Best player ever in the history of many countries

ThinkTank@Cafe

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Beat this:

Kazakhstan: Eustaphi Pekhlevanidi
Usbekistan: Mirjalol Kassymov
Kyrgyzstan: Anton Zemlyanukhin
Tajikistan: Khurshed Makhmudov
Turkmenistan: Ruslan Mingazov
 

Alek M

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Great thread. I am thinking picking two or three best per country might given varius era would be easier

On the topic of top trio to match France Brasil has plenty of options to pick from

Brasil - Pele, Romario, Ronaldo
Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho
Pele, Zico, Socrates, Vava
Pele, Roberto Carlos, Cafu

Dutch - Cruyff, Van Basten, Gulitt
Italy - Maldini, Baresi, divine ponytail
Germany - Beckenbauer, Mathaus, Muller
Spain - Butragenho, Xavi, Iniesta
Croatia - Modric, Prosinecki, Suker
Serbia - Dzaic, Stojkovic, Beara
Sloveni - Oblak, Zahovic, Handanovic
Macedonia - Panchev, Pandev, Ringov
Belgium - Schiffo, KDB, Prudhomme
Argentina - Maradona, Messi, Kempes/Batistuta
Portugal - Ronaldo, Eusebio, Figo
England - Charlton, Moore, Rooney
 

RooneyLegend

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Argentina: Maradona
Brazil: Pele
Cameroon: Roger Milla
Egypt: Abou Trieka
Ghana: Abedi Pele
South Africa: Jomo Sono
France: Zidane
Italy: Baggio
England: Gascoigne
Nigeria: Jay Jay
Germany: Karl Heinz Rumminege
Scotland: Kenny Dalgish
Norther Ireland: Best
Ireland: McGrath
Ivory Coast: Drogba
Denmark: Big Pete
 

manutddjw

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Would anyone else take Falcao over Valderrama for Colombia? Valderrama was great for the national team and the domestic league when it was a good league due to cartel funding, but was just another player in Europe. Falcao had a 3 to 4 year stretch while with FC Porto and Atletico where he was arguably the best striker in the world.

Dempsey over Donovan for the US as well.
 

wolvored

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Maradona for me. Took Napoli to win Serie A which was the equivalent of Newcastle winning the Premiership. Won 2 World Cups (I know he knocked us out illegally). With Pele was voted joint best footballer of the 20th century.
 

Josh 76

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abundance said:
Hello Guys!
Lurked for some time, first post now... you know, lockdown boredom and all.

Nice question, already answered but lets spice it up... per your original trio, only playmakers, offensive midfilders, forwards and wingers, from Platini's generation onward, are allowed:

Better:
Zico, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho
Maradona, Batistuta, Messi
There:
Falcao, Bebeto, Romario
Gullit, Van Basten, Bergkamp
Almost there:
Baggio, Totti, Pirlo
Raul, Xavi, Iniesta
Rumenigge, Matthäus, Kroos
Futre, Figo, Ronaldo
Scholes, Lampard, Gerrard
Not quite there but sexy:
Ceulemans, Hazard, De Bruyne
Rush, Giggs, Bale
Prosinečki, Boban, Bokšić
Seedorf, Van Persie, Robben
Socrates, Rivaldo, Kakà
Francescoli, Forlan, Suarez
Mancini, Zola, Altobelli
Michel, Butragueno, David Silva
Šuker, Modric, Mandžukić
Schuster, Klinsmann, Ballack
Lineker, Shearer, Rooney
Brolin, Larsson, Zlatan
Drogba, Yaya Touré, Kalou
Click to expand...
Best players per size of county.
1. Giggs. 2. Bale. 3. Rush

This surely must be hard to beat?
 

paulscholes18

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Brazil Pele, Garincha & Ronaldo
England Edwards, Charlton & Moore
Ghana Essien
Nigeria Jay-Jay
 

Bestietom

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matbezlima said:
Who is the best player ever in the history of the countries below in your opinion?

- Brazil: Pelé.
- Argentina: Messi.
- Holland: Cruyff.
- France: Zidane.
- Spain: Iniesta.
- Germany: Beckenbauer.
- Italy: Paolo Maldini.
- Belgium: De Bruyne.
- England: Stanley Matthews.
- Uruguay: Luís Suárez.
- Croatia: Modrić.
- Colombia: Valderrama.
- Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo.
Click to expand...
Northern Ireland: George Best
 

FootballHQ

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ThinkTank@Cafe said:
Beat this:

Kazakhstan: Eustaphi Pekhlevanidi
Usbekistan: Mirjalol Kassymov
Kyrgyzstan: Anton Zemlyanukhin
Tajikistan: Khurshed Makhmudov
Turkmenistan: Ruslan Mingazov
Click to expand...
Uzbekistan had a good striker for Dynamo Kiev just after Shevchenko and Rebrov left, think he was called Shatskikh.

