,_born_1965)">Manolo </a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>Manolo played local CP Cacereño and CE Sabadell FC before he moved to Real Murcia. In 1988, Manolo signed with Atlético Madrid, where he knew his most successful years, forming a formidable attacking partnership with Paulo Futre. He was crowned top scorer in 1991–92 with 27 goals. He went on to total 28 caps and nine goals, representing the nation in the 1990 World Cup finals where he only appeared in the first group stage game against Uruguay (0–0).</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvlIs-ebLnm1zl--sg-naGqptzlLGlEDvriEt-KeTqOafVODptrna8ZYRAcBcUsYox2NW0_GMxsRp2ngavKuSm4ziI6m-oC2nq7sJdtk2Pw0BIIDJkwcPG9kt-xfC2-znxfSmliY4M2m6XgCELwsrbkEtc10aqjUHMw7PC0LF7f-U8HQaAwt89dKGlvg=s665" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvlIs-ebLnm1zl--sg-naGqptzlLGlEDvriEt-KeTqOafVODptrna8ZYRAcBcUsYox2NW0_GMxsRp2ngavKuSm4ziI6m-oC2nq7sJdtk2Pw0BIIDJkwcPG9kt-xfC2-znxfSmliY4M2m6XgCELwsrbkEtc10aqjUHMw7PC0LF7f-U8HQaAwt89dKGlvg=w241-h400" width="241" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Manolo</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%ADctor_(footballer,_born_1974)">Victor</a><span>, David Cortés, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> Fernando Pacheco, </span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Edu Moya, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Iván Cuéllar, Casto, Pedro Porro, Diego Lozano, Ciriaco Cano, Joaquín Vázquez, Ito, Ernesto Valverde, Ángel Cuéllar.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- At the time of writing, sixteen players born have played for Spain. So the pool is very limited. I only have the resource to build an All-Time Best XI. </span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Adelardo Rodríguez was the first player from Extremadura who played in a World Cup match. He went to the 1962 World Cup in Chile. Rafael Gordillo is the most capped player born here. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Extremadura autonomous football team (Selección de fútbol de Extremadura) played a few games in 2007 and 2008. Ciriaco Cano and Manolo also coached the Extremadura national team. This is their starting lineup against Peru in 2008. Casto, Edu Moya, Sergio Rodríguez, José María Cidoncha, Sergio Benito, "Ito", "Javito", Jesús Rueda, Enrique, Rocha y Troteiro. Jugaron también: Samir, "Teté", Agustín Fernández, Parra, Guzmán, Carballo, David Generelo, "Chirri", Sabino y Rai. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- In 2020, Marca created an All-time <a href="https://www.marca.com/en/football/spanish-football/2020/05/15/5ebf0a26268e3ea43a8b458c.html">Best XI for Extremadura</a>. The team was as followed: </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">César Sánchez; David Cortes, Roberto Marina, Rafael Gordillo; Ernesto Valverde, Adelardo Rodríguez, Ángel Cuéllar, Victor; Francisco Higuera, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Fernando Morientes, Manolo (3-4-3). My team is different from them.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- César Sánchez was an easy choice for goalkeeper. The creation of Extremadura autonomous football team was proposed by him. I gave him credit for that. Furthermore, he spent a long career in La Liga, including starting most of Real Madrid's games during its Champions' league winning year in 2002. He was also capped once for Spain. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Fernando Pacheco who spent many seasons in La Liga could be an alternative.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- César Sánchez actually started ahead Iker Casillas in Real Madrid, but Casillas was a teenager at the time.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- For rightback, I took </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Francisco Melo over Pedro Porro. At the time of writing, Pedro Porro is only 22 years old. His career was still ahead of him. He is the most recent player from Extremadura capped by Spain. David Cortés was selected by Marca as Extremadura's greatest ever rightback. He was liked a journeyman who moved from clubs to clubs throughout his career. I preferred Melo.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Marca did not select any natural central defender. Roberto Marina played as a central defender for them. I did not know if he ever played in that position. From my research, he was a defensive midfielder. For my team, I selected Pedro José and </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Alejo Indias. Both players were uncapped player born here. Pedro Jose was a club legend for CF Extremadura. He played over 600 games for them. I awarded him for being a local hero. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Alejo Indias spent many years in La Liga. He was the only central defender whom I founded have played so long at the highest level in Spain.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Rafael Gordillo was one of the best left-sided player from Spain. Rafael Gordillo was the obvious choice for one of the leftbacks. He is an Andalusian, but born in Extremadura. I also selected him on my <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/andalusia.html">Andalusia All-Time Team</a>. He was better known as a left wingback, but in Real Madrid, he was often used as a left wing in front of Camacho. For this team, I put him as a leftback so that I could start an extra midfielder. I did not know if Diego Lozano was also a leftback. Lozano spent many seasons with Atlético Aviación, which is now Atletico Madrid. He played 5 times for Spain in 1949. He started his career as a left winger, but played mainly as a defender. I also believed Miguel Ángel Ochoa was a leftback. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1968 Summer Olympics.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- For midfield, I first took Adelardo Rodríguez who would serve as mu box-to-box midfielder. He currently holds the appearance record for Atletico Madrid. Then, I selected Francisco Higuera who had a good career with Zaragoza. Then, I had to choose between Roberto Marina and Ito. I could have selected Marina as a central defender and dropped either </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Pedro José and Alejo Indias. Marina definitely had a better career than the two defenders. Marca selected him as a central defender, but I did not have any information about his career as a central defender. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ito played for CF Extremadura, but Roberto Marina played for a better club side. Since Marca selected him as one of their Best XI, I copied their ideas. As mentioned, they used him as a central defender, but I took him as a midfielder.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ito is much better known players than the players selected. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I took Pedro Jose and Alejo Indias because of their playing position. But s</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">hould I take Ito? I</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">n the end, I decided to select Ito over left wing Ángel Cuéllar. I do believe Angel Cueller's peak was greater than Ito, but Ángel Cuéllar's career was limited due to the injuries. He spent a long period of his career in the lower division while Ito had a longer career. Then, I would put Francisco Higuera as a side forward in a 4-3-3 formation. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Ángel Cuéllar made his debut for Real Betis' first team aged 18 in 1990. In June 1995, Cuéllar signed a five-year deal with league powerhouse FC Barcelona, but suffered 2 years of injury-riddled career there. He made a return to Real Betis in 1997, but was not a regular starter. He stayed there until 2004. He played in the lower division until retirement. He played twice for Spain in 1994 and 1995. He had represented Spain at the youth level.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Fernando Morientes was the all-time leading scorer from Extremadura for the Spanish national team. He had remarkable career with Real Madrid. His credentials were well-known. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Manolo won the Pichichi Trophy in the 1991–92 season for being the top scorer in La Liga. Then, I put Francisco Higuera</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> on the left side. He was mainly an attack midfield, but he had played as a forward.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%ADctor_(footballer,_born_1974)"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Victor</span></a><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> and Ernesto Valverde made honorable mention. Over 18 seasons, Victor appeared in 561 matches both major levels of Spanish football combined, scoring 167 goals (342 games and 93 goals in La Liga). He played nine years with Valladolid (two spells), and four with Villarreal.Ernesto Valverde was best remembered for coaching career in Barcelona. He played for six teams in a 14-year professional career, including Espanyol, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Joaquín Vázquez was the first player from Extremadura capped by Spain, but I only out him on honorable mention.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">4-3-3</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/12/1872662_Spain.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/12/1872662_Spain.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-83170750200442430522021-11-23T16:14:00.009-08:002022-11-29T18:52:34.613-08:00Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla All-Time Team<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"></p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Hll15CpaIs/YZuHScSs2dI/AAAAAAAAML8/ht7JHLE24fEB1liTmsVx8fI3pOJ7e_MWACLcBGAsYHQ/s1166/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B8.04.02%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="830" data-original-width="1166" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Hll15CpaIs/YZuHScSs2dI/AAAAAAAAML8/ht7JHLE24fEB1liTmsVx8fI3pOJ7e_MWACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h285/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B8.04.02%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">David Silva and Pedro</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></div><p style="font-size: x-large;"></p><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/spains-all-time-23-member-team.html">Spain All-Time Team</a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/basque.html">Basque</a>, </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/catalonia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Catalonia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/castile.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Castile without Madrid players</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/community-of-madrid.html">Madrid Community</a>,</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/andalusia.html">Andalusia</a><span>,</span><span style="font-family: times;"><span> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/valenican-community.html"><span>Valencian Community</span></a></span></span><span><span>, </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/03/galicia.html">Galicia</a><span>,</span> </span></span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/12/extremadura.html" style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Extremadura</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/01/murcia.html" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Murica</span></a><span style="font-size: medium;">, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/02/aragon.html">Aragon</a><span>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/spain-without-catalan-players-in-2010.html">Spain without Catalan players World Cup 2010</a></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/spanish-big-two.html">Spain without Real Madrid and Barcelona players</a></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This is my selection of all-time 23 member team for the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla. </span></div><div style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Both Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish enclaves sat on the northern shores of Morocco's Mediterranean coast. Together they form the European Union's only land borders with Africa. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The Canary Islands are closer to Africa than they are to Europe and so geographically they are part of the African continent. I stopped short of calling this team "Spanish Northern Africa" or "Spanish Africa". </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Plazas de soberanía is a term describing a series of Spanish overseas minor territories scattered along the Mediterranean coast bordering Morocco or that are closer to Africa than Europe. However, this is about football and none of these territories factored much in the football world. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The two main football teams in the Canary Islands are CD Tenerife and UD Las Palmas. They are two of the most geographically isolated European professional clubs. Ceuta and Melilla do not have any significant football clubs. They played mainly in the lower division. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Betancort">Antonio Betancort</a> (Canary Islands)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Antonio Betancourt played as a goalkeeper for Las Palmas before moving to Real Madrid in 1961. With Real Madrid, he had two spells with a more lengthy spell between 1963 and 1971. In between, he played for Deportivo La Coruña. He was considered a member of the Ye-Ye team. He was also capped by the Spanish national team. He went to the 1966 World Cup Finals in England as a backup to José Ángel Iribar. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q8Nfw3ETvlM/YCUPY6O1ZZI/AAAAAAAAK5k/qMdQ19unZNg--wrunJGU7yutaJkXaPv6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/Betancort-5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="902" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q8Nfw3ETvlM/YCUPY6O1ZZI/AAAAAAAAK5k/qMdQ19unZNg--wrunJGU7yutaJkXaPv6ACLcBGAsYHQ/w301-h400/Betancort-5.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Antonio Betancourt </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Antonio_P%C3%A9rez_S%C3%A1ez">Juan Antonio Pérez Sáez</a> (Canary Islands)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Juan Antonio Perez was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He started with Tudelano, but he almost spent his entire career with local club UD Las Palmeas between 1974 and 1987. He played mainly in the top division. He spent two seasons with Club Deportivo Logroñés at the end of his career before retiring in 1989. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK <a href="https://second.wiki/wiki/manolo_lc3b3pez">Manuel López Santana "Manolo"</a> (Canary Islands)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Simly known as "Manolo" or "Manolo Lopez", Manolo joined UD Las Palmeas when when he was only 16 years old. He made his debut in 1981. He spent a season with AgD Ceuta, where he set the record of </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">1,223 minutes without conceding a goal, previously held by Dino Zoff. Then, he spent 5 seasons with Tenerife club, where he was at one point their captain. He is currently the General Director of Sports for the Government of the Canary Islands .</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Pablo">Manuel Pablo</a><span> (Canary Islands)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Manuel Pablo came from the Canary Islands. He started with his hometown club Las Palmas. He moved to Deportivo La Coruna in 1998, where he almost spent his entire career and helped them to win their first ever la Liga title in 2000. He retired in 2016 at the age of 40 after over 450 games for them. He was capped 13 times for Spain between 2000 and 2004.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB/RB: <a href="https://wikicule.fandom.com/es/wiki/Foncho">Foncho</a> (Canary Islands)</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Foncho began his career with Tenerife in the 1955-1956 season. After a brief stint at Real Murcia and Eldense, he joined FC Barcelona, where he would play for seven years from 1960 to 1967. His team reached the 1961 European Cup Final. He did win the 1963 Generalissimo Cup and the 1965-66 Fairs Cup, He joined Real Zaragoza in the 1967-1968 season. With Spain, he earned 2 caps in 1961.</span></div><div><br /></div></span></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migueli">Migueli</a> (Ceuta)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Migueli was born in Ceuta. He started his career with Cadiz in 1970. In 1973, he joined FC Barcelona, winning the 1979 and 1982 Cup Winners Cup. He spent 20 seasons over there. Known for his physical power, he was nicknamed Tarzan. He had 32 caps for Spain between 1974 and 1980. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1978 as well as Euro 1980 held in Italy. He was named Don Balón Award )Best Spanish Player) for two seasons: 1977–78, 1984–85.</span></span></div><div><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--DdSPt45E1w/YZuO-Y2xoGI/AAAAAAAAMME/xw4wtUhahNw6CWvThIAktwcERpyr0Pr8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1042/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B8.36.53%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="698" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--DdSPt45E1w/YZuO-Y2xoGI/AAAAAAAAMME/xw4wtUhahNw6CWvThIAktwcERpyr0Pr8QCLcBGAsYHQ/w268-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B8.36.53%2Bpm.png" width="268" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Migueli </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paco_J%C3%A9mez">Paco Jémez</a> (Canary Islands)</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jémez was born in Las Palmas, Canary Islands. During his career, he played for Córdoba CF, Real Murcia, Rayo Vallecano, Deportivo de La Coruña and Real Zaragoza, Paco Jémez, which he helped to the 2001 conquest of the Copa del Rey. Jémez played 21 times for Spain between 1998 and 2001. He was a participant at UEFA Euro 2000, taking part in three matches in an eventual quarter-final exit. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>SW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonono">Tonono </a><span> (Canary Islands)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><div><span style="font-size: large;">Tonono made his professional debut with hometown's UD Las Palmas, in 1962. He would only play for one club in his entire career, being part of the squads in the late 1960s and early 1970s that achieved three top-five finishes in the top flight – including the second place in 1969. He was capped 22 times. He did not appear, however, in any major international tournament, as the national team did not qualify for any during his international spell.</span></div></span></span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Lesmes">Rafael Lesmes </a>(Ceuta)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Over 12 La Liga seasons Rafael Lesmes played for Real Valladolid (two spells) and Real Madrid, appearing in 263 games in the competition. He began his career with local Atlético Tetuán, and retired in 1962 at the age of 35. With Real Madrid, Lesmes was part of the team that won five consecutive European Cups. Lesmes was an unsused player at the 1950 World Cup. In total, he played twice for Spain in 1955 and 1958 respectively.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lFAtKs_WYqc/YZuRJJqau8I/AAAAAAAAMMM/XzGKSNBdZQYwsWNkVQSCTmX0rUnZZiP_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s916/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B8.46.05%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lFAtKs_WYqc/YZuRJJqau8I/AAAAAAAAMMM/XzGKSNBdZQYwsWNkVQSCTmX0rUnZZiP_gCLcBGAsYHQ/w280-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B8.46.05%2Bpm.png" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Rafael Lesmes </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>LWH/CM/DM: </span><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Guedes">Juan Guedes </a>(Canary Islands)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Juan Guedes was considered one of UD Palmas greatest players. He was born in 1942. He started with Porteño as a youth before he moved to UD Las Palmas Youth Team. At just 18 years old, he made his first team debut in 1961. He played for eight years in the First Division and participated in the 1969-70 Fairs Cup. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He became their captain and was considered a "symbol of Canarian football". He died in 1971 at the age of 28. He played twice for Spain. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CM/DM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirri"> Jose Pirri</a> (Ceuta)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jose Pirri is regarded as one of Spain's greatest player. He had 41 caps in a career that lasted 12 years. He played in two World Cup Finals: 1966 and 1978. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He played for Real Madrid for 15 years, between 1964 and 1979, winning ten Spanish league titles, four Spanish cups, and the 1966 European Cup. He was a member of the Real Madrid team that was known as the Yé-Yé team. He also played for Granada between 1963 and 1964.</span></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4BKyLmQLZXM/YZuRa2NcSVI/AAAAAAAAMMU/MAvQh7ygywoS4XldhH-8QxDzOgulmrKuQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1114/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B8.47.12%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1114" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4BKyLmQLZXM/YZuRa2NcSVI/AAAAAAAAMMU/MAvQh7ygywoS4XldhH-8QxDzOgulmrKuQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B8.47.12%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Pirri</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">MF: </span><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Hilario_Marrero_P%C3%A9rez" style="font-family: times;">Hilario Marrero</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Canary Islands)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Hilario played for Real Club Victoria before he joined Deportivo de La Coruña in 1928. In 1931 he was transferred to Real Madrid, where he played for five seasons, and won two leagues and two cups. Later, he played Valencia CF and FC Barcelona in between he returend briefly for Deportivo La Coruna. He was capped twice by Spain. He went to the 1930 World Cup Finals.</span></div></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div><span face="" style="font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Carlos_Valer%C3%B3n">Juan Carlos Valeron</a> (Canary Islands)</span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span face="" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Juan Carlos Valeron started his career with La Palmas. He played for Mallocra and Atletico Madrid before he moving to Deportivo La Coruna, where he would play 13 seasons between 2000 and 2013. He was widely considered to be one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, but injuries had limited his career. He only played 46 times for Spain between 1998 and 2005. He went to the Euro 2000, the World Cup Finals in 2002 and Euro 2004.</span></span></div><div><span face="" style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SowERzBNCG0/YZu60QhdcOI/AAAAAAAAMM0/y4fGvbWpypohHlUFWAM6t07ozyhG59CtwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1292/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B11.43.52%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1292" data-original-width="954" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SowERzBNCG0/YZu60QhdcOI/AAAAAAAAMM0/y4fGvbWpypohHlUFWAM6t07ozyhG59CtwCLcBGAsYHQ/w295-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B11.43.52%2Bpm.png" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Juan Carlos Valeron </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span>AM/CM: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ%C3%A1n_D%C3%A9vora">German Dévora</a> (Canary Islands)<br /></div><div>Germán Dévora scored 129 goals, spread over 453 matches in the First and Second Division, the Spanish Cup (Generalissimo and the King), the Copa de Fairs and UEFA Cup for UD Las Palmes. he is their all-time leading scorer. He was a star of their golden team in the 1960's. He was capped 5 times between 1968 and 1972. His debut was against Sweden where he played with Tonono , Juan Guedes and Paco Castellano.</div><div><br /></div></span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><span face=""><span>AM/LM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Silva">David Silva </a></span></span></span>(Canary Islands)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span face="">David Silva became a starter at Valencia</span><span face=""> </span><span face="">in 2006 which forced Palbo Aimar to leave the club. <span face="">In 2010, he joined Manchester City <span face="">helping the club to win their first Preimership in over 40 years. For <span face="">S<span face="">pain, he had over 120 caps from 2006 onward. He was a key player throughout the per<span face="">iod as Spain <span face="">won the "trip<span face="">le crown": two European Championship and a World Cup. He also represented Spain at every major tournament from 2008 onward.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><span face=""><span face=""><span face=""><span face=""><span face=""><span face=""><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yrlNIGF8K-0/YZu3ih-DY-I/AAAAAAAAMMs/5tR1R6XoNX4APqwEiqF1mwUgg3ahzaTCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/David_Silva_2018.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="732" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yrlNIGF8K-0/YZu3ih-DY-I/AAAAAAAAMMs/5tR1R6XoNX4APqwEiqF1mwUgg3ahzaTCQCLcBGAsYHQ/w366-h400/David_Silva_2018.jpg" width="366" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">David Silva</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">CF/RWF: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_Silva">Alfonso Silva</a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">(Canary Islands)</span></div><div><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><span face=""><span face=""><span face=""><span face=""><span face=""><span style="font-family: times;">At the age of 17, he joined the Real Club Victoria before he played for Atlético de Madrid from 1946 to 1955, winning two league titles. He moved back home to play for UD La Palmas in 1957. For Spain, Alfonso Silva was capped 5 times. Along with Luis Molowny and Rosendo Hernández, Silva went to the 1950 World Cup Finals in Brazil. Spain finished in fourth position, their best result until the 2010 World Cup. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><div style="font-family: times;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LW/MF: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Padr%C3%B3n">José Padrón</a> (Canary Islands)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">José Padrón played for RCD Español, Sevilla FC and FC Barcelona before going to France. After leaving French team Cannes in 1937, he signed for Sochaux in Ligue 1, where he won the 1937–38 championship. Padrón played 5 times for Spain, scoring two goals. One of his cap was against England in 1929, where England lost their first ever away match outside the British Isles.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">LW/FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitolo_(footballer,_born_1989)">Vitolo </a>(Canary Islands)</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Vitolo began his career with Las Palmas before joining Sevilla in 2013, where he won three straight Europa League in 2014, 2015 and 2016. He signed with Atlético Madrid in 2017, but joined the side in January, 2018. He won the Europa League in his first season and adding the subsequent Super Cup. At the international level, he made his debut for Spain in 2015. He had 12 caps.</span></div></div><div style="font-family: times;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">AM/SS/LW/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Molowny">Luis Molowny </a> (Canary Islands)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 1946, after winning the Canarian regional championships with Marino FC, Luis Molowny joined Real Madrid. During his 11-year stint in Madrid, Molowny appeared in 198 games all competitions comprised, netting 107 times. He conquered five titles with his main club, including two national championships and the 1955–56 edition of the European Cup. He earned seven caps for Spain while playing in the 1950 World Cup Final.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3gi2BdSULM/YZyEdK2qJBI/AAAAAAAAMM8/21nbyCgxSEE0NzRK-0F8Bl4UTApLZ15owCLcBGAsYHQ/s536/luis%2B%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="420" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3gi2BdSULM/YZyEdK2qJBI/AAAAAAAAMM8/21nbyCgxSEE0NzRK-0F8Bl4UTApLZ15owCLcBGAsYHQ/w314-h400/luis%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Luis Molowny </span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosendo_Hern%C3%A1ndez">Rosendo Hernández</a> (Canary Islands)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: times;">Hernández started playing football with local Canary Islands clubs SD Tenisca and CD Mensajero. From 1950 to 1952, Hernández competed almost exclusively in La Liga (the exception being the 1950–51 season in Segunda División), representing RCD Español and Real Zaragoza. he gained 4 caps for Spain. He was selected for the 1950 FIFA World Cup,</div><div style="font-family: times;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times;">FW/SS: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paco_Campos#cite_note-5">Paco Campos</a> (Canary Islands)</div><div><div>Campos began his career in 1934 with Marino. After the Spanish Civil War, he moved to Atlético Aviación (now Atlético Madrid), where he played until 1948. In the late 1940s, he was part of the Delantera de la Seda frontline with José Juncosa, Alfonso Silva, Antonio Vidal Caturla and Adrián Escudero. He joined Sporting de Gijón between 1948 and 1952. he scored 5 goals in 6 caps for Spain.</div></div><div style="font-family: times;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81ngel_Arocha">Ángel Arocha </a></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">(Canary Islands)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ángel Arocha was a striker highly appreciated by Barcelona fans for his great ability to score goals, scoring 236 goals in 240 games between 1926 and 1933. Arocha was capped twice by Spain where he scored 2 goals. After playing for Barça, he signed for Club Atlético de Madrid between 1933 and 1936. He died fighting on the Balaguer front </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">in the Spanish Civil War in Franco's army. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">FW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_(footballer,_born_July_1987)" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Pedro</span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> (Canary Islands)</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Pedro won 20 titles for Barcelona from 2008 to 2015. In 2015, he joined Chelsea in the English Premier League. In 2020, he moved to Italy where he played for AS Roma and Lazio. He was a part of the Spanish national team that won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in 2012. He also participated in the following World Cup and European Championship. He had 65 caps.