Are you talking about Smudger? If only we could forget him. He is a pundit for Sky in Britain. He is also a million miles of most of the players in this thread.
Litamanen used to get a lot of press with Ajax, then just dissappeared. Yeah I know he moved to England, but you never hear about him anymore
Since he is the vice-chairman or whatever of Bayern Munich, he is always on TV whenever Bayern Munich plays. And Bayern Munich plays many high-profile games.
-Michel Preud'homme: great goalkeeper. -Pepe: great free kicks for Brazil. -Paul Van Himst: one of the best players Belgium ever had. -Nwankwo Kanu: he was really impressive in the Olympic tournament in '96, but you don' t hear much from him nowadays. He plays at an English team and might return to Ajax. In ten years we won't remember him I guess. -Zlatko Zahovic: same for him. -Carlos Dunga: crucial for Brazil in '94, but hardly ever mentioned, same for Bebeto. -Rivaldo: even though still active, little news on him -Florin Raducoiu: Once a very promising player but never really made it.
zahovic, kanu and rivaldo have all faded away. zahovic had an outstanding euro 2000, and then didn't quite get it together at valencia. kanu was amazing at ajax and the olympics, then his career dipped after his diagnosis. rivaldo had a terrible time at Milan and he's not at the same level he was at barca. so these guys aren't talked about as much because they're playing as well as they once did. except i wish kanu would've never had the heart disease , then he'd easily be one of top players.
Two others who have just seaped into the memory banks thanks to Kashuik's post on the FK thread: Thomas Hassler and Andy Moller two great players of the 90's.
I agree. Dunga was not your typical graceful, skillful Brazilian player, but he was a leader who pushed his teammates with his toughness and strong character, and he led them to a World Cup triumph. He deserves respect.
People often regard Dunga as a recusant relative to Brazilian standards. However, he was not only adept at tough tackling and winning back possession of the ball from the opponents, he could distribute it amazingly. In WC 1998 S/F, he sent a long ball to Ze Carlos on the right wing from the left side of his own half. It was too perfect a pass for Carlos. If the receiver was the suspended Cafu, it would have been a goal for Ronaldo. The Dutch defenders were caught unawares so easily by an incredible pass from Dunga. He had a great shot too. I remember the one he smacked against Italy in a friendly before WC 1990. As a player, I feel Dunga = Emerson + Alex (except maybe the FK skills). He was also the domineering leader of a multitude of superstars...speaks volumes of his character.
-Reinhard "Stan" Libuda of Schalke, Dortmund and West Germany. They named him after Stan Matthews for his skills. Once, so says the legend, Billy Graham was preaching in Gelsenkirchen during Libuda's run for Schalke, and posters advertised the event with the slogan "Nobody gets by God." Sure enough, a fan wrote underneath: "Except Libuda." He was that good a dribbler.
Yes he was a great player,after Maradona ,Caniggia was the most appreciated player on the NT for a number of years.Before WC 98 he was playing outstanding with boca and trying to make the final spot for the 1998 NT.But I forgot who Pasarella chosed over him.I wouldve had taken him over el Piojo Lopez anytime. He came out of River Plates youth organization and debuted in RIver then left to Italy,Atalanta if im not mistaken then after all the years that went by he decided to came back to Argentina and play for boca,cause Maradona wanted him on the team.Well thats where I lost all the respect I had for him. Other players Joel Batts french keeper Mario Kempes Paolo Rossi Ubaldo Fillol Bruno Conti Hugo Sanchez now coach of Pumas Enzo Scifo Elkjær-Larsen El Nene Cubilla Roger Milla Zico Dino Zoff Gordon Strachan just to name a few..
I dont get this thread. Seems like alot of the "forgotten" are actually quite popular names you hear about all the time!! Here is a truely forgotten list of great Brazilian Players from the 70's/80's: - Eder (Atletico-MG, WC82) - Batista (Inter WC78, 82) - Tita (Flamengo) - Reinaldo (Atletico WC78) - Nunez (Flamengo) - Valdomiro (Inter WC74) - Jair (Inter & Penharol) - Mauro Galvao (70's, 80's 90's & 00's, WC90) - Renato Gaucho (Gremio) - Biro Biro (Corinthians) - Careca (WC86,90) - Junior (Flamengo, WC82) - Casagrande - Dario - Baltazar (Gremio) - Carpegiani - Paulo Cesar Caju (WC74, 78?) - Socrates (WC82) - Mario Sergio - Roberto Dinamite (WC78) - Toninho Cerezo (WC82) - Nelinho (WC78) etc...
An untimely death too. West Germany was very good in 1970 with him and Siggi Held on the wings and with Seeler and Müller on top.
