Four years ago, I made a series of 23-man squads and lineups in the Interesting Best XI thread. Basically, the concept was to gather the most well-known/established foreigners to play in countries like Malta and Slovakia. I thought I'd revisit it in a new thread, with improvements being made to the squads (I made 17 squads and 18 lineups). Note that this is not about how well they performed in that country, just their overall quality across their careers. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/interesting-best-xi.325564/page-51 ICELAND David James (England) Gunnar Nielsen (Faroe Islands) André Hansen (Norway) NEW Carl Dickinson (England) Richard Keogh (Ireland) Rhys Weston (Wales) Mathias Jack (Germany) NEW Andrew Mwesigwa (Uganda) George Baldock (England) NEW Danny Guthrie (England) NEW Nigel Quashie (Scotland) Jim Bett (Scotland) Ian Ashbee (England) NEW Lee Sharpe (England) Mark Ward (England) Kemar Roofe (Jamaica) NEW Michael Zeyer (Germany) NEW Alexander Søderlund (Norway) Steve Slade (England) TBA TBA TBA TBA ICELAND XI Søderlund Sharpe - Bett - Guthrie - Quashie - Ward Dickinson - Jack - Keogh - Baldock James (c)
FINLAND Mart Poom (Estonia) Beto (Portugal) NEW Toni Doblas (Spain) Taye Taiwo (Nigeria) Elderson Echiéjilé (Nigeria) NEW Abdoulaye Méïté (Ivory Coast) Brian Greenhoff (England) NEW József Varga (Hungary) NEW Wilfried Kanon (Ivory Coast) NEW Christian Gyan (Ghana) Anthony Annan (Ghana) Leonid Buryak (Soviet) NEW Nikolay Larionov (Soviet) NEW Yuri Gavrilov (Soviet) Julien Faubert (France) Gordon Hill (England) NEW Ferenc Bene (Hungary) Hans Gillhaus (Netherlands) Marlon Harewood (England) Alfredo Morelos (Colombia) NEW Aristide Bancé (Burkina Faso) Danny Hoesen (Netherlands) Gjorgji Hristov (North Macedonia) FINLAND XI Gillhaus - Bene Gavrilov (c) Hill - Buryak - Faubert Taiwo - Méïté - Greenhoff - Gyan Poom
NORWAY Ali Al-Habsi (Oman) Anders Lindegaard (Denmark) Daniel Fernandes (Portugal) NEW Zygmunt Anczok (Poland) Arthur Albiston (Scotland) Joachim Björklund (Sweden) Ragnar Klavan (Estonia) Paul Scharner (Austria) Giancarlo Gonzalez (Costa Rica) William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria) NEW Mikael Lustig (Sweden) Daniel Wass (Denmark) NEW Matías Almeyda (Argentina) John Obi Mikel (Nigeria) Tobias Linderoth (Sweden) Celso Borges (Costa Rica) Sebastian Eguren (Uruguay) Paul Davis (England) Christian Wilhelmsson (Sweden) Eiður Guðjohnsen (Iceland) Lee Chapman (England) Nicklas Bendtner (Denmark) Lucas Pratto (Argentina) NEW NORWAY XI Guðjohnsen (c) - Chapman Davis - Almeyda - Mikel - Wilhelmsson Anczok - Klavan - Björklund - Wass Al-Habsi
DENMARK Brad Friedel (USA) Lukáš Hrádecký (Finland) NEW Martin Dúbravka (Slovakia) NEW Alan Kennedy (England) NEW Stig Bjørnebye (Norway) Bobby Moore (England) Johan Djourou (Switzerland) NEW Olof Mellberg (Sweden) Khalid Boulahrouz (Netherlands) Petri Pasanen (Finland) André Bergdølmo (Norway) Tobias Linderoth (Sweden) Atiba Hutchinson (Canada) Ogenyi Onazi (Nigeria) NEW Stanislav Lobotka (Slovakia) NEW Jack Wilshere (England) NEW Rafael van der Vaart (Netherlands) Sibusiso Zuma (South Africa) Viktor Claesson (Sweden) NEW Vágner Love (Brazil) NEW Teemu Pukki (Finland) NEW Johan Elmander (Sweden) Mohamed Zidan (Egypt) DENMARK XI Zidan - Love van der Vaart - Lobotka - Wilshere - Claesson Kennedy - Moore (c) - Mellberg - Bergdølmo Friedel