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SLPPcSGifo4/YZu2Uof-waI/AAAAAAAAMMk/YnhTqHcvXB036sZ02McplUCLHHy3boToACLcBGAsYHQ/s1060/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B9.00.51%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="834" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SLPPcSGifo4/YZu2Uof-waI/AAAAAAAAMMk/YnhTqHcvXB036sZ02McplUCLHHy3boToACLcBGAsYHQ/w315-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-22%2Bat%2B9.00.51%2Bpm.png" width="315" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Pedro</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div style="font-family: times; font-size: xx-large; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Gabriel Jorge (Canary Islands), Jose Perez Garcia (Canary Islands), Manolo Lopez (Canary Islands), Vicente Valcarce (Canary Islands), Diego Rodríguez (Canary Islands), Paco Castellano (Canary Islands), Jose Bravo (Canary Islands), Felipe Martin (Canary Islands), </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanito_(footballer,_born_1965)">Juanito</a> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">(Canary Islands)<span>, Francisco Lesmes (Ceuta), Jose Bravo (Ceuta), Nayim (Ceuta), Vicente Valcarce (Canary Islands), Antonio Guayre (Canary Islands), </span>Rubén Castro<span> (Canary Islands), </span><span>Ramoní (Melilla</span><span>), Pepillo II </span><span>(Melilla), </span>Ángel López (Canary Islands), Paco Campos (Canary Islands), Machín (Canary Island), Jonathan Viera (Canary Islands), Luis Valle (Canary Islands).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Special Recognitions</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Arico Suárez<span> (Canary Islands born Argentine international), Pier (Italian-born player who grew up in the Canary Islands).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>Squad Explanation</b></u><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- The original idea was to create an all-time team for Canary Islanders only. However, the lack of an adequate leftback forced me to reconsider my idea.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> So in the end, I </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">combine this team with Ceuta and Melilla. The Canary Islands is geographically closer to Africa than Europe. Rafael Lesmes from Ceuta would solved my issue of the lack of a leftback from the Canary Islands.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- I almost selected Arico Suárez who a defensive left-half player. He was born in Gran Canaria who represented Argentina in the 1930 World Cup Finals, making him the first Canary Islander to play in the World Cup. However, I could not drop several local hero. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">So I stayed with an all-Spanish international team.<u> </u>I have different criteria for different teams to fill holes </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lorenzo Fernández and José Santamaría of Uruguay were on my Galicia All-Time team because the team needed players from their position.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I used overseas Basque and Catalan players for my respectively all-time teams. I found many information on these players online. However, the ethnicity from those regions is different from the other ethnicity in Spain. So I am using birth place as my criteria for this team. All players must be born in the three regions.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">--</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> I also considered changing this team into the Spanish Island All-Time team that also included the Balearic Island. The Balearic Islands also did not have enough players to form their own all-time team. Miguel Nadal would boost this team, and I could also select Albert Riera for my leftback position. However, the name Spanish Islands are seldom mentioned anywhere. The two island groups were far away from each other. On the other hand, the Canary Islands is a part of the African continent. So a Spanish African or Spanish North African all-time team seems more logical. Besides, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Pirri, and Migueli would make a powerful team with David Silva and Juan Antonio Valeron. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- At the time of writing, Melilla only produced a single Spanish international. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Ramoní who starred for Sevilla in the 1950's played twice for Spain in 1952 against Argentina and Germany respectively.</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He played club football with Mellia-born Pepillo II in Sevilla. Pepillo II spent a few seasons with Real Madrid. He played for the national B team 9 times, but never played for the senior side. No footballer from Melilla was selected onto this team. The two players mentioned were put on honorable mention.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- A website listed Hilario Marrero, Ángel Arocha, José Padrón, David Silva, Pedro Rodríguez, Vitolo Rosendo Hernández, Luis Molowny, Juan Guedes, Tonono and Juan Carlos Valerón as Canary Islands' greatest footballers. Jonathan Viera was also mentioned, but I bypassed him for older players. He only made </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">on honorable mention.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- David Silva was a part of Spain's triple crown team from 2008 and 2012. Pedro Rodríguez was not on the 2008, but played on both 2010 World Cup Finals and Euro 2012.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Spain finished 4th at the 1950 World Cup Finals. It was Spain's best position for 60 years until they won the World Cup in 2010. The roster included Rafael Lesmes, Luis Molowny, Rosendo Hernández and Alfonso Silva.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bdrro27Y7n4/YZuTHaRR64I/AAAAAAAAMMc/G000eUYfbkwzvHayFHJQl7iJILTCQIJQgCLcBGAsYHQ/s700/4GeExpT.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="700" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bdrro27Y7n4/YZuTHaRR64I/AAAAAAAAMMc/G000eUYfbkwzvHayFHJQl7iJILTCQIJQgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h260/4GeExpT.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">1950 World Cup team</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The golden age of Canarian football came at the end of the 1960s, with the emergence of UD Las Palmas. They went from the Second Division to fighting for the league title and qualified for European competitions. That team that finished runner-up in 1968-1969 La-Liga was led by Tonono, Juan Guedes, Germán Dévora and Francisco Castellano. They were selected for Spain while in Las Palmas. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- CD Tenerife did not feature as many native-born players. Ángel Arocha and Foncho played for them.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Goalkeeper </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Antonio Betancort was famous due to being a part Real Madrid's Ye-Ye team. He did not play in the 1966 European Cup Final, but was the hero of the semi-final. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jose Perez Garcia was one of the most important goalkeepers in the history of Hercules, but I went with two goalkeepers who were heros of clubs in the Canary Islands. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Juan Antonio Pérez Sáez played many games for Las Palmes. Manuel López Santana "Manolo" is often considered to be CD Tenerife. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Manolo Lopez was basically the only other goalkeeper of note I found.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Estilo36"><span class="Estilo89">-- Leftback <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Carlos_(Spanish_footballer)">Robert Carlos</a> was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Of course, he is not the same Roberto Carlos of Brazil and Real Madrid. He played in the lower division for Tenerife, Malaga B, etc. At one point, he was one of two leftbacks I found from Canary Islands. Vicente Valcarce who spent many seasons with Malaga was the most famous of the two. In the end, I decided players to expand this team to include players from Ceuta. Rafael Lesmes was part of the Real Madrid team that won five consecutive European Cups. </span></span></span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Estilo36"><span class="Estilo89">For rightback, I simply took </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Manuel Pablo who earned more caps than </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ángel López. He was also on my Deportivo La Coruna All-time team. Foncho could also play on the right. So I only took a single rightback.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- For central defenders, Migueli stood out as probably the most famous from Canary Island. Tonono with over 20 caps was for many years the most capped Canarian player. Franz Beckenbauer described him as one of the best defenders of his time. Then, I took Foncho, simply because he was better known. He spent 7 seasons for Barcelona in the 1960's. He played in the 1961 European Cup Final.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Paco Castellano was Tonono's clubmate with Las Palmas where they were considered the Golden period of Canarian football, but I decided to put him on honorable mention along with </span><a href="https://www-eldiario-es.translate.goog/canariasahora/Deportes/futbol/felipe-martin-invento-munoz_1_5915052.html?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc" style="font-family: times;">Felipe Martin</a><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">. <span> </span><span>Instead, I chose between two more modern players, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanito_(footballer,_born_1965)"> Juanito</a><span> and</span><span> </span>Paco Jémez. <span>I selected </span><span>Paco Jemez because he had 21 caps.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- For midfielders, Pirri needed no introduction. </span></span>Arico Suárez would have been the obvious choice, but I decided not to select Canary-born players who played for the other nations. He was described as a defensive player. </div><div>-- Juan Guedes was legend at La Palmas while Hilario Marrero was listed as one of the Canary Islands' greatest players.</div><div>-- People had high hopes for Jese Rodriguez. He was tipped to be the next big time with Real Madrid, but he played one good season. I am undecided if he should be put on honorable mention.<br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- Pedro and Afonso Silva played on the right side. Alfonso Silva was a star right wing-half for Atletico Madrid.</span> AM/SS/CM: Luis Molowny was an inside-left. He could be an attack midfielder or left wing. He was known for his crosses.</span> <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His surname originated from County Clare in Ireland. The spelling of the name was a variation for Maloney.<br /></span></span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Juan Antonio Valerón broke Tonono's record of international caps for Canary Islanders. Valeron alongside Luis Molowny and David Silva almost kept out German Dévora of the team. In the end, I dropped rightback Ángel López for Devora. Devora was a local club legend. And I also decided to keep this team all Spanish international because of Devora. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Arico Suárez of Argentina would have gotten on this team, but i could not drop Devora.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- AM: Pier Luigi Cherubino grew up in the Canary Islands, but he was born in Italy. I ruled him ineligible. And I also had Juan Antonio Valerón, David Silva and Luis Molowny ahead of him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Nayim scored a last-minute goal for Real Zaragoza in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against Arsenal. He was from Ceuta. He made honorable mention. I also did not have space for Eleuterio Santos. He was on my Real Zaragoza all-time team. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The left side attack was very strong. Vitolo edged out Jonathan Viera and Machín. Jonathan Viera probably should get into the team, but I went for older players. With Gabilondo and Germán, Machín formed one of Atlético' Madrid's great midfield lines. They were nicknamed "The Three Musketeers". Vitolo is a member of my Sevilla All-Time team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E-t5waoIkBk/YZ0AYmHQZ-I/AAAAAAAAMNE/uSzLm6mWJLkmbl6cjf3sgRPzVkJk4cExQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1158/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-23%2Bat%2B10.53.04%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1158" data-original-width="1040" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E-t5waoIkBk/YZ0AYmHQZ-I/AAAAAAAAMNE/uSzLm6mWJLkmbl6cjf3sgRPzVkJk4cExQCLcBGAsYHQ/w359-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-23%2Bat%2B10.53.04%2Bpm.png" width="359" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Vitolo </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I selected </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">José Padrón who was the first player capped from the Canary Islands. During World War Two, he served under Raymond Dronne as part of the Free France, being part of the North African campaign, the Normandy landings, and took part in the Liberation of Paris from the Nazis. He was the last survivor of La Nueve, the first company that entered Paris. While playing with Espanyol, his team included two other Canarian players Rafael Oramas Rafael González. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Both Rosendo Hernández and Alfonso Silva were on Spain's 1950 World Cup team. Silva was an all-timer with Atletico Madrid.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div>-- Ángel Arocha joined FC Barcelona as a heir apparent to legendary Paulino Alcántara. He scored 203 goals in 210 matches for FC Barcelona. He is considered one of the leading goal scorers in their history, Then, I took Paco Campos from 1930's was the other realistic option in the forward position. In the late 1940s, he was part of the Delantera de la Seda frontline of Atletico Madrid which also featured Canarian Alfonso Silva. He is the highest scoring player from the Canary Islands in La Liga. He also scored 5 goals in 6 caps for Spain. </div><div>-- Paco Campos edged out Miguel González. With Atlético Madrid, Miguel González scored 73 goals in 252 games, winning two league titles and one Cup. He scored 2 goals in 15 games for the Spain national team between 1953 and 1958.</div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I lined up the best players. The fullbacks were old-fashioned. Pedro had played on the right wing for Spain while Luis Molowny was a left-sided player. Pirri was a box-to-box midfielder. So i was not sure if I have enough defensive presence on the midfield.<br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/11/1870624_Spain.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/11/1870624_Spain.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-25703393291394572752021-11-03T19:28:00.012-07:002022-11-29T18:52:10.403-08:00Asturias All-Time 23 member Team<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div></span></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_XWiewmhr4/YXOyZEr8tCI/AAAAAAAAMFs/ybzi7fLX1kE475L-XKiukDhNSWg2U38qwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/hi-res-147732987_crop_exact.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1369" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_XWiewmhr4/YXOyZEr8tCI/AAAAAAAAMFs/ybzi7fLX1kE475L-XKiukDhNSWg2U38qwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h268/hi-res-147732987_crop_exact.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">Juan Mata and <span><span><span><span>Santi Cazorla</span></span></span></span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></p><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/spains-all-time-23-member-team.html">Spain All-Time Team</a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/basque.html">Basque</a>, </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/catalonia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Catalonia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/castile.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Castile without Madrid players</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/community-of-madrid.html">Madrid Community</a>,</span> </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/andalusia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Andalusia</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"><span> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/valenican-community.html"><span>Valencian Community</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/03/galicia.html">Galicia</a>, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/02/aragon.html">Aragon</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/11/canary-islands-ceuta-and-melilla.html">Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla</a>, </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/12/extremadura.html">Extremadura</a>, </span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/01/murcia.html" style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Murica</span></a><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><span face=""><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/spain-without-catalan-players-in-2010.html">Spain without Catalan players World Cup 2010</a></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/spanish-big-two.html">Spain without Real Madrid and Barcelona players</a></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This is my selection of all-time 23 member team for Asturias. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>Asturias is situated in a mountainous setting with vast greenery and lush vegetation, making it part of Green Spain. The region has a maritime climate. It receives plenty of annual rainfall and little sunshine by Spanish standards and has very moderated seasons, most often averaging in the lower 20s celsius. Heatwaves are rare due to mountains blocking southerly winds. Winters are very mild for the latitude, especially near sea level.</div><div><br /></div><div>The most important cities are the communal capital, Oviedo, the seaport and largest city Gijón, and the industrial town of Avilés. Asturias has two main football teams: Sporting de Gijón and Real Oviedo, which have played over 35 seasons in La Liga.</div><div><br /></div><div>On 23 December 2000, the Royal Asturian Football Federation rescued the Regional team to play a friendly game at Estadio Carlos Tartiere against Macedonia. Juanele scored the only goal of the match, with 30,000 people filling the stadium in Oviedo. Asturias played two more games, against Lithuania in Gijón and Honduras in Avilés, ending its revival unbeaten</div></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">GK: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Carlos_Ablanedo" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Juan Carlos Ablanedo</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">During his career he played solely for Sporting de Gijón after being a product of the club's famed youth system, Mareo, and received his first-team debut on 2 January 1983. He earned 4 caps for Spain, the first coming on 24 September 1986 in a 3–1 friendly victory over Greece in Gijón. He was a backup in both the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. He won four Ricardo Zamora Trophy 3 times.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jes%C3%BAs_Castro_(Spanish_footballer)">Jesús Castro</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Castro spent his entire professional career with neighbouring club Sporting de Gijón, signing on 11 March 1968 from local amateurs CD Ensidesa. From 1971 until 1985, Castro all but competed in the top tier. He was the younger brother of Quini. He died on the Cantabrian beach of Amió after saving the lives of two English children and their father who were drowning. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_%C3%81lvarez_Gonz%C3%A1lez">Óscar Álvarez</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oscar Alvarez played his entire club career in Oviedo. In 1928, he was one of the main promoters of the merger between Stadium Ovetense and Real Club Deportivo Oviedo to become </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Real Oviedo. He </span><span>would defend the Real Oviedo shirt, acting as captain, from the first day of its existence until the Civil War interrupted soccer competitions in Spain. For the national team, he was a backup to Ricardo Zamora.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Carrete">Jose Carrete</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jose Carrete started with Real Oviedo and gained promotion from the Segunda División with them in 1974–75, although following their subsequent relegation he was transferred to Valencia in 1976. He </span><span style="font-size: large;">was then a member of the successful Valencia side that won the 1980 European Cup Winners' Cup Final against Arsenal. He capped twice in 1978.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">RB: </span><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricard_Teruel_Garc%C3%ADa" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ricard Garcia Teruel </span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Born in Asturias, he moved to Catalonia at just two months old. He started with Espanyol at the age of 18 years. Due to the Spanish Civil War , his career was interrupted. Except brief stops at RCD Mallorca, Racing de Santander and UE Sant Andreu , he played his career at RCD Espanyol for 13 seasons. He was capped 4 times for Spain between 1941 and 1942.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelino_Campanal">Marcelo Campanal </a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Marcelo Campanal was </span></span>known as "Campanal II" because his uncle </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Guillermo Campanal </span>was better known as "Campanal I", who was the manager of Sevilla. He played for sixteen seasons at Sevilla FC between 1950 and 1966. He later played two seasons with Deportivo La Coruna , CD Iliturgi and his final season as a professional in the Real Aviles CF. He earned 11 caps with the national team between 1952 and 1957.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_JZ3aa9f6l0/YXQQJEnTlAI/AAAAAAAAMGM/Kygdh6wDyvE6mZPAdoaG-2hnobLA2Vq-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1066/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-23%2Bat%2B9.37.16%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="816" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_JZ3aa9f6l0/YXQQJEnTlAI/AAAAAAAAMGM/Kygdh6wDyvE6mZPAdoaG-2hnobLA2Vq-gCLcBGAsYHQ/w306-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-23%2Bat%2B9.37.16%2Bpm.png" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Marcelo Campanal </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Mart%C3%ADn">César Martín</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><div>Over the course of 13 seasons César Martín appeared in 200 La Liga games, mostly in representation of Real Oviedo and Deportivo, after which he had a six-month spell in England with Bolton Wanderers. He spent 7 seasons with Deportivo La Coruna mainly as a backup when they won one league, one Copa del Rey and two Supercopa de España trophies. Between 1999 and 2004, he played 12 times for Spain. César was included in the Euro 2004 squad, but did not play.</div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensi" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Tensi</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Born in the village of Sama, Asturias, Tensi started playing football in the Trojan teams and the Alcazar Football Club until he was signed by Real Oviedo on 30 December 1964. He made his first time debut in 1966. He spent 14 seasons with the club and was considered one of their greatest footballers. He is their third in appearance record for the club.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abelardo_Fern%C3%A1ndez">Abelardo Fernández</a><span> </span></div><div style="font-family: times;"><span><div>During his career Abelardo Fernández was almost exclusively associated with Sporting de Gijón and Barcelona, having amassed La Liga totals of 385 matches and 24 goals between 1989 and 2003. He also played for Alves. Having won more than 50 caps for Spain between 1991 and 2001, he went to two World Cups (1994 and 1998) and as many European Championships (1996 and 2000). He also won a Gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics.</div></span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--409ujopVwI/YXQKpSvNMcI/AAAAAAAAMGA/Vvg5vqReOv8XglujLr9sD1T8jEcUk5ZLACLcBGAsYHQ/s1498/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-23%2Bat%2B9.13.33%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="1498" height="304" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--409ujopVwI/YXQKpSvNMcI/AAAAAAAAMGA/Vvg5vqReOv8XglujLr9sD1T8jEcUk5ZLACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h304/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-23%2Bat%2B9.13.33%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Abelardo Fernández </span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>LB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Alberto">Julio Alberto</a><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Julio Alberto came through the ranks of Atlético Madrid, and also serving a Segunda División loan stint with Recreativo de Huelva in 1979–80. In 1982, he joined Barcelona. He did well in the early art of his career, but from 1988 to 1991, however, he was mainly a backup as the "Dream Team" was coming to fruition. He earned 34 caps for Spain. He appeared in all games for Euro 1984 and the 1986 FIFA World Cup</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LB/LW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Ur%C3%ADa" style="font-family: Times;">Francisco Uría</a><span style="font-family: Times;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Uría started with Real Oviedo in the 1972–73 season. After the team's relegation the following year he signed with Real Madrid, being relatively used in two of his three seasons and winning his entire silverware. In 1977, he moved to Sporting de Gijón, where they achieved three top-five finishes and played in the UEFA Cup. He earned 14 caps for Spain during seven years, and participated in the 1978 World Cup and Euro 1980. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><div style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fPyX0rf7g1E/YXQUNhP1GNI/AAAAAAAAMGo/7p4NwuUiEYoD0HLIs151LjbxFn5xKtVyACLcBGAsYHQ/s799/francisco-javier-ura-0ba59d04-4fe3-4684-8109-e902f12f436-resize-750.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="628" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fPyX0rf7g1E/YXQUNhP1GNI/AAAAAAAAMGo/7p4NwuUiEYoD0HLIs151LjbxFn5xKtVyACLcBGAsYHQ/w315-h400/francisco-javier-ura-0ba59d04-4fe3-4684-8109-e902f12f436-resize-750.jpeg" width="315" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Francisco Uría</span><span style="font-family: Times;"> <br /></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span>CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paquito_Garc%C3%ADa">Paquito García </a></span></div><div style="font-family: Times;">Paquito was born in Asturias. Over the course of 14 seasons, he played 327 La Liga games in representation of Real Oviedo and Valencia CF. In the 1970–71 campaign, he appeared in 27 matches (all starts) and netted three times as the latter team won their fourth national championship, the first in 24 years. He earned nine caps for Spain during nearly five years.</div><div style="font-family: Times;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">AM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santi_Cazorla">Santi Cazorla</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Santi Cazorla began his professional career at Villarreal in 2003, where he was Spain's Player of the Year: 2006–07. After spending a season with Malaga, he moved to Arsenal in 2012, where he stayed until 2018, winning a FA Cup in 2014. Between 2008 and 2019, he played 81 times for Spain. He was a semi-regular participant in the nation's triumphs at UEFA Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. He attended the 2014 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CM: <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Meana">Manuel Meana</a> </span></div><div style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Manuel Meane was the first Asturian to play for Spain. He made his debut with Spain in 1921. In total, he played seven games and became the captain of the national team. He attended the 1924 Summer Olympics. He spent his entire career with Real Sporting de Gijón. He was a member of the Asturian regional team that won the Copa Príncipe de Asturias de fútbol in 1923 , after beating Galicia in the final held in Vigo. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">CM/RM/UT: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Enrique_(footballer)">Luis Enrique</a></span></span><br style="font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Luis Enrique started his career with Sporting Gijon in 1989. From 1991 to 1996, he played for Real Madrid. In 1996, he moved to Barcelona, where he played for 8 seasons. At the international level, Luis Enrique played for Spain in three World Cups: 1994, 1998 and 2002 as well as UEFA Euro 1996), and scored 12 goals while gaining 62 caps. He was also a member of the gold-winning squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wEFigsK6sKU/YXQRI4S05cI/AAAAAAAAMGU/D0pLty3qIxsecR__09aZTL6OIg50ZWqzACLcBGAsYHQ/s1610/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-23%2Bat%2B9.41.29%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1610" height="261" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wEFigsK6sKU/YXQRI4S05cI/AAAAAAAAMGU/D0pLty3qIxsecR__09aZTL6OIg50ZWqzACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h261/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-23%2Bat%2B9.41.29%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><span>Luis Enrique </span></span></span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CM:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Mata"> Juan Mata</a> </span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Juan Mata was a youth academy player for Real Madrid, but he started with Valencia in 2007. From 2011 to 2014, he played for Chelsea, where he was a major star for the team. After a fallout with Jose Mourinho, he moved to Manchester United. Ironically, they would reunite again at Old Trafford. For Spain, he was a part of the team that won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship two years later.</span></span></span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">AM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaqu%C3%ADn_(footballer,_born_1956)" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Joaquín </a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">During his 16-year professional career, he played solely for Sporting de Gijón even though he was born in the city of neighbouring Real Oviedo. After 17 appearances and one goal in his debut season in La Liga he became an undisputed starter, going on to take part in a further 462 top-division games until June 1992 (644 overall).</span><span style="font-size: large;">Joaquín earned 18 caps and scored once for Spain, and was selected to the 1982 World Cup squad.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">AM/FW/RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_%C3%81ngel_Angulo" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Miguel Ángel Angulo</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Angulo began his football career with local Sporting de Gijón, joining Valencia CF in 1995 at the age of 18. