Yes and Di Stefano, Puskás and Zamora are known for winning titles that Real Madrid didn't had (first laliga for real madrid by zamora and first ucl for real madrid by Di Stefano). The same for Maradona at Napoli (winning their first ever Serie A and UEFA Cup) So do you think only the players who won the very first trophy ever for their club has legacy? By that logic, Kempes > Maradona for Argentina NT and Stoichkov > Messi for Barcelona
not necessarily titles build legacy theres a lot of good players wins nothing(titles), plays all carrer in one(or few) club for example and his name is very important to this club , nt and the football
I agree with this. But this contradicts your previous thought when you said: "I feel Sad when i Saw these all time elections today and i Saw for example Messi in Barcelona and Maradona in barcelona too Messi = titles . He not build legacy in Barcelona" Messi fits perfectly in what you said about "play all career in one (or few) club and his name is very important to this club , nt and the football". So why do you think he didn't build legacy in Barcelona?
I just added a well deserved rep belatedly for this mate (I guess I'm a bit random in what I rep and what I don't sometimes but I hadn't done it previously): well done on translating and analyising their text. One thing I do find to be intriguing is that in the actual Estadio selection, instead of those players mentioned like Pedernera, Friedenreich, Piendibene etc (ones that Europeans will have seen little of, generally), they have a forward line that includes Robledo (a star for Newcastle United in England), Grillo (yet to move to Italy, but known by Europeans when playing against them, such as in the England game of 1953), Julinho (yet to move to Italy, but played the 1954 World Cup - I'm not sure if that was after the article was published though?) for example, albeit Loustau is indeed in the forward line too. Not to say that Argentinian fans would generally be agreeing with the selection for example (but on the opposite side how much did the Argentinians who saw Di Stefano playing in Argentina see of him playing in Spain before the European Cup era, or even for Millonarios in Colombia, and how much did Estadio's journalists see of that 'matured'/developed Di Stefano?), but Estadio do make a 'modern' selection in terms of their forward line and one that isn't completely unfamiliar to Europeans....
I thought I'd take just a quick little break from what I'm posting on IceBlood's thread to add this page I noticed, which has some interesting XIs by long-time managers in the English game, made from players who all played for different teams (no player can have played for the same club or nation as another one in the chosen XI) and who they 'saw': The gaffers pick between Gullit and Bergkamp as they name their greatest world XIs | Daily Mail Online David Pleat: Lev Yashin (USSR); Dan Petrescu (Romania), John Charles (Wales), Franco Baresi (Italy), Manuel Amoros (France); Franz Beckenbauer (Germany); Danny Blanchflower (N.Ireland), Kenny Dalglish (Scotland); Lionel Messi (Argentina), Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary), Pele (Brazil) Mick McCarthy: Neville Southall (Wales); Carlos Alberto (Brazil), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Morten Olsen (Denmark), Paolo Maldini (Italy); Jean Tigana (France), Graeme Souness (Scotland); Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands), Lionel Messi (Argentina); Alan Shearer (England) Dave Bassett: Pat Jennings (N.Ireland); Wim Suurbier (Netherlands), Alan Hansen (Scotland), Franco Baresi (Italy), David Alaba (Austria); Bobby Charlton (England), Zinedine Zidane (France), David Silva (Spain); Diego Maradona (Argentina), Pele (Brazil); Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) I did make a quick try myself, firstly considering 'seen them play' to mean including retrospectively looking back at old matches, highlights, video compilations, VHS videos etc etc, using 4-1-2-1-2 verging on 4-3-3: Lev Yashin (USSR), Javier Zanetti (Argentina), Elias Figueroa (Chile), Bobby Moore (England), Paolo Maldini (Italy); Franz Beckenbauer (Germany); Michel Platini (France), Johan Cruyff (Netherlands); Nandor Hidegkuti (Hungary); Eusebio (Portugal), Pele (Brazil) Then considering just players from about 1988 onwards, who I saw more in real-time since I started seeing quite a lot of International football (I saw some before Euro 88 but that seems like a good cut-off point for this pretty much), using 4-2-1-2-1 with two roaming forwards supporting a striker: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy); Dan Petrescu (Romania), Matthias Sammer (Germany), Sol Campbell (England), Bixente Lizarazu (France); Ruben Baraja (Spain), Fernando Redondo (Argentina); Enzo Scifo (Belgium); Lionel Messi (Argentina), Bebeto (Brazil); Marco van Basten (Netherlands) Probably if I had used systems with attacking wingers, or wide midfielders, instead, I could have ended up with very different XIs though! Maybe some of you would like to try (it is pretty complicated to think about though, making sure none of the players played in the same teams - I hope I didn't do mine too quick and make any mistakes on that!). Maybe @Wiliam Felipe Gracek it is something you would like to do for example - by the way the title of the page I linked is probably a bit mis-leading because, despite that and the caption lower down, it seems that McCarthy decided he couldn't have Gullit or Hagi because of some other choices (Maldini for example playing for AC Milan like Gullit did), not because of directly choosing Bergkamp instead as such....