SWEDEN Erik Thorstvedt (Norway) Dieter Burdenski (West Germany) Etrit Berisha (Albania) Taye Taiwo (Nigeria) Garba Lawal (Nigeria) Diego Lugano (Uruguay) Kevin Beattie (England) Niklas Moisander (Finland) NEW Leandro Castán (Brazil) Duško Radinović (Yugoslavia) Dennis Wise (England) Sergei Aleinikov (Soviet) Sebastian Eguren (Uruguay) Celso Borges (Costa Rica) Ogenyi Onazi (Nigeria) NEW Sammy McIlroy (N. Ireland) Jari Litmanen (Finland) Marek Hamšík (Slovakia) NEW Vadym Yevtuchenko (Soviet) Ibrahim Ba (France) Peter Crouch (England) Teddy Sheringham (England) Malcolm Macdonald (England) NEW SWEDEN XI Crouch - Sheringham Litmanen Hamsik - Aleinikov - Wise Taiwo - Lugano (c) - Beattie - Radinović Thorstvedt
POLAND Ján Mucha (Slovakia) Dušan Kuciak (Slovakia) Milan Borjan (Canada) Anatoliy Demyanenko (Soviet) Júnior Díaz (Costa Rica) Goran Popov (North Macedonia) Marcelo (Brazil) Ulrich Borowka (Germany) Tamás Kádár (Hungary) Richard Guzmics (Hungary) Kew Jaliens (Netherlands) Paulinho (Brazil) Amaral (Brazil) Vadis Odidja-Ofoe (Belgium) Olivier Kapo (France) Miloš Krasić (Serbia) Daisuke Matsui (Japan) Ondrej Duda (Slovakia) Yevhen Konoplyanka (Ukraine) NEW Lukas Podolski (Germany) NEW Eduardo da Silva (Croatia) Danijel Ljuboja (Serbia) NEW Oleg Salenko (Russia) POLAND XI Podolski - Eduardo Konoplyanka - Paulinho - Amaral - Krasić Demyanenko (c) - Marcelo - Borowka - Jaliens Mucha
CZECH REPUBLIC Martin Dúbravka (Slovakia) NEW Milovan Jakšić (Yugoslavia) Matúš Kozáčik (Slovakia) Marek Čech (Slovakia) Dušan Švento (Slovakia) Stefan Mitrović (Serbia) Ján Ďurica (Slovakia) NEW Semih Kaya (Turkey) Vyacheslav Karavayev (Russia) NEW Radoslav Zabavník (Slovakia) Juraj Kucka (Slovakia) Rio Mavuba (France) Georges Mandjeck (Cameroon) Andreas Ivanschitz (Austria) Danny (Portugal) Jonathan Biabiany (France) Halil Altıntop (Turkey) Miroslav Stoch (Slovakia) Wilfried Bony (Ivory Coast) Edin Džeko (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Marc Janko (Austria) Szilárd Németh (Hungary) Raymond Braine (Belgium) CZECH REPUBLIC XI Džeko (c) - Braine Ivanschitz - Mavuba - Kucka - Danny Čech - Ďurica - Mitrović - Karavayev Dúbravka
SLOVAKIA Ivica Kralj (Yugoslavia) NEW Ivan Kelava (Croatia) Grzegorz Szamotulski (Poland) Alvaro Pereira (Uruguay) NEW Pedro Leal (Costa Rica) John Mensah (Ghana) Stefan Mitrović (Serbia) James Lawrence (Wales) NEW Serge Akakpo (Togo) Avdija Vršajević (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Ernest Mabouka (Cameroon) Nemanja Matić (Serbia) Jiří Novotný (Czech Republic) Nono (Spain) Fernando de Ornelas (Venezuela) Reuben Gabriel (Nigeria) Moses Simon (Nigeria) Samuel Kalu (Nigeria) NEW Raffael Caetano (Brazil) NEW Wesley Moraes (Brazil) NEW Stefan Maierhofer (Austria) Rangelo Janga (Curaçao) Leonard Kweuke (Cameroon) SLOVAKIA XI Simon - Wesley - Raffael Novotný - Matić (c) - Nono Pereira - Mensah - Mitrović - Vršajević Kralj