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He spent most of his career at Valencia where he won a total of 7 major titles, including two La Liga championships and the 2004 UEFA Cup. he also played briefly for Villarreal and Sporting SP. He had a total of 11 caps for Spain, scoring 4 goals between 2004 and 2007.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Manjar%C3%ADn">Javier Manjarín</a> </span><br style="font-family: times;" /><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">In a 14-year professional career, Javier Manjarín played mainly for Sporting de Gijón (four seasons) and Deportivo de La Coruña (six seasons). He was considered one of Deportivo's greatest attackers. He also played for Racing de Santander. He moved to play in Mexico in his later years. He had 13 caps for Spain. He went to the European Championship in 1996. He also won a Gold medal at the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ixldjBc0UCM/YYAGjj2yCTI/AAAAAAAAMH0/vQB3P89Vh3MoUzkgwI395OC6jLysVB-4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1250/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-01%2Bat%2B11.23.22%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="1250" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ixldjBc0UCM/YYAGjj2yCTI/AAAAAAAAMH0/vQB3P89Vh3MoUzkgwI395OC6jLysVB-4gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h306/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-01%2Bat%2B11.23.22%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Javier Manjarín </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">ST: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eloy_Olaya" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Eloy </a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">During his career, Eloy played for Sporting de Gijón (being part of a strong 80's team) where he made his debut as a 15 years old. He played for Valencia CF between 1988 and 1995. and CD Badajoz (retiring after an unassuming Segunda División spell). Eloy earned 15 caps and scored four goals for Spain. He played in the 1986 World Cup Finals, where he scored against Algeria.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">ST:</span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Villa" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> David Villa</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">David Villa is the all-time leading scorer for Spain. He was known for a part of the Golden Generation for Spain, where Spain won three straight international titles: Euro 2008, the World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012. He was the Golden Boot winner at Euro 2008 and the Silver boot in the 2010 World Cup Finals. He was best remembered for his club career with Valencia. He also played for Barcelona, Seville and New York City FC.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LietBO2r9Ac/YXQSJ_BIuhI/AAAAAAAAMGg/CIFKXXHd-UkDK-4Vu10iXWaYujaI9j2FQCLcBGAsYHQ/s594/Spain%252Bv%252BPortugal%252B2010%252BFIFA%252BWorld%252BCup%252BRound%252BdN0X91mknyGl.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="594" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LietBO2r9Ac/YXQSJ_BIuhI/AAAAAAAAMGg/CIFKXXHd-UkDK-4Vu10iXWaYujaI9j2FQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/Spain%252Bv%252BPortugal%252B2010%252BFIFA%252BWorld%252BCup%252BRound%252BdN0X91mknyGl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">David Villa</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Herrera_Bueno" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Hererita</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><div><span style="font-size: large;">Herrerita started with local Sporting de Gijón. In 1933 he moved to neighbouring Real Oviedo for a then-record 30.000 pesetas. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">During the better part of the following 15 years, Herrerita would be part of an attacking line that would be dubbed Delanteras Eléctricas (Electric Forwards). He was Real Oviedo's all-time top scorer in La Liga, with 117 goals in 213 games. He played six games with Spain, during three years between 1934 and 1947.</span></div></span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quini">Quini</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In a career totally connected with Sporting de Gijón and FC Barcelona, Quini was widely regarded as one of the country's best strikers, having won a total of seven Pichichi Trophy awards, five of those in La Liga. He won the Don Balón Award – Best Spanish Player for the 1978–79 season. With a total of 35 caps and eight goals, Quini participated in two World Cups, 1978 and 1982, as well as UEFA Euro 1980.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> He was also remembered for being kidnapped in 1981.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9VJG8tbiAdw/YXQIdBLDuOI/AAAAAAAAMF0/emngwC1MVvAI630iIUxdw0W6JL2QBpb_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s512/unnamed%2B%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="512" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9VJG8tbiAdw/YXQIdBLDuOI/AAAAAAAAMF0/emngwC1MVvAI630iIUxdw0W6JL2QBpb_gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h316/unnamed%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Quini</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Esteban, Juanjo González, Óscar Rodríguez López, Chus Herrera, Guillermo Campanal, Jose Maria, Enrique Morán, Ricardo Bango, Adrián López, Juanjo González, Luis Manuel, Vili, Marcelino Elena, Cundi, José Ángel Valdés Díaz, Javier Paredes, Chus Herrera, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Emilín, Galé, </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Toni Cuervo, Eloy, Chus Alonso, Emilin, Michu, Oli, Adrián López, Berto, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Cote, Sergio Boris, Juanele, Luis Garcia Fernández, </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ricardo Bango</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Paquito Garcia, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Marcial.</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></span></div><div>
<br /><b><u><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Special R</span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">ecognition</span></u></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Robert Pires (France), Diego Johannesson (Iceland).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- David Villa is the all-time leading scorer for Spain. Luis Enrique, Quini, Juan Mata and Marcelino Campanal were the other disputed selections for this team. I considered them to be their greatest ever players. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Approximately, 40 Asturian players have played for Spain at the time of writing. In 1921, Manuel Meana was the first Spanish international from Gijón. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1v37d2B5GLQ/YYAF4Ht2nNI/AAAAAAAAMHs/5jMwqkpNr0ATk1lIhu83-XwAYFtICC0XACLcBGAsYHQ/s475/49fecb3f5fdbb67c52a0648ecf6c4ca9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="410" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1v37d2B5GLQ/YYAF4Ht2nNI/AAAAAAAAMHs/5jMwqkpNr0ATk1lIhu83-XwAYFtICC0XACLcBGAsYHQ/w345-h400/49fecb3f5fdbb67c52a0648ecf6c4ca9.jpg" width="345" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span>Manuel Meana</span></span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">-- Asturias autonomous football team played a few games in the early 2000's. Manjarín, Juanele, Luis Enrique, etc were some of the players used. . </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I used overseas Basque and Catalonian players for my respectively all-time teams. I found many information on these players online. However, I could not really find much information on Asturias diaspora. Robert Pires was the only player of note I found. I was certain that there must be some great Asturian footballers from Uruguay or Argentina around. </span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Asturias featured three players during the glorious period of the Spanish national team between 2008 and 2012. However, the three of them did not win the same tournament together. Juan Mata had not played for the senior national team in 2008. Santi Cazorla missed the 2010 World Cup while David Villa did not attend Euro 2012 because of injuries. The three went to the 2014 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Abelardo, Javier Manjarín and Luis Enrique went to Euro 1996 together. The three of them also won the Olympic Gold medal in the 1992 Olympics. Luis Enrique appeared in three World Cups and one European Championship. He played with Abelardo since they were 6 years old. The pair also went to the 1994 World Cup Finals with Juanele.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The 1986 World Cup also saw Eloy, Julio Alberto and Juan Carlos Ablanedo in the squad. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Joaquín</span> and Quini also went to the 1982 World Cup Finals. Quini played in two World Cup Finals. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">César was included in the Euro 2004 squad</span></span></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>-- The goalkeeper selections were limited. Juan Carlos Ablanedo</span><div>and Jesús Castro were considered to be Sporting Gijon's greatest goalkeepers. Ablanedo was capped by Spain. Several websites listed him among the greatest in Spain's history. As mentioned above, he was a backup goalkeeper in two major tournaments, but he won three Zamora trophies. Jesús Castro died while rescuing two young boys from drowning. The city of Oviedo dedicated a street to him in the La Corredoria neighborhood. Along with his football career, he was a folk hero in Asturia. His brother Quini was probably one of the region's greatest footballers. Óscar Álvarez was a forgotten player. He helped the merger of Stadium Ovetense and Real Club Deportivo Oviedo to create Real Oviedo. He acted as the club's captain. He also represented Spain in the Olympics, but was a sub for Ricardo Zamora throughout his international career. Estaban who played over 200 La Liga matche and Juanjo González made honorable mention.</div><div>-- Marcelino Campanal was considered the greatest ever defender for Sevilla. Abelardo Fernández played 54 times for Spain. They were undisputed selections for central defenders.</div><div><span>-- Tensi never played for Spain, but he spent 14 years with Real Oviedo. He was third in appearance record for the club. I rewarded him a spot for being a star in a local club. By comparison, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Manuel_Arias_Vega">Luis Manuel</a><span> had 4 caps for Spain and also played for Real Oviedo. In Real Oviedo, however, Tensi was a much more legendary player than Luis Manuel. The last spot was between </span>César Martín and Marcelino Elena. Both of them was plagued with injuries during their careers. They failed to make a grade in the bigger clubs. César Martín was capped 12 times, but was mainly as a backup during Deportivo La Coruna's La Liga winning season. Marcelino Elena did find some successes with Mallorca, but only earned 5 caps. In end, I took César Martín for his caps.</div><div>-- Sergio Boris then joined Real Sociedad in 2002, being an historic signing as he was the first Spanish native player from outside the Basque Country to be signed by the club for 35 years. I did not know how good he was. </div><div>-- I only had two realistic rightbacks to choose from: Jose Carrete and<span> </span>Ricard Garcia Teruel. I do not know anything about the ethnic background of Armando Álvarez who was born in France. His name was on my initial list of potential selections. Diego Johannesson who played for Iceland was also born here. </div><div>-- Julio Alberto was the obvious choice for leftback. He had 34 caps for Spain. The Sporting de Gijón fans might considered Cundi over Francisco Uría, but Francisco Uría went to two major tournaments for Spain. He also did relatively well with Real Madrid. He also played as a winger.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rp3Z4eZ-1l4/YYAIeWxTg6I/AAAAAAAAMH8/AuBdiOTBtSgXsKjmBckKXRaNn567tkFCACLcBGAsYHQ/s1254/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-01%2Bat%2B11.31.20%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="938" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rp3Z4eZ-1l4/YYAIeWxTg6I/AAAAAAAAMH8/AuBdiOTBtSgXsKjmBckKXRaNn567tkFCACLcBGAsYHQ/w299-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-01%2Bat%2B11.31.20%2Bpm.png" width="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Julio Alberto</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>-- The midfield was the strongest section on this team. <span>Luis Enrique and </span><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Meana">Manuel Meana</a> who was<span> </span><span>first Asturian to cap for Spain were my first two selections. Both </span><span>Santi Cazorla and </span><span>Juan Mata belonged to Spain's glorious period between 2008 and 2012. They also established themselves in the Premiership. The four players were easy choices for midfielders.</span></div><div><span>-- Juan Mata was born in Burgos, where his father was playing football. He grew up in Oviedo. He is often listed as an Asturian footballer. I had no doubt about his eligibility.</span></div><div><span>-- Then, I took <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_%C3%81ngel_Angulo">Miguel Ángel Angulo</a> for his versatility. I also needed someone who could operate as a right winger. Joaquín Alonso González played sixteen seasons with Sporting, where he set the record for games in the First Division (479). He was a local hero. His name was frequently mentioned as an all-timer from here.</span></div><div><span>-- Marcial Pina had a remarkable career with Barcelona FC, but I did not have a spot for him. Juan Mata, Santi Cazorla and Miguel Ángel Angulo were ahead of him.</span></div><div><span>-- </span><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Garc%C3%ADa_Fern%C3%A1ndez" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Luis Garcia</a> who played for Espanyol made honorable mention. He was born in Oviedo. I was not honoring the Luis Javier García Sanz who played for Barcelona, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. He was born in Catalonia. Both played roughly around the same time.</div><div><span>-- It would have been nice if I could select Robert Pires whose mother was a native of Asturias, but I stayed with Spanish internationals. I have selected Jose Santamaria for my Galicia all-time team because he was also capped by Spain. </span></div><div>-- Chus Alonso was born in Cuba of Asturian parents. He played for Spain. I put him on honorable mention. </div><div>-- Chus Herrera was mainly used as a backup to the likes of Alfredo Di Stéfano, Francisco Gento, Raymond Kopa, Ferenc Puskás and Héctor Rial. He had a few memorial games for Real Madrid in that period, which made him well-known during his era. He went to Real Sociedad in 1962, but sadly he died at the age of 24 shortly after his arrival. Perhaps, he would have became a greater player if he had a longer career.</div><div>-- David Villa and Quini were undisputed selection for forwards. Then, I selected Javier Manjarín who was listed as one of Deportivo La Coruna's greatest players. The trio was very well-known in the modern era. </div><div>-- Quini was also remembered for being kidnapped for 25 days in 1981. He won Pichichi Trophy 5 times and two more times in Segunda División.</div><div>-- The attacking quartet of Emilín, Galé, Herrerita and Isidro Lángara of Real Oveido all represented Spain in this period. Isidro Lángara was actually a Basque, and he also played for Basque. He was ineligible for this team. For this quartet, I only had a space for Herrerita. Herrerita was listed among the greatest footballers in the region. He was Real Oviedo's all-time top scorer in La Liga, with 117 goals in 213 games.</div><div>-- Guillermo Campanal was the uncle of Marcelo Campanal. Liked his nephew, he was a Sevilla's legends. He might be the biggest name missing on this team. Toni Cuervo was a star with Real Oviedo. Michu, Oli and Adrián López were also considered.</div><div>-- I did not have a space for Juanele who went to the 1994 World Cup Finals. Instead, I took Eloy from the 1986 World Cup Finals. He had 15 caps against Juanele's 5. Furthermore, he played for Sporting de Gijón during its greatest period of time.</div><div><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Most information suggested that </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Juan Carlos Ablanedo was Asturias' greatest goalkeeper, but I started with</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Óscar Álvarez who was associated with Ricardo Zamero. Luis Enrique and Santi Cazorla could drop deeper than Juan Mata.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/10/1867970_Spain.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/10/1867970_Spain.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-46263318571925653122021-10-21T03:09:00.011-07:002022-11-29T18:51:41.446-08:00Galicia All-Time 23 member team<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><p><br /></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NpbRARzBzXg/YWzAHotVAPI/AAAAAAAAL-k/lEB0vCszL5A7X8ocAR0uyLc4VDGf5aWEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Seleccio%25CC%2581n-galega.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="500" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NpbRARzBzXg/YWzAHotVAPI/AAAAAAAAL-k/lEB0vCszL5A7X8ocAR0uyLc4VDGf5aWEwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h281/Seleccio%25CC%2581n-galega.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Galician national team in 2005</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/spains-all-time-23-member-team.html">Spain All-Time Team</a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2016/08/real-madrid.html">Real Madrid</a>, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/08/atletico-madrid.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Atletico Madrid</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">,</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/basque.html">Basque</a>, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/catalonia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Catalonia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/09/castile.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Castile without Madrid players</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/community-of-madrid.html">Madrid Community</a>,</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/andalusia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Andalusia</a>,<span style="font-family: times;"><span> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/02/valenican-community.html"><span>Valencian Community</span></a></span></span><span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">,</span><span style="font-family: times;"> <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2020/07/asturias.html">Asturias</a>, </span><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/02/aragon.html">Aragon</a>.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/11/canary-islands-ceuta-and-melilla.html">Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla</a>, </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/12/extremadura.html">Extremadura</a>, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/01/murcia.html">Murica</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/08/spanish-big-two.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Spain without Real Madrid and Barcelona players</a></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span face=""><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/spain-without-catalan-players-in-2010.html">Spain without Catalan players World Cup 2010</a></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/08/deportivo.html">Deportivo La Coruna</a></span></span><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Galicia is bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castile and León and Asturias to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Cantabrian Sea to the north. It had a population of 2,701,743 in 2018 and a total area of 29,574 km2 (11,419 sq mi). Galicia has over 1,660 km (1,030 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands and islets, among them Cíes Islands, Ons, Sálvora, Cortegada, and the largest and most populated, A Illa de Arousa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The most popular and well-supported teams in the region are Celta Vigo and <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2016/08/deportivo.html">Deportivo La Coruña</a>. When the two sides play, it is referred to as the Galician derby. Deportivo were champions of La Liga in the 1999–2000 season.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The Galician national football team is the football team made up of Galician players, which represents the Galician Football Federation. , Since this body is not a member of FIFA or the IOC , the Galician national team cannot participate in official tournaments and only play international friendly matches. The first game of the Galician national football was held in 1922. During the Spanish Civil War and the years under Franco, the national team was inoperational. In 2005, they played their first game again.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">The team is familiarly known as "A Irmandiña", recalling the history of medieval Galicia, in which Brotherhoods were formed to defend the people against the abuses of the lords.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZyMtug7dFC0/YWzAHqqX7mI/AAAAAAAAL-g/Nt76obBKnZ0N-nAAs_dlv4m3pcAL9W0dACLcBGAsYHQ/s768/1ff1087d-a16f-4cd6-a2d2-9a25b3ee9c70_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="768" height="221" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZyMtug7dFC0/YWzAHqqX7mI/AAAAAAAAL-g/Nt76obBKnZ0N-nAAs_dlv4m3pcAL9W0dACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h221/1ff1087d-a16f-4cd6-a2d2-9a25b3ee9c70_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Galician national team in the 1920's</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Buyo" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Franisco Buyo</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Franisco Buyo at the time of his retirement was the third highest keeper in La Liga appearance record. He spent over a decade with Real Madrid (1986-1997), winning 13 titles with them. Before Real Madrid, he played for Mallorca, Deportive La Coruna and Seville. He earned 7 caps for Spain between 1983 and 1992. He went to the European Championship of 1984 and 1988 as a backup.</span></div><p style="text-align: left;">
</p><p style="text-align: left;">
</p><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_%C3%81ngel_Gonz%C3%A1lez_Su%C3%A1rez">Miguel Angel</a></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Miguel Ángel was born in Ourense, Galicia. During his career, after making his beginnings at handball, he played for AD Couto (later renamed Atlético Orense), CD Castellón and Real Madrid, having an 18-year spell with the latter club and being first choice from 1974 to 1978 and in two of his final three seasons; he conquered six La Liga championships, being an active part in four of those. He had 18 caps. He was in the squad for the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups. </span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><p>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">GK:</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Acu%C3%B1a" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Juan Acuna</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Juan Acuna was one of the best Spanish keeper in his times. From 1941 to 1<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">951, he won <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">four Zamora trophies, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">tied for 2nd in the total number of awards won<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. Deportivo La Coruna named one of its award after him. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">H</span>e played 278 times <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">for Deportivo La Coruna. Internationally, he played once for Spain in 1941 in a match against Switzerland. He narrowly missed a spot on the 1950 World Cup team.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%ADchel_Salgado" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Michel Salgado </span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Known as a hard player, Michel Salgado started with Celta before moving to Real Madrid in 1999, where he stayed until 2009. In 2009, he joined Blackburn Rovers and played three seasons. Salgado earned 53 caps for Spain. He went to Euro 2000 and Germany 2006, but missed Euro 2004 and Japan/Korea 2002 due to injuries. He is married to Malula Sanz, daughter of former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ci1GaDVDqZE/YW1TUVJaGiI/AAAAAAAAL_E/k_fSNEgLSJskadvjdSo9xXpse_7moKr_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1142/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-18%2Bat%2B6.58.02%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="794" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ci1GaDVDqZE/YW1TUVJaGiI/AAAAAAAAL_E/k_fSNEgLSJskadvjdSo9xXpse_7moKr_ACLcBGAsYHQ/w278-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-10-18%2Bat%2B6.58.02%2Bpm.png" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Michel Salgado</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%C3%A1s_Re%C3%B1ones">Tomás Reñones</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">After one season with hometown's SD Compostela he joined Atlético Madrid in 1981, first playing with the reserves. He made his La Liga debut in 1984–85 and never again lost his starting XI berth, going on to make 483 competitive appearances for the club. Tomás earned 19 caps for the Spain national team, and was selected for the 1986 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1988 (appearing in a total of eight matches and completing seven).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB/RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Otero_(footballer)">Luis Otero</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Otero spent a decade at Real Vigo Sporting where he won four Galician Championships. He left the club shortly after it merged with Fortuna de Vigo to form Celta de Vigo. He signed for Deportivo de A Coruña in 1924, which was one of the triggers that started the historical rivalry between the Vigo and A Coruña teams. Luis Otero went down in history as one of the eleven players who played the first game of the Spanish team in 1920.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CB/RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Pasar%C3%ADn">Luis Pasarin </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><div>Luis Pasarín started his professional career with RC Celta de Vigo. One of the club's first captains, he appeared in its first ever official tournament, the 1923 Galician Championship, which ended in conquest. Pasarín then spent six seasons with Valencia. Pasarín earned six caps for Spain, and represented the nation at the 1924 Summer Olympics </div></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_L%C3%B3pez_Crespo">Pedrito</a><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Predrito made his debut with the first team of Deportivo de A Coruña, in the first match of the Copa Galicia 1935/36 , against Racing de Ferrol in Campo de Riazor, but the Spanish Civil War broke out. He played defense and played for 14 years at Deportivo de La Coruña , playing around 300 games, 154 of them in the First Division. He earned a single cap for Spain in 1945.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Santamar%C3%ADa">Jose Santamaria</a> (Born in Uruguay, but capped by Spain)</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jose Santamaria</span></span> was a member of Real Madrid's all-conquering team of the late 1950's. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He spent his 18-year career with Nacional and Real Madrid, winning 17 major titles the two teams combined, including four European Cups with the latter. He was considered one of the best ever center-backs. He played for Uruguay at the 1954 World Cup Finals, but played for Spain 4 years later in 1958.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><p><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ahmONSovtks/WTLta5yJG_I/AAAAAAAAEAI/44B7tjb7G8wMi5Tjvtum4uMcM-Irf7rUACLcB/s1600/santamaria_1f8e83c2950d600302cc96747380f0d1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="617" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ahmONSovtks/WTLta5yJG_I/AAAAAAAAEAI/44B7tjb7G8wMi5Tjvtum4uMcM-Irf7rUACLcB/s400/santamaria_1f8e83c2950d600302cc96747380f0d1.jpg" width="246" /></a></p></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jose Santamaria </span></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">RB/LB: </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Otero">Jorge Otero</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Jorge Otero started with Celta de Vigo in 1987, being an undisputed starter since the age of 18. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">In 1994, Otero signed for Valencia CF, achieving a personal best – in the top flight – runner-up place in the 1995–96 season. He later played with Real Betis, Atlético Madrid and Elche CF, the latter exclusively in Segunda División. He had 9 caps for Spain.</span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>LB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severino_Reija">Severino Reija</a><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Born in Lugo, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Severino Reija was a leftback</span><span style="font-family: times;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">From 1957 to 1959, Reija played for Deportivo La Coruna. Then, he spent 10 seasons with Real Zaragoza, winning two Spanish Cup and Inter-City Fairs Cup in 1964. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">He participated with the national team at the 1962 FIFA World Cup, the 1964 European Nations' Cup, and the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He had a total of 20 caps between 1962 and 1967.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rcQL4SinJ3Y/YW2TFKvD0tI/AAAAAAAAL_c/SNbheg_ZxUcHMwW3L-0PYSnNjsTTo-FZwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/15265913232866.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="604" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rcQL4SinJ3Y/YW2TFKvD0tI/AAAAAAAAL_c/SNbheg_ZxUcHMwW3L-0PYSnNjsTTo-FZwCLcBGAsYHQ/w236-h400/15265913232866.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Severino Reija </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">CH: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Fern%C3%A1ndez" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Lorenzo Fernández</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> (born in Galicia but played for Uruguay)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Nicknamed El Gallego (The Galician), Lorenzo Fernández played for Capurro, River Plate, Montevideo Wanderers FC and C.A. Peñarol. Fernández also played 31 times and scored 4 goals for Uruguay, with which he won the 1930 World Cup, the gold medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics, and the 1926 and 1935 Copa Americas. A center-half in the 2–3–5 footballing system. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Diego_%C3%81lvarez">Jose Diego</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jose Diego started playing football for local Sociedad Deportiva. In 1974, José Diego was signed by neighbouring Real Sociedad. He became a very important unit for the Txuriurdin, going on to contribute with 96 matches and seven goals in three seasons combined as they won La Lig in 1981 and 1982, adding the second position in 1980. He was capped once.