I think in theory I could have even put in Puskas rather than Hidegkuti, as I didn't include any player that played for Real Madrid did I in that first XI I tried.... I think the role would be good for Hidegkuti to be able to flitter between midfield and attack, knit things together and be a potential scorer himself too (like in his famous role for Hungary), but on the other hand having a Puskas-Eusebio-Pele trio would be impressive, and young Puskas especially could be very good in terms of his supporting play too I think. It's definitely a quicker/easier task when including older generations anyway I think, and it makes it more feasible to end up with a big amount of top-level all-time players in the XI!
I knew I'd have made a mistake somewhere lol - Redondo and Messi both playing for Argentina is a pretty obvious one though! I can't have Michael Laudrup anyway without changing more things, as he played for Ajax like Van Basten did, so I'll put Paul McStay of Scotland and (only) Celtic in Redondo's place! I can also add in Fernando Hierro for Baraja in that case, probably moving Sammer to the midfield to be alongside/behind McStay....(or I could add Dragan Stojkovic I guess, rather than McStay, even, then it'd be even clearer to put Stojkovic and Scifo more advanced in the line-up than Sammer).... EDIT: So yeah, my second (1988 onwards) XI can become Buffon; Petrescu, Hierro, Campbell, Lizarazu; Sammer, McStay; Scifo; Messi, Bebeto; Van Basten (I think!) if I didn't put in Stojkovic. I'm probably still 50/50 on replacing Hidegkuti with Puskas, but if I did the 'including seeing retrospectively' XI I made could perhaps have Pele as the one behind the other two forwards actually: Yashin; Zanetti, Figueroa, Moore, Maldini; Beckenbauer; Platini, Cruyff; Pele; Eusebio, Puskas
............................. ..................... The Kings Of skills Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten playing together in National team side and Ac Milan against Real Madrid 19/05/1988 . i guess it
Nice video mate; I gave a like on Youtube for it! I guess, even though I remember Puck did say that early on there were some questions about how they can play together (the video below shows an assist by Van Basten to Gullit to win the game in Ireland in 1983 for example though, around about 3:10), that Gullit-Van Basten is one of the best partnerships in football history. I do think also that if either of them was playing at this moment in 2024, in their best form and in good shape, that they'd probably be the best player in the world (Van Basten for sure I think, but Gullit too probably considering his all-round capabilities) - I see there is a thread just opened asking the same question about Thierry Henry but I didn't look at it yet (I do think the same I think though if he was in prime form and shape to be honest - that he'd probably be the best player in the world right now - obviously if he would play Euro 2024 the same way he played in Euro 2004 it wouldn't really seem like it though...as opposed to Van Basten and Euro 88 of course) Anyway, for that attempt at picking players who didn't play in the same team as each other I guess accidentally picking Gullit and Van Basten is one mistake I wouldn't make lol (I did realise there is one more oversight I did make though so I'll add another post in a minute about that - I'm kind of waiting for IceBlood and/or Peterhrt to reply before I continue with what I'm doing on that other thread anyway now so I'll take some minutes to more carefully confirm my own choices!)