Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, 1979-1982.
Simply the best footballer in Europe and arguably in the world at the time (Zico would be his only rival). Under Pál Csernai, Bayern’s manager at the time, he had significantly improved his goalscoring, which elevated him to a truly elite level — in 79/80 he had scored 36 goals and in 80/81 he had scored 39, an insane progression from his previous standards, which were close to 15 goals per season. It’s not a coincidence that this happened in 1978/79, because that season marked the end of an era for Bayern — in the summer the great Gerd Müller had left the club and moved to United States. Rummenigge assumed the role of a main star and a focal point of that team – and this was the moment when he had finally transformed into a central player, although his free-roaming nature and overall skillset made him a very different striking option compared to a more traditional interpretation of the role by Gerd Müller.
Individual awards: Ballon d’Ors (1980, 1981), 2nd place (1979) and 4th place (1982). Onze d’Or (1980, 1981). Bundesliga Top Scorer (1979/80, 80/81). German Footballer of the Year (1980). European Cup Top scorer 1980/81. UEFA Euros Team of the Tournament (1980). World Cup All-Star Team, Silver Shoe, Bronze Ball (1982).
Team honours: UEFA Euros (1980), World Cup runner-up (1982), Bundesliga title (1979/80, 1980/81), DFB-Pokal (1981-82)
Rob Rensenbrink, 1975-1978.
Football is a game of tight margins and no one knows this better than Rensenbrink. A few inches right and he would’ve became the man who had won Netherlands their long-awaited World Cup title — him hitting the post at the 90’ minute of the final has to be the memory that kept him awake at night, even though eventually he said that he had found his piece with it. As of right now, he is often forgotten when people are naming best Dutch players of all-time, which is a category that he certainly belongs to. He had finished the 1975/76 season with 31 goals to his name, playing in a free role from the left, and his incredible performance against Bayern Münich in UEFA Super Cup almost got him a Ballon d’Or — he finished second with Beckenbauer beating him in a close race. In an alternative vote for Onze d’Or he came first and Rob was also named European Footballer of the Season by the International Olympic committee. Two years later, with Cruyff refusing to play in the 1978 World Cup, he had assumed the role of their talisman in attack and led them to the second consecutive World Cup final, the one that they’ve lost in an even more disappointing set of events. He had scored 5 goals (2nd best) and made 3 assists (the most) throughout the tournament and, as we’ve already said, was only inches away from the triumphal end to that campaign.
Individual awards: Onze d’Or (1976). Ballon d’Or — 2nd place (1976) and 3rd place (1978). Cup Winner’s Cup top scorer (1975/76). World Cup All-Star team, Bronze boot & Top assist provider (1978). Belgian Golden Shoe (1976).
Team honours: Cup Winner’s Cup (1975/76, 1977/78). Super Cup (1976, 1978). Belgian Cup (1974/75, 75/76). UEFA UEFA Euros 3rd place (1976). World Cup runners-up (1978).
Allan Simonsen: 1975-1978.
A pocket-sized dynamite, Simonsen was truly a slippery paradox - a scrawny, slight and an unassuming figure, who was lethal on the pitch with his searing pace and razor sharp perception. Simonsen, was one of the premier footballers of the 70s as he took Europe by storm with his irrepressible brand of football. A tricky customer on the ball with his wonderful dribbling, two-footedness and an exceptionally low centre of gravity, the Dane allied them with his predatory instincts and slippery movement off the ball to deadly effect. No small wonder then, that he is the only footballer ever to have scored in the European Cup Final, UEFA Cup Final and the Cup Winner's Cup Final. As the talisman of the Gladbach side which went toe to toe against Der Kaiser's Bayern, and led them to 3 Bundesligas on the trot with 45 goals in 95 games. His brilliant displays in Europe (with 43 goals in 71 games) and the Bundesliga culminated in him being awarded the Balon d'Or against the more fancied Platini, Keegan and Cruyff, despite playing for minnows Denmark in the seventies. He'd go on to play an influential role in the rise of the Danish Dynamites in the 80s with his leadership and quality proving crucial to a young and budding side - finishing 3rd in the Balon d'Or with his goal against England at Wembley sending England packing and the Danish to the Euros after a 20 year absence. Who knows what could have been had he not had his foot broken by a harsh tackle in the first match of the Euros 1984.
