This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams. This blog was one of them. It was my Russia All-Time Team here. 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.
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| Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah |
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index
Africa Greatest All-Time Team
Liverpool Greatest All-Time Team
Liverpool Greatest All-Time Team for English players
Liverpool Greatest All-Time Team for Foreigners
Liverpool Greatest All-Time Team for British Isles players without English players
Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia
Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal,
North Africa,
The Rest of Africa(excluding Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Nigeria and North Africa)
Over 140 foreign players have played for Liverpool FC. African players might not be associated to Liverpool's foreign players. Although history, they have signed a number of players from Africa. Gordon Hodgson, Arthur Riley and Berry Nieuwenhuys from South Africa were probably the first three foreign players ever played for Liverpool. They joined the club after South Africa played against Liverpool. Hodgson is the clib's third leading scorer behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt. In 1980's, Bruce Grobbelaar and Craig Johnstone were great contributors to the team. They won the 1984 European Cup. Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool to win the 2019 Champions' League and the English Preimership the following year, their first Preimership ever. From 2017 to 2019, the pair finished first and second for the African Footballer of the Year. Salah winning twice and Mane taking the 2019 title.
Team
GK: Bruce Grobbelaar (Zimbabwe)
Bruce Grobbelaar made 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.
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| Bruce Grobbelaar |
RB: Rigobert Song (Cameroon)
Rigobert Song was a key player for Cameroon since making his debut as a teenager. He has played at a record 8 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and served as captain in 5. He went to 4 WC Finals from 1994 to 2010, missing the 2006. He is Cameroon's cap record holder. Song started his career with Metz. In 1998, he joined Salernitana. In 1999, he left Italy to start successive stints with Liverpool, West Ham United and 1. FC Köln, Lens, Galatasaray, and Trabzonspor.
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| Rigobert Song |
CB: Joël Matip (Cameroon)
Joël Matip began his professional career with Schalke 04 in 2009, and was part of their teams that won the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Supercup in 2011. In 2016, he moved to Liverpool FC. He was born in Germany, but represented Cameroon where his father came from. From 2010 to 2015, he played 27 times for Cameroon. In 2015, he announced that he resigned from the national team.
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| Joël Matip |
CB: Kolo Touré (Ivory Coast)
Kolo Toure is Yaya Toure's brother. He was a member of Arsenal's undefeated team in 2003-2004. He later joined Manchester City andLiverpool. Touré is the second-most capped player for the Ivory Coast, with 118 appearances from 2000 to 2015. He represented the team at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cup Finals. Touré also represented the Ivory Coast at seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments between 2002 and 2015, helping them finish runner-up in 2006 and 2012, while winning in 2015.
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| Kolo Touré |
LB: Djimi Traoré (Mali)
Born in France, Djimi Traoré chose to play the Mali. from 2004 to 2006, he played four times for them. At club level, he played for Laval, Liverpool – with whom he won multiple honours including the 2004–05 Champions League. He also played club football with Lens, Charlton Athletic, Portsmouth, Rennes, Birmingham City, Monaco, Marseille and Seattle.
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| Djimi Traoré |
CM/DM: Mohamed "Momo" Sissoko (Mali)
Momo Sissoko began his professional career with Valencia in Spain. He would play for Liverpool, PSG, Juventus, Forientina and Shanghai Shenhua. Born in France, he was capped by Mali between 2003 and 2013. He is the nephew of Salif Keita, and the uncle of Seydou Keita. He later played in Mexico, India, China ands Hong Kong at the end of his career.
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| Mohamed "Momo" Sissoko |
RM: Craig Johnston (born in South Africa, but uncapped at the senior level)
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.”
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| Craig Johnstone |
RW: Berry Nieuwenhuys (South Africa)
Born in Boksburg, Transvaal Province, Berry Nieuwenhuys was one of six South Africans playing for Liverpool during the 1930's. He played over 200 games for Liverpool between 1933 and 1947. He scored 79 goals. He attained double figures in goals scored in six consecutive seasons in the 1930s. The Second World War disrupted his career, forcing him to become guest players with Arsenal and West Ham during the War while he served in the Royal Air Force.
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| Berry Nieuwenhuys |
LW: Sadio Mane (Senegal)
Sadio Mané stated with Metz. He made his name while playing for Red Bill 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.
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| Sadio Mane |
ST: Gordon Hodgson (South Africa)
Hodgson signed for Liverpool on 14 December 1925, going on to score 241 goals in 377 appearances for the Anfield club. He is their third all-time leading scorer. He transferred to Aston Villa in 1936 . He later played for Leeds United. He played twice for South Africa in 1924. He was also capped three times at full international level by England, making his debut against Ireland, in a 5–1 win in a British Home Championship.
