Greatest All-Time Team for Uncapped Players

Bert Trautmann

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Sweden World Cup1950
Argentina World Cup 1958
Scotland World Cup 1970
United Kingdom World Cup 1970
England World Cup 1974
United Kingdom World Cup1982
Yugoslavia World Cup 1994
France World Cup 1994
Germany World Cup 2002
Holland World Cup 2002
USA World Cup 2010

Only a small percentage of players have the opportunity to play international football. Throughout history, many great players did not have the chance to play international football.  Besides the glory of representing your own county, international football also brings personal pride to a player. After I finished researching for this team, I realised that international football is very important to the legacy of any given footballers.  Most of the players were largely forgotten.  A lot of the famous uncapped players play on legendary sides such as John McGoven of Nottingham Forrest's European Cup winning team, Horst Blankenburg (Ajax European Cup team early 1970's), etc.  Bert Trautmann has an interesting story that left a big historical legacy beyond football.  Alex Rowley holds the record for the most goals in the history of English league football.  He is the only player who did not play for a big club.  Without the record, he might be forgotten.  

I believed many players from the smaller clubs and/or not from great historical sides are forgotten.  They might be better than some of the players mentioned here.  Raul Amarilla (Paraguay) was an all-time great with Real Zaragoza, but he lacked the exposure of a bigger club. It is difficult to evaluate his status comparing to another uncapped player such as Gunnar Andersson of Marseille. I am sure that he is not the only player.

This is my all-time team for uncapped players around the world. If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament. 

John McGovern

Team  
GK: Bert Trautmann (Germany)
Bert Trautmann was a former POW who decided to remain in England after the war.  He signed for Manchester City in 1949, where he replaced Frank Swift.  He turned from the most hated player in England to a fan favourite.  He was the hero of 1956 FA Cup winning team. In his prime, he was known as one of the best keeper in the world.  He was credited for healing the German-British relations after the War.  In 2004, he was awarded an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

GK: Fabio Cudicini (Italy)
Fabio Cudicini  played Udinese, Roma, AC Milan and Brescia.  He was remembered for his two stints with AC Milan. Between 1967 and 1972, he played for AC Milan. He helped Milan to win the 1969 European Cup. Before Milan, he played for Roma and Udinese.  He won the Inter-Cities Fair Cup with Roma.  He was playing in the same generation as Dino Zoff, Lozenzo Buffon and Enrico Albertosi.  He was uncapped.

Fabio Cudicini 

GK: Sebastiano Rossi  (Italy)
During a 21-year professional career, Rossi appeared in 346 Serie A games, most notably representing A.C. Milan (12 seasons) with which he won 12 major titles, including the 1994 Champions League.   Rossi held the record for the longest streak without conceding a goal in Serie A history. In an 11-match span, he kept a clean sheet for 929 consecutive minutes.  He was never capped by Italy. 

RB: Giuseppe Bruscolotti (Italy)
Giuseppe Bruscolotti started with Sorrento playing between Serie B and C. He moved to Napoli in 1972.  He is the club's appearance record holder.  Throughout his career, he was referred to as "Pal e fierr" ("iron pole") by the fans, due to his physical strength.  He led the club to victory at the 1976 Anglo-Italian League Cup.  He was the captain of Napoli before Diego Maradona took over. He played with the club until 1988.  

RB: Julio Cesar Benitez (Spain)
Benítez started with Racing Club de Montevideo. In 1959 he played for Real Valladolid, and a year later he moved to Real Zaragoza. He moved to FC Barcelona in 1961. With Barcelona he won Copa del Generalísimo in 1963 and Inter Cities Fairs Cup in 1966, and was known for his rivalry with Real Madrid's Francisco Gento.  He died in 1968, three days before a critical game in the Camp Nou against Real Madrid. 

CB: Steve Bruce (England)
Steve Bruce played for Gillingham and Norwich before joining Manchester United in 1987, where he would play until 1996.  Under Sir Alex Ferguson, he won three Premier League titles, three FA Cups, one Football League Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup.  He also became the first English player of the 20th century to captain a team to the Double. Despite his success with his club, he was never selected to play for England. 

Steve Bruce

CB: Ron Harris (England) 
Known by the nickname "Chopper", he played for Chelsea between 1961 and 1980. Harris is widely regarded as one of the toughest defenders of his era.   He captained Chelsea as it won the FA Cup in 1970.  Then, he helped Chelsea to win the European Cup Winners' Cup a year later in 1971, Chelsea's first ever trophy in Europe.  He finally left Chelsea in 1980 to become a player-coach at Brentford.

