When you consider that Simonsen was voted 'European Footballer of the Year' (in 1977) by beating off Kevin Keegan, Michel Platini and Johan Cruyff to win the title, then it just makes Pele look even more stupid when he chose to pick Brian Laudrup and leave out Simonsen. Besides Simonsen being the only player in the World who has managed to score in all three European cup finals (CL, UEFA Cup and Cup Winners Cup), then he is also still among the most scoring in the EC all together, along with Henrik Larsson, though with Simonsen having a better goal ratio. Also better than the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Thierry Henry ... http://www.rsssf.com/players/players-in-ec.html#goals .
You think someone like Diouf belongs to that list? Milla? Myung-Bo? Nakata? Abedi Pele? Emre? Recber? etc. As for women, where's Sun Wen? That list is just some PC crap.
Scandinavia is Denmark, Norway and Sweden. If the list would be about the 20 best players from 'The Nordic Countries' (which besides the Scandinavian countries includes Finland, Iceland, Faeroes and Greenland) Gudjohnsen probably belong on such a list in most peoples eyes, Jari Litmanen of Finland surely would but no other from those countries. Solskjaer and weater or not he is a legend at Manchester United has been much debated in this tread and I do think he is widely respected and maybe even a "legend" among United's supporters BUT I do think it is more of the type of legend status that say Shaun Goater has among Man City fans or Ray Parlour among Arsenal's. A player who is loved because of his dedication to the club and of course also for being a player who has done a lot for the club on the pitch but not necessarily considered one of the best players in the club history. When it comes to making a list of Scandinavia's 20 best players I have a to limited knowledge of Norweigan and Danish footballers to comply a meaningful list but I think among the Swedish players it is a bit surprising that so few has mentioned the likes of Jonas Thern and Stefan Schwartz. Maybe not the same kind of flair players as say Brolin but they were the key players in the Swedish team that did so well in the early nineties.
Having grown up in Iceland, I know quite a few people that would disagree with you on this point. But that's a discussion for another place and time.
My wife has been telling me about him for years, was her favorite player as he seemed to be for many Danes.
So you never watched him play ? ... a few highlights then : Peter Schmeichel - The Great Dane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU2FBaHw-u4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPXbzd3WN_o Brian Laudrup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu06Nyo7u-c .
A few years ago - during "Drillo" - Norway was rated no.2 in the world by the same list.... PS! Higher than Denmark and Sweden have ever been.
That is not correct... Denmark was ranked no. 1 in the World in 1985 : http://www.xocca.de/fussball/weltra...85&PHPSESSID=94fc4aa31b3f1bda819306e811b75751 .
Ther was a private independent World ranking from 1981 until FIFA decided to take over and do it themself. ... Btw a bit the same with the Europa cups, since the EC also started out as private tournaments in 1955 until UEFA took over and made it their own.. .
The great thing about PS at his best was that he was truly complete. He had great reflexes, good vision, which both enabled him to be in the right place to make the save/grab the cross and to start a quick counter once a save was made, he rarely fumbled the ball (in fact he once made a spectacular one handed grab that has become sort of legendary), he even managed to score a few important goals himself off of corners at the end of an (almost) lost match. His skills aside, he was a stable keeper throughout the season but still had the ability to make several spectacular saves that could turn an important match around. He helped win several important trophies at both national and club level, and he deserved them all. There may have been a few other keepers that I would rank ahead of him, but I think he is a contender for the best keeper ever. It's a close call.
Elo had Denmark at #2 and Norway at #6. Denmark's highest modern era point standing was 1959 (#3 after beating West Germany in the 1986 WC) but it was also #1 with 1964 pts. in 1916 (retro ratings) Norway's highest total was 1913 and #6 (after win over Spain in Euro'2000).
