Creating a retired squad with less than 50 international caps that could win the world cup/CL

chomsky89

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With some luck. Not being a massive favorite.
Preeliminary squad down below.
There is a lack of players in certain positions, and some players are definitely not good enough if I knew about all the players. But I could only look at Transfermarkt for strong national teams apps between 50 and 30ish, and use my memory. So there are definitely some super strong ones I have forgotten. Who would you take out/push in?

Eric cantona
Christian Vieri
Santiago Canizares
Marco Matterazzi
Adriano
Fernando morientes
Johan Cruyff
Fabio grosso
Ivan Helguera
Franseco toldo
Holger Badstuber
Dante
Mikael Silvestre
Pepe Reina
Ciro Ferrarra
Steve Mcmanaman
Gaizka Mendieta
Owen hargreaves
Martin keown
Ledley King
 
chomsky89 said:
With some luck. Not being a massive favorite.
Preeliminary squad down below.
There is a lack of players in certain positions, and some players are definitely not good enough if I knew about all the players. But I could only look at Transfermarkt for strong national teams apps between 50 and 30ish, and use my memory. So there are definitely some super strong ones I have forgotten. Who would you take out/push in?

Eric cantona
Christian Vieri
Santiago Canizares
Marco Matterazzi
Adriano
Fernando morientes
Johan Cruyff
Fabio grosso
Ivan Helguera
Franseco toldo
Holger Badstuber
Dante
Mikael Silvestre
Pepe Reina
Ciro Ferrarra
Steve Mcmanaman
Gaizka Mendieta
Owen hargreaves
Martin keown
Ledley King
Click to expand...
Steve Bruce has to be in the squad - zero caps a travesty
 
Why did Garrincha have to be on 50 caps exactly? Could have Falcao.

Duncan Edwards count? I mean Cruyff is no longer with us from your list. Kopa? Di Stefano?
 
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De Gea
Ferrara Figueroa Santamaria Breitner
Netzer Suarez
Best Di Stefano Cruyff
Charles
​
Almost feels like cheating using a lot of the old timers, as they played so much less international football. In the modern era you can have someone like Benzema spend years and years exiled from his national side while still picking up 90-odd caps.
 
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nice thread.

Di Stéfano and George Best instantly make this a phenomenal team.

You could get a team of complete mavericks, when you add in Di Canio, Le Tissier, Barthez, Yeboah, Cantona, Basler etc.
 
Gento Di Stéfano Best
Cruyff
L. Suárez Neeskens
Breitner Figueroa Vasović Tassotti
Pagliuca​

Extended squad: Toldo, Hansen, Ferrara, Schnellinger, Falcão, Redondo, Pirri, Schuster, Netzer, Giresse, Keizer, Conti, Futre, Grabowski, Riva, Cantona, Vieri...
 
1950 said:
Gento Di Stéfano Best
Cruyff
L. Suárez Neeskens
Breitner Figueroa Vasović Tassotti
Pagliuca​

Extended squad: Toldo, Hansen, Ferrara, Schnellinger, Falcão, Redondo, Pirri, Schuster, Netzer, Giresse, Keizer, Conti, Futre, Grabowski, Riva, Cantona, Vieri...
Click to expand...
That is a freaking awesome team
 
Using mostly Dinosaurs (40/50/60), for those who knows about the history of the sport, the argie team looks like a sad affair that all of those mofos had less than 50 games. Of course it's too offensive, yet quite a list of names.


...................Carrizo................
Ibarra....Perfumo......Sacchi.....Marzolini
.................Redondo...................
............Sastre.........................
......................Di Stefano...........
................................Sívori.....
.......Corbatta............................
....................Moreno.................


And there still is place for subs that can make a challenge for the A team:
Cejas, Gatti, Labruna, Pedernera, Losteau, Angelillo, Maschio, Kempes, Bochini, Alonso, Brindisi, Bertoni...
 
Only previously unmentioned players with meaningful carreers in the Sixties onwards:


Victor Valdes
Andres Palop
Ruud Hesp
Giuseppe Baresi
Ze Maria
Ferri
Vierchowod
Umtiti
Grosso
Stielike
Clodoaldo
Effenberg
Scholl
Bochini
Guti
Sivori
Johnny Rep
Vicente Rodriguez
Rebsenbrink
Kempes
Roberto Mancini
Altafini
Fontaine (cut down due to injury around 1960, our one exception to the rules above)
Heynckes
 
Querulous Megapode said:
Only previously unmentioned players with meaningful carreers in the Sixties onwards:


Victor Valdes
Andres Palop
Ruud Hesp
Giuseppe Baresi
Ze Maria
Ferri
Vierchowod
Umtiti
Grosso
Stielike
Clodoaldo
Effenberg
Scholl
Bochini
Guti
Sivori
Johnny Rep
Vicente Rodriguez
Rebsenbrink
Kempes
Roberto Mancini
Altafini
Fontaine (cut down due to injury around 1960, our one exception to the rules above)
Heynckes
Click to expand...