Individual awards: Ballon d’Or (1977). Onze de Bronze (1977). Bundesliga Team of the Season (1975/76, 76/77). IOC European Footballer of the Season (1976/77). European Cup Top Scorer (1977/78).
Team honours: Bundesliga title (1975/76, 1976/77). European Cup runners-up (1976/77).
Bobby Charlton, 1965-1968.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest midfielders of all-time with an insane peak level — in the 60’s he had won the World Cup, European Cup and thrice in a row finished in top-2 of Ballon d’Or, winning it once. And that was the time when European football had arguably the deepest pool of all-time level talents: Eusébio, Beckenbauer, Best, Moore, Džajić, Suárez, Rivera, Facchetti etc. Charlton was quite a unique player — he wasn’t a traditional number 10, but rather an attacking-minded central midfielder, who contributed in all phases of the game… while still posing a huge goalthreat to the opposition (he had scored 63 goals over the course of 3 highlighted seasons).
Individual awards: Ballon d’Or (1966), 2nd place (1967, 1968) and 5th place (1965). World Cup Golden Ball, All-Star Team (1966). FWA Footballer of the Year (1965/66).
Team honours: World Cup (1966). European Cup (1968). English First Division title (1964/65, 66/67). UEFA Euros 3rd place (1968).
József Bozsik: 1952-1955.
Probably the greatest midfielder of the 50’s, Bozsik was the brain of Aranycsapat, the all-conquering Hungarian national team. Ferenc Puskás said that Bozsik was «the greatest player I ever saw or knew» — a high praise, considering the general quality of Puskás’ teammates and opponents. Bozsik is in a disadvantage towards more attacking players of his era, as most of the footage that we get from that time is a footage of goals, and he focused on the build-up, but even from the scarce amount of available material you can see that he was an outstanding talent. Playing as one of two halfbacks in a WM system, he had to defend quite a lot, but his best qualities were his distribution & his ability to bring the ball forward using his immaculate dribbling. He had also scored some brilliant goals, showing a great variety in his attacking game. This 3-year peak includes the best year of Magical Magyars — from the summer of 1952, when they’ve won Gold at that year Olympics, throughout the 1953, which included 2 dominant victories over England, and peaking with the 1954 World Cup, where they really should’ve won the title.
Individual awards: Hungarian Player of the Year (1952). World Cup All-Star Team (1954).
Team honours: Olympics champions (1952). Central European International Cup (1953). World Cup runners-up (1954). Hungarian League (1952, 1954, 1955).
Pirri: 1974-1977.
He was a midfielder, defender and make-shift forward. He was also a great goalscorer. He netted more than 172 goals during his 16 seasons with Real Madrid. He played the 1971 final of the European Cup Winner’s Cup with his arm in a sling, and the 1975 Copa del Rey final with fever and a broken jaw. He received the club’s maximum distinction: the Laureate. We take the more mature version of Pirri — the one that played as a libero/defensive midfielder instead of a younger box-to-box one. It was also a time of his biggest achievements — 2 league titles & Copa Del Rey in 3 years in a direct competition with Cruyff’s Barca. Individually, he had enjoyed his best years in the mid 70’s, being widely considered to be one of the best players in the world on his position.
Individual awards: Ballon d’Or — 11th place (1975), 20th place (1977).
Team honours: La Liga title (1974/75, 75/76). Copa Del Rey (1974/75).
Elías Figueroa: 1974-1977.
