1958 World Cup Best IX (by Dr. Friedebert Becker, 1958)

These are the Best XIs Dr. Friedebert Becker selected two weeks after the 1958 World Cup final:


TEAM A

-----------11-Lennart SKOGLUND-----9-VAVÁ-----7-Helmut RAHN

------------------------------10-PELÈ ----8-Just FONTAINE

---------------------6-Horst SZYMANIAK---4-Yuri VOINOV

----------3-Erich JUSKOWIAK----5-Bengt GUSTAVSSON----2-Djalma SANTOS

------------------------------------1-Harry GREGG




TEAM B

-----------11-Peter McPARLAND-----9-Agne SIMONSSON-----7-GARRINCHA

------------------------10-Gunnar GREN -----------8-DIDI

------------------------6-Dave BOWEN----4-Danny BLANCHFLOWER

------------3-Nilton SANTOS-------5-Branko ZEBEC------2-Ovar BERGMARK

------------------------------------1-Lev YASHIN




TEAM C

-----------11-Jean VINCENT-----9-Raymond KOPA-----7-Kurt HAMRIN

-------------------10-Roger PIANTONI ------8-Fritz WALTER

---------------------6-Jean-Jacques MARCEL---4-Dobrosav KRSTIC

----------3-Alf McMICHAEL-----5-Herbert ERHARDT------2-Georg STOLLENWERK

-----------------------------------1-Jack KELSEY




TEAM D

-----------11-Florencio AMARILLA-----9-MAZOLA-----7-Omar CORBATTA

-------------------10-Dragoslav SEKULARAC ------8-Pavol MOLNAR

---------------------6-Josef MASOPUST---4-Armand PENVERNE

----------3-Mel HOPKINS-----5-Hideraldo BELLINI------2-Juan LOMBARDO

-------------------------------1-Colin McDONALD


Dr. Becker noted that not single game performances were decisive, but the overall performances over the course of the tournament, with one notable exception: Djalma Santos, who only played in the final, but left such a good impression.

I wrote down some of the things Dr. Becker said about the selected players:

Yashin: inventive, original, modern, intuitively, fantastically multi-sided, "gorilla catch"
The British goalkeepers: commanding, thoroughly clinical
Gustavsson: weak in the final, but on average the best stopper of the tournament
Bellini: always an intelligent analyst, but not as outstanding as Gustavsson or Erhardt
The outside rights: Corbatta had even more tricks than Garrincha but Rahn bettered both in terms of scoring and his mutli-faceted dribbling
Kopa: could just as well be declared a withdrawn linkman as Fontaine could be declared a center forward

He ranked Kopa very low whereas at that time he was considered by some as the most consistent player of the tournament.

Good stuff, thx.

Didi not in the Team A?
I'm surprised.

I'm surprised too, that Djalma Santos was pick to Team-A since De Sordi was the brazilian starter, also that Didi and Kopa wasn't there.

But, interesting post.

PS. Who's Dr. Friedebert Becker??

Dr. Friedebert Becker was the editor of "Kicker" magazine. He was the person who coined the term "WM" in the early 1930s. He was a noted chronicler of football between the 1920s and the 1980s and witnessed all World Cups between 1934 and 1982.

You can read an article by him about the "Enigma of Systems" which he wrote in celebration of 100 years of soccer tactis in 1977.

Wow!!
As we said in spanish "palabra mayor" among world soccer's lovers.
Great info as ever.

First it's very good to see other's opinion over history ... (thanks GReg)

However, Iam not overly impressed with his selection at all (in teamA_)

1- IN attack:
Lennart SKOGLUND was NOT a pure striker (should be Fontaine) and he should NOT be slected at all (1single goal asw striker in that era was totally unimpressive_) admittedly he was a very fine forward in skills - 1 WRONG

J,Fontaine should be the first striker even before Vava (who could play next or slightly behind with Pele ) 2 WRONG

2- Midfield:
Both Horst SZYMANIAK and Yuri VOINOV could NEVER replace the star of that tournament in DIDI - 3 WRONG

3- Defense:
While he selected D.Santos (1 great final game) there on the right (as no competitor, Nilton Santos should be the first choice of left back ! - 4 WRONG

This.