Great list, also Schuster, Giresse, Reinaldo, Rai, Leonidas,...maybe 50 games it's actually a lot more than we tend to think, specially in Dinosaurs terms and even with some more recent names
 
Only just realized Umtiti hasn't actually retired yet. Swap him out for Manolo Sanchis and Alain Giresse (two players I'd looked into earlier, then inexplicably forgot*.)

Edit: Likewise sub in Signori and Rai for the three Argentinians Fobal got too a minute ahead of me.

*And Benarrivo, ffs.
 
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Fobal said:
Great list, also Schuster, Giresse, Reinaldo, Rai, Leonidas,...maybe 50 games it's actually a lot more than we tend to think, specially in Dinosaurs terms and even with some more recent names
Click to expand...

He had a poor international record for Sparta, they lost in his only appearance in their defence.
 
Oranges038 said:
He had a poor international record for Sparta, they lost in his only appearance in their defence.
Click to expand...

...yet remember that it was a "speed tournament" against lots of Persian teams (granted farmers league those) in just a couple of days, given in those days training sucked and even if not having the stamina of current EPL, he was quite special and good to hold his ground, credit when its due I guess
 
Interesting English ones are Bruce, Pallister, Brown, Carrick. McMannaman, Carragher, Butt, Keown.
 
---------------Cudicini -----------------

King---Bruce---Pallister--Danilo

-----------------Carrick------------------

Best-----------Zola------------Le Tissier

-----------Cole------Baptista------

Bench: Ferdinand, Fowler, Wes Brown, Benito Carbone,
 
Fobal said:
...yet remember that it was a "speed tournament" against lots of Persian teams (granted farmers league those) in just a couple of days, given in those days training sucked and even if not having the stamina of current EPL, he was quite special and good to hold his ground, credit when its due I guess
Click to expand...

I believe he was also 60 at the time, so perhaps he was just a bit past his prime.
 
All the squads mentioned would be favorites for either tournament for most history.
 
My 25 player squad would be as follows (number in brackets is the number of international caps):

GK: Jose Angel Iribar (49)
GK: Ladislao Mazurkiewicz (37)
GK: Bert Trautmann (0)
RB: Leandro (27)
RB/LB: Victor Rodriguez Andrade (42)
RB/LB: Antonio Benarrivo (23)
CB: Ciro Ferrara (49)
CB: Elias Figueroa (47)
CB: Roberto Perfumo (37)
CB: Pietro Vierchowod (45)
DM: Fernando Redondo (29)
DM: Obdulio Varela (45)
CM: Duncan Edwards (18)
CM: Paulo Roberto Falcao (34)
CM: Johan Neeskens (49)
CM: Luis Suarez Miramontes (32)
CM/LB: Paul Breitner (48)
CM/AM: Jose Manuel Moreno (34)
AM/CM/ST: Alfredo Di Stefano (37)
RW/LW: George Best (37)
ST: Mario Kempes (43)
ST: Luigi Riva (42)
ST: Alberto Spencer (16)
LW/RW: Zoltan Czibor (43)
LW: Francisco Gento (43)

My starting XI would be as follows (playing a 4-3-3):
Mazurkiewicz; Leandro, Vierchowod, Figueroa, Benarrivo; Varela (DM), Falcao, Di Stefano; Best, Spencer, Gento

Note: Against sides with a highly dangerous wide player, Victor Rodriguez Andrade would replace the fullback on that side.