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">CM/CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quique_Costas">Quique Costas </a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Costas began his career with local RC Celta de Vigo in 1965. He played 26 second division games in his first season. In 1971, Costas moved to league powerhouse FC Barcelona after 170 overall appearances. Almost never an undisputed starter he was still used regularly, and helped the Catalans to the 1979 conquest of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in his penultimate year. He was capped 13 times.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">LM:</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran_(Spanish_footballer)">Fran</a> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">(Spain)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Fran made it to Deportivo La Coruna first team in 1988. He is considered one of the greatest players for the club. He played 17 seasons with them, winning the 1999-2000 La Liga. He amassed more than 600 overall appearances. He was capped 16 times. He played for Spain at Euro 2000. His last international was against Yugoslavia over there.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Su%C3%A1rez_Miramontes"> Luis Suarez Miramontes</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Luis Suarez Miramontes was considered to be Spain's greatest player until 1970's. He won Ballon d'Or in 1960. In 1964, he led </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">La Roja in winning the European Championship. For club football, he played as a midfielder for Deportivo de La Coruña, CD España Industrial, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan and Sampdoria. He was a member of "Grande Inter" and won </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">two consecutive European Cups.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yroZ1EVVQaY/YW1Suftbc9I/AAAAAAAAL-8/7LjlUrku7UECMyBGrfu-0Mb58zekkZjtACLcBGAsYHQ/s972/15567060075313.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="972" height="259" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yroZ1EVVQaY/YW1Suftbc9I/AAAAAAAAL-8/7LjlUrku7UECMyBGrfu-0Mb58zekkZjtACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h259/15567060075313.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Amancio Amaro and Luis Suarez Miramontes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">RW/FW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amancio_Amaro">Amancio Amaro</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Nicknamed "El Brujo",<i> </i>Amancio Amaro played outside right for Deportivo de La Coruña before joining Real Madrid in 1962. He was considered the star of the team in the 1960's. He </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">scored one of the most beautiful goal in European Cup history when Real Madrid lifted the title in 1966.</span></span> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He was capped 42 times. </span></span>He won the 1964 European Football Championship. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">RW<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">:</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ufarte">Jose Ufarte</a></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Born <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">in Spain, Jose Ufarte moved to Braz<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">il as a ch<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ild. He started with <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">F<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">lamengo and Corinthians in Brazil before he returned home an<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">d signed with <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A</span>tletico Madrid</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>. <span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">H</span>e played on the great Atletico Madrid side of the 1960's. he played for them between 1964 and 1974. In 1974, h</span>e later played with <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">R</span>acing <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Santander. For international football, he <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">earned 16 caps. Ufarte represented Spain at the 1966 World Cup in England.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: times;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermidita">Hermidita </a></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><div>At the age of 19, he made his debut for Real Club Celta , where he played for 12 years, playing a total of 170 games in which he scored a total of 113 goals , making him Celta's top scorer in its history. It wrote down 107 goals in the first Spanish division , being one of the maximum historical goleadores of this category. In addition, he scored three goals in the second division and as many in Promotion matches. In 1956 he signed for Córdoba CF , where he played two seasons.</div></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcelino_Mart%C3%ADnez">Marcelino Martínez</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Known simply as Marcelino, he signed with Real Zaragoza from local Racing de Ferrol, going on to remain with the former club until his retirement 11 years later. He was part of an efficient attacking unit dubbed Los Magníficos (The Magnificent). Marcelino played 14 times for the Spain national team, participating in the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the 1966 FIFA World Cup. In the former tournament he scored the decisive 2–1 in the final against the Soviet Union.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P92H2Kdod7c/YW0HkZxVqVI/AAAAAAAAL-0/UDkUduEc1LAbXde8ZSa4GhGgYrYSE_vVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s845/Marcelino%2BMart%25C3%25ADnez%2B%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="602" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P92H2Kdod7c/YW0HkZxVqVI/AAAAAAAAL-0/UDkUduEc1LAbXde8ZSa4GhGgYrYSE_vVgCLcBGAsYHQ/w285-h400/Marcelino%2BMart%25C3%25ADnez%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Marcelino Martínez</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>ST: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahi%C3%B1o">Pahiño</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Pahiño joined RC Celta de Vigo in 1943, immediately becoming a starter. n summer 1948, both Pahiño and Miguel Muñoz signed for Real Madrid. he played for Deportivo La Coruna between 1953 and 1956. Pahiño earned three caps for Spain, over seven years. He scored on his debut on 20 June 1948, against Switzerland, adding a brace in his final appearance, a 2–2 draw with the Republic of Ireland in another friendly.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Gonz%C3%A1lez_Vali%C3%B1o">Chacho</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Chacho was born and died in A Coruña. During his career he played for Atlético de Madrid (1934–1936) and Deportivo de La Coruña (1927–1934, 1936–1946), and earned 3 caps and scored 6 goals for the Spain national football team, and participated in the 1934 FIFA World Cup. He later coached Deportivo, and a statue erected in his name can be found by the Riazor stadium.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iago_Aspas">Iago Aspas</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Aspas has spent most of his career with Celta, appearing in 380 official games across 12 seasons and scoring 166 goals. He is considered to be one of their greatest ever players. He made his La Liga debut with the club in 2012 and moved to Liverpool the following year, returning to Celta in 2015 after a loan at Sevilla. Aspas first appeared with the Spain senior team in 2016. He represented the country at the 2018 World Cup.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L2xgW4qJpo0/YWy-mrVJ5aI/AAAAAAAAL-Y/6D9IOQ8b000BuEU_AQfVkVdrZxdHx9AJwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Iago%2BAspas%2B2560%2BCe%25CC%2581asr%2BQuian.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L2xgW4qJpo0/YWy-mrVJ5aI/AAAAAAAAL-Y/6D9IOQ8b000BuEU_AQfVkVdrZxdHx9AJwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h225/Iago%2BAspas%2B2560%2BCe%25CC%2581asr%2BQuian.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Iago Aspas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></span></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Agustín, Deigo Lopez, Isidro, Amador, Jonny Otto, Balbino Clemente, Marcos Vales, Arsenio Iglesias, Jesús Martínez, Hugo Mallo, Lucas Vázquez, ST José Luis Veloso, Ramon "Moncho" Gil, <a href="https://www.worldfootball.net/player_summary/manolete/">Manolete</a>, Brais Méndez, Moncho Gil, Ramón González, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berto_(footballer)" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Berto</span></a>, <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Borja Oubiña, Juan Monjardín, Manuel Jiménez, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Borja Oubiña, Ricardo Cabanas (Swiss who earned 2 caps for Galicia), Angel Garcia, Hector Rial (born in Argentina)<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<u><b><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></u></div><div><u><b><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Squad Explanation</span></span></b></u><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- At the time of writing, 42 Galicians have played for Spain.</span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Athletic Bilbao allows non-ethnic Basque who were born in the region or learned their football skills at a Basque club to join their team. However, this blog was not Athletic Bilbao. I only selected Gallicia-born or ethnic Gallician players. Thiago Alcantara, Rafinha and Rodrigo spent time as a youth in Vigo attending a soccer school co-owned by their respective fathers. I ruled them ineligible. <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- I used overseas Basque and Catalonian players for my respectively all-time teams. I found many information on these players online. However, there were lack of information on footballers and Galician diaspora. I knew that Uruguay featured four players of Galician descents who helped them to win the first ever World Cup in 1930. They were Pedro Cea, Lorenzo Fernández, Gestido Pose and Héctor Castro. Víctor Rodríguez Andrade and Obdulio Varela were also sometimes listed as Galicians, but I found nothing on anybody else. In the end, I did not select any of them. For Argentinians, I almost found no one even through there are a large group of Galicians over there. Erik Lamela and Emiliano Insúa were listed as Galicians. Ramón Quiroga who was the Argentina-born goalkeeper of Peru at the 1978 World Cup was the only player I found listed as Galician. I do not even have any idea if Américo Gallego was of Galician descent. In the end, I decided to ignore Galician diaspora. However, I made an exceptional case for Jose Santamaria and Lorenzo Fernández. The former was capped by Spain while the latter was born in the Galicia (see below). </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"> I also put Ricardo Cabanas (Switzerland) on honorable mention as he played twice for the Galician national team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">--
DM: Ricardo Gallego and CB: Gallego (former of Barcelona and Sevilla)
were not born in the region. I have no idea of their ancestries, but I
assumed that they were of Galician descent because of their nick names. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> Jose Gallego was listed as a Basque everywhere. So they were not selected due to the lack of information.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> -- Diego Maradona was listed as of Galician descent because his surname supposed to be of Galician in origin, but his surname was also listed as Italian in origin as well. I would not have selected him if I allowed overseas-born Galicians due to confusing reports. This illustrated the confusion I am having.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Central defender Luis Otero and forward Moncho Gil were part of Spain's first ever national team that debuted at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp. They won a Silver medal.</span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Otero made this team.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Luis Suárez Miramontes formed an offensive line with Amancio and Marcelino that was known as "Trío Gallego" that won the 1964 European Cup. Marcelino scored the only goal in the Final against the USSR. I dropped José Luis Veloso who helped Spain to qualify for European Championship in 1964, but he did not play in the Finals. LB Severino Reija who was from Lugo was also a part of that team.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- For goalkeepers, Francisco Buyo and Miguel Ángel were among the <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/02/top-10-real-madrid-goalkeepers.html">greatest goalkeepers with Real Madrid.</a> Agustín won the Zamora award while playing for Real Madrid, but he was actually a backup to Miguel Ángel. He was on my honorable mention.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O0RjYbGZf_w/YW1VSX1ibnI/AAAAAAAAL_M/EGv6Y_Lrz3UlqXUIV8S4nXuuexw2Zl_NwCLcBGAsYHQ/s768/e805b10398b23705f96b5cd05bf4ca66_crop_exact.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O0RjYbGZf_w/YW1VSX1ibnI/AAAAAAAAL_M/EGv6Y_Lrz3UlqXUIV8S4nXuuexw2Zl_NwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/e805b10398b23705f96b5cd05bf4ca66_crop_exact.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Francisco Buyo</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Juan Acuña was the second goalkeeper with most Zamora Trophies with four (1941-1942, 1942-1943, 1949-1950, 1950-1951) just after Antoni Ramallets. Some articles called him Galicia's greatest goalkeeper. He would be my third goalkeeper. He edged out Diego Lopez. Lopez did have a remarkable career with Real Madrid. He kept Iker Casillas on the bench for at least a single season. Isidro played many games for Galician national team in the 1920's.</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- I could not really find suitable centerbacks. I was not sure if Luis Pasarin, </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Luis Otero and </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Pedrito were considered to be centre-backs, but in the old days, they only played with two defenders. So they must have play centrally. Luis Pasarin was first captain of Celta Vigo, but I do not know much about him. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">Pedrito is a member of Deportivo Hall of Flame.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Luis </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Otero was the one of the first Galician Olympic medalist.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> He was recognized as one of the most outstanding Galician footballers in history. He was part of the first lineups of both the Celta de Vigo and the Spanish team. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">In his memory, since 1959 the Luis Otero Trophy has been held in Pontevedra.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The blog team was meant to be just Galicia-born Spanish players, but the lack of suitable centerbacks changed that. I was looking at </span><span style="font-size: large;">Lorenzo Fernández and José Santamaría of Uruguay. Lorenzo Fernández was born in Galicia, but he was capped by Uruguay (see below). José Santamaría was born in Uruguay, but he had parents from Galicia. In the end, I took José Santamaría because he was capped 16 times by Spain, which made him a "Spaniard" from Galicia. He was also a much more famous player and the team would be significantly boosted by his presence. </span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Lorenzo Fernández was also not a centra-back. He was a half-back in the old 2-3-5 formation. I selected him as a midfielder.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Hector Rial also had Galician parents. He played 5 times for Spain and never for Argentina. So I put him on honorable mention.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Michel Salgado is the all-time national team appearance leader for Galician footballers. Tomas Reñones was Spain's regular starter at both 1986 World Cup Finals and 1988 European Championship. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jorge Otero was mainly a leftback. And then, I took </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Severino Reija from the Euro </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">1964 winning team. Jonny was capped a few times by Spain. He made honorable mention.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Unlike the other Galician diaspora players, Lorenzo Fernández was born in Galicia. So I made another exceptional case for him after selecting Jose Santamaria. His career was very decorated. He is the only World Cup winner born in the region. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- I also did not know much about Quique Costas. He seemed to be a midfielder with Celta Vigo, but might have played as a defender with Barcelona. Anyhow, I selected him as midfielder. He was better known as the long time coach of Barcelona B team where he developed a generations of super stars. One source called him the father of <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2019/12/la-masia.html">Barcelona La Masia</a>. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Jose Diego played for Real Sociedad during its back-to-back la Liga titles in the early 1980's. I also looked into Berto and Borja Oubiña. Of course, I do not know much about them. They played a few games for Spain. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Ricardo Cabanas of Switzerland played for Galicia twice. He became eligible for this team based upon that. However, I only put him on honorable mention. With 50 caps for Switzerland, he should be aheasd of Jose Diego, but I tried to avoid selecting overseas Galicians because of potential controsary. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Luis Suarez Miramontes was Spain's greatest player before the Golden Generation between 2008 and 2012. At the time of writing, he is the only Spanish-born Ballon d'or winner. During his prime, he was also the most expensive player in the world after he joined Inter Milan from Barcelona FC.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- I have no space for Lucas Vázquez. Both José Ufarte and Amancio were ahead of him on the right-wing. <br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">--
On the left, Fran was a legend with a local club Deportivo La Coruna, which helped
his selection. He was much more famous than other Galician midfielders.</span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <br /></span></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">--
Arsenio Iglesias was a legend well-known with Deportivo La Coruna, but I
do not have space for him. In 2016, Iglesias was bestowed with the
highest recognition of Deportivo, a special insignia, and was declared
"Blue and White Legend".</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Iago Aspas is probably Celta Vigo's greatest players. He is their all-time leading a scorer, followed by Hermidita.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Ramon
Polo was a forgotten player who played for Celta Vigo. He scored 119
goals for them. I only had space for honorable mention.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Pahiño was the most important Real Madrid player before the arrival of Alfredo Di Stefano.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Eduardo González 'Chacho' scored 6 goals in his Spanish national team debut.</span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><span face="" style="font-size: large;"><span face=""><span face=""> It still remains a recod. He is a member of the Deportivo Hall of Flame. A statue of him was erected next to the Estado Riazor. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">--
Marcelino Martínez was one of the most beloved Spanish footballers .
His was the goal that gave Spain its first European Championship in
1964. </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">--
Both Moncho Gil and Ramón González played in the first ever match of
the Galician national team. They also participated at the 1920
Olympics where Spain won a silver medal. Both only made honorable mentions.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- After taking 22 players, I had to decide between </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ramon
Polo, Juan Monjardin and </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Hermidita for the last spot. Monjardin was well-known because he played for Real Madrid, but I decided to select a local hero. So it was between Hermidita and Ramon Polo. A Galician article listed Hermidita as the 10th greatest footballer from Galicia. So I took him over Polo.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- Hector Rial was famous enough to be on this team. He was born in Argentina, but had never been capped by Argentina. So I ruled him eligible because of his ethnicity and his 5 cap for Spain. But since I was avoiding selecting overseas Galicians, except out of special needs. I decided to select native Galicians over him.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gllsMCCYyxg/YW1WBTg2aPI/AAAAAAAAL_U/cmEj8WAIE6Y8fbRtM_7C7g6VVsu2BHK_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s768/jpg.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gllsMCCYyxg/YW1WBTg2aPI/AAAAAAAAL_U/cmEj8WAIE6Y8fbRtM_7C7g6VVsu2BHK_wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h225/jpg.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Galicia vs Venezuela in 2018</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">4-4-2</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I could easily start Miguel Angel over Francisco Buyo. Marcelino could also start. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/10/1866520_Dream_Team.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/10/1866520_Dream_Team.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span></div></div></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-89073284295083365502021-09-16T04:40:00.008-07:002024-02-09T06:49:21.872-08:00Albania Greatest All-Time Team<div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VDao2lyCRRs/YTW1UgjsE9I/AAAAAAAAL4c/aweE1m5m_UQ5IaYpkItnheVeM183aqoEACLcBGAsYHQ/s780/albania.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="780" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VDao2lyCRRs/YTW1UgjsE9I/AAAAAAAAL4c/aweE1m5m_UQ5IaYpkItnheVeM183aqoEACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h258/albania.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Euro 2016 Finals</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span><pre class="tw-data-text tw-text-large XcVN5d tw-ta" data-placeholder="Translation" dir="ltr" id="tw-target-text" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face=""\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; white-space: normal;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; white-space: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is my all-time 23-me</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">m</span></span>ber team for Albania, Previously, I did an all-time team for <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/southeast-europe-turkey-greece-and.html">Southeast Europe</a> (Balkan</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b>Peninsula), excluding the former republics of <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html">Yugoslavia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/romania.html">Romania</a> and <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/bulgaria.html">Bulgaria</a>. I have done a separated entries for them. I also did an all-time team for </span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large; white-space: normal;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2017/12/greece.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Greece</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/turkey.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Turkey</a> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">and </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/12/the-former-yugoslavia-without-croatia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Macedonia/Montenegro/Kosovo</a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></span></pre></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Albania entered the qualifying phase of the 1966 World Cup in England, marking their first-ever participation in the tournament. P</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">laced in Group 5, the team concluded their campaign at the bottom, managing only one point from six matches. Notably, during the qualifiers for the UEFA Euro 1968, Albania held West Germany to a goalless draw, denying the Germans an opportunity to participate in the finals.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Subsequently, Albania faced an absence from the qualifying rounds of the 1970 World Cup, UEFA Euro 1972, UEFA Euro 1976, 1978 World Cup, and UEFA Euro 1980, for reasons unknown but suspected to be politically motivated. Following a six-year hiatus from international matches, Albania returned to the World Cup qualifying stage in 1982, achieving a placement higher than last for the first time in a qualifying match. Finland, instead, finished in the last position.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Regrettably, the World Cup 1990 qualifiers proved to be a low point in Albania's history, with six consecutive losses and no noteworthy performances to remember.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Although Albania had triumphed in the 1946 Balkan Cup and the 2000 Malta Rothmans International Tournament, they had never previously participated in any significant UEFA or FIFA tournaments until 2016. Finally, at Euro 2016, Albania made its inaugural appearance in a major men's football tournament. The team secured their first-ever victory in a European Championship and scored their first-ever goal in a major tournament when they defeated Romania on June 19, 2016.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><div><span style="font-family: times;">This is my all-time team for Albania. If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament. </span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bDzl_82gMhQ/YTqb2lPy7_I/AAAAAAAAL5k/eYbtAtC0FYgKz1zLeC_3xJ3Y2SSL-PtSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s811/viti-1946.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="811" height="196" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bDzl_82gMhQ/YTqb2lPy7_I/AAAAAAAAL5k/eYbtAtC0FYgKz1zLeC_3xJ3Y2SSL-PtSgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h196/viti-1946.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Balkan Cup 1946 winner</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b><u>Team</u></b></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">GK: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlat_Musta" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Perlat Musta</a></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Musta was a product of Partizani Tirana academy, and played for them between 1979 and 1991. He joined Dinamo București in 1991, but failed to settle. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">In 1994 he returned to Partizani Tirana where he played as starter in the next two seasons. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He made his senior debut for Albania in 1981 against Finland and earned a total of 23 caps. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He was also once the captain of the team in a match against Romania, which took place in 1987 on the Steaua Stadium.</span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gWtDO3MJP_Q/YToZKtQ-ptI/AAAAAAAAL4s/d9nKkBHUepMZxF7GOMY3fe9x9OwQUapmQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1068/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-09%2Bat%2B10.23.59%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="706" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gWtDO3MJP_Q/YToZKtQ-ptI/AAAAAAAAL4s/d9nKkBHUepMZxF7GOMY3fe9x9OwQUapmQCLcBGAsYHQ/w265-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-09%2Bat%2B10.23.59%2Bpm.png" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Perlat Musta</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">GK:</span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etrit_Berisha">Etrit Berisha </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Born in Kosovo of Albanian ethnicity, Berisha played for Albania for over 68 times since 2012. He was their starting keeper at Euro 2016. For his club career, Berisha went on trial at Swedish side Kalmar in 2007, where he played in the senior squad between 2010 and 2013. He then spent three seasons with Lazio. From then, he played another 3 seasons with Atalanta. From 2019 to 2021, he played for SPAL. At the time of writing, he is playing for Torino.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>GK:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foto_Strakosha"> Foto Strakosha</a></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Strakosha is regarded as one of Albania's most popular and greatest goalkeepers. In his 20-years playing career he played with 11 different clubs, initially in Albania before moving in Greece in 1991 to spent the majority of his career there until his retirement in 2005. He captained the Albania national team for a number of years before his retirement in 2005. He became Albanian's most ever capped player having 73 caps from 1990 to 2005.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elseid_Hysaj">Elseid Hysaj </a></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Born in Albania, Hysaj moved to Italy as a young age with his family where he began with Empoli. He played three seasons in the Serie B before his club moved to Serie A in 2013. From 2015 to 2021, he played for Napoli. In 2021, he moved to Lazio. At 18, he made his senior debut with Albania. At the time of writing, he has 61 caps. He started every game at Euro 2016 where Albania qualified in their first major tournament.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0V4Qvb1j2tg/YToZiIk_uEI/AAAAAAAAL40/dLtTabk2jHMyzixN6laCe8xezlnVYVS6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1199/5dcdfeb0a310cf3e97a65d4c.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1199" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0V4Qvb1j2tg/YToZiIk_uEI/AAAAAAAAL40/dLtTabk2jHMyzixN6laCe8xezlnVYVS6QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h281/5dcdfeb0a310cf3e97a65d4c.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Elseid Hysaj </span></td></tr></tbody></table>RB/CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhamet_Dibra">Muhamet Dibra</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Muhamet Dibra </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">played club football in Albania for Vllaznia Shkodër and Partizani Tirana and won three National Championships in 1945, 1946 and 1948. He was also a member of the Albania national team between 1946 and 1953, where he earned 19 caps and also won the 1946 Balkan Cup. The road the Loro Boriçi Stadium is on in Shkodër is named after him and he received a number of notable awards for his services to sport in Albania.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span><span><span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB/CM/DM:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorik_Cana"> Lorik Cana</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Cana played in France, England, Italy and Turkey, representing Paris Saint-Germain, Sunderland, Galatasaray, Lazio, FC Nantes and Olympique de Marseille as well as the Albania in which he is Albania's most capped player of all time, with 93 caps between 2003 until and 2016. He used to play primarily as a defensive and central midfielder but later switched to centre-back. He participated in the first major international competition for Albania, the UEFA Euro 2016 held in France.