My top 20 would be 1- Peter Schmeichel 2- Michael Laudrup 3-Thomas Brolin 4- Reiper 5- Ole Gunner Solskjaer 6- Henrik Larson 7- Zlatan Ibrahamovic 8- Thomas Gravesen 9- Thomas Ravelli 10- Brain Laudrup 11- Allan Simonsen 12- Eidur Gudjohnsen 13-John Arne Riise 14- Stig Inge Bjonbje 15- John Dahl Tomasson 16- Jesper Blomqvist 17- Elkjaer 18-Jesper Gronkjaer 19-Thomas Helveg 20-Agger
4- Reiper !?!? You'll get in trouble with Danish supporters, having Allan Simonsen this low and behind other much less skilled foreign and Danish players... In Denmark Michael Laudrup is regarded to be the absolute best Danish player ever (mainly because of his success in Spain, getting selected as the best foreigner in the Spanish league in 25 year's)... Allan Simonsen is just as sure to be regarded the 2nd best, while Peter Boleslaw Schmeichel will have to fight it out with Preben Elkjaer-Larsen for the 3rd spot. In my world, Michael Laudrup and Allan Simonsen were equally good (and equally skilled). Michael had great success in Spain but only partly for the Danish NT, while Simonsen was equally great at club and NT level and is the only Scandinavian to be voted European footballer of the year, beating off Kevin Keegan, Michel Platini and Johan Cruyff for the title that year. Allan Simonsen is also the only player in the World who has managed to score in all three European-cup finals (CL, UEFA Cup and Cup winners Cup), beside being among the most scoring player in the Europa Cups of all time. unfortunately for him he played most of his career in Germany (winning 3 German Championships in a row) and only 3½ years in Spain for Barcelona, making his club career look a bit less impressive in compare with Michael Laudrup who was the first and only foreign player to win 5 Spanish Championships in a row. Simonsen also unfortunately broke his leg in the very first match of the Euro-84 finals, so that he never really became a part of the best and one of the most successful Danish NT's ever. Simonsen was voted the 3rd best player in Europe in 1983 and I'm sure Denmark would have won the Euro-84 with Simonsen on the team instead of getting eliminated by Spain on penalties in the Semifinals. At the WC-86 finals Simonsen had turned 33 and was not quite same player after having recoverd from his broken leg. .
I guess Laudrup also did well at Juve, but he's mainly remembered for his 5 Spainsh championships in a row for Barcelona and Real Madrid + getting selected as the best foreigner in the Spanish league the past 25 years (in 1999).. .
He didn't win as many trophies as he did in Spain (he only won an Intercontinental Cup and a Serie A title) but he was still a very good player and one of Juve's best during his stint there. Before he went to Juve, he played a part in Lazio's 1983-84 Serie A campaign and along with Bruno Giordano and Vincenzo D'Amico, his goals helped Lazio survive relegation. At that time, he was only around 19 years old.
Ravelli was very overrated. Sweden's best player in recent year is Zlatan. Brolin played in Parma, Zlatan has won both Eredivisie and Serie A (well, if it hadn't been for Mr Moggi) twice. Jesper Blomquist was a great talent but never managed to realise his potential. Larsson is somewhat overrated, too. Three other Swedish players that might be mentioned are Patrik Andersson, Fredrik Ljungberg and Jonas Thern.
How many mistakes would Zlatan make though? He is probably the most talented out of the players mentioned but Brolin was more consistent than what Zlatan is. Brolin got destroyed by a knee injury and a diet of cakes. Zlatan is ruining himself because of his stupidity.
How was Larsson overrated. also, is he not winning every cup, title, cl that can be won. What did any other swedish player win? U better shut up and look at stats. <Zlatan has won nothing so far.
To tell people to shut up is just stupid. Stats is not everything, but Zlatan won the Eredivisie in 2002 and 2004 and Serie A in 2005 and 2006. 2000 Malmö finished second in Superettan, thereby advancing to Allsvenskan. 2003 Ajax finished second in the Eredivisie. So, Zlatan has four league titles and his teams have finished second twice.
How about his contributions to the teams? At Juve, he was liability more than an asset. He scored some classy goals but that was it. His dribbling was appalling and he couldn't hold-up the ball wisely. To be the greatest, you need a combination of great skill and performances as well as the trophies. Zlatan may have a decent trophy collection but isn't a consistent performer. Larsson was more consistent than Ibra.