CB: Sergio Brio (Italy)
Brio began his career with U.S. Lecce, during the 1973–74 season. He moved to Juventus in 1974. He captained the club from 1989 to 1990, when he retired from professional football. He is one of only six players in European history to have won all international club competitions.  He was a part of the team that won the 1985 European Cup. He was never selected for the national senior team, but played for the Olympic team.

SW: Horst Blankenburg (Germany)
Blankenburg played with Nürnberg, Wiener Sportclub and TSV 1860 München before he joined Ajax Amsterdam in 1970.  In 5 seasons at Ajax he won the European Cup 3 years in a row, and was known for his partnership with Velibor Vasović. For international football, he was never capped by West Germany largely because playing in the same time as Franz Beckenbauer.  Johan Cruijff asked him to play for Holland in the 1974 World Cup but he refused.

LB: Bernd Wehmeyer (Germany)
From 1971 to 1978, Wehmeyer played for Arminia Bielefeld and Hannover 96, playing two stints each.  From 1978 to 1985, he played for Hamburger SV. He captained the great side that won the 1983 European Cup, beating Juventus in the Final. He also won three Bundesliga (1979, 1982 and 1983).   For national team, he never received a call up, but he represented West Germany at the 1984 Olympics.  

Bernd Wehmeyer 

DM: Jimmy Case (England)
From 1973 to 1981, Case played with Liverpool FC that dominated Europe.  He was a part of the team that won the European Cup (1977, 1978, 1981).   He was voted in at No. 45 in the 2006 poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop by Liverpool's fans.  With Brighton, Case reached the FA Cup final in 1983 and again faced Manchester United. He also played for Southampton, Bournemouth, Halifax Town and Wrexham.

CM: John McGovern (Scotland)
John McGovern played under manager Brian Clough for Derby, Leeds United and finally, Nottingham Forrest. He is most famous for captaining the Nottingham Forest side that won the European Cup twice.  At the age of 19 he became the youngest player to play in all four divisions of the Football League. During his playing career he won promotion with Hartlepools United, Derby County and Nottingham Forest.  At the end of his career, he also played for Bolton Wanderers F.C.

CM: Gabi (Spain)
At the time of writing, Gabi is the captain of Atletico Madrid.  He played for Atletico Madrid between 2004 and 2007 before moving to Zaragoza.  In 2011, he returned to Atletico Madrid, coinciding with the rise of manager Diego Simeone's team.  He first took the Copa del Rey in 2013 and then, the league title in 2013-2014.  He captained the side that reached the Champions' league Final twice before losing to Real Madrid on both occasions.

Gabi

RW: Craig Johnston (South Africa/Australia)
Born in South Africa of Australian background, Johnston joined Middlesbrough FC from Australia.  He was better known for his career with Liverpool FC between 1981 and 1988. He was a key member of the 1986 "double" winning team.  He also won the European Cup in 1984.  He was eligible for Australia, Scotland and South Africa, but he never had a senior international career. He had described playing football for Australia as "like surfing for England."

LW: Vassilis Hatzipanagis(Greece)
Born in the USSR of Greek refugees, Vassilis Hatzipanagis played for the Soviet Olympic team.  He was highly rated in the Soviet Union. He returned to Greece in 1976, where he played for Greece in one single friendly march.  He was ineligible to play for Greece due to his selection to the Soviet youth team.  However, he was considered to be Greece's greatest player and was elected as Greece's UEFA Jubilee Player. In his club career, he played for Pakhtakor(USSR) and Iraklis.

Vassilis Hatzipanagis (R)

AM/CM: Agostino Di Bartolomei (Italy)
With Roma, Di Bartlomei formed a midfield partnership with Falcao in the mid-1980's.  He was a part of the great team that won the Serie A title in 1982-83 and 3 Italian Cups.  He is considered to be one of the greatest footballers in Roma's history.  However, he was uncapped.  In 1984, he moved A.C. Milan. After three seasons he left Milan and his career fizzled out after playing for Cesena and Salernitana.  He is a member of the A.S. Roma Hall of Fame.

FW/LW/AM: Ramon Villaverde (Uruguay)
Ramon Villaverde began with Liverpool(Uruguay). In the 1949, he moved to Colombia. He played with Cúcuta Deportivo(1950-51) and Millonarios Bogotá (1952-54) ), where he played with Alfredo Di Stéfano. Between 1954 to 1963, he played for Barcelona, winning two Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.  He was a part of Helenio Herrera's team.  He later played for Zaragoza.