HUNGARY Marko Dmitrović (Serbia) Mladen Božović (Montenegro) Ján Novota (Slovakia) Tibor Selymes (Romania) Cristian Ramírez (Ecuador) Marco Caneira (Portugal) Benjamin Angoua (Ivory Coast) Cristian Dulca (Romania) Ion Zare (Romania) Matthew Lowton (England) Filipe Oliveira (Portugal) Muhamed Bešić (Bosnia & Herzegovina) MacBeth Sibaya (South Africa) Zsolt Muzsnay (Romania) Kader Keita (Ivory Coast) Danko Lazović (Serbia) Marko Marin (Germany) NEW Enis Bardhi (North Macedonia) NEW Tommaso Rocchi (Italy) Giuseppe Signori (Italy) Marek Heinz (Czech Rep) Róbert Vittek (Slovakia) Túlio Maravilha (Brazil) HUNGARY XI Signori - Rocchi (c) Heinz - Bardhi - Bešić - Keita Selymes - Caneira - Angoua - Lowton Dmitrović
ROMANIA Beto (Portugal) Daniel Fernandes (Portugal) Aleksandrs Koļinko (Latvia) Álvaro Pereira (Uruguay) Philippe Leonard (Belgium) Gyula Lorant (Hungary) Júlio César (Brazil) Gláuber (Brazil) Syam Ben Youssef (Tunisia) Marc Zoro (Ivory Coast) Matías Aguirregaray (Uruguay) Christian Obodo (Nigeria) Alex Nyarko (Ghana) Papa Malick Ba (Senegal) Houssine Kharja (Morocco) Julio Baptista (Brazil) Karim Ziani (Algeria) Édgar Álvarez (Honduras) Juan Albín (Spain) Júnior Moraes (Ukraine) NEW Andrés Mendoza (Peru) Cyril Théréau (France) Mohamed Tchité (Burundi) ROMANIA XI Moraes - Théréau Baptista - Obodo - Kharja - Ziani Pereira - Lorant (c) - César - Zoro Beto
BULGARIA Florin Prunea (Romania) Rais M'Bolhi (Algeria) Oliver Kovačević (Serbia) Vurnon Anita (Netherlands) NEW Garba Lawal (Nigeria) José Palomino (Argentina) NEW Christian Kabasele (Belgium) Cosmin Moți (Romania) Jurica Buljat (Croatia) Radoslav Zabavník (Slovakia) Jordi Gómez (Spain) Vladislav Radimov (Russia) Steffen Karl (Germany) Mehdi Bourabia (Morocco) NEW Gabriel Obertan (France) Hamed Namouchi (Tunisia) Daisuke Matsui (Japan) Bernardo Redín (Colombia) Garry Rodrigues (Cape Verde) Mário Jardel (Brazil) Júnior Moraes (Ukraine) NEW Milivoje Novaković (Slovenia) Hamilton Ricard (Colombia) BULGARIA XI Jardel Redín - Obertan Namouchi - Gómez - Radimov (c) Anita - Palomino - Kabasele - Zabavnik Prunea
SERBIA Ferenc Plattkó (Hungary) NEW Mladen Božović (Montenegro) Aleksei Prudnikov (Soviet) Taribo West (Nigeria) Ifeanyi Emeghera (Nigeria) Miodrag Belodedici (Romania) Stefan Savić (Montenegro) Aleksandar Dragović (Austria) NEW Damien Le Tallec (France) Cristiano Piccini (Italy) NEW Branko Ilić (Slovenia) Stephen Appiah (Ghana) Rade Krunić (Bosnia & Herzegovina) NEW Eric Djemba-Djemba (Cameroon) Segundo Castillo (Ecuador) Marko Marin (Germany) Milenko Ačimovič (Slovenia) Bernard Parker (South Africa) Blagoy Georgiev (Bulgaria) Valeri Bojinov (Bulgaria) Rudolf Wetzer (Romania) Aílton (Brazil) Hernan Medford (Costa Rica) SERBIA XI Bojinov - Aílton - Wetzer Marin - Krunić - Appiah West - Belodedici (c) - Savić - Piccini Plattkó