I have some old video collection from quarter to final. Group stage I only got games for Brazil.

Should I go back (to my garage to dig them out) and re-watch them? If that's what you meant!

When I found this I figured it might be a tiny bit controversial. Rahn over Garrincha, Szymaniak over Didi, Juskowiak over Nilton Santos. It does taste a bit like he was favoring German players a little bit there. This might be explained considering that there was no team he was exposed to as much as Germany during that 1958 World Cup, as covering them was his primary task as a German journalist. It was impossible at that time to watch every game played at a World Cup - like it is possible today with recordings available for every game - hence his observations certainly did not cover the whole tournament.

However, as Comme rightly implied, he certainly saw much more games of that tournament than anyone of us will ever be able to, hence his observations in any case exert more authority than any of our hindsight knowledge does.

It should be noted that Dr. Becker did not intend his team selections to be set in stone, which he made clear in his foreword, where talked of the whole thing being a "spielerei". The English translator gives the following words for "Spielerei": Baublery, Gimmick, Shenanigan, Fooling. You see he wasn't too earnest about it.

Ok, my bad ... as I overlooked that (bold) statement ! SO it's very fair and it's a good reference (only) since like Comme said there was lacking footage of the games many years later. Those names (in his selection) deserved also a mention besides the other "bigger names" i.e. Garrincha, Didi ... for such event.

However, as "rule of thumb" you don;t quite often hear the names " Rahn" but instead Garrincha. Same with Didi, Nitlon Santos over Szymaniak, Juskowiak when talking about that WC58.

Another reference is from FIFA worldcup all stars team (were added 1999, right before the 20th century end) in which list is more 'suitable" and "justifiable".

[Dr. Becker was an EXTREMELY knowledgeable football journalist & editor. Those four all-tournament XIs are pretty accurate w/everything that I've ever heard about the '58 WC. Of course, anyone can always argue about a player being moved from the B XI to the A XI and so forth.]

Even though I was just "talking up" Dr. Becker, two glaring omissions (IMO) are Mel Charles of Wales & Billy Wright of England, which Brian Glanville brings up in this article:


http://hindu.com/tss/tss2603/stories/20030118006710700.htm


This article is also a pretty good reflection on Wright's career, even though some of Glanville's conclusions, such as how Wright approached the wing-half position, seem to be a little wobbly IMHO.

I'm surprised that Mazzola aka Jose Altafini made Team D! He probably shouldn't have made any team.

Kopa is too low.

Hi,

My eleven are ( no in order):

Pele - Didi - Nilton Santos - Gilmar ( goalkeeper ) - Bellini - Kurt Hamrin - Agne Simonsson
Just Fontaine - Raymond Kopa - Helmut Rahn - Hans Schäfer & Peter McParland.

Regards,

Yoni

Exactly: Hamrin MUST be in a selection like this one. He was far better than "Nacka" Skoglund in this WC (at least according to contemporary Swedish press). And he also happened to score a goal like this one:

This was a great goal. Too bad people overrate Pele's first goal from the Final. This goal was just as good, if not better.

I have to agree. When I saw the game for the first time it hit me by surprise that a goal like that is scored in a WC final and hardly ever gets mentioned.

because he is NOT Pele .. and Pele meant ... G.O.D

J/k ... but becuase Pele had proven great since his first WC58 at only 17yrs old ...
Whatever the "first time" would always be"special" ... YET .. years gone by not many players could have repeated Pele's goals anyway ... (remember the goal he filpped over 3 DF head, and also the GK before scoring vs Juventude (Brazil) ? That's classic and hilarous humourous .... and circus like

As good as Pele's first goal was in the Final, his goal against Wales was very good too. The way he spun past the Welsh defence was amazing.

indeed ...
Look at last WC10 and Euro2012, Van Persie, Torres and Robben missed dearly with some clear chances and people were so "AMAZED" with Ballotelli 's long shot - in fact that shot was enough to put his name in this year ballon D'or contender!!!

Shamefully if we put that goal compared to any of Pele's goals at WC58 and being a 17yrs old boy