</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wMlYI24vw68/YToYQ7yZqQI/AAAAAAAAL4k/m6k71hcGAqoi1Br457ZNCQHG_6ZOXsKlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1142/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-09%2Bat%2B10.18.45%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="970" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wMlYI24vw68/YToYQ7yZqQI/AAAAAAAAL4k/m6k71hcGAqoi1Br457ZNCQHG_6ZOXsKlwCLcBGAsYHQ/w340-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-09%2Bat%2B10.18.45%2Bpm.png" width="340" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Lorik Cana</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">CB: </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geri_%C3%87ipi">Geri Cipi</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">After establishing himself at Flamurtari during the early 1990s, Geri Cipi moved to Maribor in the summer of 1998. He most notably played 76 games for Gent in Belgium. Later, he played for Frankfrut and Rot-Weiß Oberhausen in Germany before returning home in 2004 to play for SK Tirana. For Albania, he had 34 caps between 1995 and 2005. His uncle Kreshnik also played for Flamurtari and the national team.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berat_Djimsiti">Berat Djimsiti</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Berat Djimsiti was born in Zürich, Switzerland into an ethnic Albanian family from Serbia. He started his career with Zurich in 2011 where he played until 2016. In 2016, he moved to Atalanta in Italy. In 2018, he established as a starter. He represented Swizterland at the youth level. In 2016, he chose to play for Albania. Since 2015, he played regularly for them, but he was left out of final 23-man UEFA Euro 2016 squad. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br /></div></div></span></span></span></div><div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudi_Vata">Rudi Vata</a> </span><br /></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Vata's career in Western football began in France in 1991, when the KS Dinamo Tirana player claimed political asylum following an international match with the national team He played for Le Mans and Tours, before playing for Celtic between January 1993 and 1995–96. He became the first Albanian to win an honour in a major European country when he won the 1995 Scottish FA Cup with Celtic. </span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">earned a total of 59 caps, scoring 5 goals.</span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PFS4gZXYljo/YToan5rnq6I/AAAAAAAAL48/yeSk0EKcGagI3Xrhhwyp6mEtJkiKTPfCwCLcBGAsYHQ/s512/unnamed%2B%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="353" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PFS4gZXYljo/YToan5rnq6I/AAAAAAAAL48/yeSk0EKcGagI3Xrhhwyp6mEtJkiKTPfCwCLcBGAsYHQ/w276-h400/unnamed%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> Rudi Vata </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>LB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansi_Agolli">Ansi Agolli</a></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Agolli played for many clubs all over the world. His longest stint was with Qarabağ in the Azerbaijan Premier League where he played from 2010 to 2019. From 2005 to 2018, Agolli had played 73 times for Albania. Agolli was named Albania's second acting captain under coach Gianni De Biasi for UEFA Euro 2016. After Lorik Cana was suspended, he served as their captain in the last three matches of the Finals.</span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">DM: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altin_Lala">Altin Lala</a></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Lala defected to Germany as a youngster where he started his football career with Borussia Fulda in 1994. He later played for Hanover 96 between 1998 and 2012. He joined Bayern Munich, but only played with Bayern Munich II. He recorded 79 appearances for Albania national team and is currently the second highest in Albania's international history, being overtaken only by Lorik Cana in 2014. He has also scored three goals for his country.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramazan_Rragami">Ramazan Rragami</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Rragami started playing in his native town, Vllaznia, at the age of 16. He continued there until 1967 when he was recruited by the Partizani of Tirana and played there until 1970. He then returned to Villaznia. From 1965 to 1970, he was capped 20 times for Albania. He played in the famous 0-0 draw with European powerhouse West Germany in December 1967 that denied the Germans a place in the Finals of the European Championship in 1968.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x1OKVBpFoe0/YTobYcWkD8I/AAAAAAAAL5E/ddbhsSItfhcKukAjiHDJvP0X5-MEIPQkQCLcBGAsYHQ/s423/548131157.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="310" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x1OKVBpFoe0/YTobYcWkD8I/AAAAAAAAL5E/ddbhsSItfhcKukAjiHDJvP0X5-MEIPQkQCLcBGAsYHQ/w294-h400/548131157.jpg" width="294" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ramazan Rragami</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">CH/CM: </span><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sllave_Llambi" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Sllave Llambi</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Llambi was known for his career in Italy. He was considered to be the first Albanian that has ever won a "Scudetto" in Italy's Serie A (with Bologna F.C. in the 1940–1941 season), although he never played a match during that year. He was also on the book of Inter Milan. He made his debut for Albania in an August 1946 friendly match against Montenegro and earned a total of 19 caps, scoring no goals. He was a part of the team that won the Balkan Cup.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">LM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvin_Murati">Edwin Murati</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Edwin Murati played for Panserraikos FC and Iraklis F.C. in Greece. He played also in France, Germany, and for the Albanian national football team. In December 2018 he was honoured for his services to Albanian football, alongside Perlat Musta and Qamil Teliti. He played 42 times for Albania between 1998 and 2006.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">AM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulejman_Demollari">Sulejman Demollari</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Demollari made 45 appearances for Albania between 1983 and 1995, the highest in the team's history who predominantly played during the communist era when Albania only played a limited amount of international matches. He played his entire career in Albania for Dinamo Tirana. He was among the first players to pursue a career abroad, signing for Dinamo Bucharest in 1991. He later had spells in Greece with Panionios and in Hungary with Győr FC.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ervin_Skela">Ervin Skela</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Skela played for many clubs all over Europe. He played the majority of his career in Germany, but he also played in Albania as well as Italy and Poland briefly. His longest stint was with Eintracht Frankfurt between 2001 and 2004. He also playd two seasons with FC Energie Cottbus. </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">He is fourth most capped Albanian international with 75 appearances between 2000 and 2011 as well being the third highest goalscorer in the country's history with 13 goals.</span></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mHPZgUr39TY/YTqXFjyu5WI/AAAAAAAAL5c/fl_MX6xqwaAbvH-1zTupsnag-mz9WgBhQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1270/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-10%2Bat%2B7.21.34%2Bam.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="1270" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mHPZgUr39TY/YTqXFjyu5WI/AAAAAAAAL5c/fl_MX6xqwaAbvH-1zTupsnag-mz9WgBhQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h315/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-10%2Bat%2B7.21.34%2Bam.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ervin Skela</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">RW: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naim_Kryeziu" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Naim Kryeziu </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Born in Gjakova, at the time in the Kingdom of Serbia, current day Republic of Kosovo, Kryeziu left his town in Kosovo as a youngster to join KF Tirana. Following the 1939 Italian invasion of Albania, he joined AS Roma, where he played until 1947. He won the 1940-1941 scudetto. From 1947 to 1952, he played for Napoli. He never played for either Albania or Italy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">FW: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refik_Resmja">Refik Resmja</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Refik Resmja started his career with Tirana, but shortly after signed with Partizani Tirana where he established himself as one of the greatest players of all time, setting several records and winning 9 trophies. He has also been an Albanian international, winning six caps between 1952 and 1963. During his career, Resmja held only one squad number, 11.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>ST </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokol_Kushta">Sokol Kushta</a><span> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>Kushta was a striker and was ranked 30th in the 1987 European Footballer of the Year, matching in the ranking players such as Alessandro Altobelli, Glenn Hoddle, and Rudi Völler. Kushta spent the large part of his Albanian league career with hometown club Flamurtari during the 1980s. He also played in Greece after the fall of communism. He had a total of 31 caps for Albania.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">FW: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panajot_Pano">Panajot Pano</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="st" style="font-size: large;">Panajot Pano</span></span> was considered to be Albania's greatest player and was elected as its UEFA Jubilee Player. From the Greek ethnicity, Pano started with SK Tirana from 1957 to 1960. From 1960 to 1975, he played for Partizani Tirana. Pano earned 25 caps between 1963 and 1973. He also captained the national team in 10 occasionsIn 2009, he received the order Honor of the Nation from the government of Albania. It was the first time a footballer received that order.</span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DTo4f_aLJIw/VHCpbKpXvqI/AAAAAAAAA1o/Q6kD2u0MEuc/w278-h400/1967alb-ger3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="278" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Panajot Pano</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">ST: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riza_Lushta">Riza Lushta</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Born in Serbia, Lushta with the local club Rudari Trepča. From 1934 to 1939, he played for Tirana. He then moved to Italy to play with A.S. Bari, and then Juventus F.C. (won one Coppa Italia in 1942), and Napoli, after which he went to France to play with AS Cannes. Eventually he went back to Italy and played with Alessandria, and then in Italian Third Division with Siena and in Italian Fourth Division with Forlì, and the Rapallo Ruentes, the team of Rapallo. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilir_P%C3%ABrnaska">Ilir Pernaska </a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ilir Përnaska is one of Dinamo's most famous players who is known for being one of the most prolific goalscorers in Albanian history, topping the domestic league's goalscoring charts in six successive seasons. He was part of the 'Golden Age' of Dinamo between 1971 and 1981. He made his debut for Albania in 1971 and earned a total of 15 caps, scoring 5 goals. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>ST: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loro_Bori%C3%A7i">Loro Boriçi</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He played mostly for Partizan Tirana (won the 1949 and 1954 Albanian title and scored 68 goals for them) and Vllaznia (won the 1945 Albanian title). Boriçi was the reserve of Silvio Piola in Italian Serie A with S.S. Lazio. He captained Albania in winning the 1946 Balkan Cup. Today, Loro-Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër is named in his honour. H e made his debut for Albania in 1946 and earned a total of 24 caps, scoring 6 goals. He captained Albania in winning the Balkan Cup in 1946.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cdugkmKfpQw/YTopjCUbv3I/AAAAAAAAL5M/RbDgjRMRJeIoxq3PJqBErrYIgUG1pt1dwCLcBGAsYHQ/s512/unnamed%2B%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="512" height="248" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cdugkmKfpQw/YTopjCUbv3I/AAAAAAAAL5M/RbDgjRMRJeIoxq3PJqBErrYIgUG1pt1dwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h248/unnamed%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Loro Borici</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><b><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">Qemal Vogli, Riza Haxhiu. Arjan Beqaj, Isli Hidi,Thomas Strakosha</span><span style="font-family: times;">, Arjan Beqaj, Qemal Vogli, Blendi Nallbani, Hysen Zmijani, Safet Berisha, Arjan Xhumba, Ilir Shulku, Besnik Hasi, Mergim Mavraj, Muhedin Targaj, Elis Bakaj, Fatmir Vata, Altin Rrakli, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Klodian Duro, Ali Mema, Hamdi Salihi, Odise Roshi, Igli Tare, Armand Sadiku, Alban Bushi, Medin Zhega, Qamil Teliti, Adrian Aliaj, Blendar Kola, Arben Minga, Altin Haxhi, Andi Lila.</span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span>-- Previously, I did an all-time team for <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/11/southeast-europe-turkey-greece-and.html">Southeast Europe</a> (Balkan</span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><b> </b>Peninsula), excluding the former republics of <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/former-republics-of-yugoslavia.html">Yugoslavia</a>, <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/romania.html">Romania</a> and <a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/bulgaria.html">Bulgaria</a>. When I did a review of the team in 2021, I did not like some of the selections on that team. Instead of redoing that team, I created this Albania All-Time. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Before the 1990's, Albania was a closed country. It was hard to research their players before that. I have looked into the eras during and before the War when Albania became Italy's sphere of influence under Benito Mussolini. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This historical period saw the emergence of notable Albanian football players such as Naim Kryeziu, Riza Lushta, and Loro Boriçi, who gained prominence while playing in Italy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Panajot Pano was selected as the best Albanian footballer of all time by the Albanian Football Federation for the UEFA Jubilee award.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span> Lorik Cana, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Naim Kryeziu</span><span>, </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Riza Lushta</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"> and Loro Boriçi were also considered their greatest players.</span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Albania won the Balkan Cup in 1946. I selected three players from that team: Sllave Llambi, Loro Boriçi and Muhamet Dibra. Qamil Teliti was on honorable mention.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- The Euro 2016 Finals was Albania's first time ever qualifying for a major tournament. Etrit Berisha, Lorik Cana, Ansi Agolli and Elseid Hysaj made this team. All of whom were defensive players. Berat Djimsiti was not selected for the Finals in France, but he played in the Qualifiers.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Albania diaspora has done well in football, but I am only selected players who played for the national team of Albania or uncapped players of Albanian ancestry who might be eligible for Albania under a different circumstance.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was estimated that 88% of Kosovo's population are of Albanian ethnicity. For my all-time teams of the former all republics of Yugoslavia, I included players who played for Yugoslavia. However, Albania is not a former republic of Yugoslavia. So </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I put Kosovo Albanians on this </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-former-yugoslavia-without-croatia.html" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">North Macedonia/Montenegro/Kosovo</a></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> All-Time Team. At the time of writing, I am working on an All-Time team of Kosovo.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- During the World War Two, Kosovo became a part of Italian-controlled Kingdom of Albania. I understand that the World War Two era and its impact on Kosovo can be a sensitive and controversial topic. As a result, it's best to refrain from using that period as a reason for their inclusion in the team. The war has been a subject of controversy when considering the composition of many all-time teams.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- However to avoid controversy, I am including both Naim Kryeziu and Riza Lushta. Excluding them would be treachery to the people of Albania. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> It is important to note that both players were born in what is now modern-day Kosovo and are of Albanian ethnicity. Not having represented any national team in international matches, they were eligible to play for Albania. There were even rumors suggesting that Lushta had played unofficial games for them. Furthermore, their inclusion in the commemorative stamps issued by Albania in 2002 served as an official recognition of their status as Albanians. Considering these factors, it is only fitting that I select them for the team.</span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>Goalkeepers</u></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Foto Strakosha was at on point Albanian's most ever capped player having 73 caps from 1990 to 2005.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Both Thomas Strakosha and Etrit Berisha were teammates in Lazio. </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is worth mentioning that Berisha, in fact, started ahead of Strakosha during their time at Lazio. I still opted for Etrit Berisha due to his status as Albania's second all-time cap leader among goalkeepers. It is notable that Foto Strakosha, Thomas's father, holds a slight edge with five more caps than Berisha.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The last goalkeeping spot was between </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Qemal Vogli</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> and </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Perlat Musta. I took Musta because Vogli only played a few times for Albania. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- Arjan Beqaj, Isli Hidi<span style="font-family: times;"> </span><span style="font-family: times;">and Blendi Nallbani also came up during my research.</span></span> They made honorable mention.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- I also found out about Qemal Vogli. He was the youngest goalkeeper ever to play for Albania. His career, however, was cut short by political issues. I put him on honorable mention.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">-- Fahrudin Jusufi was a Gorani born in Dragas, Kosovo. I do not know much about the Gorani people and their connection to the Albanian ethnicity. I never saw his name on any of my research regarding "Albanian footballers". Since he was born in Kosovo, I also included him on my North Macedonia/Montenegro/Kosovo All-Time Team. However, he played for Yugoslavia, which made him ineligible for this team. I only selected uncapped player of Albanian ancestry. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Albania qualified for the Euro 2016 Finals conceding only 5 goals in the qualifying rounds. I already took goalkeeper Etrit Berisha. Lorik Cana, widely regarded as Albania's greatest player, rightfully earns his place here, due to his record for the beingv the most capped Albanian footballer. Then, I took their pair of fullbacks Ansi Agolli and </span><span style="font-size: large;">Elseid Hysaj. Hysaj probably has the best club career outside Albania after Lorik Cana in the modern era. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Br5akPxwCoA/YTosyWywIlI/AAAAAAAAL5U/Ll623--CuzUjm2mtgn3Rcrt5TUovmfppgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1060/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-09%2Bat%2B11.47.44%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1048" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Br5akPxwCoA/YTosyWywIlI/AAAAAAAAL5U/Ll623--CuzUjm2mtgn3Rcrt5TUovmfppgCLcBGAsYHQ/w395-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-09%2Bat%2B11.47.44%2Bpm.png" width="395" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ansi Agolli</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- Muhamet Dibra supposed to be a key player during the 1946 Balkan Cup. He started out as right midfield, but played as rightback. He finally switched to central defender late in his career. So I did not have space for </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Hysen Zmijani after selecting Dibra and Hysaj.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Zmijani's name was frequently mentioned.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">-- Geri Cipi was a well-known central defender during his prime.</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Rudi Vata deflected to the West, becoming one of the first Albanian footballers to play overseas. His name gained greater recognition on the global stage due to his extensive experience playing club football in Western Europe. Vata's international contributions were equally noteworthy, as he captained the national team on 21 occasions out of his 59 caps.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- And then, I selected Berat Djimsiti who established himself as a starter in Atalanta, which constantly finished on top of Serie A table in the last few years. Albanian footballers seldom made it in a bigger club from one of the top five leagues in Europe. He was born in Switzerland, but chose to play for Albania.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- DM Altin Lala has over 70 caps for Albania, which was at one point a record. He is the second most capped player for Albania. His versatility across multiple positions added to his value as a player. Given that this team badly needed a defensive midfielder, he emerges as a solid candidate for the team. Please do not confuse him with Andi Lila who also earned 70 caps. Andi Lila made honorable mention.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCfTPuxBBrdNBsL8sInCcHqDURjPJdXhOP2FYBfUlFpzRpCDvfxvGOWO8XSarNKxxzqasc8IJ4aN5dmQtAFFJ9yPu_5Z6mM04TAQJH7KNnBzWUnKTkx0e1qO7I8QXL_rUDT0Mq685oaGfwOL5Z5Xw4pNfQ9IEThCxBzoxScwV-Inxtc8wcMu93VozO6wa/s612/c6389e770fe307d997f1a8a78fbe71e4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="408" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCfTPuxBBrdNBsL8sInCcHqDURjPJdXhOP2FYBfUlFpzRpCDvfxvGOWO8XSarNKxxzqasc8IJ4aN5dmQtAFFJ9yPu_5Z6mM04TAQJH7KNnBzWUnKTkx0e1qO7I8QXL_rUDT0Mq685oaGfwOL5Z5Xw4pNfQ9IEThCxBzoxScwV-Inxtc8wcMu93VozO6wa/w266-h400/c6389e770fe307d997f1a8a78fbe71e4.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Altin Lala</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Sllave Llambi played at a time when many Albanians played in Italy and Albania was under Italy's sphere of influence. He won the Serie A with Bologna in the season 1940-1941 becoming the first Albanian to win a trophy outside Albania, but he never played a game for the club. In fact, there was no record of him ever played a game in Italy. However, he was a key player as Albania won the 1946 Balkan Cup. He briefly served as the player-coach of the national team in 1949 and he was one of the few player-coaches of any national team in history (Johnny Giles was also a player-coach of Ireland between 1973 and 1980). Thus, I believed that he was a well-respected player in Albania. My team also badly needed a central midfielder and he fit the bill.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">-- I also don't know much about Ramazan Rragami, but his name was mentioned many times in a Facebook message group for Albanian fans. He was a star of the 1970's. I selected him based upon that.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">-- I also came across Sabah Bizi, Lin Shllaku and Besnik Hasi. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">I needed more midfielders, but I put them on honorable mention. </span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Due to the circumstance</span><span style="font-family: times;"> of his death, Riza Haxhiu received legendary status in Albania. Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu Stadium in Lushnja was named after him. I do not know about his playing style. I left him on honorable mention only.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- AM/CM Sulejman Demollari was voted as Albania's greatest player by Albiansport. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Attack midfielder Ervin Skela's name was mentioned in all of the list of the greatest Albanian players. So I left off </span><span style="font-family: times;">Ali Mema, </span><span style="font-family: times;">Klodian Duro, Elis Bakaj and Fatmir Vata for them.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- LW </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Xhevat Prekazi, originally from Kosovo, faced challenges regarding his eligibility as he had not been capped at the senior level for Yugoslavia. Despite being Albanian, his status remained uncertain. While Naim Kryeziu, also born in Kosovo, was selected, the distinguishing factor was that Kryeziu was frequently regarded as one of Albania's greatest players. Ultimately, I decided not to include Prekazi in the team, as my preference leaned towards other players who had achieved legendary status in Albania. Nevertheless, it is worth acknowledging Prekazi's remarkable career in Turkey, which undoubtedly left a lasting impression.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- A</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">s previously mentioned, Panajot Pano is widely regarded as one of Albania's greatest footballers. Moving on to the forward positions, both Loro Boriçi and Riza Lushta were undisputed choices. Their contributions to Albanian football were so significant that they were honored with commemorative stamps in 2002, which is a testament to their impact. Additionally, there were rumors circulating about Riza Lushta having played for Albania unofficially.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Refik Resmja is considered the greatest goal scorer in the Albanian league. He scored 184 goals in just 130 league matches which made him the all-time top scorer of Albanian Superliga at the time of his retirement.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- According Italy's "Guerin Sportivo"magazine, Ilir Përnaska was ranked 6th greatest goal scorer in Europe. They based their study on statistics. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Erjon Bogdani is Albania's all-time leading scorer, but I did not have a spot for him. Bogdani along with Riza Haxhiu, Ilir Shulku, Mërgim Mavraj, Igli Tare and Qamil Teliti are the bigger names missing on this team. Instead, I took Sokol Kushta who was an icon in the 1980's. He was one of the first Albanians allowed to play aboard.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdp5gIi4K0sLMJla-q-1YjwRrAC4D7hTEXFvYf-r_0Re9dRty27AZ8HnWm43QeWimsdOCNmyQJKaF-6y2stCxzAs_JZrp8npCPdpH08AdxCJRMNRwC65LUsAPfPbLnjuixg5FrYtbV6STNDgtHjUBvFJEYj1bmoyZ_VZklzzijb9j7sDkcgjRqsz141Cz/s731/119732388_3434330583293474_6861969798100737775_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdp5gIi4K0sLMJla-q-1YjwRrAC4D7hTEXFvYf-r_0Re9dRty27AZ8HnWm43QeWimsdOCNmyQJKaF-6y2stCxzAs_JZrp8npCPdpH08AdxCJRMNRwC65LUsAPfPbLnjuixg5FrYtbV6STNDgtHjUBvFJEYj1bmoyZ_VZklzzijb9j7sDkcgjRqsz141Cz/w383-h400/119732388_3434330583293474_6861969798100737775_n.jpg" width="383" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sokol Kushta</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/09/1862393_Albania.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/09/1862393_Albania.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /></b></span></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-43923899889457931952021-08-26T22:03:00.004-07:002022-05-19T19:14:03.472-07:00PAOK All-Time Greatest Team<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lJy4IWavxII/YR4whGrdHpI/AAAAAAAAL2U/8vDB5ZPqF1sZwOgx90GHAmZohHwX7Q43gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1000/paok33-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="1000" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lJy4IWavxII/YR4whGrdHpI/AAAAAAAAL2U/8vDB5ZPqF1sZwOgx90GHAmZohHwX7Q43gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h260/paok33-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2019-2018 undefeated in the Super Greek League</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/southeast-europe-turkey-greece-and.html">The rest of Southeast Euorpe(Greece, Turkey and Albania)</a></span></span></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/12/greece.html">Greece All-Time Team</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/07/olympiacos.html">Olympiacos</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/07/panathinaikos.html">Panathinaikos</a></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/08/three-straight-league-titles-1991-1994.html">AEK Athens</a></div><div><br /></div></div><div>PAOK Thessaloniki or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional football club based in Thessaloniki, Macedonia. PAOK are one of the top domestic clubs, the most widely supported in Northern Greece and with the 3rd largest fanbase in the country, according to the latest polls and researches. A research by Marca in August 2018, reported that PAOK are the most popular Greek football team on social media.</div><div><br /></div><div>Established on 20 April 1926 by Greek refugees who fled to Thessaloniki from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), they play their home games at Toumba Stadium, a 29,000 seating capacity football ground. Their name, along with the club's emblem, the Byzantine-style double-headed eagle with retracted wings, honours the memory of the people and places (mostly from the city of Constantinople) that once belonged to the Byzantine Empire.</div><div><br /></div><div>PAOK currently plays in the top-flight Super League, which they have won three times (in 1976, 1985 and 2019).</div><div><br /></div><div>The city of Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon and was named after his wife Thessalonike, daughter of Philip II of Macedon and sister of Alexander the Great. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QbuYadjQzoU/YR4w4zDoPII/AAAAAAAAL2c/aH85rPreH0oY0uDglqB9p_ea-ZarYAJdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1450/f15.