Great, cheers mate. I thought it was a good idea for anyone to let you know if we'd still be interested to see more, but I'll definitely be looking again at your next posts then. It looks like that was a great publication by Guerin Sportivo. I only had a Sunday Times guide to that World Cup (that did have a Terry Venables All-Time XI in as well as guides to each squad in the tournament and choices of player to watch for each nation etc...but unfortunately I didn't find that when I had a look for it before).
In 1994 they also did a poll in a NED newspaper https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/old-great-players-lists-esp-1950s-1970s.2038892/page-10 Baresi and Maldini were selected in that.
This is the full insert about Argentina. There is the history until 94, the profile of the manager and the 22 players of usa 94, some historic risulta and more
All Time Best 11 for Germany (Guerin Sportivo 1994) Maier Vogts - Beckenbauer - K.Forster - Breitner Matthaus - F. Walter - Overath Rahn - G.Muller - Rummenigge All-Time Best 11 for Russia (Guerin Sportivo 1994) Jashin Shesternev - Al. Starostin - Netto - An. Starostin Voronin - Ivanov - Cherenkov Chislenko - Simonjan - Fedotov All-Time Best 11 for Sweden (Guerin Sportivo 1994) Hellstrom Nordqvist - Bergmark - Gustavsson - R.Nilsson Green - Liedholm - Thern Hamrin - Nordahl - Edstrom
BULGARIA BEST-11 ALL-TIME (Guerin Sportivo, 1994) Naidenov D.Penev - Schalamanov - Manolov - Gaganelov Bojkov - I.Kolev - Yakimov Bonev - Asparukov - Stoichkov BOLIVIA BEST-11 ALL TIME (Guerin Sportivo 1994) Bermudez Quinteros - Campos - Lima - Camacho Melgar - Sanchez - Romero Aragones - Ugarte - Etcheverry BELGIUM BEST-11 ALL TIME (Guerin Sportivo 1994) Pfaff Meeuws - Carre - Gerets - Van Brandt Van Moer - Mees - Van Himst Mermans - R. Braine - Ceulemans More Best-11 All-Time from Guerin Sportivo 1994 book:
Differences between All-Time XI (presented as baseline 'starting line-up) in the book 'The All-Time World Cup' by David Brooks from just over half a dozen years after the 1994 WC, and Guerin Sportivo All-Time XI from 1994 shown thus far.... Argentina - Jorge Olguin in for Perfumo, Luis Monti in for Rossi, Osvaldo Ardiles in for Moreno, Gabriel Batistuta in for Ferreyra in a 4-1-3-2 with Di Stefano as central AM (so Fillol, Passarella, Ruggeri, Marzolini, Di Stefano, Maradona and Kempes in both selections) Brazil - Carlos Alberto in for Djalma Santos, Julio Cesar in for Bellini, Edinho in for Pereira, Toninho Cerezo in for Falcao, Romario in for Leonidas (so Gilmar, Nilton Santos, Didi, Pele, Garrincha and Rivelino in both selections) Italy - Giussepe Bergomi in for Gentile, Franco Baresi in for Scirea, Fulvio Collovati in for Parola, Paolo Maldini in for Cabrini, Romeo Benetti in for Conti (with 4-2-2-2 as the system), Silvio Piola in for Rossi, Roberto Baggio in for Riva (so just Zoff, Tardelli, plus Rivera and Meazza though with those two technically switching sides albeit in central/roving roles anyway, in both selections) Netherlands - Jan van Beveren in for Jongbloed, Ronald Koeman in for Haan, Edgar Davids in for Hulshoff (with Rijkaard placed in defence), Wim van Hanegem in for Rensenbrink (with Cruyff placed on the left of attack in a flat 4-3-3) (so Suurbier, Krol, Rijkaard, Neeskens, Cruyff, Gullit and Van Basten in both selections) Spain - Albert Ferrer in for Quincoces (with Camacho placed at left-back), Fernando Hierro in for Pirri, Antonio Maceda in for Gonzalvo, Pep Guardiola in for Samitier, Michel and Emilio Butragueno in for Amancio and Basora (in a 4-4-2 system) (so Zamora, Camacho, Suarez, Gento and Zarra in both selections) That's for the ones shown in page 98. Will continue with those already on page 99....
Very interesting thanks! Surprised for Cerezo over Falcao in Brazil and for Bergomi over Gentile in Italy
Germany - Andreas Brehme in for Breitner (so Maier, Vogts, Forster, Beckenbauer, Matthaus, Walter, Overath, Muller plus Rummenigge and Rahn although those two placed on different sides of the attack, in both selections) Russia - Vagiz Khidiatulin (placed as sweeper behind Shesternyov) in for Cherenkov in effect (with Netto in midfield - Voronin and him either side of the more attacking Ivanov), Dimitri Khlestov and Victor Onopko in for the Starostins, Eduard Streltsov in for Simonian (who was anyway mentioned as an unavailable Soviet player for Russia by Brooks, seemingly considered Armenian), Vsevolad Bobrov in for Fedotov (so Yashin, Shesternyov, Voronin, Netto, Ivanov and Chislenko in both selections) Sweden - Erik Nilsson in for Roland Nilsson plus Lennart Skoglund in for Edstrom and Tomas Brolin in for Thern with 4-4-2 as the system (so Hellstrom, Bergmark, Nordqvist, Gustavsson, Gren, Liedholm, Hamrin and Nordahl in both selections) Belgium were mentioned as a 'high-profile casualty' of the imaginary qualifying for the 16 team tournament and Enzo Scifo as well as Van Himst mentioned as star players that would therefore not be involved (so the suggestion I guess is that Brooks would have put Scifo into Belgium's XI as well as retaining Van Himst but otherwise no clues for the rest of the team). Bolivia weren't mentioned, but Stoichkov is named as among those 'lost before the finals began' (the single Bulgarian in this sentence which also included Figueroa of Chile, Cubillas of Peru and Milla of Cameroon - only the latter of those nations being involved in WC1994 of course).