Actually, the Soviet players people really really don't remember ... because they've never heart of them in the first place, are from the 1950s and 1960s. So, without further ado: Vsevolod Bobrov may have been the greatest Soviet player of all time despite playing ~ 80 matches in the Soviet Premier League in his career. he split his time between the Red Army teams in both football and hockey and, if I am correct, managed to win the MVP in both sports. He had the highest ratio of goals per match played - something like 70+ goals in ~ 80 matches - but was frequently injured and ended up leaving soccer for hockey where he played for a few more years. Eduard Streltzov was considered the boy-genius when he debuted at 18 with Torpedo Moscow. He was held in such esteem by the Soviets that many joked that if he made it to the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the fans would call Pele "another Streltzov". Alas, a day before the USSR team was to depart for Stockholm, a going away party was held at a suburban Moscow home where a mysterious chain of events took place. As Shurik explained on the Russian boards, there was a 17-year old girl, a lot of vodka and some physical contact. After the party, 21-year old Streltzov was arrested, tried and sentenced to 7 years of hard labor for rape and/or sex with a minor. Two other national team players (Tatushin and Ogon'kov) were taken off the roster and suspended for 4 years but allegedly avoided Streltzov's fate but marrying their female companions. There were also rumors of him being railroaded since he had apparently had made some very powerful enemies (Soviet dictator Nikita Khrutschev was rumored to have lobbied for hard punishment). After serving 7 years, a much slower and heavier 28-year old Streltzov was eventually allowed to return to Torpedo in 1965 where he was named the League's Player of the Year in 1967 and 1968 but was held off the USSR team that won the 4th place in England'66. He suffered a serious knee injury in 1969 and retired after a short comeback in 1971. His case is one of the great "what could have been's" in all of sport history and Eduard remains one of the great mystical figure in all of Soviet/Russian sports with a statue erected to him outside of the Torpedo (now FC Moscow) stadium.
A few more Soviet players that were prominent in their time: Valentin Ivanov scored 5 World Cup goals (4 in 1962) and was named to an All-Star WC roster in Chile. He was a prolific scorer in a very low scoring Soviet Premier League (Yashin had allowed 6 goals in the entire 1963 season). Victor Ponedelnik had the highest scoring rate for the USSR of all time (21 in ~ 30 internationals), including the winner in 1960 Euro against Yugoslavia. He scored 2 goals in WC'62. Another forgotten forward is Igor Chislenko who was named to an All-Star squad in 1966 with 4 goals. Igor "Goose" Netto was a long time Soviet team captain and a top central midfielder, who played in the 1958 and 1962 Cups. He was replaced as a captain by "Ivan the Terrible", Albert Shesternev, who played in 3 World Cups (62,66,70) and could play both stopper and sweeper. He ended his career with the record number of USSR caps (87). In goal, backing up Yashin, there was Victor Bannikov. A former high-jumper, he was remembered for his acrobatic leaps on crosses and was twice named the USSR GK of the Year with about 30 caps. The last bio is for Valeriy Voronin who played in 9 WC games for USSR (62 and 66). He was a top defensive midfielder and an All-Star in Chile'1962. Sadly, Voronin, Chislenko and Shesternev were major drunks, which contributed to their untimely deaths. A few names from the 60s and 70s, CF Anatoliy Byshovetz, AM Victor Kolotov, GKs Vladimir Astapovsky, Anzor Kavazashvili and Evgeniy Rudakov, AM David Kipiani, F Vladimir Gutzaev.
Wow what a great thread! After reasing through 6 pages worth of stuff, I find myself wanting to reply to a lot of posts, so I'll just briefly summarize everything here. Careca was phenomenal. Sometimes people think Napoli was a one-man show, but they forget about the quality players we had in our side besides el Pibe. I'll never forget his performance in the 1989 UEFA Cup final against Stuttgart, where he played with a fever of 40 Celsius. Unbelievable. Scirea - another great one. Sometimes I believe he was better than Baresi, but it might just be a biased nostalgia talking there. How about Antognoni? He was Fiorentina for so long and refused to play for anyone else, though he could have played anywhere. One player who I feel never got the recognition he deserved is Roberto Mancini. He only made sporadic appearances with the NT, but what a player. Extremely gifted on the ball. Someone mentioned Eder. I second that. That Brazil team (1982) was something unreal. Julen Guerrero - worthy of this category. Read an article recently where it described his past and present status with the club (Athletic Bilbao). Jancker is certainly a player that went MIA from one day to the next. There are so many others...if I think of more, I'll remember to post them here.
Actually, Felix Magath was/is a transplanted Central American ... except you can't really say he is a forgotten player/coach. But, to go through German squads: Jürgen Grabowski played in 3 World Cups as a winger or a withdrawn forward; Guido Buchwald was too gangly to be famous but he was indispensible to the 1990 WC winners; Uli Stieleke looked like he didn't belong on the field at all but was a superb deep midfielder who defended and passed well; Thomas Berthold played in a variety of roles for Kaizer Franz in 1986 and 1990 and was one of the great utility contributors ever; Wolfgang Rolff was an offensive midfielder with Hamburg and Bayer (47 B-liga goals) but turned into a great defensive stopper in the 1986 semifinal against France by snuffing out every attempt by Michel Platini.
YES! My favorite German player of all time. I remember his great technique always looked so odd among the stiff, hard-running Germans. Still haven't seen any northern European with is type of game. And he must have been like 5'5 too
Litmanen is playing with FC Lahti in the Finnish league after spending a rather lackluster season in Liverpool.
Mine then: 1. Robbie de Wit. Talk about brilliant left wingers: he was among the best. Unfortunately got a severe stroke at a very early age and is now severely handicapped, but he'd have been the best. Very sad story. 2. Richard Witschge. Annoying and cocky but great to watch, brilliant technically. 3. Hans van Breukelen. Not the most talented goalkeeper we've ever had but so good at manipulating the opponent that he won us many games. 4. Johnny Rep. Brilliant 1970s striker. 5. Adri van Tiggelen AKA De Spijker. Toughest meanest defender we've ever had, vital in our 1988 Euro win.
Oi! Haessler's mullet, if you can even call it that, is not nearly as spectacular as Neesken's hairstyle surely! Or do you mix him up with Paul Breitner? Haessler is class, one of my favourite German players.