CROATIA Eduardo (Portugal) Grzegorz Sandomierski (Poland) Anthony Tokpah (Liberia) Leandro Cufré (Argentina) François Moubandje (Switzerland) NEW Jens Nowotny (Germany) Gabriel Magalhães (Brazil) NEW Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Greece) NEW Boštjan Cesar (Slovenia) Stefan Ristovski (North Macedonia) NEW Avdija Vršajević (Bosnia & Herzegovna) Mile Jedinak (Australia) NEW Blaž Slišković (Yugoslavia) NEW Rodney Strasser (Sierra Leone) Josip Skoko (Australia) Dani Olmo (Spain) NEW Nastja Čeh (Slovenia) Senijad Ibričić (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Mark Viduka (Australia) Hugo Almeida (Portugal) Fredi Bobic (Germany) Elvir Bolić (Bosnia & Hezegovina) NEW Ilja Nesterovski (North Macedonia) NEW CROATIA XI Almeida - Bobic - Viduka Olmo Jedinak - Slišković Cufré - Gabriel - Nowotny (c) - Ristovski Eduardo
SLOVENIA Alex Cordaz (Italy) Dragan Žilić (Serbia) Kenan Pirić (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Danijel Pranjić (Croatia) Hrvoje Čale (Croatia) Geri Çipi (Albania) Eric Akoto (Togo) Jason Davidson (Australia) Jean-Claude Billong (France) Mitch Apau (Netherlands) Robert Prosinečki (Croatia) Elvir Rahimić (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Nemanja Maksimović (Serbia) Nabil Taïder (Tunisia) Albert Riera (Spain) Mislav Oršić (Croatia) NEW Senijad Ibričić (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Konstantin Vassiljev (Estonia) Gianluca Lapadula (Peru) Stephen Makinwa (Nigeria) Tomo Šokota (Croatia) Tomas Danilevičius (Lithuania) Zlatan Muslimović (Bosnia & Herzegovina) SLOVENIA XI Riera - Lapadula - Makinwa Prosinečki (c) - Maksimović - Rahimić Pranjić - Çipi - Akoto - Apau Cordaz
MALTA Daniel Fernandes (Portugal) NEW Tony Warner (Trinidad & Tobago) Anđelko Đuričić (Serbia) Landry Mulemo (DR Congo) Brian Mundee (England) Cristiano Bergodi (Italy) Augustine Eguavoen (Nigeria) Massimo Beghetto (Italy) Souleymane Diamouténé (Mali) Cristian Zaccardo (Italy) Saidou Panandetiguiri (Burkina Faso) Jean-Claude Pagal (Cameroon) NEW Rudolf Krčil (Czechoslovakia) Christian Callejas (Uruguay) Peter Barnes (England) NEW Tony Morley (England) NEW Jordi Cruijff (Netherlands) Yannick Bolasie (DR Congo) Diego Capel (Spain) NEW Fabrizio Miccoli (Italy) Paul Mariner (England) Seydou Doumbia (Ivory Coast) NEW Vata (Angola) MALTA XI Mariner Miccoli Barnes - Pagal - Cruijff (c) - Morley Mulemo - Eguavoen - Bergodi - Zaccardo Fernandes
CYPRUS Aleksandr Filimonov (Russia) Dragoslav Jevrić (Serbia) Rumyancho Goranov (Bulgaria) John Arne Riise (Norway) Danijel Pranjić (Croatia) Iván Campo (Spain) Traianos Dellas (Greece) Stefan Majewski (Poland) Facundo Roncaglia (Argentina) NEW Roberto Rosales (Venezuela) NEW Marco Motta (Italy) NEW Aldo Duscher (Argentina) Terry McDermott (England) Hennadiy Lytovchenko (Ukraine) Romaric (Ivory Coast) Hedwiges Maduro (Netherlands) Sávio (Brazil) Ray Kennedy (England) Georgi Kinkladze (Georgia) Oleg Blokhin (Soviet) Marío Jardel (Brazil) Fernando Cavenaghi (Argentina) Paulo Rink (Germany) CYPRUS XI Blokhin (c) - Jardel Sávio - Kennedy - McDermott - Lytovchenko Riise - Campo - Dellas - Rosales Filimonov
