The fact that you take that a Brasil partisan is saying that playing for Brasil means more than playing for Germany to back you up, shows how paranoid you are on this subject. Of course he's going to be biased. I've admitted, occassionally you get an overexposre backlash against a player, such as Beckham, where it is hard to rate someone fairly, but come on, you are being totally paranoid.
Maradona is the only player to make everybody's first team on this thread. I guess that makes him the consensus best player of the last 25 years.
Ok let me add my two cents to this thread. If we are choosing a Best XI since 1978 here is my team: GK: Dino Zoff RB: Manuel Amoros CB: Franco Baresi CB: Daniel Passarella LB: Roberto Carlos DMF: Lothar Matthaus AMF: Michel Platini LMF: Zinedine Zidane RMF: Ruud Gullitt FOR: Diego Maradona CF: Marco Van Basten Second XI: GK: Peter Schmeichel RB: Lilian Thuram CB: Frank Rijkaard CB: Marcel Desailly LB: Paolo Maldini DMF: Dunga CMF: Zico LMF: Ryan Giggs RMF: Pierre Littbarski FOR: Roberto Baggio CF: Gabriel Batistuta
This is what i said in it's full, double paragrahphed, unchopped state: If you wish to post up a Zico vs Rumenigge thread you will find 'your' man heavily crushed. To be remebered as a great number 10 in Brasilian football history is probably one of the highest achievements in the game. Germany have had some great foward but not as many as Brasil. Being arguably the second best German striker behind Gerd Muller is great. Being a legendary number 10 for Brasil is exceptional same as if this poll was about best defenders..I wouldn't put the Brazilian on par with the German because Brazil haven't produced as many great defenders as Germany. furthermore: quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by soccerfreak #1 And I so hate this shite. Why are Brazilians always rated higher than Europeans, even if they don´t win anything?? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Winning things' does not automatically make you great. I suppose in some instances it's used to concrete a players position in the echelons of time, but, sometimes even the very best are tainted with bad luck. Brazilians are in no way rated higher than Europeans, if anything a Brazilian attacker has so much more to prove and better that it is hard for him to become rated..Look at Rivaldo..By European standards he's been a great player. In his homeland he's like a ghost, never mentioned for anything but criticism. A good Brazilian defender however, will get alot more merit for a lesser achievement in Brazil then he would if he were European. So where does what I wrote imply a bias either way? Do you disagree with this? Brasil's production of legendary offensive players is unmatchable so you have to be something extremely special to even get your head above water. The European equivalents of this is Germany's production of superb defensive mdfielders and sweepers and Italy's staunch defenders.... no? It's as much of an oddity for Brasil to produce truly great defenders as it is for Europe to have strikers that at any one time are better than their South American counterparts...Both things happen, but very rarely. In my opinion, of course *hopes to not be dragged further into a debate that doesn't concern him. Hmmph.
Oh, and europeans don´t have the same problems? Then why is Bernd Schuster such a small name in Germany but in Spain a star? Or what about Eric Cantona? ManU´s player of the century..... And to call Rivaldo a big number in europe after his last season for Milan is, is, is...... let me call it: interesting........ Before the world cup he definitly was a big one, but he also scored 5 goals for them in the WC, so I don´t think they just criticised him.....
What 'problems'are you reffering to? Riddle me this, riddle me that, you tell me, why is that? I don't know what precisely you are trying to get at here. Best you just tell me and save us some time! What about him? Rivaldo has never ever had any respect in Brasil, even at the peak of his powers in '99 he wasn't respected. Any other country but Brasil would have heaped praise on him. When Rivaldo's career is finished he won't be anywhere near th top of Brazil's number 10 hall of fame gallery. In which other country would a prolific number 10 who won the world cup be in such a predicament?
These topics are very interesting, and it's amazing how many people have Giggs on their list but miss 2 left wing/mf players who IMHO were far superior to Giggs. One is Bruno Conti who could dribble circles around Giggs and was a great crosser of the ball (almost as good as Beckham). He was Italy's best player in winning the '82 WC - I know Rossi was the big name and rec'd all the praise, but take it from an Italian, Conti stole the show in Spain. The other is Donadoni who was impressive in all facets with the great Milan teams: dribbling, passing, defensive abilities. He was a cornerstone of 3 CL champion teams (before you say Gullit & Van Basten, he won the 3rd w/o those guys). His Italy resume is pretty solid too. Euro Cup semi's in 88, WC semi's in '90, WC final 94. His biggest problem is that he was always an incredibly silent performer on teams that had high-visibility stars. But, believe someone who watched many MIlan games and every Italy game during that period, quite often he was better in those matches than all the big names. Another player I haven't seen too often and for whom shining his shoes would be a high honor to the likes of Keane and Davids is Roberto Falcao who simply put, was one of the greatest players I've ever seen, PERIOD!! His control of the mf was legendary and he was equally impressive on D as well as on the attack. My 11: Scmeichel Thuram - Baresi - Sammer - Maldini Falcao Zidane Donadoni Platini Maradona Van Basten
Actually, I did, but only in the '98 world cup. I thought he was the best player on the field against France. Are you saying that he isn't any good?
I don´t say he is not good at all, but a keeper is judged by how little mistakes he does and not how many good things he does. Chilavert was always good for a goal, on both sides of the pitch... In SA that was enough, cause his teams were always abled to compensate this mistakes, but in europe every mistake can decide the game. Thats why he failed in Strassbourg. Strassbourg just ain´t Velez Sarsfield.
The problem all these players have in common is that they don´t get the respect they deserve in their home-country. And even if Rivaldo isn´t liked a lot, he was still essential for their NT!!! He helped them during the quali process and he was a key player in the WC. He even decided the final with his superb shot, that Kahn couldn´t handle, so that Ronaldo just had to do the easy finish. Not beeing liked, has nothing to do with not being important. And the cases of Schuster and Cantona are a lot more dramatic, cause they meant NOTHING for their NT, despite being top stars for european top clubs.
best XI of the last 25 years the best of the last 25 years would be Maldini Nesta------ ------Roberto Carlos Baresi beckham--- Maradona---Zidane---Simeone Romario-----------Ronaldo
After reading through everyone's posts, here is my revised XI with subs and reserves: --- Schmeichel --- Thuram --- Baresi --- Maldini --- Roberto Carlos --- Keane --- --- Maradona --- Zidane --- Platini --- Ronaldo --- Van Basten Subs: Kahn, Cafu, Desailly, Matthaus, Gullitt, Baggio, Romario Reserves: Buffon, Sammer, Rijkaard, Giggs, Rivaldo, Cantona, Batistuta
Re: best XI of the last 25 years Don't mean to be ragging on your chord newbie, but what formation is that? 1-2-1-4-2? You forgot the pick a goalie, the selection of Simeone is questionable, and Beckham does nto belong (he's a very good player, but not world class... never mind over a 25 year span).