Hleb is obviously one for Belarus.
 

FootballHQ

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manutddjw said:
Would anyone else take Falcao over Valderrama for Colombia? Valderrama was great for the national team and the domestic league when it was a good league due to cartel funding, but was just another player in Europe. Falcao had a 3 to 4 year stretch while with FC Porto and Atletico where he was arguably the best striker in the world.

Dempsey over Donovan for the US as well.
Click to expand...
That's a good point. I'd actually argue James Rodriguez was the missing link for Colombia. They were very poor creatively in 2000s which made them miss three straight world cups. Set up so many goals for Falcao in the 2014 qualifiers.

He starts playing and they start qualifying and making knock out rounds. Done o.k in club career despite not quite hitting the heights expected at Real Madrid.

Valderrama is iconic though!
 

Vooon

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BazzaBear said:
That's an interesting one. What's it based on?

I had assumed National football, because at club level Ole played twice as many games at what I would consider a top club - and scored 3 times as many goals.
But when I checked their national team records, they have the exact same number of goals scored but Ole did it in less games.

Of course that's entirely stats based. But my memory of them both playing in the Prem had me rating Ole much higher (as a United fan admittedly!)
Click to expand...
I guess it's subjective on my part. I think Flo's peak as an overall striker was higher than Solskjær, even though his career wasn't nearly as great. Flo had a few fantastic seasons around 97-98, mainly based on his performances for the NT, his goal against Brazil in the 98 WC is one of the greatest moments of the years I've followed the Norwegian NT. I recall he had a thing of scoring against us as well.
 

Halds

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Josh 76 said:
Best players per size of county.
1. Giggs. 2. Bale. 3. Rush

This surely must be hard to beat?
Click to expand...
That's a pretty impressive trio for such a small nation. Denmark is up there with Allan Simonsen, Michael Laudrup and Peter Schmeichel, but we have a bigger population.
 

Untd55

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I am wondering how many people actually watched Pele here? Or are people just putting him, along with other players, because if is expected.

From what I have seen

Brazil: Rivaldo
Argentina: Messi
Portugal: Ronaldo
Netherlands: Robben
France: Zidane
Spain: Xavi
Italy: Totti
Wales: Bale
Belgium: De Bruyne
Denmark: Schmeichel
Columbia: Falcao
Ireland: Keane
Ukraine: Shevchenko
Russia: Arshavin
Serbia: Vidic
Czech Republic: Cech
England: Lampard
 

utdalltheway

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Joga Bonito said:
Republic of Ireland: Roy Keane (although going purely by displays for the national side, McGrath edges it)
Click to expand...
What about Liam Brady? Surely there's a case to be made that he was the ROI's best player.
He was feckin brilliant in his day, annoyingly as he did it playing for the Arse.
Roy Keane definitely wins if you count domestic silverware.
 

Steve Bruce

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ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
no debate around these three surely?

Second best footballer Trinidad and Tobago produced was Brian Lara.
Click to expand...
George Best is the best player NI produced, but he wouldn't be near the top performers for NI national side. He gets in to the all time NI team based on his performances at club level, not for what he did with NI.

Drink is a terrible demon to overcome and it certainly hampered this great footballer & as good as he was, if he had of lead a cleaner lifestyle he could have reached even higher levels.

It's a shame, but these things happen. Paul Gascoigne is nearly the mirror image. What a player he was, but what a player he might of been if he had Giggs's mentality
 

Gorse Hill Red

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Can’t believe the amount of people putting Saurez infront of Francescoli for Uruguay. I’ll still put Maradona ahead of Messi.
 

ThinkTank@Cafe

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FootballHQ said:
Uzbekistan had a good striker for Dynamo Kiev just after Shevchenko and Rebrov left, think he was called Shatskikh.

Hleb is obviously one for Belarus.
Click to expand...
Shatskikh’ achievements are actually more impressive statistically. He’s the best scorer in the history of Uzbekistan NT and Ukrainian league. The latter being a huge deal for a footballer from Central Asia.
On the other hand, Kassymov holds legendary status in Uzbekistan. He lead NT to their only title in Asian games. He also won Russian Premier Division title with a provincial Alania while Shatskikh played for all conquering Dynamo Kiyv.
More importantly, in my view (I watched both of them), Kassymov was a top class playmaker who was really underrated. He made his team play better and was a much more important player for the team.
 
Last edited:

Joga Bonito

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utdalltheway said:
What about Liam Brady? Surely there's a case to be made that he was the ROI's best player.
He was feckin brilliant in his day, annoyingly as he did it playing for the Arse.
Roy Keane definitely wins if you count domestic silverware.
Click to expand...
Definitely. Top notch player.
 

Bebestation

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Whose the Australian best player?

Cahill, Viduka or Kewell?

Kewell does have a UCL under his belt but Cahill impressed me the most.
 
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