ISRAEL Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria) Ruslan Nigmatullin (Russia) Predrag Rajković (Serbia) Tsepo Masilela (South Africa) Gabriel Tamaș (Romania) Tomáš Sivok (Czech Republic) Loukas Vyntra (Greece) Carlos Cuéllar (Spain) Volodymyr Bezsonov (Soviet) Branko Ilić (Slovenia) Zlatko Čajkovski (Yugoslavia) Adrien Silva (Portugal) Ruben Micael (Portugal) Manuel Iturra (Chile) Eric Djemba-Djemba (Cameroon) Peter Lorimer (Scotland) Ludovic Obraniak (Poland) Isaac Cuenca (Spain) Sotiris Ninis (Greece) Yakubu (Nigeria) Sebastián Abreu (Uruguay) Meho Kodro (Bosnia & Herzegovina) Samson Siasia (Nigeria) ISRAEL XI Abreu - Yakubu Obraniak - Silva - Čajkovski (c) - Lorimer Vyntra - Tamas - Sivok - Beszonov Enyeama
UKRAINE Stipe Pletikosa Aleksandr Filimonov Jan Laštůvka Benoît Trémoulinas Răzvan Raț Kakhaber Kaladze Domagoj Vida Tomáš Hübschman Aleksandar Dragović NEW Darijo Srna Fernandinho Yaya Touré Miguel Veloso Fred Willian Douglas Costa Niko Kranjčar Henrikh Mkhitaryan Papu Gomez NEW Cristiano Lucarelli Eduardo da Silva Nikola Kalinić Aílton Lucarelli Costa - Mkhitaryan - Willian Touré - Fernandinho Trémoulinas - Kaladze - Vida - Srna (c) Pletikosa
Forgot to put nationality in parenthesis and lineup in bold, but it's too late to edit now. LUXEMBOURG Guy N'dy Assembé (Cameroon) NEW Michaël Clepkens (Belgium) Kévin Sommer (France) Manuel da Costa (Morocco) NEW Roger Lutz (West Germany) Milan Biševac (Serbia) Ismaël Bouzid (Algeria) NEW Mamadou Tall (Burkina Faso) Quim Machado (Portugal) Helton Dos Reis (France) Dragoljub Brnović (Yugoslavia) Johanna Omolo (Kenya) Lothar Kleim (West Germany) NEW Florent Malouda (France) Mustapha Hadji (Morocco) Youssef Mokhtari (Morocco) Grégoire M'Bida (Cameroon) NEW Yannis Tafer (France) NEW Cyrille Pouget (France) Tony Vairelles (France) Jonathan Jäger (France) Moussa Maâzou (Niger) NEW Mamadou Samassa (Mali) NEW LUXEMBOURG XI Pouget - Vairelles Malouda (c) - Mokhtari - Brnović - Hadji Costa - Lutz - Biševac - Machado Assembé
AUSTRIA Péter Gulácsi (Hungary) Viliam Schrojf (Czechoslovakia) Stanislav Cherchesov (Soviet) Hugo Hovenkamp (Netherlands) Christian Schulz (Germany) Thomas Linke (Germany) Dayot Upamecano (France) Neven Subotić (Serbia) Heiko Westermann (Germany) Petri Pasanen (Finland) Jens Stryger Larsen (Denmark) Niko Kovač (Croatia) Giuseppe Giannini (Italy) Naby Keita (Guinea) Ladislav Kuna (Czechoslovakia) Zoltán Czibor (Hungary) Dejan Savićević (Yugoslavia) Vladimir Jugović (Yugoslavia) Thomas Hässler (Germany) Erling Haaland (Norway) Sadio Mané (Senegal) Mario Kempes (Argentina) Oleg Blokhin (Soviet) AUSTRIA XI Kempes - Haaland Czibor - Giannini (c) - Kovač - Savićević Hovenkamp - Upamecano - Linke - Pasanen Gulácsi
Austria is so stacked offensively, I had to leave out Bierhoff and Djalminha. Wingbacks is the main weakness, with someone like Stryger Larsen being the only natural RB in the squad.
