kahn
thuram beckenbauer hysén maldini
cruyff zidane platini eusebio
müller van basten
oliver kahn is seriously one of the absolute best goalkeepers in history. he consistently make incredible saves, and he even pulls off some impossible ones. germany's silver in japan/s korea is all his. he was named the best player of the tournament too, welldeserved too say the least. he almost won the final for them as well (the saves on ronaldo's oppurtunities in the first half, just incredible. had that german freekick in the beginning of the second half been five centimeters to the left instead of hitting the post, germany would certainly have won the game. I had some money placed on germany as winners from before the tournament too (my friends laughed at me and bet on france. they will never hear the end of it)).
I might have gone with michel preud'homme too (named the best goalkeeper in usa '94, if I recall correctly), but he didn't achieve as much of obvious reasons (belgium...). and I do believe that after buffon's career is over he will very well hold the title as the best goalie ever
lilian thuram is what roberto carlos is offensively (almost anyways, take away the insane freekicks), but he is also a very capable defender (which carlos simply isn't) and would be my number one choice for a side back today, and overall.
I don't think that anyone who knows who franz beckenbauer is would argue his place in an all-star team. come on, the guy played a quarter-final in the world cup with his arm in a sling because he refused to get off the field (and they weren't allowed to make any more substitutions)
I picked glenn hysén primarily to pick someone pretty unknown, but he was a truly magnificent defender in the 80's. he has made some of the most daring and perfectly timed sliding tackles and interceptions I've ever seen, but he knew he had the capacity to do it. truly a defender of class.
paulo maldini has been performing for so long that it is scary. not too much argue about him either.
johann cruyff was just a marvellous player. holland's national team in the 70's is arguably the best team ever, even if they didn't win the world cup (but they were close, very close. two finals). he scored some astonishing goals and probably would be a part in the discussion of who is the greatest player ever, all categories. I remember when a reporter asked the coach of the dutch national team who was the best goalie in holland at the time, and he answered that all three goalies in the national team were good, but honestly johann cruyff was probably the best. it didn't matter which position he played in, because of his ability to see and read the play like noone else he would probably be the best.
zinedine zidane keeps surprising me every time I see him play. I have never seen him pass the ball without a thought behind it. he is wonderful too know when it is time to dribble, pass or shoot. he knows that just because he is an incredible dribbler, it doesn't mean that he have to use this every time he touches the ball, something many players fail to realize. his intelligence and eye for the game is noticeable in every game he play. and the merites that man has collected... the world cup (where he decided the final with his two goals in the first half), the european championship (where he scored some decisive goals, especially that penalty kick against portugal, and he scored a fantastic free kick goal as well in the quarter-finals, I think it was), the italian league, the spanish league, the champions league (with two different teams), named player of the year three times or something, named best player of the world cup '98 and euro '00. he is a living legend, with several years left to play. you all saw what happened to france when he got injured just before the world cup '02, and this was a team that pretty much had dominated the international scene since '98
michel platini. look at that man's merits. french league, french cup, italian league, italian cup, top scorer in italy three consecutive seasons, cupwinners cup, european cup, european super cup (as it was called back then), third and fourth place in the world cup, european champion, winner of le ballon d'or 1983, 1984 and 1985.
eusebio, by many considered the greatest player ever, in front of pelé, maradona, cruyff and all the others. and maybe he was. not to different from figo's playing-style today (but more dominant, and in addition a world class goalscorer), and they're both portugeese (if you're technical, eusebio was actually from mocambique, not portugal. but zidane is really from algeria, and no one would call him anything else than french, so...)
gerd müller, der Bomber, is probably the best finisher ever. he was what inzaghi is today, but so much more. I have some footage of the world cup '74 when the germans won and he scored some great ones when everyone thought the danger was over, and he was ALWAYS at the exactly right place when the ball came into the penalty area. he still holds the record for scoring most goals total in world cup-history (14 goals over two tournaments), he also has the scoring record in the Bundesliga (both total (365) and in one season (40)), the german national team (68 goals in 62 games!) and all he set this records almost 30 years ago! he won pretty much everything you could win as a footballplayer at the time: world cup, euro, league (x4), german cup (x4), cupwinners cup, european cup (x3)...
too bad he didn't appear in the german national team until just after the world cup '66. then england's football history would have been completely different, no doubt...
marco van basten, also a man where you can just look at his merits and let them speak for themselves. and everyone on this forum has probably seen at least two of his goals too (the bicycle kick and the volley...), marvellous. how holland have managed NOT to win the world cup throughout the years is almost astonishing. well well....
other players that I might have included are paolo rossi, frank rijkaard, ferenc puskas and michael laudrup, but only eleven players were allowed...
there, a small essay written :-D
