Who is the best God-given talent/skilled player your nation has ever produced?

[Dark Savante]

Very different to who is the best yadda yadda. I'm talking about the player who you can identify as the most skilful, gifted and blessed player.

I think it should garner a lot of names not often associated with 'ever' lists. Like for example for England I am thinking of Le Tissier and Gascoigne before anyone else, haven't given it much thought yet, but none of the better players in England's history top them for me.

I'm intrigued to know who is the Le Tissier of your country or if in fact the best players from where you are from also have the most God-given natural ability. .

Before people get wrapped up semantics, I'll state precisely the type of player I am reffering to.

- that player with the very best close control
- that player who can take down and kill any pass without a fuss
- that player who could do the extraordinary in clutch situations
- performance on either foot*

etc, etc

*not as important as the others, but certainly represents a God-given talent in itself.

I think you need an intricate knowledge of your own country's league to move away from the typical answers. For example my assumption for each big nation would be:

France - Zidane
Germany - Netzer
Holland - Cruyff
Argentina - Maradona
Brazil - Ronaldinho or Zizinho
Italy - Baggio

but most are generic answers who I would hope/suspect wouldn't be the case if you're from that nation? I suppose most Germans would say Beckenbauer...or do you all have hidden gems the world at large wouldn't know about, but who is very well known in your country? I should think not many on a world scale know who the hell Le Tissier is, but if you ask most English or people who followed his career I'm, sure he's a name many would associate with this kind of thread in relation to England.

Some others:

Ireland - Robbie Keane
N.I - George Best
Scotland - Kenny Dalglish or Jimmy Johnstone


So who is your nation's Le Tiss?

Any English refute the names I gave? ( I thought of Frank Worthington and Robin Friday as well)

[Bertje]

I'm having trouble deciding between Gerrie Mühren and Bergkamp.

[Jessica_Alba,pirate]

Berkovic and Benayoun

[lanman]

Ireland - Robbie Keane
N.I - George Best
Scotland - Kenny Dalglish or Jimmy Johnstone

Northern Ireland is a no brainer but for Republic of Ireland I would probably a say Liam Brady.
For Scotland I would say Jim Baxter and Davie Cooper deserve serious consideration.
For England I would be tempted to say Hoddle but you can never disount Stanley Matthews and John Barnes also has to be included.

[Dark Savante]

I'm having trouble deciding between Gerrie Mühren and Bergkamp.
Gerrie, is he well know in Holland for this thread's poser?

I'm glad you went off the beaten path straight away. Hopefully we'll get more for other nations rather than the generic answers. :)

[babaorum]

For France Zidane is a no brainer but I would also say Ginola and a guy people outside France probably don't know - José Touré who played for FC Nantes and France in the early 80's. He was a striker with sublime dribbling, pace and close control and he was expected to be a huge star in the early 80's. Sadly his carreer was shortened due to bad injuries and personal problems.
Dominique Rocheteau (France and Saint-Etienne) was also a remarkable player.

[Real Ray]

I would say Landon Donovan in the US-his pace puts him on a different level of a player like Tab Ramos, who would be a very close second.

Germany...I would make a case for Matthias Sammer. I seen several quotes from German sources who say pound-for-pound Sammer may be the best pure talent the country's produced-you could play almost anywhere.

[dor02]

Italy: Roberto Baggio, followed by Gianni Rivera and Francesco Totti.

Phillipines: Alicantara? (he played for Barca in the 1920s and 1930s)

Australia: Harry Kewell followed by Ray Baartz. Baartz was a promising player until a Uruguayan karate chopped him in a friendly in 1974.

[Bertje]

Gerrie, is he well know in Holland for this thread's poser?

I'm glad you went off the beaten path straight away. Hopefully we'll get more for other nations rather than the generic answers. :)

Gerrie Mühren was the left midfielder in the Ajax of the seventies. He has great running stamina and could do things with a ball nobody else could. Even Cruijff himself has stated numerous times Mühren could do things with a ball he (Cruijff) could only dream of. His brother Arnold was his back-up but didn't get much playing time because Gerrie was better. Arnold played for Manchester United ( I think he even won the Uefa Cup there, but I'm not sure) and some more clubs and came back to Ajax to win the European Cup Winners Cup with Ajax and won the European Cup with Holland the next year.