...because not only are they the same nationality but they were famously playing for AC Milan together too! That caption for the game vs Hungary on your video did suggest the Netherlands lined up with 3-4-3 with Gullit in midfield and Van Basten centre forward I noticed, although whether it was totally accurate I'm not really sure at this point (it showed Wouters as wide right midfielder for example too in theory, so in effect whether it was more a 'Cruyff diamond' type shape or Gullit was actually closer to being an attacker than shown I'm not sure re: that game at this moment). I don't think I watched any longer footage of that Ireland game in 1983, but it does seem like Gullit was playing as central or attacking midfielder in that game perhaps too, joining Van Basten from there, rather than them both playing as attackers (Puck might know about this though potentially IIRC).... I remember I showed you a link to this crazy/extreme attempt I made before at picking 250/500 players by allocating them to line-ups (and like I said it's a bit out-of-date, so now as examples I might pick Pedernera earlier I might perceive, or theoretically another modern player that gets selected could be Mbappe....), but you can see anyway that I united Van Basten and Gullit together in a partnership again! https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/bigsoccer-top-250.1695463/page-2#post-39103711 https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/bigsoccer-top-250.1695463/page-2#post-39118040
Yeah, so I realised another faux pas I made: I had thought separately about Sammer and Scifo playing for Inter Milan, but not taking time to double-check my selections as I was doing it quickly I hadn't put two and two together somehow! Maybe it's not so bad just to make 3 mistakes when doing it quickly (if including not thinking about being able to use Puskas rather than Hidegkuti as I hadn't ended up with a Real Madrid player in that XI - I think in theory Pleat could have picked Puskas rather than Hidegkuti and chooses not to himself actually seemingly though I spotted), although the Redondo-related one was pretty bad I guess lol (I think I had in mind potentially putting in Michael Laudrup at one point, but obviously when deciding Messi was going to be in that ruled that out and then along with for example having Juventus goalkeeper Buffon in goal I could use a slot for a Real Madrid player, but my brain hadn't taken time to think about Messi as an Argentinian at that moment, or Redondo/Van Basten both as AC Milan players for that matter!). So I'll list the teams they all played for, to double check things for my own selections (I won't check the teams of Pleat/McCarthy/Bassett this way albeit I assume they double checked things enough themselves!) - EDIT (Pleat picked Beckenbauer and Pele by mistake actually indeed - I had to remove Beckenbauer too of course due to New York Cosmos - (on the technicality of playing a friendly game for them maybe Cruyff is also in question but I assume maybe that choice along with Pele is acceptable) - ...so ended up settling on Ernst Ocwirk, though I'd considered Bozsik as my Hungarian choice too potentially - maybe Ocwirk, or Bozsik potentially even too, could be a little lacking as sole DM in some respects arguably, but I think it's suitable enough if Platini is true midfielder in effect and given Cruyff has pace and slide-tackling capabilities himself for example!) 'Seen on TV/internet etc' XI: 1: Yashin (USSR/Dynamo Moscow); 2: Zanetti (Argentina/Talleres/Banfield/Inter Milan), 5: Figueroa (Chile/Santiago Wanderers/Union La Celera/Penarol/Internacional/Palestino/Fort Lauderdale Strikers/Colo Colo), 6: Moore (England/West Ham United/Fulham/Seattle Sounders/Herning Fremad/Carolina Lightening), 3: Maldini (Italy/AC Milan); 4: Ocwirk (Austria/Floridsdorfer/Austria Vienna/Sampdoria); 7: Platini (France/Nancy/St Etienne/Juventus), 11: Cruyff (Netherlands/Ajax/Barcelona/LA Aztecs/Washington Diplomats/Levante/Feyenoord); 9: Hidegkuti (Hungary/Elektromos/Herminamezei/MTK Budapest); 8: Eusebio (Portugal/Benfica and various other clubs none of the others played for), 10: Pele (Brazil/Santos/New York Cosmos) I kept in Hidegkuti rather than adding Puskas, as I do think the balance is good like this and that Hidegkuti could seamlessly switch roles with Cruyff in theory too potentially for example (and in general the system could be like a diamond merging with a 4-3-3 in effect - I wouldn't say/think Hidegkuti was better than Puskas in general, which seemingly Hidegkuti wouldn't have thought either since he chose Puskas as the best ever, and especially over their careers