That ONE player who IS the team he is in?

[Dark Savante]

Which teams past or present are totally reliant on one man to function? Which teams will capitulate without that one man's influence and presence?

[schafer]

Maybe not totally dependent, but both England and ManU rely heavily on Rooney.

Ukraine- Shevchenko

[Real Ray]

Wayne Rooney & England.

With him they have a legitimate chance to make it to the finals; without, they go home after the first round.

[nicephoras]

Platini for France, Eusebio for Portugal.

[schafer]

France -Zidane

[nicephoras]

Wayne Rooney & England.

With him they have a legitimate chance to make it to the finals; without, they go home after the first round.

I don't think that's true. I think Rooney's contributions to England since the Euros haven't been all that great, to be honest. Keep in mind that 5 years ago the answer to that question would have been Owen.

[Elninho]

Guatemala - Ruiz

Napoli, in the 1980s - Maradona

[schafer]

I don't think that's true. I think Rooney's contributions to England since the Euros haven't been all that great, to be honest. Keep in mind that 5 years ago the answer to that question would have been Owen.

I think England still rely very heavily on Owen, he has been cast aside due to the hype surrounding Rooney, but England don't really have another pure striker with the goalscoring ability of Owen.

[king_saladin]

Would Maradona in 1990 be correct? I heard from many that this was really a one man team, but I personally have hardly watched them so I don't really know.

I don't know about Rooney/Zidane for England/France. England have needed Owen as much as anyone, and France have had a number of great players for almost a decade now.

[afgrijselijkheid]

off the top of my head...

current: kuijt/Fword, stevie g/liverpool, ballack/germany

past: eusebio/portugal, maradona/argentina

[schafer]

Would Maradona in 1990 be correct? I heard from many that this was really a one man team, but I personally have hardly watched them so I don't really know.

I don't know about Rooney/Zidane for England/France. England have needed Owen as much as anyone, and France have had a number of great players for almost a decade now.


I think Maradona circa 1986 would be more accurate, from what I've heard.

[afgrijselijkheid]

Guatemala - Ruiz


i disagree because pezzarossi, garcia and ramirez have all been pretty darn good in WCQs

[Real Ray]

I don't think that's true. I think Rooney's contributions to England since the Euros haven't been all that great, to be honest. Keep in mind that 5 years ago the answer to that question would have been Owen.

I'm not putting that much stock into their recent form-especially with some of the tactical experiments Sven made.

I think Sven will have it right come the finals, and if England are fit and healthy, Rooney is "X factor" on that team. Does he step up and play to that potential? Don't know, but that potential (as we saw in Euro 2004) is there.

[Rakim_22]

Liberia- George Weah. Come on now who else was there?

[glennaldo_sf]

I can't believe it that so many people are saying Rooney and Man U yet no one has mentioned Henry and Arsenal yet.

Also would say, for recent past; Zlatan Zahovic for Slovenia 5 years ago was pretty much a one man show. Bulgaria have never been a force since Hristo Stoichkov retired. Oviously, as someone mentioned before - Maradona was the ultimate one man show. Not to take anything away from those Argentinian sides but I doubt we will ever see one guy carry a team like that again.

[girco]

I can't believe it that so many people are saying Rooney and Man U yet no one has mentioned Henry and Arsenal yet.

Also would say, for recent past; Zlatan Zahovic for Slovenia 5 years ago was pretty much a one man show. Bulgaria have never been a force since Hristo Stoichkov retired. Oviously, as someone mentioned before - Maradona was the ultimate one man show. Not to take anything away from those Argentinian sides but I doubt we will ever see one guy carry a team like that again.
I disagree on Stoitchkov and Bulgaria
World Cup 94 showed that Bulgaria had a golden generation with Stoitchkov, Kostadinov, Balakov and Letchkov
Even though Stoitchkov was the most prominent one, Bulgaria faded away not because he retired but because all of them either retired or were past their prime

[COBRA007]

Wayne Rooney & England.

With him they have a legitimate chance to make it to the finals; without, they go home after the first round.

no they dont

[Spartak]

No player in the world today is as important to his team as Juan Roman Riquelme is to Villarreal.

All-time it has to be Maradona for both Napoli and Argentina.

[glennaldo_sf]

I disagree on Stoitchkov and Bulgaria
World Cup 94 showed that Bulgaria had a golden generation with Stoitchkov, Kostadinov, Balakov and Letchkov
Even though Stoitchkov was the most prominent one, Bulgaria faded away not because he retired but because all of them either retired or were past their prime

I agree that Bulgaria did have many great players on that team but I feel that Stoichkov was a class above the rest of his teammates who raised their game remarkably for the national team. I think if people are going to nominate England/Rooney + France/Zidane, then Stoichkov/Bulgaria deserves to be mentioned. Yeah, there were other great players on the team too but you could easily say that about the other two aforementioned teams as well (Lampard, Terry, Henry, Thuram, etc,etc....)

[Toon³]

For a few seasons it was Shearer at Newcastle, last season it was Given.