The author was considering that Brazil's XI should have someone placed in a proper 'holding role' (not that Cerezo is an out and out holding player of course, but he was considered to get the nod over Zito and Dunga in the baseline XI although there was some variation in the 'tournament'). Gentile was named as an option for right-back ("one of the most vicious man-markers but also one of the best").
Thanks mate. What about Zico? I always thought that he was up there for the 2nd best Brazilian of all-time after Pelè at least until the R9 Era. So its little bit weird to see him get no mention at all in both sources. I think that his lack of success in WC really hurt his legacy.
The author attempted an All-Time 100 Greatest Players list and Zico was the 8th Brazilian on the list (down in 39th overall which is lower than some people/sources/polls have it obviously but perhaps not the lowest conceivable or ever in a poll or list); behind Pele, Garrincha, Didi, Carlos Alberto, Ademir de Menezes, Nilton Santos and Gerson - only the first 3 more than 10 places ahead of him in the overall list though, and with Romario slightly lower, then Rivaldo and Ronaldo placed outside the 50 but slightly above Rivelino. In the comments about Brazilian squad selection it was said "Where would Zico fit in, not to mention Rivaldo?" and "Zico would have to come off the bench - a travesty in the eyes of some, but the White Pele had rarely shone at the World Cup, with the enchanting exception of 1982". He did indeed get some time on the pitch in the fantasy World Cup tournament the book revolves around, sometimes in midfield. The thing is I think that him and Pele will both be deemed to be 'Number 10s' by both sources, although if I retrospectively chose a team as of 1994 or early this century (even now I think for that matter, and whenever I last tried it on here!) I'd be tempted to put Zico in the hole, and have Pele as a free-playing forward starting to one side of the striker I guess (to fit them both in). Pele can also be placed as the main striker I suppose, but clearly Guerin Sportivo went with his best/normal supporting role and the author of the book was also looking to pair him up with more of a pure striker perhaps. I'd probably think of Zico as like you say a good option for 2nd best Brazilian or thereabouts. There's a chance Guerin Sportivo did see it like that, but really saw Pele as the number 10 though (even though they placed Di Stefano and Kempes behind/to the side of a striker as supporting forwards, not exactly in their prime real roles).
I wouldn't say that it'd be the only other Guerin Sportivo XI I'd be interested to look at, but I can conclude my input about the All-Time World Cup book with the only other nation that was deemed to qualify and that also qualified for the 1994 World Cup - the Republic of Ireland (the other discussed non-qualifying teams re: non-participating star players are nations from former Yugoslavia, USSR and Czechoslovakia plus Denmark, Poland and also Wales and Northern Ireland...so no more 1994 World Cup teams there either) This was the Irish XI that the author chose: Bonner; Carey, McGrath, Lawrenson, Irwin; Giles, Roy Keane, Brady, Heighway; Aldridge, Stapleton
Curiously he wasn't given a mention initially when the squad was outlined, but his name did appear as an unused sub for every game Ireland had! Just in case he doesn't oust McGrath or Lawrenson in Guerin's XI either, have a penalty to enjoy! <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Italia '90<br>Jack's Army <br>Ireland beat Romania 5-4 on penalties <br><br>2⃣9⃣ years ago today! The 'big man from Donegal' <a href="https://twitter.com/PackieBonner1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@PackieBonner1</a> set it up for David O'Leary to send us to the Quarter Finals of the World Cup ⚽️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COYBIG?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#COYBIG</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#OnThisDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/hraE9JlDqV">pic.twitter.com/hraE9JlDqV</a></p>— FAIreland ⚽️ (@FAIreland) <a href="🇮🇹Italia '90💚Jack's Army 🇮🇪Ireland beat Romania 5-4 on penalties 2⃣9⃣ years ago today! The 'big man from Donegal' @PackieBonner1 set it up for David O'Leary to send us to the Quarter Finals of the World Cup 🌍⚽️#COYBIG #OnThisDay pic.twitter.com/hraE9JlDqV— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) June 25, 2019 ">June 25, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sorry, not sure that embedding worked very well! 🇮🇹Italia '90💚Jack's Army 🇮🇪Ireland beat Romania 5-4 on penalties 2⃣9⃣ years ago today! The 'big man from Donegal' @PackieBonner1 set it up for David O'Leary to send us to the Quarter Finals of the World Cup 🌍⚽️#COYBIG #OnThisDay pic.twitter.com/hraE9JlDqV— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) June 25, 2019
As an Arsenal fan, O'Leary/Adams is our version of Baresi/Maldini captain-lineage, except ours are probably more fun at parties, and can drink them Italians under the table
So as the 1993 year came to an end, GS graded each team for their first half of the 1993-94 season. (Sorry it’s not in order).
Adalberto Bortolotti’s Top 10 best Hit Parade and top 3 worst on the right side under “Dietro La Lavagna” GS round 17
Meanwhile at the difficult Serie B, where top players like Batistuta, Effenberg and Georghe Hagi were playing, their performances had been in the first half of the season a mixed bag, with particularly inconsistent performances from Fiorentina’s main players. Their grades reflect this. While Hagi started well, lately he tailed off.
Adalberto Bortolotti’s Top 10 best Hit Parade and top 3 worst on the right side under “Dietro La Lavagna” GS round 18