overall Puskas has more merits, albeit I would kind of concur with Pleat on Hidegkuti being better than Puskas in the 1953 England game I think...but probably not better than Puskas vs Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960 I think actually, even if more because of giving Puskas the verdict on that one in sharpness in attack/finishing etc rather than general play) 'Seen live as well as on highlights since 1988 XI' (you can see I put in Michel Preud'homme now as I also realised Buffon and Messi have a PSG clash, and though I'd be tempted in some respects to work around with Michael Laudrup for Messi, and other re-jigging of things, I decided not to go that way; I couldn't bring in Stojkovic as Lizarazu played for Marseille so I replaced Scifo with Lars Bohinen in the end!): 1: Preud'homme (Belgium/Standard Liege/Mechelen/Benfica); 2: Petrescu (Romania/Steaua Bucharest/Foggia/Genoa/Sheffield Wednesday/Chelsea/Bradford City/Southampton/National Bucharest), 4: Hierro (Spain/Valladolid/Real Madrid/Al Rayyan/Bolton Wanderers), 5: Campbell (England/Tottenham Hotspur/Arsenal/Portsmouth/Notts County/Newcastle United), 3: Lizarazu (Bordeaux/Athletic Bilbao/Bayern Munich/Marseille); 6: Sammer (E.Germany/Germany/Bayern Munich/Stuttgart/Inter Milan/Borussia Dortmund), 11: McStay (Scotland/Celtic); 9: Bohinen (Norway/various Norwegian and Danish clubs/Young Boys Bern/Nottingham Forest/Blackburn Rovers/Derby County); 10: Messi (Argentina/Barcelona/Paris St Germain/Inter Miami), 7: Bebeto (Brazil/Vitoria/Flamengo/Vasco da Gama/Deportivo La Coruna/Sevilla/Cruzeiro/Botafogo/Toros Neza/Kashima Antlers/Al-Ittihad);8: Van Basten (Netherlands/Ajax/AC Milan) Phew! That took longer than I thought it would in the end, so good luck anyone else that does try it! If I'd wanted to try to keep Scifo in (and have a different goalkeeper to Preud'homme too of course) I guess I'd have been considering something like bringing in Daniel Jensen (of Denmark, Werder Bremen and various other clubs) for Sammer, but although I think that could make a nice and cohesive midfield trio I think on the basis of attack/defence balance and also just trying to keep close to an attempt at a top/best XI then keeping Sammer in that slot seems the call. I suppose Roy Keane might have been an option on that basis and arguable vs Sammer, either as box to box player for Forest or more of an anchor player at Man Utd (I guess I'm thinking of something like 94/95 Sammer when he played as sweeper but did venture forwards a lot, albeit he was a pretty high quality midfielder before that point too...so potentially I think of Sammer as better but it'd be arguable at least), but anyway he went to Celtic so I couldn't have him along with McStay....
.......................Gullit's brilliance prompted Garth Crooks to comment in his 1990 Team of the Week column, "Ruud Gullit is a great player by any standards. He has all the skills. He's not afraid to do things with the ball. And he looks as if he's enjoying every second of it. By my reckoning that's what makes him an even better player than Maradona. Both have the key quality you will find in all the best players: balance. You just can't knock them off the ball. It was the same with Pelé, Beckenbauer and Cruyff."[43] ................... John Charles ... One of England's football analysts called up JOhn Charles as a defender (libero) at World XI eleven team greatest team of all times ... it could really work out really well. he was very complete, he was also a total footballer, he scored strongly, tackles harder and had leadership to try to control Omar Sivori's madness on the football field in Italy... yes, certainly John Charles... and Duncan Edwards are great choices for any team in the whole world. But they are generally extremely forgotten by most people in World Football . ...................... .................... Great player for sure was John Charles i like him so much ... i saw some entire games from him already .
Be careful here. It was George Best who made that comment, not Crooks. Not that it makes the opinion more valuable, though.