He didn't play in '74 because Van Hanegem because he had family issues and Van Hanegem pretty much always started over him anyway.

I wouldn't say he had the most God-given talent BTW, but he does meet your criteria.

[Dark Savante]

Gerrie Mühren was the left midfielder in the Ajax of the seventies. He has great running stamina and could do things with a ball nobody else could. Even Cruijff himself has stated numerous times Mühren could do things with a ball he (Cruijff) could only dream of. His brother Arnold was his back-up but didn't get much playing time because Gerrie was better. Arnold played for Manchester United ( I think he even won the Uefa Cup there, but I'm not sure) and some more clubs and came back to Ajax to win the European Cup Winners Cup with Ajax and won the European Cup with Holland the next year.

He didn't play in '74 because Van Hanegem because he had family issues and Van Hanegem pretty much always started over him anyway.
I know who he was and about Arnold, but didn't know he was that revered technically. Great to know now :p

[schafer]

If only this was a thread about hockey...

[hanul21]

Korea- Cha Beum Keun

http://www.hoochoo.com/2001_fame/fame_chaboom/image/pic_29.jpg

Bum-keun Cha, the Asian Player of the Century, was arguably the best Asian football player ever.


He played at Frankfurt and at Leverkusen. Bringing the UEFA Cup trophy for both teams. He is the only player in Bundesliga that has been the member of two different UEFA Cup winning teams. When he first went to Leverkusen, Leverkusen wasn't the Leverkusen of today. The mid-level team rose to today's Leverkusen because of Cha's performance.

He won the MVP of the Bundesliga in 85~86 season, and until the record broke in 1999, he held the most goals scored by a foreigner title in the Bundesliga.

His name is Bum-keun Cha, but because the German fans couldn't call his name well, they simply called this "Brown bomber" as "Cha Boom."


http://www.hoochoo.com/2001_fame/fame_chaboom/image/pic_20.jpg

Here are some of his memorable moments:

--------------------

>>> 1977 Park's Cup. Cha scored 3 goals in 5 minutes when S.Korea was down 1:4 to Malaysia.

>>> Cha goes to Frankfurt in August 1979. Bundesliga was the strongest league in the world at the time and at a game against Dortmund, Cha starts the game and assists a goal. Voted as the weekly best-11 by the most prestigious football magazine at the time, KICKER.

>>> 3rd game: Against Stuttgart. Scores a game-winning header and gets voted as the goal of the week.

>>> 4th game: Against Munich, Cha scores another goal.

>>> 5th game: Against Borussia MG, Cha scores another goal. Magazine KICKER first uses the term "Cha Boom." Boom was an onomatopoeia of Cha's striking scoring ability. (He was also called as the "brown bomber.")

>>> Against Hamburg, Cha scores one through an assist, scores another one through an header, and scores the third one through long-range shot. First hat-trick for him.

>>> Against Koln where Japan's Okudera was playing, Cha scores 2 goals and Frankfurt wins 3:1. Okudera misses 7 critical chances.

>>> One of Korea's major sports newspapers, Ilgan Sports treats Cha's news as top news by now. MBC starts showing Cha's taped games.

>>> First UEFA Cup tournament for Cha after he went to Europe 4 months ago. First game against Real Madrid. Cha scores a goal, but the game is tied 1-1.

>>> Second game was against AC Milan and Cha's shot trembles the goal post for over 5 seconds. That news becomes a major headline. Frankfurt wins 3:2.

>>> March 1980, UEFA Cup finals. First game against Borussia MG. 20 year old Matthaus called the "German soul" (as well as an MVP of WC'90) marks Cha Boom. "Mark Cha Boom!!" was the headline for many newspapers. Matthaus successfully marks Cha Boom.