Other Players Considered

GK: Enrico Albertosi (34)
GK: Amadeo Carrizo (20)
GK: Francesco Toldo (28)
GK: Ricrdo Zamora (46)
RB: Mirsad Fazlagic (19)
RB/CB: Revaz Dzodzuashvili (49)
RB/CM: Jose Leandro Andrade (34)
CB: Anatoli Bashashkin (21)
CB: Aleksandre Chivadze (46)
CB: Hugo de Leon (48)
CB: Riccardo Ferri (45)
CB: Neil Franklin (26)
CB: Alan Hansen (26)
CB: Barry Hulshoff (14)
CB: Dario Pereyra (32)
CB: Roberto Rosato (37)
CB: Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck (44)
CB: Mustapha Zitouni (16)
CB/LB: Kevin Beattie (9)
LB: Tommy Gemmell (18)
LB: Silvio Marzolini (28)
LB/CB: Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (47)
LB/CB/CM: John Greig (44)
DM: Luis Monti (34)
DM: Uli Stielike (42)
CM: Giacomo Bulgarelli (29)
CM: Nils Liedholm (23)
CM: Gunter Netzer (37)
CM: Pirri (41)
CM: Bernd Schuster (21)
CM/CB: Dave Mackay (22)
CM/CB: Velibor Vasovic (32)
CM/AM: Valentino Mazzola (12)
CM/AM: Adolfo Pedernera (21)
AM: Ricardo Bochini (28)
AM: Juan Alberto Schiaffino (25)
AM/CM/ST: Miguel Angel Brindisi (46)
AM/RW: Raymond Kopa (45)
AM/ST/LW: Angel Labruna (37)
RW: Julio Abbadie (26)
RW: Bruno Conti (37)
RW:Jimmy Johnstone (23)
RW/ST: Kurt Hamrin (32)
ST: Josef Bican (35)
ST: Johan Cruyff (48)
ST: Gunnar Nordahl (33)
ST: Silvio Piola (34)
ST: Omar Sivori (28)
ST/CB: John Charles (38)
ST/LW: Jupp Heynckes (39)
LW: Paulo Futre (41)
LW/ST: Juan Joya (9)
LW/ST: Rob Rensenbrink (46)

Note 2: Cruyff was excluded due to my doubts on whether he'd be willing to play 2nd in command to Di Stefano. If I thought he would be willing to, he would replace Suarez Miramontes in the squad and the starting XI would be as follows (playing a 4-2-4 with a double false 9):

Mazurkiewicz; Leandro, Vierchowod, Figueroa, Benarrivo; Varela, Edwards; Czibor, Cruyff, Di Stefano, Kempes
 
Michaelf7777777 said:
My 25 player squad would be as follows (number in brackets is the number of international caps):

GK: Jose Angel Iribar (49)
GK: Ladislao Mazurkiewicz (37)
GK: Bert Trautmann (0)
RB: Leandro (27)
RB/LB: Victor Rodriguez Andrade (42)
RB/LB: Antonio Benarrivo (23)
CB: Ciro Ferrara (49)
CB: Elias Figueroa (47)
CB: Roberto Perfumo (37)
CB: Pietro Vierchowod (45)
DM: Fernando Redondo (29)
DM: Obdulio Varela (45)
CM: Duncan Edwards (18)
CM: Paulo Roberto Falcao (34)
CM: Johan Neeskens (49)
CM: Luis Suarez Miramontes (32)
CM/LB: Paul Breitner (48)
CM/AM: Jose Manuel Moreno (34)
AM/CM/ST: Alfredo Di Stefano (37)
RW/LW: George Best (37)
ST: Mario Kempes (43)
ST: Luigi Riva (42)
ST: Alberto Spencer (16)
LW/RW: Zoltan Czibor (43)
LW: Francisco Gento (43)

My starting XI would be as follows (playing a 4-3-3):
Mazurkiewicz; Leandro, Vierchowod, Figueroa, Benarrivo; Varela (DM), Falcao, Di Stefano; Best, Spencer, Gento

Note: Against sides with a highly dangerous wide player, Victor Rodriguez Andrade would replace the fullback on that side.

Other Players Considered

GK: Enrico Albertosi (34)
GK: Amadeo Carrizo (20)
GK: Francesco Toldo (28)
GK: Ricrdo Zamora (46)
RB: Mirsad Fazlagic (19)
RB/CB: Revaz Dzodzuashvili (49)
RB/CM: Jose Leandro Andrade (34)
CB: Anatoli Bashashkin (21)
CB: Aleksandre Chivadze (46)
CB: Hugo de Leon (48)
CB: Riccardo Ferri (45)
CB: Neil Franklin (26)
CB: Alan Hansen (26)
CB: Barry Hulshoff (14)
CB: Dario Pereyra (32)
CB: Roberto Rosato (37)
CB: Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck (44)
CB: Mustapha Zitouni (16)
CB/LB: Kevin Beattie (9)
LB: Tommy Gemmell (18)
LB: Silvio Marzolini (28)
LB/CB: Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (47)
LB/CB/CM: John Greig (44)
DM: Luis Monti (34)
DM: Uli Stielike (42)
CM: Giacomo Bulgarelli (29)
CM: Nils Liedholm (23)
CM: Gunter Netzer (37)
CM: Pirri (41)
CM: Bernd Schuster (21)
CM/CB: Dave Mackay (22)
CM/CB: Velibor Vasovic (32)
CM/AM: Valentino Mazzola (12)
CM/AM: Adolfo Pedernera (21)
AM: Ricardo Bochini (28)
AM: Juan Alberto Schiaffino (25)
AM/CM/ST: Miguel Angel Brindisi (46)
AM/RW: Raymond Kopa (45)
AM/ST/LW: Angel Labruna (37)
RW: Julio Abbadie (26)
RW: Bruno Conti (37)
RW:Jimmy Johnstone (23)
RW/ST: Kurt Hamrin (32)
ST: Josef Bican (35)
ST: Johan Cruyff (48)
ST: Gunnar Nordahl (33)
ST: Silvio Piola (34)
ST: Omar Sivori (28)
ST/CB: John Charles (38)
ST/LW: Jupp Heynckes (39)
LW: Paulo Futre (41)
LW/ST: Juan Joya (9)
LW/ST: Rob Rensenbrink (46)