Have you and @PDG1978 seen this article incidentally? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5247002/2024/02/04/history-of-euros-1988-netherlands/ Generally it is okay, but let me pick out one thing: "They were, incidentally, almost exclusively referred to as ‘Holland’ at this time, both by English language media and by the Dutch players themselves." Those players were almost all from Holland (and Utrecht, which is virtually the same, with the same 'identity'). Van Breukelen - Utrecht Van Aerle - North-Brabant Rijkaard - North-Holland R. Koeman - born North-Holland, grew up Groningen Van Tiggelen - Zealand Vanenburg - Utrecht Wouters - Utrecht Mühren - North-Holland E. Koeman - same as his brother Gullit - North-Holland Van Basten - Utrecht Selected bench in the final: Hiele - South-Holland Suvrijn - Limburg (close to Maastricht) Van 't Schip - Canada, moved aged 12 to North-Holland Bosman - North-Holland Kieft - North-Holland In the stands: Winter - Suriname, moved aged 5 to Flevoland Troost - South-Holland Koevermans - South-Holland Krüzen - Overijssel * Flevoland is an artificially created province, with the cities Almere and Lelystad (where Aron Winter grew up) largely inhabitated by people from Holland This composition is different for other squads in other (later) tournaments. So little wonder the players used 'Holland'. Especially the ones who were the face and voice in the media (this was not mister Krüzen with all due respect). Later on you had someone like Van Nistelrooij who gently and politely voiced his annoyance with all the Hollandification.
Yeah, I did happen to see that, after navigating from something I'd spotted on comme's Twitter page I think actually, and temporarily taking out an Athletic subscription. It's nicely written and with some good background info about the squad, with some interesting quotes. Unless I mis-construed something (moreso from re-watching more recently than recollecting from the time) maybe the occasional switch to more of a back 3, and wing-backs in effect including Van Aerle, could have been mentioned (Rijkaard-Koeman-Van Tiggelen then the defenders). In the main system I think it might be more realistic to show Muhren on the left (maybe Erwin Koeman being put there is even down to that occasional switch of system that I think I noticed - I'll check the Sofascore heatmaps after this post though) I guess mightn't it? Yeah, I'd say in my younger years (and before my birth too, including in the 1974 World Cup) it was more normal in English media to call the Dutch team Holland. Recently the Netherlands is much more used, and for example when someone gives a quiz answer as 'Holland' the response is usually something like "The Netherlands, that's right, yes" (accepting the answer but making the correction too)....
Yeah, I think using Sofascore's heatmaps confirms that Erwin Koeman and Muhren did both spend a fair amount of time as the wide left midfielder. I'm thinking it probably was moreso when Van Aerle pushed on down the right side more, and Vanenberg played from a little more inside, that Erwin Koeman played out on the left indeed (but I can't be sure that in the main 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 type system there wasn't some time with him on the left and Muhren more central off the top of my head I suppose). Obviously at times an extra striker was introduced and then Gullit is 3rd attacker, or additional midfielder, I suppose in those minutes (vs Ireland both Kieft and Bosman came on even of course!).
I guess, on reflection, although it's not necessary, one final change I'd probably make would be to include Giuseppe Giannini (of Italy/Roma/Sturm Graz/Napoli/Lecce), since I took out Buffon and was left with no Italians, so if he comes in for Bohinen then I could use McStay and Sammer behind Giannini in a theoretical team or alternatively Sammer behind McStay and Giannini. In attack it could be Messi and Bebeto from a little behind, and either side, of Van Basten, or Messi in a free trequartista type role and Bebeto more as a partner for Van Basten I suppose. In terms of numbers then I guess I'd allocate: McStay as 8, Van Basten as 9, Giannini as 10 and Messi as 11, in theory. That's my final post on that topic now I think!