FW/AM: Paulo Di Canio (Italy)
Di Canio began his career playing for Lazio, Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan, before a brief spell with the Scottish club Celtic. He was named SPFA Players' Player of the Year in 1997.In England, he played for Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton Athletic. The peak of his career was with West Ham where he played from 1999 to 2003.  In 2001, he was awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award, but he was also known for controversial political views.

Paulo Di Canio 

FW: Arthur Rowley (England)
Rowley holds the record for the most goals in the history of English league football, scoring 434 from 619 league games. He was the younger brother of Manchester United footballer Jack Rowley.  He is also Shrewsbury's record league goalscorer with 152 league goals. He is Leicester's second all-time top goalscorer, netting 265 times for the Foxes, 8 goals short of Arthur Chandler's record.

ST: Delio Onnis (Argentina)
Born in Italy, Delio Onnis was an Argentine.  He earned the nicknamed "El Tano" (the Italian) in Argentina.  He began his career as the star striker with Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.  He was widely known as the greatest player ever to have played for AS Monaco,  He is still today the French championship highest scorer, scoring 299 goals from 1972 to 1986 for Stade de Reims, AS Monaco FC, Tours FC and Sporting Toulon Var.  He was the Top goalscorers in Ligue 1: 1975, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984.

Delio Onnis 

ST: Gunnar Andersson (Sweden)
Gunnar Andersson started his career in Sweden, before playing for Danish side Kjøbenhavns Boldklub before being transferred to Olympique de Marseille in 1950.  With l'OM,  he was also Division 1 top goalscorer in 1951–1952 and 1952–1953 and runner-up in the Coupe de France 1953–1954. He was their all-time leading scorer. He also played for other French teams such as FC Girondins de Bordeaux and AS Aix.

ST: Mário de Castro (Brazil)
Mário de Castro spent his entire career at Atlético Mineiro, with whom he won three Campeonato Mineiro titles. He helped Atlético Mineiro break América's decade-long dominance in Campeonato Mineiro, the state league of Minas Gerais. He was the competition's top scorer twice in that period. Mário was part of offensive line called the "Trio Maldito" with Said and Jairo. Mário was the first Atlético Mineiro player and first outside of Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo to be called up for the Brazilian national football team.

ST: Arsenio Erico (Paraguay)
Arsenio Erico is considered the best Paraguayan footballer of all time and one of the greatest ever to play in the Argentinian league..  He started his club career with Club Nacional of Paraguay in 1930, but better known for his career in Argentina. He is the all-time highest goalscorer in the Argentine first division, with 295 goals, all of them scored with Independiente between 1933 and 1946. He also played for Huracán. He was Alfredo Di Stefano's idol.

Arsenio Erico

Honorable Mention(there should be much more)
Thomas von Hessen (Germany), Horst Buhtz (Germany), Hans-Jürgen Wittkamp (Germany), Stefan Klos (Germany), Bernd Durnberger (Germany), Heinz Stuy (Germany), Marcel Witeczek (Germany), Ruud Hesp (Holland),  Kevin Champbell (England),  Ian Bowyer (England), Billy Bonds (England), Dennis Mortimer (England),Valerien Ismael (France), Aliton (Brazil), Lincoln (Brazil), Luis Vinicio (Brazil), Teleco (Brazil), Jarbas Faustinho "Cane" (Brazil), Raul Amarilla (Paraguay), Dario Conca (Argentina), Roque Olsen (Argentina),  Pietro Paolo Virdis (Italy), Carlo Cudicini (Italy), Igor Protti (Italy), Vincenzo D'Amico (Italy), Luciano Favero (Italy), Angelo Colombo (Italy), Dario Hubner (Italy) Naim Kryeziu (Albania), , Domenico Morfeo (Italy), FrancicoYeste (Spain), Jose Erique (Spain), Andreas Palop (Spain), Oleguer (Spain), Mikel Arteta(Spain), Andriey Starostin (USSR), Lindy Delapenha (Jamaica).

Squad Explaination

-- After I finished researching for this team, I realised that international football is very important to the legacy of any given footballers.  Most of the players were largely forgotten.  In fact, I probably missed out a lot of names

-- I selected a lot of players from the great club sides.  Horst Blankenburg (Ajax early 1970's), Sergio Brio (Juventus 1980's), Sebastiano Rossi (AC Milan 1980's), etc are good examples.  They are more well-known because they had exposure by playing on great teams.  It is easier to evaluate them. I believed many players from the smaller clubs and/or not from great historical sides are forgotten.  They might be better than some of the players mentioned here.  Raul Amarilla (Paraguay) was an all-time great with Real Zaragoza, but he lacked the exposure of a bigger club. It is difficult to evaluate his status comparing to another uncapped player such as Gunnar Andersson of Marseille. I am sure that he is not the only player.