Note 2: Cruyff was excluded due to my doubts on whether he'd be willing to play 2nd in command to Di Stefano. If I thought he would be willing to, he would replace Suarez Miramontes in the squad and the starting XI would be as follows (playing a 4-2-4 with a double false 9):

Mazurkiewicz; Leandro, Vierchowod, Figueroa, Benarrivo; Varela, Edwards; Czibor, Cruyff, Di Stefano, Kempes
Click to expand...

That's quite a job man
 
HackeyC said:
I would consider Zola and Di Canio. Also add Ian Wright.
Click to expand...
Ian Wright was not international class.
Nobody wants to admit it (especially Wright himself). But he flopped for England. For years and years.
He can’t pretend he didn’t have a run - over a two-year period (14 October 1992 to 12 October 1994) England played 18 games under two different managers and he only missed three of them. Yet he couldn’t score for toffee. Actually, that’s not quite true; he got five goals in that time. Four of them were against San Marino.
All told he got 33 games and scored 9 goals. That’s already pretty moderate, before you remember that not only were four of them against San Marino but another two were against Moldova.
Ian Wright was an excellent Premier League striker, but the fact that he’s being talked about this list before anybody mentions Glenn Hoddle or Bernd Schuster is wild to me.
 
Querulous Megapode said:
Only previously unmentioned players with meaningful carreers in the Sixties onwards:
Click to expand...

Same rules, and pushing to the Nineties now:

Rogerio Ceni
Nigel Martyn
Bernard Lama
Angelo Di Livio
Juliano Belletti
Mark Iuliano
Basile Boli
Jose Chamot
Vincent Candela
Sylvinho
Marcos Senna
Alou Diarra
Mazinho
Carlo Ancelotti
Zvonimir Boban
Robert Prosinecki
Juan Carlos Valeron
Sebastian Deisler
Andrei Kanchelskis
David Ginola
Savio
Diego Tristan
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Roy Makaay
Vincenzo Montella
Giovane Elber


Downwind of that would be a team based on Djalminha and Edmundo, which should still be pretty fun.
 
What about Vava? He scored in two World Cup finals for Brazil and managed 15 in only 20 caps - some record!

I'd like to think of more great modern players as that's more in the spirit of things, but am struggling to add more to the already great suggestions. I thought Marcio Santos was great in the '94 World Cup and only won 43 caps in defence for Brazil.

There must be many other great Brazilians over the years, unfortunately I only know from the 90s onwards. Giovane Elber and Mario Jardel banged in goals for years but only won 25 caps between them, while Richarlison himself has 40 caps. Heck, Antony has more caps than Giovane Elber and Elber lead the line for Bayern for six years.
 
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1950 said:
They have over 50 when you count their caps for Yugoslavia as well.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. I actually looked for it, but my eyesight can be largely vibes-based at this point.

Giuseppe Giannini could technically fit, although I think his best work might have happened in the Eighties.
 
Querulous Megapode said:
Same rules, and pushing to the Nineties now:

Rogerio Ceni
Nigel Martyn
Bernard Lama
Angelo Di Livio
Juliano Belletti
Mark Iuliano
Basile Boli
Jose Chamot
Vincent Candela
Sylvinho
Marcos Senna
Alou Diarra
Mazinho
Carlo Ancelotti
Zvonimir Boban
Robert Prosinecki
Juan Carlos Valeron
Sebastian Deisler
Andrei Kanchelskis
David Ginola
Savio
Diego Tristan
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Roy Makaay
Vincenzo Montella
Giovane Elber


Downwind of that would be a team based on Djalminha and Edmundo, which should still be pretty fun.
Click to expand...
Carlo Cudicini belongs in this era I think.
 
90's Onwards:

David De Gea
Lee Dixon - Ciro Ferarra - Steve Bruce - Sylvinho
Fernando Redondo - Zvonimir Boban
Andrei Kanchelskis - Gianfranco Zola - David Ginola
Andy Cole
​
 
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