Strongest Ever National Team XI

Snow

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Do you really rate Sigthorsson or havent Iceland produced good/decent strikers yet? I get pissed off everytime he plays for Ajax.
He's really good. 16 goals in 26 games for Iceland. He'll be the all time top scorer by the end of his career. He's phenomenal in the air. Such great timing. I imagine Iceland plays more to his strengths than Ajax does. Not been the most fit player in recent years but his goal stats speak for themselves.

He picked Ajax over Arsenal.

Like I said, the team I chose doesn't have the 11 best individuals. It's what I think would suit best as a team with the current formation and tactics. Hard to pick players pre-1990 as there is limited information on them. My wingers, 1 CB and perhaps right back migt not be the best.
 

Snow

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@Snow Are there no players (or citizens) whose name do not end with son or sen? :lol:
My name doesn't but it's not common. You guys have surnames. We don't have them like you do. Guðjohnsen is like that but in the team I drew up he's the only one. His father is on the bench and his kids have their last name's as Guðjohnsen instead of Eiðursson as most Icelanders would. Eiðursson means 'son of Eiður'. Pretty simple really. If you have a family name it probably dates back a long way. I'm 99% sure you're not allowed to just make one up now.
 

Edgar Allan Pillow

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Spanish XI is so underwhelming...

...............Gento.....Buatragueno......
...................... Suarez .................
............... Iniesta ....... Xavi...........
........................ Alonso .................
.. Camacho ... Hierro ... Sanchis ... Ramos

Bench: Raul, Puyol, Barjuan, Busquets.
 

sun_tzu

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.......................gilmar....................
Santos.......silva......lucio......Santos
...................Didi.......gerson..............
.....zico.............pele..............Garrincha
.........................Ronaldo................

Cesar, periera, cafu, falcao, jairzinho ronaldinho romario
Dida, Alberto, rivelino, socrates, neymar

Bloody hell they have had some good players
 

Edgar Allan Pillow

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My name doesn't but it's not common. You guys have surnames. We don't have them like you do. Guðjohnsen is like that but in the team I drew up he's the only one. His father is on the bench and his kids have their last name's as Guðjohnsen instead of Eiðursson as most Icelanders would. Eiðursson means 'son of Eiður'. Pretty simple really. If you have a family name it probably dates back a long way. I'm 99% sure you're not allowed to just make one up now.
Very Interesting, especially about not being able to create a new family name!
 

NoPace

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---------Fontaine/Henry--------
-------------------Platini--------
------Zidane---------------------
-----Tigana-------Vieira-------
-------------Kopa---------------
Lizerazu----------------Thuram
---------Blanc--Desailly-------
-----------Barthez--------------

I've never seen Fontaine or Kopa play and very little of Tigana, but they sound pretty damn great. Reduced to ones I've seen, still pretty damn good:

--------Henry-------------------
-------------Platini---------------
-Pires/Ribery--------Zidane--
-----------------Vieira------------
-----------Makelele--------------
Lizerazu----------------Thuram
---------Blanc--Desailly-------
-----------Barthez--------------
 

Buchan

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Forgot David O'Leary.
Nah, sorry, Pete. McGrath is a no-brainer and Hurley was (admittedly before my time) heralded throughout Europe. Sunderland fans voted him as their greatest ever player (not bad for a centre-half, eh?) and only Bobby Moore prevented him from picking up the Football Writers' Player of the Year in 1963/64 despite him only gaining promotion with Sunderland that same year.

As I've said, I didn't see him play but my grandfather saw him many times play for the Republic and spoke about him with huge regard. He regarded Hurley as being the best centre-back he ever saw live and I respect his judgement.
 

Theon

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A very entertaining Brazilian All-Time XI

 

Tim Henman

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I feel like I am too young to be great at this but I want someone to give Italy and Germany a go. Knowing the Germans I imagine they would have the most balanced team.
 