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="1450" height="376" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QbuYadjQzoU/YR4w4zDoPII/AAAAAAAAL2c/aH85rPreH0oY0uDglqB9p_ea-ZarYAJdgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h376/f15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1976 League Champion</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><b><u>Team</u></b></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mladen_Furtula">Mladen Furtula </a>(Yugoslavia)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">After playing with FK Sutjeska Foča in his youth career, Mladen Furtula played for Belgrade's FK Partizan from 1969 to 1974. In 1974, he came to Greece to play for Panserraikos. After a season, he mobved to PAOK where he played from 1975 until 1984. In 1976, he helped PAOK win their first Alpha Ethniki championship. He was considered the greatest ever goalkeeper for PAOK.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandros_Paschalakis">Alexandros Paschalakis</a> (Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">From 2006 to 2017, Alexandros Paschalakis played with Levadiakos, PAEEK, Panthrakikos and PAS Giannina withouts successes. In 2017, he joined PAOK. With PAOK, he led the team to win the League/Cup Double in the 2018-2019 season while remained undefeated in the league. He holds PAOK's record for most consecutive minutes without conceding, with 971. In 2019, he received his first callup for the national team. Since 2019, he played 3 times for Greece.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BQtWHJGy8-0/YSeTjzvw7uI/AAAAAAAAL3U/0oSZ9zyz_Xw4xD8NsUWtZpjX2_12FKKwACLcBGAsYHQ/s439/505465_med_benfica_x_paok_liga_dos_campeoes_qual_2018_19_play_off_1_mao.jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="439" height="268" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BQtWHJGy8-0/YSeTjzvw7uI/AAAAAAAAL3U/0oSZ9zyz_Xw4xD8NsUWtZpjX2_12FKKwACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h268/505465_med_benfica_x_paok_liga_dos_campeoes_qual_2018_19_play_off_1_mao.jpg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Alexandros Paschalakis</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">GK: </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostas_Chalkias">Kostas Chalkias</a><span> (Greece)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Chalkias started his career in the Panathinaikos. He played for many clubs, including overseas stints with Portsmouth in England and Real Murcia in Spain. He was played for three major clubs of Thessaloniki (Iraklis, Aris, PAOK) His longest stint in Greece was with PAOK between 2008 and 2012. He was also capped 32 times by the Greece national team, with whom he won Euro 2004. He also was selected at the next two European Championships and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giannis_Gounaris">Giannis Gounaris </a>(Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">From 1972 to 1982, Gounaris played for PAOK, where they won their league title in 1976. His partnership with left fullback Kostas Iosifidis became formidable not only for PAOK, but for the Greek National team as well. Then, he played for Olympiacos between 1982 and 1985. He retired at Makedonikos F.C. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He earned 27 caps for Greece, and participated in Euro 1980.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>RB/LB/LW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieirinha">Vieirinha </a>(Portugal)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><div>Vieirinha started playing for Porto, but spent most of his professional career with PAOK and Wolfsburg. With the second club, for whom he appeared in over 200 competitive matches, he won the 2018–19 Super League Greece and three Greek Cups. He was Greek Foreign Player of the Year twice. He was capped 25 times. He was part of the squads at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016, winning the latter tournament.</div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Varela_(Cape_Verdean_footballer)">Fernando Varela</a> (Cape Verde)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Varela started playing with G.D. Estoril Praia in the Segunda Liga. he played for many clubs, including a stunt in Romania. He finally made a name with PAOK in Greece. He joined the club in 2016. He led them to win the Double in 2019 with an undefeated record in the league. Born in Portugal, opted to represent Cape Verde internationally in 2008. Since then, he has played over 45 times for them. He went to two African Nations' Cup Finals.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXKOLuJ1ypE/YR_QAHlBi7I/AAAAAAAAL2k/FVRALnlMn_Ml2mZXDW7r1N5-dTlgEwdHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s840/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-20%2Bat%2B11.53.12%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="580" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXKOLuJ1ypE/YR_QAHlBi7I/AAAAAAAAL2k/FVRALnlMn_Ml2mZXDW7r1N5-dTlgEwdHQCLcBGAsYHQ/w276-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-20%2Bat%2B11.53.12%2Bpm.png" width="276" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Fernando Varela</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><div>CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_%C3%81ngel_Crespo">Jose Angel Crespo</a> (Spain)</div><div>Jose Angel Crespo began with Sevilla. He then played across Europe, including overseas stints with Aston Villa, Padua and Bologna. In 2016, he joined PAOK in Greece. He formed a successful partnership with Fernando Varela. They won the Double in the 2018-2019 season. For Spain, he won the Under-19 European Championship in 2006. He had represented them up until the Under-21 level.</div><div><br /></div><div>CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Contreras">Pablo Contreras</a> (Chile)</div><div>Pablo Contreras started with Colo-Colo before he moved to Monaco. Then, he played for Osasuna, Sporting CP, Celta, Braga, etc before he settled down with PAOK whom he played from 2008 to 2012. He played a season with Olympiacos and Melbourne Victory before he retired in 2014. He played 67 times for Chile between 1999 and 2016. He was the second captain at the 2006 World Cup Finals in South Africa.</div><div><br /></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristarchos_Fountoukidis">Aristarchos Fountoukidis</a> (Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Fountoukidis started his career with his hometown team Aris Panteleimon. In 1960, he switched to Apollon Kalamarias. He was transferred to the Toumba Youth Educational Association (MENT) in 1963. who played in the Second National. In 1966, he transferred to PAOK, where he stayed for 12 years and scored 336 appearances and 18 goals, and retired from active action at the age of 36, having won a Championship and two Cups. .</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kuESOe_f2qY/YR_RibONKdI/AAAAAAAAL2s/6sIwEyj3FjMfKRqpeTPqaRrqHvcMOjl9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/36739456_1586423041483723_6131022968446255104_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="600" height="279" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kuESOe_f2qY/YR_RibONKdI/AAAAAAAAL2s/6sIwEyj3FjMfKRqpeTPqaRrqHvcMOjl9wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h279/36739456_1586423041483723_6131022968446255104_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Aristarchos Fountoukidis</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">LB: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantinos_Iosifidis" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Konstantinos Iosifidis</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> (Greece)</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Konstantinos Iosifidis</span></span></span></span> spent his entire career with a single club. He is the only player in PAOK FC history that has won 4 titles, being part of the squad that won 2 cups in 1972 and 1974, and the 1976 and 1985 Greek league, being also captain in the latter. From 1984 to 1982, he earned 51 caps for Greece. </span><span style="font-size: large;">He participated in UEFA European Championship in 1980.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">DM: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodoros_Zagorakis" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Theodoros Zagorakis</a><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"> (Greece)</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Theodoros Zagorakis</span></span> was the captain of the Greek national team that won the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship and he won Player of the Tournament. He was at one point Greece all-time cap leader with 120 caps between 1994 and 2007. Professionally, he played for POAK and AEK Athens in Greece. He also had brief stints in England with Leicester City and in Italy with Bologna. He was elected as a Greek MEP at the May 2014 European Parliament election.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM: <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=https://athlitikoskosmos.gr/2021/05/17/giannis-damanakis-amyntiko-chaf-me-treximata-alla-kai-me-dimiourgia-paichnidiou/&prev=search&pto=aue">Ioannis Damanakis</a> (Greece)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ioannis Damanakis started his career at Chania, and after 6 years he was transferred to PAOK FC in 1976. He played 9 years and 242 league games for PAOK, winning the Alpha Ethniki championship in 1985. He also played for Makedonikos. He earned 24 caps between 1977 and 1983, and scored 1 goal for the Greece national football team, and participated in UEFA Euro 1980.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christos_Terzanidis">Christos Terzanidis</a> (Greece)</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>Born in Melissokomeio in Kavala, Terzanidis played for PAOK F.C. and Panathinaikos F.C.. He was a significant member of the PAOK wonder-team during the seventies. He won three major titles with PAOK scoring a total of 20 goals, then moved to Panathinaikos before he finally closed his career in Makedonikos F.C.. He earned 27 caps and scored 1 goal for the Greece national football team, and participated in UEFA Euro 1980.</div></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span></span></span></span></div></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">UT: </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgos_Skartados">Giorgos Skartados</a> (Greece)</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Giorgos Skartados started his career at local club Rodos F.C.. In 1982, he joined PAOK and played mainly as a midfielder for 256 league games and scored 84 goals, including the national championship in 1985. He was capable to play as a defender and an attacker. In 1992, he moved to Iraklis, and then in 1995 he moved to Olympiacos F.C., where he won another title. He was capped 26 times between 1983 and 1992. He was a member of PAOK Hall of Flame.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DvewnD9iRlc/YSA6TlBsz7I/AAAAAAAAL28/AbyApXkUdwg6e9wtQ-_hBNyYiwoTSfjSACLcBGAsYHQ/s1440/bws_Skartados-Detari-Tsalouxisdis_L.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1440" height="249" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DvewnD9iRlc/YSA6TlBsz7I/AAAAAAAAL28/AbyApXkUdwg6e9wtQ-_hBNyYiwoTSfjSACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h249/bws_Skartados-Detari-Tsalouxisdis_L.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Giorgos Skartados</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">RM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgos_Toursounidis">Giorgos Toursounidis</a> (Greece)</div></div><div style="text-align: left;">Toursounidis made 263 league appearances for PAOK, scoring 35 goals, and became a fan favorite due to his work ethic and obsession with the club. He left PAOK in 1999, spending two seasons at Skoda Xanthi. In 2002, he returned to PAOK and retired after the end of the season. He was influential in the Greek national side's progression to the 1994 World Cup, but he had 24 caps.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>LW: <a href="Christos Terzanidis">Leandros Symeonidis</a> (Greece)</div><div>Nicknamed"Black Arrow" for his speed, Symeonidis started from the academies of PAOK, and in 1954 he was promoted to the first team. He was also the a key player from 1958 until the end of his career in 1969 . In total, he played for PAOK in 323 official matches and scored 67 goals. He was a one club player and normally wore number 7. He had represented both the Greek National Armed team as well as 6 times for the Greek national team. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aNWHKSU97ks/YSWk0Stw3tI/AAAAAAAAL3M/Ny_7I4fMVesZR88w5hbhWMie2j3XCljcACLcBGAsYHQ/s700/simeonidis_inblog.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="700" height="269" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aNWHKSU97ks/YSWk0Stw3tI/AAAAAAAAL3M/Ny_7I4fMVesZR88w5hbhWMie2j3XCljcACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h269/simeonidis_inblog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Leandros Symeonidis </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>LW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitris_Paridis">Dimitris Paridis</a> (Greece)</div><div><div>Paridis first started playing football for Keravnos Agios Andreas. In 1961, he debuted for AEK Kavala which later merged with other teams in that city to form Kavala. He transferred to PAOK in 1968. He played with PAOK at 183 championship games scoring 49 goals. With PAOK he was won 2 Greek Cups (1972, 1974) and 1 Greek Championship (1976). He ended his career in 1977. He was capped 6 times by Greece.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>AM/LW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Biseswar">Diego Biseswar </a>(Suriname)</div><div>In 2005, Biseswar made his debut with Feyenoord, where he played until 2012 with some loan spells in between. Then, he played for Kayserispor from 2012 to 2016. He joined PAOK in 2006. With PAOK, he led the team to win the League/Cup Double in the 2018-2019 season. Biseswar has played for the Netherlands at the youth level. On 2021, he switched to play for Suriname.</div><div><br /></div><div>AM/FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stavros_Sarafis">Stavros Sarafis</a> (Greece)</div><div> joined PAOK in 1967, and remained with the club for 14 years retiring in 1981. He was a prolific goalscorer, netting 136 goals in 358 league matches with PAOK. He also scored 26 goals in the Greek Cup and 8 in UEFA competitions, for 170 goals in total. His partnership with the legendary Giorgos Koudas was one of the most prolific attacking duos in Greek football during the 1970s, winning one league championship and two cups. </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgos_Koudas">Giorgos Koudas</a></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span><span> (Greece)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Giorgos Koudas began his career with PAOK where he played his entire career, making 504 appearances in the Alpha Ethniki from 1963 to 1984. He was nicknamed "Alexander the Great" and a legend for PAOK fans. He was probably their greatest ever player. He had 43 caps between 1967 and 1982. He captained the Greek national team at Euro 1980 held in Italy. The tournament was Greece's first ever international tournament.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vpv4Pm5S0vY/YR_TX7mHWuI/AAAAAAAAL20/DXXOJYNfb04fwO6uC8zGVGPHFS087vDQACLcBGAsYHQ/s700/koudas_inblog_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="700" height="269" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vpv4Pm5S0vY/YR_TX7mHWuI/AAAAAAAAL20/DXXOJYNfb04fwO6uC8zGVGPHFS087vDQACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h269/koudas_inblog_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>Giorgos Koudas</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgios_Kostikos">Georgios Kostikos</a> (Greece)</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kostikos began playing football with Pierikos in 1975, and two years later he was acquired by PAOK. He played for PAOK from 1977 to 1986, before finishing his career with Olympiacos and Diagoras. He won the 1985 Greek league title with PAOK. He</span></span></span> made 35 appearances and scored three goals for Greece from 1977 to 1984. He also participated in UEFA Euro 1980.
</div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div><div>ST:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitris_Salpingidis"> Dimitrios Salpingidis</a> (Greece)</div><div>Excluding loans, Salpingidis has spent his entire professional career
playing for PAOK and Panathinaikos. He has spent a total of 8 seasons playing for PAOK, scoring over 85 goals, at the beginning and
end of his career. In between he played for Panathinaikos where he
scored 46 goals over 4 seasons. From 2005 to 2014, he was capped 82 times for Greece. He went to two World Cup Finals.<br /></div><div> </div><div>ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koulis_Apostolidis">Koulis Apostolidis</a></div><div>Koulis Apostolidis attended University of San Francisco where he played on men's soccer team from 1964 to 1967. He then played for Vancouver Royals and Dallas Tornado in the NASL. He was NASL top scorer in 1970. He played for PAOK from 1971 to 1979, where he played as a youth player. He was a star player for their great team in the 1970's. He earned six caps with the Greek national team between 1972 and 1976.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mwcjjq6Celo/YSBzi7oe-dI/AAAAAAAAL3E/drnYCM9vdYAsWYqRpQvYifBS7fDzVni_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s243/download%2B%25281%2529.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="207" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mwcjjq6Celo/YSBzi7oe-dI/AAAAAAAAL3E/drnYCM9vdYAsWYqRpQvYifBS7fDzVni_QCLcBGAsYHQ/w341-h400/download%2B%25281%2529.jpeg" width="341" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span>Koulis Apostolidis</span></span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"></span><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><u><b><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Honorable mention</span></span></span></span></span></span></b></u></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Giannis Stefas (Greece), Panagiotis Glykos (Greece), Rene Deck (Switzerland), </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nikos Sotiriadis (Greece), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large; line-height: normal;">Nikolaos Michopoulos (Greece), </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Giannis Gitsioudis (Greece), </span><span style="font-family: times;">Kostas Chalkias (Greece), </span><span style="font-family: times;">Giannis Stefas (Greece), </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Léo Matos (Brazil), Lino (Brazil), Nikos Alavantas (Greece), Nikos Sotiriadis (Greece), Yevhen Shakhov (Greece), Dimitris Pelkas (Greece), Aleksandar Prijović (Serbia), Chuba Akpom (England), Neto Guerino (Brazil), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Giannis Mantzourakis (Greece), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Achilleas Aslanidis (Greece), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Giorgos Georgiadis (Greece), Stefanos Borbokis (Greece), Christos Dimopoulos (Greece), Pablo Garcia (Uruguay), Angelos Anastasiadis (Greece), Pantelis Kafes (Greece), Pablio Contreas (Chile), Ioannis Okkas (Cyprus), Kostas Frantzeskos (Greece).</span></span></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The Hall of Flame of PAOK included the following players: Giorgos Koudas, Konstantinos Iosifidis, Stavros Sarafis, Dimitrios Salpingidis, Giannis Gounaris, Kyriakos Apostolidis, Giorgos Toursounidis, Giorgos Skartados and Leandros Symeonidis. All of them were included onto this team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Giorgos Koudas, Stavros Sarafis and Konstantinos Iosifidis were considered their greatest ever players. Fernando Varela is getting to be on the list. Stavros Sarafis is their all-time leading scorer. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Paok won their first league title in 1976. They also took two Greek Cups in 1972 and 1973. Mladen Furtula, Giorgos Koudas, Stavros Sarafis, Christos Terzanidis, Dimitris Paridis, Giannis Gounaris and Aristarchos Fountoukidis.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- In 1985, PAOK took their second league title. It was a surprised result as Giorges Koudas retired the season before. The pre-season expectation was very low. Georgios Kostikos, Giorgos Skartados, Konstantinos Iosifidis and Ioannis Damanakis.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The 2018-2019 season was their greatest ever. They won the Super League title with an undefeated record. They were only the second team in Greece to go through an entire season without losing. On top of that, they also won the Greek Cup. It was their third consecutive Greek Cups. The team was noted for its defence. So I took goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis, Fernando Varela, Vieirinha and Jose Crespo made this team. All of whom were defenders, but Vieirinha was also used as an attacker. And then, I added attack midfielder Diego Biseswar (Suriname). I put Chuba Akpom and Aleksandar Prijović on honorable mention. This team is definitely under represented. I have selected more older players who were PAOK Hall of Flamers, but the contemporary players might make it to the Hall of Flame one day in time and this team will be changed.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- With the exception of Mladen Furtula, most of PAOK goalkeepers could not maintain their starting job for long or did not last long over here. So he was the only undisputed choice. Alexandros Paschalakis was the main season why PAOK went undefeated in the 2018-2019 season. His performance was unseen in the history of the club. He also lost his starting position after that season. However, his form that single season was beyond anyone who had played goalkeeper here and it was PAOK's greatest ever season. So he took the second spot.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The third goalkeeper was difficult to choose. Nikos Sotiriadis was the first PAOK player who played for Greece. Rene Deck of Switzerland was one of the two first foreign players for the club. Panagiotis Glykos spent many seasons here, but not always as a starter. He was the starting goalkeeper before Paschalakis. Giannis Stefas was often mentioned. In the end, I took Kostas Chalkias who played more times for Greece than any player mentioned.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The fullback position was easier to select. Konstantinos Iosifidis, Giannis Gounaris and Vieirinha were among the greatest players ever for the club. Vieirinha played as a rightback before he joined PAOK, but he also operated as a left back and left wing over here. Then, I took Hall of Flamer Giorgos Skartados who had the difficult task of succeeding Gounaris as the rightback at the club. He was an utility player who played many positions. Leo Mateos, Nikos Alavantas and Lino were left off.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Fernando Varela and Jose Crespo were responsible for the undefeated season in the 2018-2019 season. Aristarchos Fountoukidis' name was mentioned frequently throughout my research. He won PAOK Player of the Season three times. He was also 5th in appearance record. The last central defender was hard to choose. PAOK released an official team of the decade for 2010's. Georgios Tzavellas was not on the team while both Jose Crespo and Pablio Contreas made the team. So I ruled out Tzavellas. Filotas Pellios was an one club man, but I opted for the more modern Contreas.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Giorgos
Skartados started as a rightback, but he had played everywhere including as a forward. He even
finished as the club's top scorer chart in 6 seasons. He was an utility
player.</span></span> <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">--Theodoros Zagorakis was one of the greatest footballer from Greece. The other central midfield option seemed less undisputed than other position. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Giorgos Toursounidis belonged to their Hall of Flame. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">The other candidates seemed about the same. The information I obtained did not really separate them.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">-- </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Ioannis Damanakis </span></span></span></span></span></span>played
with PAOK for 9 whole years, while he was also a key player in the 1984-85 season, in which Paok was crowned champion for the second
time in its history. He was capped 24 times as a PAOK player. Christos Terzanidis also earned 17 caps. I took the pair over Pablo Garcia, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Angelos Anastasiadis and </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Pantelis Kafes. Kafes played 40 times for Greece, but only 15 caps as a PAOK player.</span> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div>-- I already have Stavros Sarafis and Giorgos Koudas, but I still selected <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Diego Biseswar. Biseswar was a key player during their undefeated and Double year in 2019. He edged out Giorgos Georgiadis (Greece) because he was on PAOK Team of the Decade.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Giorgos Koudas was considered their greatest ever player. He briefly joined Olympiacos for two seasons, but never played for them due to legal issue. He rejoined POAK in 1968. Fueled by this incident, Olympiacos–PAOK rivalry is considered nowadays the fiercest intercity football rivalry in Greece.</span></div></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Leandros Symeonidis was nicknamed "Black Arrow" for his speed. His nephew is </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Efthymis Koulouris. Koulouris also played for PAOK. He was out on loan for the 2018-2019 season, where he finished as the top scorer in Super Greek League playing for Atromitos. Since 2018, he has capped for the national team.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div>-- The side attack would be strong. Besides Symeonidis, Dimitris Paridis and Giorgos Georgiadis were well-known wingers at their time. Vieirinha also sometimes played as a winger here. My two fullback Konstantinos Iosifidis and Giannis Gounaris were known for their wing attacks. They formed one of the best wing attack in Greek football during the 1970's.</div><div>-- I do not know the actual position of Dimitris Paridis (Greece). He was listed as a left winger.</div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- At the time of writing, Dimitris Pelkas is still a rising star. he was considered the new hope of Greek football. I put him on honorable mention.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Kostas Frantzeskos in his prime was one of the best freekick artistis in Europe. I only put him on honorable mention.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">-- Aleksandar Prijović was the star striker of the 2018-2019 season, but I went for older players whose legacy here was well-known. I also did not have space for </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Neto Guerino (Brazil) who was the first foreign player ever signed for PAOK. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I tried to start as many Hall of Flamers as possible. Giorgos Skartados had played many positions before. I put him on one of the midfield slots. He started over Theodoros Zagorakis. </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Vieirinha should start as the rightback or the left winger. He had played in those position over here. He is becoming one of PAOK greatest players, but I started with two Hall of Flamers in his two positions.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/08/1859359_AS_PAOK_Salonika.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" height="513" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/08/1859359_AS_PAOK_Salonika.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-77742775580080603022021-08-12T16:59:00.014-07:002022-08-02T02:37:44.262-07:00AEK Athens Greatest All-Time Team<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zeJkOmDoWao/YQ_SWFR64YI/AAAAAAAALzk/5a5SndTvV24wVQHx8jTQ6PAKxSarnHR4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/e7ee6859dee5caa66113cc0022a5a587_392783.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="1024" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zeJkOmDoWao/YQ_SWFR64YI/AAAAAAAALzk/5a5SndTvV24wVQHx8jTQ6PAKxSarnHR4gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h265/e7ee6859dee5caa66113cc0022a5a587_392783.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Three Straight League titles 1991-1994.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/southeast-europe-turkey-greece-and.html">The rest of Southeast Euorpe(Greece, Turkey and Albania)</a></span></span></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/12/greece.html">Greece All-Time Team</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/07/olympiacos.html">Olympiacos</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/07/panathinaikos.html">Panathinaikos</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/08/paok.html">PAOK </a><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for AEK Athens </span><span style="font-family: times;">Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως</span><span style="font-family: times;">. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.</span><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople after the 1919–22 Greco-Turkish war and the subsequent population exchange between Greece and Turkey, it is one of the three most successful clubs in Greece. While it fields teams in many sports under the umbrella of its amateur sports arm, Amateur AEK (Greek: Ερασιτεχνική ΑΕΚ; Erasitechnikί AEK) with A.E.K. Handball team to be the best greek hanball club in European achievements having obtained one EHF European Cup (in 2021) and having also reached to the finals (in 2018) and to the semi-finals (in 2019), AEK sports club is best known for its professional football team which have made some notable wins on European competitions (participating at the Semi-final of Europa League in 1977), having also obtained 12 Greek Championships, 15 Greek Cups, 1 Greek League Cup, 3 Greek Super Cups) and also for the professional basketball team which has won the Greek Basket League eight times, the Greek Basket Cup five times, the FIBA Saporta Cup twice, once the FIBA Basketball Champions League and once the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iRWA2rCpMzg/YQ_VfisVh3I/AAAAAAAALzs/HTXpu5t7xykyonsU8zEO-Yck08eFtNJDACLcBGAsYHQ/s520/520px-Coppa_UEFA_1976-77_-_Torino_-_Juventus_vs_AEK.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="520" height="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iRWA2rCpMzg/YQ_VfisVh3I/AAAAAAAALzs/HTXpu5t7xykyonsU8zEO-Yck08eFtNJDACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h299/520px-Coppa_UEFA_1976-77_-_Torino_-_Juventus_vs_AEK.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">UEFA Semi-Final in 1977</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Team</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stelios_Serafidis">Stelios Serafeidis </a>(Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Stelios Serafidis was one club man with AEK Athens, where he played from 1953 to 1972. He made 300 appearances in all competitions and many titles and distinctions. Serafidis was a permanent member of the national team, but he only made 1 cap because he was the back up keeper to Savvas Theodoridis and Takis Ikonomopoulos during his prime.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilias_Atmatsidis">Ilias Atmatsidis</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Atmatsidis played most of his career for AEK Athens.