>>> UEFA Cup finals second game. Matthaus again marks Cha Boom but this time Cha Boom rocked. Cha assists a goal and becomes the Man of the Match. Frankfurt wins the UEFA Cup for the first time in its history.

>>> Matthaus' interview after the game: "I am young. Cha is the best attacker in the world."

>>> 7th in scoring in 79~80 season. Ranked 4th in the World's most improved player. Also voted as one of the World's best-11. Earns the third largest salary in the Bundesliga.

>>> The German FA tries to naturalize Cha but it fails.

>>> Cha makes the front page of the magazine Kicker's new year edition.

>>> In 1981 Cha suffers a huge injury by Gelsdoff's tackle at a game against Leverkusen. Frankfurt fans traveled to Leverkusen and starts a riot threatening to kill Gelsdoff. Police arrives to stop the riot.

>>> Traded to Leverskusen in 1983. Frankfurt fans protests in agony.

>>> Cha becomes the MVP of 85~86 season and ranks 4th in scoring. At age 32, Cha gets picked up by the Korean National Team one month before the World Cup and goes to WC86.

>>> Another UEFA Cup finals for Cha in 1988. Cha scores a dramatic equalizer against Espanol to tie the game 3:3. 50,000 fans chant "Cha Boom." Leverkusen wins at PK shootout and wins the UEFA Cup.

>>> One of the headlines of the newspapers: "Best player on earth: Cha Boom."

>>> KICKER magazine: "Cha Boom, brings first ever UEFA Cups to two different teams. Hero of both Frankfurt and Leverkusen as well as the biggest star in the Bundesliga."

>>> Cha sets two records in Bundesliga.

1. Most games played by a foreigner.
2. Most goals scored by a foreigner.

Cha played 308 games and scored 98 goals while he played 10 years at Bundesglia.

(note: Cha's most goals scored by a foreigner was broken by a Swiss player in 1999 with 106 goals.)

>>> The German magazine Stteren(outrageously terrible spelling here) put Cha as 1 of 4 "World's top 4 rising people" along with Mother Teresa.

>>> West Germany's famous sports editor Titter Kuerton said "if Cha Boom was German, the West German National team's attacking problem would have been fixed right away."

>>> Even TODAY, Schalke 04's owner frequently says that the biggest mistake he's ever made in his life is not bringing Cha to Schalke 04.

http://www.hoochoo.com/2001_fame/fame_chaboom/image/pic_14.jpg


[/QUOTE]

(thanks to Korean_Football of the Korean Forums in BS)

[impalemeplz]

damn its bruce lee playing football:eek:

[Jessica_Alba,pirate]

this is a dumb idea for a thread, it's just naming the best player from your country but DS wanked it out and ponced it up by stretching out a question that should take two lines into another one of his university level thesis's

[johno]

no one cares but for T&T

its Russell Latapy, followed closely by Terry St. Louis and Arnold Dwarika...

Dwarika won't be a shock to many because there was a time when the NT was centered around him. St. Louis was always a fringe player in fact, he was a fringe player for a short time. But for my money - he was immensely skilled. He, like Dwarika, was dancing to a different tune from everyone else.

[Dark Savante]

this is a dumb idea for a thread, it's just naming the best player from your country but DS wanked it out and ponced it up by stretching out a question that should take two lines into another one of his university level thesis's
thesis's? :D


Is that the same as breastesess :confused:

If you consider Matt LeTissier or other players mentioned as the best from their countries...then more power to you! ;)

[jared9999]

hugo sanchez

[CRonaldo_07]

If you jsut want raw skill and talent..

then probably

Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma.

Eusebio, Coluna, Paulo Futre, Luis Figo, Rui costa, conceicao maybe..

[condor11]

for peru

its probably betewn

Valeriano Lopez- Foward in the 50's amazing header of the ball a goal scoring freak

Hugo Sotil - most likely our greatest Dribbler

Cesar Cueto - he made passing an art form hence one of his nicknames the left footed poet the other was Parrot;)

i gotta go with el Cholo Sotil many felt he was more talented than Cubillas

[lucaartemi]

stan collymore maradona ribery