Trying to do this for current squad (and injured players). Where it has reverted back to the old patterns, except that now some leading players - Van Dijk, Reijnders - in the media are from other regions (unlike 1974, 1988 you can say). North + South Holland = 36% of the population. Players = 76% (28 of 37). Add Utrecht - which had among other things for a very long time the same common language as Holland - and it is 81% (population = 43%) 1. Verbruggen: Overijssel 2. Geertruida: South-Holland 3. De Ligt: North-Holland 4. Van Dijk: North-Brabant 5. Ake: South-Holland 6. De Vrij: South-Holland 7. Simons: North-Holland 8. Wijnaldum: South-Holland 9. Weghorst: Overijssel 10. Depay: South-Holland 11. Gakpo: North-Brabant 12. Frimpong: North-Holland 13. Bijlow: South-Holland 14. Reijnders: Overijssel 15. Van de Ven: North-Holland 16. Veerman: North-Holland 17. Blind: North-Holland 18. Malen: North-Holland 19. Brobbey: North-Holland 20. Dumfries: South-Holland 21. Flekken: Limburg 22. Schouten: South-Holland 23. Bergwijn: North-Holland 24. Gravenberch: North-Holland Injured (certainly selected if not injured): 25. F. de Jong: South-Holland 26. Koopmeiners: North-Holland 27. De Roon: South-Holland (lifted the UL trophy for Atalanta, joint-captain, 2nd in minutes among outfielders in the competition) 28. Hartman: South-Holland (the default left-back) Injured (possibly selected, per Koeman's words): 29. J. Timber - Utrecht 30. Botman - North-Holland 31. Malacia - South-Holland 32. Wieffer - Overijssel 33. Q. Timber - Utrecht 34. Zirkzee - South-Holland 35. Lang - South-Holland The media shout & dropped out of preliminary squad: 36. Olij: North-Holland 37. Maatsen: South-Holland (CL finalist - did very well vs PSG, Atletico in KO rounds, but not in the final) --------------------- Thoughts or suggestions?
..................In the 1981–82 season, Gullit was in fine form as Haarlem finished fourth and qualified for Europe for the only time in their history. In that same season, Gullit scored the goal he would later consider his finest: "Playing against Utrecht I went past four defenders and then the goalkeeper, and scored. It was an unforgettable goal for me."[13] Barry Hughes was so impressed with the young Gullit that he described him as the "Dutch Duncan Edwards".[12] did you find this goal my son in Netherlands ???????
You will have much more insight than me Puck, but I guess tradition and familiarity with the sport will play a part, and ease of access to clubs etc maybe. A kind of similar situation is Cricket players of Barbados perhaps (as compared to the West Indies overall and/or the world): ‘It’s in the blood’: how Barbados became cricket’s ultimate hotspot | West Indies cricket team | The Guardian
Unfortunately that @Excape Goat link of 'Holland without Holland best XI' I cannot find back right now. So here for some other tournaments (not all). I only list those not growing up in Holland or Utrecht (say, Suurbier moved to Holland as a baby and Van Hanegem to Utrecht from Zealand as a two years old). 1974 and 1988 had indeed two of the more 'Holland heavy' teams, relative to the entire squad and population, and playing time. 1974: Haan (Groningen), Van Ierssel (North-Brabant), De Jong (Friesland), R. and W. van de Kerkhof (North-Brabant) = 5/22 = 23% (who of those received actual playing time?) 1978: Poortvliet (Zealand), Schoenaker (Gelderland), Van Kraaij (North-Brabant), Wildschut (Friesland), R. and W. van de Kerkhof (North-Brabant), Hovenkamp (Groningen), Nanninga (Groningen), Lubse (North-Brabant), Brandts (Gelderland) = 10/22 = 45% 1992: Van Aerle (North-Brabant), Van Tiggelen (Zealand), R. Koeman (Groningen), Blind (Zealand), Van t Schip (Canada), Bosz (Gelderland), Viscaal (North-Brabant) = 7/20 = 35% 1998: Stam (Overijssel), Seedorf (Flevoland), Cocu (North-Brabant), Zenden (Limburg), Overmars (Gelderland), Van Hooijdonk (North-Brabant), Winter (Flevoland) = 7/22 = 32% 2000: Stam (Overijssel), Zenden (Limburg), Seedorf (Flevoland), Winter (Flevoland), Cocu (North-Brabant), Overmars (Gelderland), Konterman (Overijssel), Van Vossen (Zealand), Bosvelt (Gelderland), Van Hooijdonk (North-Brabant), Makaay (Gelderland), Westerveld (Overijssel) = 12/22 = 55% (Van Nistelrooij from North-Brabant was injured) 2004: Stam (Overijssel), Bouma (North-Brabant), Cocu (North-Brabant), Van der Meijde (Gelderland), Van Nistelrooij (North-Brabant), Makaay (Gelderland), Westerveld (Overijssel), Overmars (Gelderland), Van Hooijdonk (North-Brabant), Robben (Groningen), Seedorf (Flevoland), Bosvelt (Gelderland), Zenden (Limburg), Waterreus (Limburg) = 14/23 = 61% (Van Bommel of Limburg injured) 2008: Mathijsen (North-Brabant), De Zeeuw (Gelderland), Van Nistelrooij (North-Brabant), Robben (Groningen), Timmer (Gelderland), Bouma (North-Brabant), Huntelaar (Gelderland), V. of Hesselink (Overijssel) = 8/23 = 35% 2010: Mathijsen (North-Brabant), Van Bommel (Limburg), Robben (Groningen), De Zeeuw (Gelderland), Schaars (Gelderland), Huntelaar (Gelderland), Boschker (Gelderland) = 7/23 = 30% (put different: Holland and Utrecht was less than 40% of the population but 70% of the squad) Hope this is informative! I take a break now for a while. Cheers.