He played with AEK as a starter achieving 251 apps in 10 years. He was their starting goalkeeper in the Golden era of the 1990's. He also spent the last three years in PAOK Thessaloniki.</span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Having debuted for the Greek national team in 1994 he played 47 matches, and was a participant at the 1994 World Cup, playing as starting goalkeeper in a 0–4 loss against Bulgaria. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyros_Ikonomopoulos">Spyros Economopoulos</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">At 18, Spyros joined AEK Athens.</span><span class="Y2IQFc" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> He played 19 consecutive seasons for the club, 17 of which until December 1977</span><span style="font-size: large;">. His heroic performance helped AEK to win their first title after 10 years. The fans gave him the nickname "Mr. Championship 1989". He played 12 times for Greece between 1984 and 1989. He made his debut in 1984 against East Germany.<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Y2IQFc" lang="en"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassilios_Borbokis">Vassilios Borbokis</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Borbokis e started his career at Apollon Kalamarias, in which he played from 1987 to 1993, when he was transferred to AEK Athens, where played until 1997 celebrating a championship, two cups and a Super Cup. He later played for Sheffield Wednesday and Derby in England before joining PAOK in 2000. He returned to AEK in 2002, where he finished his career. Borbokis has played twice with national team of Greece during 1998.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q5gTYIKtwsw/YRJcOYL1rEI/AAAAAAAAL04/BmbMqccWQssJu7q_WIp80yXWp7kOjDVSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-10%2Bat%2B6.59.45%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1024" height="311" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q5gTYIKtwsw/YRJcOYL1rEI/AAAAAAAAL04/BmbMqccWQssJu7q_WIp80yXWp7kOjDVSwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h311/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-10%2Bat%2B6.59.45%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Vassilios Borbokis </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>RB:DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlos_Papaioannou">Pavlos Papaioannou</a> (Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Papaioannou played in defence and in the midfield for Rodos FC (1979–1984) and AEK from 1984 until 1993. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">For his International career, he was eligible to play for Greece through his father and Brazil through his mother and place of birth. Pavlos Papaioannou was eventually capped 10 times by the National Football Team of Greece. When he made his Greek national team debut, he officially became the first Greek with a mixture of Brazilian descent to play for the country.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stelios_Manolas">Stelios Manolas</a> <span>(Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">From 1978 to 1989, Stelios Manols played for AEK Athens. He was considered one of their greatest defenders. He was one club man. He ended his career having played 447 matches in the 1st Division, ranking second in terms of appearances behind Mimis Papaioannou and twelfth in the history of the respective division. He was capped 71 times. He was a member of the team that played in the 1994 World Cups.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9B%CE%AC%CE%BA%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%9D%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AC%CE%BF%CF%85">Lakis Nikolaou </a>(Greece)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nikolaou started with Atromitos Athens, but was widely known with the AEK team , where he played from 1971 to 1982 . With AEK, he won two championships ( 1977-78 , 1978-79 ), a cup ( 1977-78 ), while he was a member of the team that reached the semifinal of the UEFA Cup in 1977. He played 15 times for Greece. He participated in the Euro 1980 held in Italy.</span></div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CB: </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Gamarra">Carlos Gamarra</a> (Paraguay)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Carlos Gamarra was widely considered a top defender in South America during his peak years. He played in Paraguay, Brazil, Greece, Italy and Portugal. He </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">is the most capped player in Paraguayan football history. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He was named as the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year in 1997 and 1998, and was also included in the 1998 World Cup Team of the Tournament. He also went to World Cup Finals in 2002 and 2006. He won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dK-BG58nGNM/YQ_jG1FN98I/AAAAAAAAL0E/DxQyLQ1STg0odNLFi9oelhL3H4OIlpJWACLcBGAsYHQ/s980/460efbe845ed930d96101dc8a3aa49f9_708589.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="980" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dK-BG58nGNM/YQ_jG1FN98I/AAAAAAAAL0E/DxQyLQ1STg0odNLFi9oelhL3H4OIlpJWACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h281/460efbe845ed930d96101dc8a3aa49f9_708589.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Carlos Gamarra </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>CB: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traianos_Dellas">Traianos Dellas</a><span> (Greece)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">Traianos Dellas impressed during Greece's victory at the European Championship in 2004, during which he became the only player to score a silver goal in an international football match. He earned the nickname </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">'the Colossus of Rhodes'. In total, he had 53 caps for the national team. In his club career, he played for many clubs, including spells in England and Italy. In Greece, he was associated with AEK Athens.</span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading" lang="en"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michalis_Kasapis">Michalis Kasapis</a> (Greece)</div><div>Michalis Kasapis played five seasons for the Livadeia club before earning a transfer to AEK Athens in 1992, where he played until 2004. In 1995, Kasapis finished second in voting for Greek Footballer of the year. He was also voted one of the best 22 players in Europe during the 2001–02 season. Kasapis got 36 caps for the national team between 27 April 1994 and 2002.</div><div><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alekos_Sofianidis">Alekos Sofianidis</a> (Turkey/Greece)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>Born in Istanbul, Sofianidis began his career at Beyoğluspor. He played in the first team from 1955 to 1958, when he transferred to Beşiktaş. In December 1958 Sofianidis moved to Greece and joined AEK Athens where he played between 1959 and 1969. He then played for Panachaiki. During his career, he played 240 Greek League games in total. He played represented Turkey B team in 1957. He also played 7 times for Greece.</div></span><div><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refik_%C5%A0abanad%C5%BEovi%C4%87">Refik Šabanadžović</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Refik Šabanadžović began with OFK Titograd before he moved to Sarajevo's Željezničar in 1983. He helped the club to reach the UEFA Cup semifinals in the 1984–85 season. He played for Red Stars Belgrade from 1987 to 1991, where he won the European Cup in 1991. With AEK, he won three league championship in the 1990's. He also played for Olympiacos and Kansas City Wizards. He was capped 8 times. he played 4 games at the 1990 World Cup Finals.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mF9FyPrNw70/YRJgj060a8I/AAAAAAAAL1I/0cF6s9dkdCYTq2KjPDNLgGd3BsDpzB28QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/13692640_897429510382636_9083518681527805002_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="640" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mF9FyPrNw70/YRJgj060a8I/AAAAAAAAL1I/0cF6s9dkdCYTq2KjPDNLgGd3BsDpzB28QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h286/13692640_897429510382636_9083518681527805002_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Refik Šabanadžović</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">CM : </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Savevski" style="font-family: times;">Toni Savevski</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Yugoslavia/Macedonia)</span></span></div></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Savevski is widely regarded as one of the best foreign players to have played in the Greek football league. H</span><span style="font-size: large;">e started his career in Pelister Bitola and then played for Vardar Skopje until 1988.He spent 13 years with AEK, winning the Greek championship 4 times (1989, 1992, 1993, 1994) and the Greek cup (1996, 1997, 2000) 3 times.
</span><span style="font-size: large;">He earned 2 caps for Yugoslavia before debuting for Macedonia in1994. He earned another 8 caps for Macedonia.<br /></span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>DM/CM: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodoros_Zagorakis">Theodoros Zagorakis</a><span> (Greece)</span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Theodoros Zagorakis</span></span> was the captain of the Greek national team that won the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship and he won Player of the Tournament. He was at one point Greece all-time cap leader with 120 caps between 1994 and 2007. Professionally, he played for POK and AEK Athens in Greece. He also had brief stints in England with Leicester City and in Italy with Bologna. He was elected as a Greek MEP at the May 2014 European Parliament election.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lQA_EbmkVhg/YQ_ppncs8-I/AAAAAAAAL0Q/p5wAWVaJgJgAvCvMVDPKwz_hFpneA-SgQCLcBGAsYHQ/s792/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-08%2Bat%2B10.25.50%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="792" height="343" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lQA_EbmkVhg/YQ_ppncs8-I/AAAAAAAAL0Q/p5wAWVaJgJgAvCvMVDPKwz_hFpneA-SgQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h343/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-08%2Bat%2B10.25.50%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Theodoros Zagorakis</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Stamatiadis">Andreas Stamatiadis</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Andreas Stamatiadis was a one club man for AEK Athens. He played for them from 1950 until 1969, captain of the team in the latter years. During his career, he made 267 league appearances and scored 60 goals for AEK Athens. He was also capped 8 times between 1954 and 1963 by the Greece national football team and was a regular of the All-Athens selections during the 1950s.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">RW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christos_Ardizoglou">Christos Ardizoglou</a></span> <span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">(Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Born in Jerusalem to Greek parents, Ardizoglou moved to his native homeland Greece in 1958. He started his football career with Apollon Smyrnis and won several titles in Greece with AEK Athens. His greatest moment was reaching the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 1977. He ended his career in Apollon Smyrnis. </span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">He played 43 times for Greece and scoring 2 goals. He was a participant at the 1980 European Championship.
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Liberopoulos">Nikos Liberopoulos</a> (Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Liberopoulos started off his career with Erani Filiatra, he then moved to Kalamata in 1994. From 1996 to 2003, he played for Panathinaikos. He then played for AEK Athens. He helped AEK Athens scoring 79 times in his 195 appearances and earning a top scorer award during the 2006–07 season. He spent two seasons with Eintracht Frankfurt before another spell with AEK. He was capped 76 times. He went to Euro 2008 and 2012.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasilios_Tsiartas">Vasilios Tsiartas </a>(Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Tsiartas started his career with Naoussa in 1989. Then, he played two spells with AEK Athens while playing for Sevilla in between(1996-2000). In Sevilla, he was known in Seville as "El Mago" ("The Magician"). He ended his career at 1. FC Köln after the 2004-2005 season. For Greece, he played 70 times between 1994 and 2005. He was a vital part of Greece's Euro 2004 winning team even through he was mainly used off the bench.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostas_Nestoridis">Kostas Nestoridis</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Kostas Nestoridis is the only one who has emerged 5 times in a row as the top scorer of the Greek championship. He started his career with Panionios, where he played from 1948 to 1955. He is one of their greatest players. From 1955 to 1966, he played for AEK Athens. Later, he played in Australia. He wore the jersey of Greece 17 times, 2 as a player of Panionios and 15 as a player of AEK Athens, scoring a total of 3 goals. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G-vOTyowrNE/YQ_frsTmX8I/AAAAAAAALz0/7SdeBhKZWncFYp26eYHmd2tT_J0-4JYPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s737/unnamed96911.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="737" height="226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G-vOTyowrNE/YQ_frsTmX8I/AAAAAAAALz0/7SdeBhKZWncFYp26eYHmd2tT_J0-4JYPgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h226/unnamed96911.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Kostas Nestoridis </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">ST/CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryfon_Tzanetis">Tryfon Tzanetis</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tryfon Tzanetis started from the youth teams of AEK where he was promoted to the first team in 1935. He was responsible for AEK Athens winning the league in 1939 and 1940. Initially an attacker, but later in his career he became a central defender, when AEK's coach, Jack Beby converted him, in the WM system. For Greece, he only played once in 1949 against Greece B.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasilis_Dimitriadis">Vasilis Dimitriadis</a> (Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div>Vasilis Dimitriadis started his career with Aris Thessaloniki in 1986 and was already international when he was acquired by AEK in 1991. He was a part of AEK Athens' great team in the early 1990's. He was the top scorer in the first two championship in 1992 and 1993. He returned to Aris Thessaloniki in 1996. For Greece, he played 24 times between 1988 and 1994. He played twice in the 1994 World Cup Finals.</div><div><br /></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">FW/AM: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimis_Papaioannou" style="font-family: times;">Mimis Papaioannou</a><span style="font-family: times;"> (Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Mimis Papaioannou was a symbol of sportsmanship for AEK Athens and the Greek football. He played for the same team for the most of his career and was never shown a single red card with only three yellow cards. From 1962 to 1979, he played for AEK Athens. St one pint, he was invited to join Real Madrid, but turned it down. He was capped 61 times by Greece scoring 21 goals being Greece's ever top scorer, at the time.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBmH9Pq70E0/YRJgDpahv0I/AAAAAAAAL1A/LieTia36D0wkv4eaM4QOEMOKBABFpV2XACLcBGAsYHQ/s447/304.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="380" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBmH9Pq70E0/YRJgDpahv0I/AAAAAAAAL1A/LieTia36D0wkv4eaM4QOEMOKBABFpV2XACLcBGAsYHQ/w340-h400/304.jpg" width="340" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mimis Papaioannou </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demis_Nikolaidis">Demis Nikolaidis </a>(Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Nikolaidis started his career with </span></span></span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif; font-size: large;">Ethnikos Alexandroupolis in 1992. In 1996, he joined AEK Athens where he won three Greek cups and the 1996 Super Cup, he was the topscorer in the 1999 Greek league and second scorer in the 2001 UEFA Cup (1 goal behind topscorer Dimitar Berbatov). He moved to Atletico Madrid in 2004, where he only spent a single season. He amassed 54 caps, netting 17 times for Greece and he went to Euro 2004.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du%C5%A1an_Bajevi%C4%87">Dušan Bajević</a> (Yugoslavia)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Dušan Bajević spent almost all of his career at hometown club Velež Mostar for who he played almost 400 games and scored 170 goals between 1966 and 1977. He also played with AEK Athens where he won the Alpha Ethniki two times and the Greek Cup once. Between 1970 and 1977, he played 37 times for Yugoslavia. He played in the 1974 World Cup, where he scored three goals against Zaire. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">LW<b style="font-weight: normal;">/</b>ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mavros" style="font-weight: normal;">Thomas Mavros</a> (Greece)</span></span></span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thomas Mavros started with </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Panionios in 1970. He later played with AEK Athens between 1976 and 1987, where he helped them to reach the semifinal of the 1977 UEFA Cup. He was known as one of AEK Athens greatest players. Their fans called him "the God". He returned to Panionios in 1987. He is the all-time leading scorer in the Greek league and is also the youngest ever scorer at the age of 16 years old. He had 36 caps for Greece and went to Euro 1980 in Italy. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OlKr81h4CXI/YQ_gt9nG-HI/AAAAAAAALz8/X3mQqsRfjV4nuogGWdgtbsuY_B6uONWvQCLcBGAsYHQ/s685/bajevic-mavros.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="516" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OlKr81h4CXI/YQ_gt9nG-HI/AAAAAAAALz8/X3mQqsRfjV4nuogGWdgtbsuY_B6uONWvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w301-h400/bajevic-mavros.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thomas Mavos and Dušan Bajević </span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Honorable Mention</span></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Stefano Sorrentino (Italy), Spyros Sklavounos (Greece), Nikos Christidis (Greece) Lakis Stergioudas (Greece), Michalis Delavinias (Greece), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Greece), Bruno Alves (Portugal), Dmytro Chygrynskiy (Ukraine), <span>Petros Ravousis (Greece), Stelios Skevofilakas (Greece), Ignacio Scocco (Argentina), Rivaldo (Brazil), Dimitris Saravakos (Greece), </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Grigoris Georgatos (Greece), Vaios Karagiannis (Greece), Alexis Alexandris (Greece), Vassilis Lakis (Greece), Daniel Batista (Greece), Akis Zikos (Greece), Grigoris Georgatos (Greece), Vaios Karagiannis (Greece), Charis Kopitsis (Greece), Georgios Kefalidis (Greece), Kleanthis Maropoulos (Greece), Giorgos Karafeskos (Greece), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Sergio Araujo (Argentina), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Marko Livaja (Croatia), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jakob Johansson (Sweden), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Greece) Ognjen Vranješ ( </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bosnia and Herzegovina) </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Squad Explanation</span></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- AEK Athens under manager and former player Dušan Bajević dominated the Greek league through the 1990s with three successive Championship titles (1992, 1993, and 1994). It was considered one of the best club sides in Greek football. Toni Savevski, Ilias Atmatsidis, Vasilis Dimitriadis,Vasilis Tsiartas, Michalis Kasapis, Refik Šabanadžović and Vasilis Borbokis made this all-time team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- AEK Athens won back-to-back league titles in 1977 and 1978. They won the Double in 1977. They also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1977. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Lakis Nikolaou, </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Dusan Bajevic, Thomas Mavros, and Mimis Papaioannou played in that era for the Union.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Andreas Stamatiadis, Stelios Serafeidis, Kostas Nestoridis, Mimi Papaioannou, Thomas Mavro, Dusan Bajevic and Stelios Manolas were probably their greatest players.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- I did not include any player from their 2017-2018 Super League Championship winning team, but I added </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Sergio Araujo (Argentina), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Marko Livaja (Croatia), </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Jakob Johansson (Sweden), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Greece) and Ognjen Vranješ ( </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bosnia and Herzegovina) to honorable mention. It was their first title in 24 years.<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GeqGUn-a4oc/YRCiuOuxKwI/AAAAAAAAL0w/793ib27TpccWon9OZjoRW1KXI29ys23CgCLcBGAsYHQ/s900/aek2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GeqGUn-a4oc/YRCiuOuxKwI/AAAAAAAAL0w/793ib27TpccWon9OZjoRW1KXI29ys23CgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/aek2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Super League winner 2017-2018</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span>-- Greece featured 5 AEK players as they won the 2004 European Championship. Four of them were selected into my all-time team. They were Vasilios Tsiartas, Michalis Kasapis, Kostas Katsouranis and Theodoros Zagorakis. Vassilis Lakis was the fifth member of the team. Traianos Dellas who was playing for AS Roma and Demis Nikolaidis who was playing for Atletico Madrid at that point were also selected onto this team.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Goalkeeper</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">--One fan poll voted Ilias Atmatsidis as their greatest ever goalkeeper. He spent 10 years with the club, playing in the Golden era of the 1990's. However, Stelios Serafeidis was often named as one of their greatest ever players. The pair took the first two spots. The third was different to choose. Spyros Ikonomopoulos was sensational in winning the 1989 league title. He was often mentioned alongside Italian Stefano Sorrentino as one of AEK's finest ever, but Sorrentino only played briefly here. So I took Ikonomopoulos. Spyros Sklavounos, Nikos Christidis, Lakis Stergioudas and Michalis Delavinias were also serious candidates.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Defenders</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Both fullback Vassilios Borbokis and Michalis Kasapis played under manager Dušan Bajević over here. Then, I selected Alekos Sofianidis as my backup leftback. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LB Grigoris Georgatos also played here, but his spell was short. He supposed to be Greece's greatest leftbacl. I put him on honorable mention. I did not select a backup rightback. Pavlos Papaioannou (Greece) would be my backup rightback. I put </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Charis Kopitsis </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">and Georgios Kefalidis on honorable mention. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Stelios Manolas was the club's greatest defender. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Carlos Gamarra was the most famous defender who ever wore the colors of the "Unionist". I thought hard before taking him. He only played a year on loan here, but his performance here was beyond anyone seen with the club. His name was mentioned frequently during my research. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Traianos Dellas is on my All-Time Greece team.</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> Lakis Nikolaouwas was a legend in his own right. He actually started off as a center forward before switching to the defence. </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">He won consecutive championships in 1978 and 1979 and reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals. I left his partner </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Petros Ravousis off the team. </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Sokratis Papastathopoulos supposed to be one of their greatest ever defenders from AEK, but he left the club before reaching his prime. I only put him on honorable mention.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Midfielders/Wingers</u></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Both </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kostas Katsouranis and Theodoros Zagorakis were two of the best ever midfielders ever from Greece, but they seldom listed as AEK Athens' greatest ever players. They formed a great team in the early 2000's for AEK Athens. In 2004, they helped Greece to win the European Championship in Portugal. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Katsouranis </span><span style="font-size: large;">was the Greek Player of the Year for 2004-2005. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Zagorakis also won plenty of awards while here, but he won it for his performance in Euro 2004. For his last season here, he did not take any pay so that the club could survive. Refik Šabanadžović's name was often mentioned. I took him as my third midfielder. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- CM Toni Savevski was considered one of the three greatest foreign players ever graced the Greek league. He played for them during AEK's most successful period. A fan poll chose him as AEK's greatest foreign player over Rivaldo.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Rivaldo moved to AEK Athens after Olympiacos gave up on him. He did a heroic performance in his only season here, but legal decision kept AEK Athens from winning the league and gave it to Olympiacos. I put him on honorable mention.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Mimis Domazos also joined AEK Athens when he was 36 years old and AEK Athens won the league title with him. But he was more of a Panathinaikos FC icon. Instead I took Nikos Liberopoulos who ironically was also a Panathinaikos icon. He won Greek Footballer of the year twice while wearing AEK's jersey. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;">I also selected Vasilios Tsiartas who seemed to be an undisputed selection for this team. I did not have space for </span><span style="font-family: times;">Giorgos Savvidis of Cyprus</span><span style="font-family: times;">.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>-- For right wingers, both Andreas Stamatiadis and Christos Ardizoglou were one of the greatest ever players in AEK Athens' history. That left no space for Giorgos Karafeskos and Ignacio Scocco. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Forwards</u></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Mimis Papaioannou and </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Kostas Nestoridis formed a lethal attack line over here. They were the obvious choices for forwards. Papaioannou was </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">awarded as the best Greek footballer of the 20th Century by IFFHS. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Nestoridis </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">won 5 straight scoring titles in the 1960's. The pair scored 39 goals together as they won the 1962-1963 League Title with a better goal difference than Panathaikos who finished level on points that season. </span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mxa_731ixNM/YQ_qY8lTYII/AAAAAAAAL0k/4n-aLrj4f88UmNlCfbg9d1brCOTXeKyawCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/aba008b80fa876e709c1b58259a4fde7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="600" height="376" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mxa_731ixNM/YQ_qY8lTYII/AAAAAAAAL0k/4n-aLrj4f88UmNlCfbg9d1brCOTXeKyawCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h376/aba008b80fa876e709c1b58259a4fde7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mimis Papaioannou and Kostas Nestoridis</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">-- </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Then, I took Thomas Marvros and his teammate Dušan Bajević. Marvos was the Greek championship all-time top goalscorer with 260 goals in 501 matches. The duo was largely considered to be AEK Athens' greatest offensive duo, Known as the "Prince", Bajević was also considered to be AEK Athens' greatest ever coach. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">He later coached Olympiacos, which strained his relationship with the fans of AEK, but his coaching career should not affect my rating of him as a player. Marvis and Bajevic played with Mimis Domazos, winning the 1978 League title. As mentioned above, Domazos only made honorable mention.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Tryfon Tzanetis was the first legend of the club. He could play both defensively and offensively. Together with another icon Kleanthis Maropoulos, he helped AEK Athens to win back-to-back championship in 1939 and 1940. Both were Greek refugees from Constantinople. However, I only have a space for Tzanetis.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- The last forwards I selected would be</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Demis Nikolaidis and Vasilis Dimitriadis. Nikolaidis scored hundred of goals and he received plenty of votes for AEK Athens' greatest player according to a poll I found online. Vasilis Dimitriadis (Greece) was the leading player as AEK Athens won </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">three consecutive championships in 1992, 1993 and 1994. FW Dimitris Saravakos only played briefly over here. So I left him on honorable mention.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Formation</span></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/08/1857913_AEK_Athens.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/08/1857913_AEK_Athens.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"> </div>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162250060266901716.post-49860243422624663392021-07-29T05:25:00.012-07:002022-05-19T19:14:13.589-07:00Panathinaikos All-Time Greatest Team<div style="text-align: left;"><div><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogger </span><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Artur Yanturin</a></u> of Russia </span><span style="font-size: large;">copied many of my blog teams. This </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/sbornaia-rossii-23-luchshih-igroka-vseh-vremen-5fc4566cb545e63488da951c?&">blog</a> was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/12/russia.html">here</a>. His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014. His </span><span style="font-size: large;">Spartak Moscow All-Time team <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/spartak-moskva-luchshie-igroki-vseh-vremen-5f89c0ad4ab7c3765ab79666?&">entry</a> of was published in October 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/06/spartak-moscow.