-- Many players were selected based upon their records or stories.  For example, Ominis and Giuseppe Bruscolotti had records while Mário de Castro and Julio Ceasar Benitez had a story for people to remember.

-- I am slightly more biased toward England-based players.  I simply knew them better through English language source.

-- Before 1960's and 1970's, many national team refused to select overseas based players.  Many players' international careers were limited. Arsenio Erico never played for Paraguay.

-- The Soviet Union did not play in an official match until 1952, but they played some friendly matches before 1952.  I thought that their international record is very unclear before 1952. So I ignored a few Soviet greats.  I simply put them as honorable mention.

-- For goalkeepers, Bert Trautmann is the obvious choice. Sebestian Rossi and and Fabio Cudicini won European Cups for AC Milan.

-- Due the unique situation, there are many available keepers. Stefan Klos, Sebestian Rossi, Bernd Durnberger, Heinz Stuy, Andreas Palop, Ruud Hesp, Carlo Cudicini, etc made a strong field.

-- Andreas Palop was the backup keeper for Spain as they won the Euro 2008.  He earned an international Gold medal without ever playing in an international match.

-- Giuseppe Bruscolotti s is Napoli's appearance record holder.  He captained the side for many years.  

-- Ron Harris is one of Chelsea's greatest defenders.  He captained their Cup Winners' Cup winning side. 

-- Brio played for the great Juventus side of the 1980's. He is one of only six players in European football history to have won all international club competitions. His teammate Luciano Favero was also uncapped. Julio Cesar Benitez edged out Oleguer (Spain).  His death probably helped the younger fans to remember him.  Horst Blankenburg played on the great Ajax side in the early 1970's. Steve Bruce was one of Sir Alex's captains at Manchester United. 

-- Julio Cesar Benitez's legacy was remembered by his untimely death.  The Barcelona fans will not forget about him.

-- Gabi is a contemporary player.  The fans still remember him.  In time, he might be forgotten outside of Spain just liked some of the players listed here.  At his age, he still might still have a chance yo receive a call-up by Spain.

-- John McGovern captained Nottingham Forest in winning two European Cups.  He was a 2017 inductee to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.  

-- Jimmy Case (England) was in most of the list of great uncapped players.

-- Horst Buhtz was the second German to play in Italian Serie A. He was the last player dropped.  I took Pablo Di Canio instead.  I admitted not knowing much about Buhtz. I did not have him on my all-time team for Torino.

-- Vassilis Hatzipanagis played twice for Greece in unofficial games, but he was ineligible to play for them in official games as ruled by FIFA at the time.  Thus, his two caps should not be counted, making him an "uncapped" player.

-- There are too may forwards and strikers. I have no space for the following players: Luis Vinicio (Brazil), Pietro Paolo Virdis (Italy), Angelo Colombo (Italy), Roque Olsen (Argentina), Aliton (Brazil) and Teleco (Brazil).

-- Paulo Di Canio (Italy)is often listed as one of the greatest uncapped Italian players   He definitely had the best name recognition. He is also a relatively contemporary player so it is easier for the fans to remember him.

-- Mário de Castro was called up by Brazil, but never played. He is often listed as one of the greatest uncapped players.

-- Arsenio Erico (Paraguay) never played for Paraguay in an official game.  Paraguay did not select foreign-based players during his prime.  His caps came from matches played under a Red Cross touring team. He needs no introduction.   

-- Albert Stubbins of Liverpool was probably as good as Delio Ominis and Arthur Rowley, but both Ominis and Rowley had records that spoke loud.  Ominis is still today the French championship highest scorer.  Rowley holds the record for the most goals in the history of English league football.  He is the only player who did not play for a big club.  Without the record, he might be forgotten.They should have gotten serious considerations for the national team. -- Gunnar Andersson is the all-time leading scorer with Marseille. He remains a legend in France.   

-- I would like to select Paul Bonga Bonga (Congo) for his historical role for being the first African star player in Europe. I also did not have space for Lindy Delapenha (Jamaica), Patrick Ntsoelengoe, Jomo Somo, Albert Johanneson and Albert Johanneson.  They did not play in a bigger stage.  

-- Craig Johnston, on the other hand, was an important player during Liverpool's glorious era in the 1970's and 1980's.

Formation