Switzerland has even higher competition. For GK, I'm thinking 3 out of the following 4: Mart Poom, Tomáš Vaclík, Essam El Hadary & Lionel Charbonnier. Dida was signed to Lugano, but never played. For LB, maybe Gaël Clichy & Alberto Tarantini. This would leave out André Santos, Michael Renquin, Andrea Dossena, Senad Lulić, Taye Taiwo, Paulo De Ceglie, Federico Dimarco, Jean Beausejour, Djamel Mesbah, Arthur Boka, Timothée Atouba, Ezgjan Alioski & Tomislav Crnković. For CB, 4 out of these 7 players. Walter Samuel, Jerzy Gorgón, Holger Badstuber, Norbert Eder, Mauro Galvão, Lars Olsen & Anton Ondruš. For RB, I am more or less settled on Nelson Vivas & Nestor Clausen. Not many other great options in this position.The question is which Argentine would be the starter. For DM/CM, we have Johan Neeskens, Gennaro Gattuso, Christian Karembeu, Horst Szymaniak, Alex Song, Jonas Thern, Marcelo Díaz, Gabri & Mohamed Elneny as options. For AM positions, there is plenty of quality. Teófilo Cubillas, Günter Netzer, Zoltán Czibor, Tomas Brolin, Abedi Pele, Giancarlo Antognoni, Bernard Genghini & Conny Torstensson. For FW, there's Mohamed Salah, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Sándor Kocsis, Giovane Elber, Iván Zamorano, Djibril Cissé, László Kubala, Oliver Neuville, Sonny Anderson, Darko Pančev, Pietro Anastasi, Demba Ba, Dieter Müller & Erich Probst.
SWITZERLAND Mart Poom (Estonia) Tomáš Vaclík (Czech Rep.) Lionel Charbonnier (France) Gaël Clichy (France) Alberto Tarantini (Argentina) Walter Samuel (Argentina) Jerzy Gorgoń (Poland) Anton Ondruš (Czechoslovakia) Norbert Eder (West Germany) Nelson Vivas (Argentina) Nestor Clausen (Argentina) Johan Neeskens (Netherlands) Gennaro Gattuso (Italy) Horst Szymaniak (West Germany) Christian Karembeu (France) Günter Netzer (West Germany) Giancarlo Antognoni (Italy) Teófilo Cubillas (Peru) Zoltán Czibor (Hungary) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany) Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) Mohamed Salah (Egypt) László Kubala (Czechoslovakia/Hungary/Spain) SWITZERLAND XI Rummenigge - Kocsis - Cubillas Netzer (c) Neeskens - Gattuso Clichy - Samuel - Gorgoń - Vivas Poom
IRELAND Gordon Banks (England) Brad Jones (Australia) Jason Batty (New Zealand) Jim McInally (Scotland) Avery John (Trinidad & Tobago) Michael Hector (Jamaica) Alex Baptiste (England) Sam Allardyce (England) Bobby Smith (USA) Alan Dodd (England) Greg Halford (England) Terry McDermott (England) Trevor Brooking (England) Carlton Palmer (England) Terry Venables (England) George Best (Northern Ireland) Bobby Charlton (England) Jimmy Johnstone (Scotland) Peter Lorimer (England) Ian Callaghan (England) Geoff Hurst (England) Steven Archibald (Scotland) Billy Hamilton (Northern Ireland) IRELAND XI Hurst Best - Charlton (c) - Callaghan McDermott - Brooking McInally - Hector - Baptiste - Dodd Banks That has to be one of the worst defences (goalie aside) out of the countries I've done so far. Especially in contrast to the attacking positions. Note that I didn't include Uwe Seeler due to his appearance being a sponsored one-off match. Sure, it was technically a "real" league game for Cork Celtic, but he had already been retired for 6 years. Not really part of his normal career. Interesting that no notable players have played in Ireland in recent years. The closest we get is Michael Hector, who most recently played for Fulham in the PL.