It is definitely true that some sports are very popular/successful in some parts of the country and others are not (and parts where there is strong competition). I've mentioned before I remember how Friesland on their own was top 10/top 20 in a few Olympics. I guess on a per capita rate they'd rival or surpass Norway (though that link doesn't only capture Olympic sports of course and 'corrects' for how 'big' or competitive a sport is). One other thing I can think of is the religious factor. In some parts was (or still is) a ban to play on sundays. It's a major reason why in the first decades after the war most football championships went to southern/catholic teams. This are also not the parts most foreigners are thinking of, they are thinking more about this. But there are always some who are contrarian and go their own way. Like how Gullit never had something with Ajax and has always said Feyenoord is his club! I'd say also Belgium tends to be skewed towards the northern regions (I remember we went through that as well and broke that down). Cricket is strangely popular in some rare pockets of the country (though Wikipedia says there are only 6000 members/practitioners). In other parts it doesn't exist at all. I know close to nothing about the sport but apparently they are bold enough to pursue full membership status (wikipedia links to a worldwide rank just outside the top 10?). Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler https://www.france24.com/en/live-ne...igger-nation-status-after-new-world-cup-shock https://www.forbes.com/sites/trista...underlines-growth-in-smaller-cricket-nations/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/co...teria_for_netherlands_to_apply_for/?rdt=54004 "I notice that more and more people abroad where I play cricket come to me and speak to me," the Nootdorper continues. 'They then say that they saw a match of mine at the World Cup, but I also like being able to walk the streets more anonymously in the Netherlands - which is a non-cricket country.' 'On the other hand, it is a shame that cricket is still followed so little in the Netherlands.' To say that sport is a lot less popular in the Netherlands is an understatement. With 2.5 billion supporters, cricket is [maybe] the second sport worldwide after football. It is not one of the popular sports in the Netherlands: the Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB) will have approximately 6,000 members in 2024, a spokesperson said." https://www.omroepwest.nl/sport/480...ederland-welkom-in-het-leven-van-bas-de-leede
Yeah, interesting that Gullit was born in Amsterdam and has a leaning to Feyenoord (whether that comes initially from when he joined them or from before I don't know). Maybe @Wiliam Felipe Gracek would like it a lot if you translated what Ruud said in the video. It's a decent little clip in terms of footage shown I'd say too (sometimes, like on the Football's Greatest episodes the main focus is the narrative and back-story which is great, but clips used aren't always the best available in theory I think and there's not many of them, but here given the time used it's not a bad little collection of his plays in the Netherlands I think - maybe the goal from 1:17 is not so much less than the Messi one in the Copa Del Rey Final that, wrongly for me, was talked about as 'best ever goal' and suchlike...and there's that one for PSV that I mentioned a few days ago as one of Gullit's best in the Netherlands...but still not the one for Haarlem that Wiliam is looking for, even though a length of the pitch run vs Feyenoord is shown too I see). Cricket has a huge popularity in some Asian nations that have a huge population I suppose. Yeah, I knew for quite a while that Netherlands was one of the foremost non-Commonwealth countries that had some participation in International Cricket.