Skorenzy

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My favourite NT:

....................... Batistuta ......................
........ Messi ......Maradona ..... Di Stefano ....
............. Redondo .......... Monti .................
.. Marzolini... Ruggeri ... Passarella ... Zanetti..
....................... Carrizo .............................
That argentinian XI is incredible. Would like to read what @Marcosdeto has to say about his favourite eleven

Incredible indeed, but looks a rather dysfunctional attacking trio behind Batigol: too many cooks and all that. Not to mention Messi's troublesome role/position (on the left, really?). Argentina have such an absolutely ridiculous collection of all-timers who could fill that central AM/SS position (Pedernera, Moreno, Di Stéfano, Maradona, Messi) that I can see why you'd be tempted to just shove them all in there and let them try to sort it out amongst themselves :D



Spanish XI is so underwhelming...

...............Gento.....Buatragueno......
...................... Suarez .................
............... Iniesta ....... Xavi...........
........................ Alonso .................
.. Camacho ... Hierro ... Sanchis ... Ramos

Bench: Raul, Puyol, Barjuan, Busquets.

Well, obviously it's going to look underwhelming when you leave out one of their best forwards ever, Villa?, not to even mention their best goalscorers ever: Zarra and Lángara. And not having a GK could be an issue... Zamora, Casillas, Ramallets, Cañizares, Arconada? Also Paco Gento was an old-fashioned left winger, not a centre-forward.
 

Bwuk

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Only doing players I've seen or remember.

Cesar
Cafu - Lucio - Thiago Silva - Carlos
Gilberto Silva - Kaka
Rivaldo - Ronaldinho - Neymar
Ronaldo​
 

Skorenzy

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Only doing players I've seen or remember.

Cesar
Cafu - Lucio - Thiago Silva - Carlos
Gilberto Silva - Kaka
Rivaldo - Ronaldinho - Neymar
Ronaldo​

Between this and the Didi-Falcão CM pairing a few posts up I'm not sure which one of them will ship more goals... Why even the charade of having defenders in there if no-one else apart from one midfielder is going to bother defending. Might as well go for a 19th century-style formation (back in the days when concepts such as 'defending' and 'passing' were novelties), like a 1-1-8... :D
 

sun_tzu

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I feel like I am too young to be great at this but I want someone to give Italy and Germany a go. Knowing the Germans I imagine they would have the most balanced team.
I tried the German one earlier so look a few posts above
Italy
.....................buffon..................
.........scirea...baresi....picchi......
Gentile............pirlo................maldini
...........rivera................mazolla........
..................bagio....meazza...........

So many great sweepers / centrebacks
 

Theon

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Between this and the Didi-Falcão CM pairing a few posts up I'm not sure which one of them will ship more goals... Why even the charade of having defenders in there if no-one else apart from one midfielder is going to bother defending. Might as well go for a 19th century-style formation (back in the days when concepts such as 'defending' and 'passing' were novelties), like a 1-1-8... :D
That formation is from very early last century - you don't see many WM's/MM's around now :)

Falcao was good defensively as well in '82 and could stuck his boot in. Not sure what the passing being a novelty comment is about, Didi and Falcao were fantastic passers.

It's an offensive team but with Nilton Santos comfortable at left back/centre back and Carlos Alberto comfortable at right back/centre back then it's ripe for three at the back. Particularly when it means Romario doesn't get dropped!

German XI

 

matherto

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Between this and the Didi-Falcão CM pairing a few posts up I'm not sure which one of them will ship more goals... Why even the charade of having defenders in there if no-one else apart from one midfielder is going to bother defending. Might as well go for a 19th century-style formation (back in the days when concepts such as 'defending' and 'passing' were novelties), like a 1-1-8... :D
That's the Brazilian way.

With that front four + Kaka they'd win everything 9-8.
 

Blackwidow

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...............................Kahn
Vogts.....Beckenbauer...Kohler....lahm
................Britner.........Effenberg
..........................Matthaus
..........Muller.....................Rummeniger
............................Muller

Maier, schwarzerbeck, brehme, ballack, schuster, netzer, klose

Neuer, sammer, schnellinger, overath, Schweinstiger, Reus, klinsmann
2 Müller's in a tournament - do you want to kill anybody... You do not even need to have a good team behind them for that... :cool:

I would maybe even put a Heynckes in instead of Rummenigge. He was more the technical striker who was in the shadow of Müller in that time - but managed to get several golden boots during the 70s in national and international competitions. In another time - without a striker with that instincts - Heynckes would have been clearly Germany's number one.
 