Simply one of the greatest defenders to ever play the game at the very peak of his powers. He had dominated every competition, domestically and internationally. His historic performance against Gerd Müller in 1974 World Cup had earned him world-wide fame and admiration — and even Franz Beckenbauer himself said that he was the «European Figueroa» and not the other way around. It’s hard to find proofs for those, but I’ve seen multiple times claims that Figueroa was twice named by FIFA as the best player in the world — ahead of a certain Kaiser Franz & Johan Cruyff. What can be proven though, is his incredible record as a 3-times South American Footballer of the Year — in a time when his competition included the likes of Zico, Rivellino & the likes.
Individual awards: South American Footballer of the Year (1974, 1975, 1976), 3rd place (1977). World Cup All-Star Team & «the competition’s best defender» acc. to
FIFA.com (1974). Best global defense of the year (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977).
Team honours: Campeonato Gaucho (1974, 1975, 1976). Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (1975, 1976). Copa Chile (1977).
Maxime Bossis: 1979-1982.
Bossis was one of the best defenders of his time and also one of the most versatile ones — with equal ease he switched between center, left and right back roles, sometimes throughout one game. He was strong, fast and brilliant on the ball, but his best quality was his outstanding reading of the game, which allowed him to alternate between different roles and positions. Late 70’s and early 80’s was a great time for the French football, as it was a time of emergence of their Golden generation — including the likes of Michel Platini, Alain Giresse & Jean Tigana. So to win French Player of the Year in that time… twice… as a defender, was an incredible achievement.
Individual awards: French Player of the year (1979, 1981). Ballon d’Or — 11th place (1981).
Team honours: Ligue 1 title (1979/80). World Cup 3rd place (1982).
Antonio Cabrini. 1982-1985.
During that period Bell’Antinio had won World Cup with Italy and European Cup with Juventus — being an integral part in both of those teams. He had combined defensive prowess and tactical discipline, traditional for Italian defenders, with elegance and flair of an attacking player, providing quality service to his forwards from the left and scoring a decent amount of goals.
Individual awards: Ballon d’Or — 14th place (1984), 23th place (1983).
Team honours: World Cup (1982). European Cup (1985). Cup Winner’s Cup (1983/84). International Cup (1985). UEFA Supercup (1984). Serie A title (1983/84). Coppa Italia (1982/83).
Eric Gerets. 1980-1983.
Gerets’ illustrious career had spread through 2 decades, but his peak probably came in the early 80’s. He captained Standard Liege side that had players like Arie Haan and Michel Preud’homme and lead them to multiple titles and also a European Cup Winner’s Cup final which they’ve lost to Barcelona. His influence on the national team was equally huge — under his captainship they’ve reached the final of 1980 Euros (but were stopped by a German side with young Schuster and Rummenigge). Not many defenders get individual awards, but Gerets had won Belgian Golden Shoe (best player in the country) in 1982 and finished in the top-3 the year before.
Individual awards: Belgian Golden Shoe (1982), 3rd place (1981).
Team honours: Belgian First Division (1981/82, 1982/83). Belgian Cup (1980/81). UEFA Euros runners-up (1980).
Jan Tomaszewski. 1973-1976.
Before a crucial World Cup qualifier Brian Clough, England’s manager, decided to call an eccentric Polish goalkeeper «a circus clown in gloves». This was a mistake — Tomaszewski decided to prove Brian Clough (and the world that apparently agreed with him) wrong whatever the cost. He had broken his finger in a collision with Allan Clarke a few minutes into the game, but decided to stay on. His heroics paid out — despite their complete domination, England had failed to win the game, and an eventual draw had meant that it was Poland that was going to the 1974 World Cup in their place. It was just the beginning for Poland — they’ve managed to surprise everyone and finish in 3rd place, beating Brazil in the third-place play-off. Tomaszewski was outstanding in all of their seven games and even set up a new record, becoming the first goalkeeper to save 2 penalties in a single World Cup campaign.
Individual awards: Ballon d’Or — 14th place (1973), 13th place (1974). World Cup Golden Glove (1974)*
Team honours: World Cup 3rd place (1974). Olympics Silver (1976).
*by some accounts. Other sources name Sepp Maier.