ST: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
"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. He helped Liverpool to win the Champions' League in 2019. In 2017, he helped Egypt for their first World Cup Finals since 1990. In the WC Finals, he scored a single goal.
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| Mohamed Salah |
Honorable Mention
El-Hadji Diouf (Senegal), Nabil El Zhar (Algeria), Charles Itandje (Cameroon), Doug Rudham (South Africa), Arthur Riley (South Africa), Dirk Kemp (South Africa), Abel Xavier (born in in Mozambique, but in Portugal), Christian Benteke (Born in Zaire, but played for Belgium), Salif Diao (Senegal), Lance Carr (South Africa), Naby Keïta (Guinea), Titi Camara (Guinea)
Squad Explanation
--All players capped by African national teams are eligible, regardless of birthplace, race, etc. I am also considering African-born players who played for non-African national team. However, I ended up not selecting any player. Craig Johnstone was uncapped at the senior level.
-- The player pool is too small to have a full team. So I only did a Best XI.
-- Bruce Grobbelaar, Kolo Toure, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are on my Africa's Greatest All-Time Team. Liverpool has the most players for all clubs on that team.
-- From 2017 to 2019, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah finished first and second for the African Footballer of the Year. Salah winning twice and Mane taking the 2019 title. El Hadji Diouf also won the award in 2002, but won the award for the 2002 World Cup Finals. He only made honourable mention for this team.
-- Bruce Grobbelaar, Mohamed "Momo" Sissoko, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah are members of my Liverpool All-Time Foreign team. Craig Johnston is not qualified for the foreign team because he was capped by England at the youth level. However, he is eligible for this team because he was born in South Africa.
-- Race is not an issue. Four European white players are selected. Mohamed Salah is an Arab from North Africa. I do believe Joel Matip is of mixed races.
-- Three players selected were born in Europe. Both Djimi Traoré and Mohamed Sissoko were born in France, but chose to represent Mali. Sissoko is the nephew of former African Footballer of the Year Salif Keïta. Joël Matip was born in Germany, but played for Cameroon. His father is from Cameroon. His uncle is Joseph-Desire Job.
-- Rigobert Song played as a rightback for Liverpool.
-- Arthir Riley was well-known, but I have Bruce Grobbelaar. Actually, Liverpool had many African goalkeepers. Charles Itandje (Cameroon), Doug Rudham (South Africa) and Dirk Kemp (South African) also played for Liverpool.
-- The starting back four did not play much for the club. I took them because they are more famous than others. I selected Djimi Traoré over Abel Xavier. He at least stated the 2005 Champions' League Final against AC Milan while Abel Xavier had issues with the management while playing here.
-- Portugal’s Abel Xavier was born in Mozambique. As mentioned, he only made honorable mention.
-- Many South African players have played for Liverpool. I have four South African-born players on this team. In 1924, the South African team played against Liverpool, beating them 5-2. Soon after, Liverpool signed Arthur Riley from the touring team. He was followed by Gordon Hodgson who went on to scored 241 goals in 377 appearances for the Anfield club. Later, Berry Nieuwenhuys captained Liverpool. He played with Lance Carr and Dirk Kemp in the 1930's. At one point, Liverpool had 6 South Africans on its roster. Harman Van den Berg and Bob Priday also played for them. Of course, in the 1980's, Bruce Grobbelaar and Craig Johnstone who were born in South Africa also played over here.
-- There are not many African or African-born players midfielder who had played for Liverpool FC. Naby Keïta is a logic choice, but I do believe Johnstone and Berry Nieuwenhuys were greater contributors to Liverpool FC. So I took Johnstone as right midfielder while I use Berry Nieuwenhuys on right wing. Momo Sissoko was a star player. who does not need introduction. Salif Diao was the other alternatives. His career did not stand out in Liverpool.
-- Craig Johnstone was born in Johannesburg, South Africa to Australian parents; he returned home to Australia with his family as a small child. His selection is based upon his birth place. In his career, South Africa was not allowed to play international football. He refused to play for Australia.
-- Victor Moses only played on loan here. I do not see any notable Nigerian who had played for the club.
-- El-Hadji Diouf might have been the African player of the Year while he was with the club, but his award had to do with his performance at the World Cup Finals in 2002. I only put him on honorable mention. Titi Camara is ahead of him on my depth chart.
-- Titi Camara was voted in 91st position in the 2006 poll "100 Players Who Shook The Kop”. He actually only spent a single season here. He made honorable mention. Instead, I took Gordon Hodgeson who was the club's third ever leading scorer behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt.
-- Christian Benteke was born in Africa, but he played for Belgium. He was not successful with Liverpool. I only put him on honourable mention.
Formation
The front four and the midfielders are better than the defenders, but Grobbelaar makes up the weakness in the back.
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