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2017. <span>His <a href="https://zen.yandex.ru/media/rfpl/gollandskonemeckoe-sopernichestvo-mejdu-realom-i-barselonoi-5faede228d19932be1627c99?&">entry</a> of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but <a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2014/10/dutch-german-rivalry-between-real.html">mine</a> was uploaded in 2014. <u>He also copied many many of my blog entries</u>.</span></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/artur.yanturin">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/archygramm/">Instagram</a></span></span></div></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OvcP6nHxQoQ/YPzdZglUU4I/AAAAAAAALuE/RSom5xSYFC8Kztn5eu_jTeApUqLAQTRzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s580/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-25%2Bat%2B11.40.52%2Bam.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="580" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OvcP6nHxQoQ/YPzdZglUU4I/AAAAAAAALuE/RSom5xSYFC8Kztn5eu_jTeApUqLAQTRzQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h270/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-25%2Bat%2B11.40.52%2Bam.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please also see my</span><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2015/08/all-time-world-cup-team-index_20.html">All-Time World Cup Team Index</a>.</span></span></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face=""\22 \\22 times\\22 \22 " , "\22 \\22 times new roman\\22 \22 " , serif" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.hk/2014/11/southeast-europe-turkey-greece-and.html">The rest of Southeast Euorpe(Greece, Turkey and Albania)</a></span></span></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/12/greece.html">Greece All-Time Team</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/07/olympiacos.html">Olympiacos</a></span></div><div><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/08/three-straight-league-titles-1991-1994.html"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">AEK Athens</span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2021/08/paok.html">PAOK </a></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for Panathinaikos F.C. (Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Created in 1908 as "Podosfairikos Omilos Athinon" (Football Club of Athens) by Georgios Kalafatis,[2][3] they play in the Super League Greece, being one of the most successful clubs in Greek football and one of three clubs which have never been relegated from the top division.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Panathinaikos is the most successful Greek club in terms of achievements in the European competitions. It is the only Greek team that has reached the European Cup (later renamed UEFA Champions League) final in 1971 (which they lost to Ajax Amsterdam 2–0), and also the semi-finals twice, in 1985 and 1996. It is also the only Greek team that has played for the Intercontinental Cup (1971). Furthermore, they have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League on another two occasions (in 1992 and 2002), as well as the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup twice (1988 and 2003). They have also won the Balkans Cup in 1978. Panathinaikos is a member of the European Club Association.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xJTUyPei1fs/YPzeS5tq74I/AAAAAAAALuM/4eaQGPb7Xok-3QaH1p5b1RhlA8WnRmaEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1295/Img4387.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="1295" height="398" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xJTUyPei1fs/YPzeS5tq74I/AAAAAAAALuM/4eaQGPb7Xok-3QaH1p5b1RhlA8WnRmaEwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h398/Img4387.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Balkan Cup winner 1978</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><u>Team</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Wandzik">Józef Wandzik </a>(Poland)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>On Poland, Wandzik played for Rodlo Gorniki, Ruch Chorzów and Górnik Zabrze. He moved to Panathinaikos in 1990. In Greece, he earned the nickname of "Vouno" (translation "mountain"). </div><div>After almost a decade at Panathinaikos, he played with Apollon Smyrnis and Athinaikos. He has been considered by many as the greatest foreign goalkeeper of all times in Greece. He had 52 caps. He went to the 1986 World Cup Finals.</div><div><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takis_Ikonomopoulos">Takis Ikonomopoulos</a> (Greece)</span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Known as the Bird, he played for Panathinaikos at the 1971 European Cup Final. Their European Cup run is considered to be Greece's first successes in the sport. While playing for Panathinaikos, he managed to not concede a single goal for 1,088 minutes (in a span of 13 consecutive games - a record for Greece which remains unbroken). The record spanned from 17 January 1965 until 9 May 1965. He was capped 25 times.</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">GK: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Sarganis">Nikos Sarganis</a></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"> (Greece)</span></span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">In 1980, Nikos Sarganis shocked Greek football by leading Kastoria to victory in the Greek Cup. He joined Olympiakos in 1980 and he left them for rival Panathinaikos in 1985. In 1988, he helped them to win the Greek Cup by saving two penalties and scroing one himself against his old club Olymoakos during the penalty shootout. He was capped 48 times at the international level.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span>DM/RB: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratos_Apostolakis">Stratos Apostolakis </a><span> (Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 1990, Stratos Apostolakis caused controversy in Greece by transferring from Olympiakos to </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Panathinaikos. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> He was one of the key players behind Panathinaikos' European runs in 1992 and 1996. He was one of the best defenders his country has ever seen. He could also play as a defensive midfielder. He had 96 caps, at one point a record for Greece. He played in USA 1994.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eis4_DIJVfs/YP7Hqf3KS9I/AAAAAAAALv8/_70iSnvmm1Ewz6uCWIR6v9Mzx0njNKvKwCLcBGAsYHQ/s698/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-26%2Bat%2B10.32.29%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="698" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Eis4_DIJVfs/YP7Hqf3KS9I/AAAAAAAALv8/_70iSnvmm1Ewz6uCWIR6v9Mzx0njNKvKwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h308/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-26%2Bat%2B10.32.29%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Stratos Apostolakis</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;">CB/RB: </span><span dir="auto" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giourkas_Seitaridis">Giourkas Seitaridis </a> (Greece)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto">Giourkas Seitaridis </span></span></span></span>was part of their team which won the European Championship in 2004, for which he was voted into the Team of the Tournament. He was capped 72 times. He also went to the World Cup Finals in 2010 and the European Championship in 2008. He moved to Porto during the tournament. He last played in 2013 for Greek Superleague side Panathinaikos, having played previously at PAS Giannina, Porto, Dynamo Moscow and Atlético Madrid. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">SW/CB: </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioannis_Kalitzakis">Ioannis Kalitzakis</a> (Greece)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ioannis Kalitzakis started his career in Panelefsiniakos F.C., where he played three and a half season before eventually joining Panathinaikos FC. Panathinaikos's fans nicknamed him "ninja". In 1997, he joined AEK Athens FC. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Kalitzakis had 71 caps in total between 1987 and 1998, including three appearances at the 1994 World Cup.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">CB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giannis_Goumas">Giannis Goumas</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Giannis Goumas is one of the many players to emerge from Panathinaikos F.C.'s youth academy and served the club for 15 years, debuting for the first team in 1994 and retired in 2008. He was a one club player. He won Super League: 1995, 1996, 2004. From 1997 to 2008, he played 45 times for Greece. He was part of the Greek squad that won the UEFA Euro 2004.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">SW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Henriksen">René Henriksen</a> (Denmark)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">From 1988 to 1999, Henriksen played for Akademisk Boldklub. He won the "Danish Cup Fighter" award when AB triumphed in the 1999 Danish Cup, as the club won its first trophy in 32 years. From 1999 to 2005, he played for Panathinaikos, where he was a star player. With Denmark, he played 66 times between 1998 and 2004. He went to the 1998 and 2002 World Cup Finals, and 2000 and 2004 European Championship. He was Denmark Player of the Year in 2000.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GZT_6P0T42Q/YP_iiKvWxBI/AAAAAAAALwM/JB7uDZnPZiolHwo5O4_hkBDfU1tlfJvEACLcBGAsYHQ/s474/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-27%2Bat%2B6.39.47%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="474" height="334" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GZT_6P0T42Q/YP_iiKvWxBI/AAAAAAAALwM/JB7uDZnPZiolHwo5O4_hkBDfU1tlfJvEACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h334/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-27%2Bat%2B6.39.47%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">René Henriksen</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">SW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthimos_Kapsis">Anthimos Kapsis</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>Born in Astypalaia, Kapsis' family moved to Keratsini when he was young. Kapsis played for the Panathinaikos F.C. from 1969 until 1984 and was a member of that team when it played in the 1971 European Cup Final. Kapsis was capped 36 times by the Greece national team and was a member of the team that competed in Euro 1980. His son Michalis Kapsis was a meber of the national team that won Euro 2004.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takis_Fyssas">Takis Fyssas</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Takis Fyssas started his career with Panionios. He played for Panathinaikos between 1998 and 2003. He played a season and half for Benfica before joining Hearts in 2005. Fyssas played 60 matches for Greece national team and he scored four goals. He was one of the key players for team that won the Euro 2004 championship in Portugal</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>LB: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_M%C3%BCnch_(footballer)">Markus Münch</a> (Germany)</div><div>From 1990 to 1994, Markus Münch played for Bayern Munich. Then, he spent two seasons with Bayer Leverkusen. He later played for Koln, Genoa and Beşiktaş. From 2003 to 2005, he played for Panathinaikos in Greece. In his first season, Panathinaikos won the League and Cup, played in the group stage of the UEFA Cup and qualified for the UEFA Champions League. He also won the Super League Greece Best Foreign Player in 2004. </div><div><br /></div><div>DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velimir_Zajec">Velimir Zajec </a> (Yugoslavia/Croatia)</div><div><div>Zajec began his career at Dinamo Zagreb in 1974. During 10 years at the club, they won their first title honour in 24 years. In 1979 and 1984, he was named the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year. He then transferred to Greek club Panathinaikos, where he was also one of the best players at the time. Zajec won 36 international caps for Yugoslavia,[and captained them at both the 1982 World Cup and the 1984 European Championship.</div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UIWDoImCsBM/YP7EbsimZAI/AAAAAAAALv0/neBZuYf13Y0eW5NrMM-rKTbmoE9H4uy_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1136/DyyaHV0X0AIYSs3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="1003" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UIWDoImCsBM/YP7EbsimZAI/AAAAAAAALv0/neBZuYf13Y0eW5NrMM-rKTbmoE9H4uy_ACLcBGAsYHQ/w354-h400/DyyaHV0X0AIYSs3.jpg" width="354" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Velimir Zajec </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">DM: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilberto_Silva">Gilberto Silva</a> (Brazil)</span></span><br style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Gilberto Silva </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">started his career with Atlético Mineiro.</span></span> He was best remembered for his 6 seasons with Arsenal, where he joined after the 2002 World Cup Finals. He played 93 times for Brazil. He was a key player at the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan/Korea after Emerson was injured before the tournament. He also went to the World Cup Finals in 2006 and 2010. He captained the national team at the 2007 Copa America, where Brazil won its 8th title.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>RB/DM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristidis_Kamaras">Aristidis Kamaras </a>(Greece)</div><div><div>Aristidis Kamaras started his career at Apollon Athens in 1954. Panathinaikos signed him up in the Summer of 1961. Kamaras played for PAO for 12 years. He won 6 league titles with the "Greens" and was one of the key men that took PAO to the 1971 European Cup Final against Ajax Amsterdam. Between 1960 and 1971, Kamaras was capped 30 times for Greece.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">RM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgos_Karagounis">Giorgos Karagounis</a> (Greece)</span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Giorgos Karagounis was a member of the UEFA Euro 2004-winning squad, and also represented Greece at Euro 2008, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup. With 139 appearances, he is the most capped player in the history of the Greece national team. He served as the captain. He played for Panathinaikos, Apollon Smyrni, Inter Milan, Benfica and Fulham. He retired after the World Cup Finals in 2014.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-47K2H-eQHR4/YP04ERcbfVI/AAAAAAAALvE/6NozktKov2ELuMzjw33jHxrbsxAOTBDkACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/karaxiastos.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="600" height="379" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-47K2H-eQHR4/YP04ERcbfVI/AAAAAAAALvE/6NozktKov2ELuMzjw33jHxrbsxAOTBDkACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h379/karaxiastos.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Giorgos Karagounis</span></td></tr></tbody></table>AM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takis_Loukanidis">Takis Loukanidis </a>(Greece)</div><div><div>Loukanidis' father was killed by Bulgarian armed forces and soon after he was placed in an orphanage at age 10. He joined the senior team of Doxa Drama F.C. in 1955. Loukanidis made his debut with Panathinaikos in 1962. He ended his career at Aris Thessaloniki, where he won the Greek Cup in 1970. Loukanidis made 23 appearances and scored three goals for Greece from 1958 to 1967. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>AM/CM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ram%C3%B3n_Rocha">Juan Ramón Rocha </a>(Argentina)</div><div><div>Rocha began his career at Newell's Old Boys in 1972. He was part of their Metropolitano winning team in 1974. He moved to Boca Juniors in 1979. In 1980, he was transferred to Panathinaikos. Rocha was first signed for Panathinaikos under the name Boublis, which brought legal issue to his name. For Argentina, he was capped 3 times between 1973 and 1977.</div><div><br /></div></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span dir="auto"><span style="font-size: large;">AM: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimis_Domazos">Mimis Domazos</a></span></span></span></span></b><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimis_Domazos"> </a> (Greece)</span></span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">Mimis Domazos is considered to be one of the greatest Greek footballers. He helped Panathinaikos FC to reach the 1971 European Cup Final before losing to Ajax. It was a break through for Greek club football. He also played for AEK Athens. When he retired from playing in 1980, Domazos was declared the longest-active footballer in the history of Greek club football, having played for more than 21 years.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YYpX-xSg4n4/YP6n1IPZ6jI/AAAAAAAALvk/anAZVWGbdgMF0UhKRy9MzdcVirggtc5VwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/image005.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="320" height="311" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YYpX-xSg4n4/YP6n1IPZ6jI/AAAAAAAALvk/anAZVWGbdgMF0UhKRy9MzdcVirggtc5VwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h311/image005.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Mimis Domazos </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">RW: </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgios_Georgiadis_(footballer)#Career_statistics">Georgios Georgiadis</a> (Greece)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Georgiadis started with Doxa Drama. He played for </span><span style="font-size: large;">Panathinaikos from</span></span> <span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">1994 to 1998, where he was Greek Footballer of the Year in 1995. After a year with Newcastle United, he returned to Greece to play for PAOK FC from 2000 until 2003 before transferring to Olympiacos. Georgiadis was also a member of the Greece squad that won the UEFA Euro 2004. He was capped 61 times.
</span></span></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">LW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebasti%C3%A1n_Leto">Sebastián Leto</a> (Argentina)</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">Leto began his career with Lanús in 2005. He was with Liverpool for two seasons, but he had work permit issue. After a brief loan deal with Olympiacos, he joined Panathinaikos in 2009. He later played for Catania and returned to PAO for a second stint before playing for Emirates Club in UAE.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">FW: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitris_Saravakos">Dimitris Saravakos </a> (Greece)</span></span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">Dimitris Saravakos </span></span></span></span>started with Panionios in 1977. In 1984, he moved to Panathinaikos FC, where he became a star. He is the leading scorer in history with 16 goals in the Derby of the eternal enemies against Olympiacos. He also had a highly successful stints with AEK Athens between his two spells with Panathinaikos FC. Saravakos had 78 caps at the international level. He is the fourth leading all-time scorer with 22 goals for the Greek national team. In 1994, he captained Greece to its first World Cup Finals in its history.</span></span></span><br style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--wlhTSeSdxc/YP03cfmiRFI/AAAAAAAALu8/8rkIhyiJ5ScS03kuHecn9TuQ49sbuBJIwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1000/dimitris-saravakos.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--wlhTSeSdxc/YP03cfmiRFI/AAAAAAAALu8/8rkIhyiJ5ScS03kuHecn9TuQ49sbuBJIwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h240/dimitris-saravakos.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Dimitris Saravakos</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><div><span style="font-family: times;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelos_Messaris">Angelos Messaris</a> (Greece)</span></div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">Born in South Africa, Angelos Messari is widely regarded as the best Greek player of the pre-war era. This is probably also due to the myth that for decades followed his sudden and mysterious early leaving from football. He made his last appearance in the football field on 23 April 1931 at the age of 21, in a match against AEK Athens. He spent three seasons with Goudi before playing for Panathinaikos between 1927 and 1931. He played 4 times for Greece.</div><div style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibril_Ciss%C3%A9">Djibril Cissé </a>(France)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">After playing for Auxerre for six seasons, scoring 90 goals in 166 appearances, Djibril Cissé moved to Liverpool in 2004, where he was a star. An injury derailed his career until he joined Panathinaikos in 2009, where he regained his form. He also played for Marseille, QPR, Lazio, Bastia, etc. From 2002 to 2011, Djibril Cissé played 41 times for France. He went to 2002 and 2010 World Cup Finals. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonis_Antoniadis">Antonis Antoniadis</a> (Greece)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Antoniadis scored 187 goals in 242 matches in the Greek Championship, and was top scorer 5 times: 1970, 1972 (39 –second in Europe and Greek record), 1973, 1974 and 1975. In 1971 when Panathinaikos reached the European Cup Final against Ajax, he was the leading scorer in the tournament with 10 goals. He also played for Olympiacos, Aspida Xanthi and Atromitos Athens. From 1970 to 1977, he was capped 21 times.</span></div></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">ST: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzysztof_Warzycha">Krzysztof Warzycha</a> (Poland)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><div>Krzysztof Warzycha started with Ruch Chorzów. He joined Panathinaikos in 1989, and won five Greek championships, five Greek cups, two Greek super cups while he was the highest scorer of the Greek championship 3 times. He is Panathinaikos' all-time leading goalscorer and an idol for the club. Warzycha is considered by many to be one of the best foreign players who have played in Greece. He played 50 times for Poland.</div></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2_qQ2RdmQgw/YP0LMiFVtwI/AAAAAAAALuc/hx5WTVPAHSMNgC6i5nACv5tnpEwntf3dgCLcBGAsYHQ/s470/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-25%2Bat%2B2.55.28%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="470" height="339" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2_qQ2RdmQgw/YP0LMiFVtwI/AAAAAAAALuc/hx5WTVPAHSMNgC6i5nACv5tnpEwntf3dgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h339/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-25%2Bat%2B2.55.28%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Krzysztof Warzycha</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><u>Honorable Mention</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Antonios Nikopolidis (Greece), Vasilis Konstantinou (Greece), Marinos Ouzounidis (Greece), </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Frangiskos Sourpis (Greece), </span><span>Kostas Linoxilakis (Greece), Markus Berg (Sweden), Juan Ramón Verón (Argentina), Oscar Alvarez (Argentina), Angelos Basinas (Greece), Spyros Livathinos (Greece), Angelos Messaris (Greece), Nikos Liberopoulos (Greece), Giorgos Kalafatis (Greece), Kostas Chalkias (Greece), Mathios Vitalis (Greece), Dimitris Demertzis (Greece), Nikos Charalambidis (Greece), Spiros Sklavounos (Greece), Dimitris Salpingidis (Greece), </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Juan José Borrelli (Argentina).<br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Squad Explanation</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Mimis Domazos and Krzysztof Warzycha were probably their greatest ever players. Several articles I found also considered Takis Loukanidis, Dimitris Saravakos and Giorgos Karagounis among their greatest.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Real Madrid legend Ferenc Puskas took Panathinaikos to the Final of the 1971 European Cup against Ajax. Until 2004, it was Greece's greatest moment football. From that team, I took Takis Ikonomopoulos, Aristidis Kamaras, Mimis Domazos, Anthimos Kapsis and Antonis Antoniadis. Antonis Antoniadis was the top scorer of the tournament as well as finishing second in the European Golden Boot. Mimis Domazos was responsible for many of Antoniadis' goals. Goalkeeper Takis Ikonomopoulos was decisive in the game against Everton.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Panathinaikos won the league with an undefeated record in the 1963-64 season. Takis Loukanidis, Aristidis Kamaras, and Mimis Domazos were their key players.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Giorgos Kalafatis was their founder. I put him on honorable mention.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Takis Ikonomopoulos, Nikos Sarganis, Stratos Apostolakis, Ioannis Kalitzakis, Giorgos Karagounis, Mimis Domazos, Dimitris Saravakos are on my </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><a href="https://soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com/2017/12/greece.html">Greece All-Time Team</a>. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Angelos Basinas did not make this team, but he was on the other team. I used different criteria for different teams.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- According to an online poll, Józef Wandzik was the number one goalkeeper for Panathinaikos. I went with Takis Ikonomopoulos who was also often listed as their number one. He helped the club to reach the European Cup Final. Antonios Nikopolidis spent 15 seasons here, but he moved to rival Olympiacos, which did not sit with the fans here. Nikos Sarganis on the other had went the other way around. Vasilis Konstantinou spent 19 seasons with the club. He played at the same time as Ikonomopoulos. I also came upon Kostas Chalkias, Mathios Vitalis, Dimitris Demertzis, Nikos Charalambidis and Spiros Sklavounos. I knew nothing about them, In the end, I went with Nikos Sarganis who was the most famous of the remaining candidates.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Sweeper René Henriksen helped Panathinaikos to reach the quarterfinal of the 2002-2003 Champions League as well as winning the Double in 2004. I also came across Ioannis Kalitzakis' name all the time. Giannis Goumas was a one club man who spent 15 seasons with the club. But the last central defender was difficult to select.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- The official website of the club called Kostas Linoxilakis the greatest "Greek defender of all-time", but I used google translate and it might have lost in translation. He was associated with many Greek actresses of his time. He was probably an icon. Marinos Ouzounidis' name was also mentioned. In the end, I chose between teammate </span><span style="font-size: large;">Frangiskos Sourpis and Anthimos Kapsis of 1971 European Cup finalist. Kapsis was more famous it seemed.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Takis Fyssas and Markus Münch edged out Nikos Karoulias for the leftback position. </span><span style="font-size: large;">For the right side, I took </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Giourkas Seitaridis and </span><span>Stratos Apostolakis. Both were on my Greece all-time team. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Giorgos Karagounis is the most capped player in the history of the Greek national team. He also captained the team in two World Cup Finals. He is probably one of the best players ever for PAO. Gilberto Silva and Velimir Zajec were mentioned as their greatest defensive midfielders. Then, I added Aristidis Kamaras of the 1971 European Cup as my third defensive midfield. He was also a rightback.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- So I took Sebastián Leto (Argentina) because I needed a left wing. He played 98 games scoring 35 goals. I took him over the more important Argentine Juan José Borrelli (eventually selected). Mimis Pierrakos was a warhero, but I am not sure about him as a player. I put him on honorable mention. Juan Ramón Verón was also a left winger. Of all the left wingers mentioned, he was the most famous, but I don't know about him over here.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">-- Mimis Domazos is considered by many to be one of the best footballers that Greece has ever produced. He was Panathinaikos F.C. team captain for over 15 years. Takis Loukanidis was also listed among the greatest ever. I have to choose between</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Juan José Borrelli and Juan Ramón Rocha because I might not need more than three attack midfielders . Borelli led the club to the semifinals of the Champions League, but struggled early in his career. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Rocha spent 10 seasons with the club. He was also the manager of Panathinaikos when Borelli starred. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span><span>Juan Ramón Verón also played here. I have no more space for </span><span>Kostas Antoniou, Kostas Eleftherakis and </span><span>Kostas Frantzeskos.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Dimitris Saravakos was idol of the 1980's. he led the club to the semifinal of the European Cup in the 1984-1985 season.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Djibril Cissé was a fan favorite. He was seriously injured in 2006 and his career was in serious decline after that, but he rejuvenated his career. The more contemporary fans mentioned him as one of the greatest ever for this club. Of course, I had striker Antonis Antoniadis who was the most important player in the club's most important moments.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i8GjQiCpaSA/YP6qSmUF5gI/AAAAAAAALvs/vUtZ6ePiD5YcTv-E8toFHshznRCOsf0rgCLcBGAsYHQ/s896/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-26%2Bat%2B8.24.44%2Bpm.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="896" height="264" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i8GjQiCpaSA/YP6qSmUF5gI/AAAAAAAALvs/vUtZ6ePiD5YcTv-E8toFHshznRCOsf0rgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h264/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-26%2Bat%2B8.24.44%2Bpm.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Djibril Cissé </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Krzysztof Warzycha is the second highest scorer in Greek league's history. He spent 15 seasons with Panathinaikos and retired at the age of 40. Alongside Mimis Domazos, he is probably the greatest player ever played for the club.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Angelos Messaris was known as one of their greatest, but he left football at the age of 21 in 1931. I was reluctant to select him at first.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">-- Juan José Borrelli, Angelos Basinas and Kostas Linoxilakis were considered for the 25th spot. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I almost selected Borrelli</span>. However, the team needed a right winger. So I took </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">Georgios Georgiadis who was the Greek Footballer of the Year while at the club.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"></span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u>Formation</u></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/07/1856571_Panathinaikos_AO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="316" src="http://www.footballuser.com/formations/2021/07/1856571_Panathinaikos_AO.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Soccer, football or whateverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09260215485488590184noreply@blogger.com2