Decotron

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---------Fontaine/Henry--------
-------------------Platini--------
------Zidane---------------------
-----Tigana-------Vieira-------
-------------Kopa---------------
Lizerazu----------------Thuram
---------Blanc--Desailly-------
-----------Barthez--------------

I've never seen Fontaine or Kopa play and very little of Tigana, but they sound pretty damn great. Reduced to ones I've seen, still pretty damn good:

--------Henry-------------------
-------------Platini---------------
-Pires/Ribery--------Zidane--
-----------------Vieira------------
-----------Makelele--------------
Lizerazu----------------Thuram
---------Blanc--Desailly-------
-----------Barthez--------------
Obviously different generations but Tigana should be in both teams. Incredible player
 

diarm

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-------------Leighton
Greig---Hansen---Mackay---McNeill
Johnstone Souness Strachan Baxter
-----------Law---Dalglish
 

BigDunc9

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Unfortunately barely even got 20 caps. Jimmy Greaves should be an absoloute dead cert though.
If people are basing it on performances for England then i agree but that doesn't look like the case here with the amount of Edwards and Scholes inclusions over someone like Ball.
 

Cutch

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I think ours would be something like this. Strong United feel to it aswell, 7 to have played for Utd and thats not even including Harry Gregg.

Northern Ireland

-----------------------------Pat Jennings---------------------------------

Jimmy Nicholl---Aaron Hughes---Jackie Blanchflower---Mal Donaghy

Keith Gillespie---Danny Blanchflower---Norman Whiteside---George Best

----------------------David Healy-----Gerry Armstrong--------------
 

antohan

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Not a typical Uruguay formation, but the one that best fits the cream of the crop.



Subs: Roque Máspoli, Montero, Goncalves, Ghiggia, Sosa, Forlán, Míguez.
 

JPRouve

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---------Fontaine/Henry--------
-------------------Platini--------
------Zidane---------------------
-----Tigana-------Vieira-------
-------------Kopa---------------
Lizerazu----------------Thuram
---------Blanc--Desailly-------
-----------Barthez--------------

I've never seen Fontaine or Kopa play and very little of Tigana, but they sound pretty damn great. Reduced to ones I've seen, still pretty damn good:

--------Henry-------------------
-------------Platini---------------
-Pires/Ribery--------Zidane--
-----------------Vieira------------
-----------Makelele--------------
Lizerazu----------------Thuram
---------Blanc--Desailly-------
-----------Barthez--------------
I would put Giresse for Vieira
 

TheShedEnd

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Incredible indeed, but looks a rather dysfunctional attacking trio behind Batigol: too many cooks and all that. Not to mention Messi's troublesome role/position (on the left, really?). Argentina have such an absolutely ridiculous collection of all-timers who could fill that central AM/SS position (Pedernera, Moreno, Di Stéfano, Maradona, Messi) that I can see why you'd be tempted to just shove them all in there and let them try to sort it out amongst themselves :D
Redondo would sort em out.
 

Raees

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Seriously top heavy sides.. players out of position (mostly defensive ones) but I think it is only fair to try and fit in as many deserving greats as possible rather than a lesser player to make a 'balanced' formation'. That is too boring and sensible.


Batistuta Di Stefano
Moreno Maradona Messi
Monti Redondo
Passarella Ruggeri Zanetti
Carrizo

Ronaldo Romario
Pele
Socrates Zico Garrincha
Didi
N. Santos Bellini Cafu
Gilmar

Finney Dean Matthews
Gascoigne
Haynes Charlton
Edwards
wright Moore Adams
Banks
 
Last edited:

Skorenzy

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That's the Brazilian way.

With that front four + Kaka they'd win everything 9-8.
Except that it hasn't been the Brazilian way since about 1986... And let's just say I'm rather skeptical of the "out-scoring" ability of XIs where players like Didi or Kaká are burdened with such crucial organisational & defensive roles as portrayed here (resp. as a halfback and a holding/deeplying mid).


That formation is from very early last century - you don't see many WM's/MM's around now :)

Falcao was good defensively as well in '82 and could stuck his boot in. Not sure what the passing being a novelty comment is about, Didi and Falcao were fantastic passers.

It's an offensive team but with Nilton Santos comfortable at left back/centre back and Carlos Alberto comfortable at right back/centre back then it's ripe for three at the back. Particularly when it means Romario doesn't get dropped!
The 'passing' comment wasn't meant to imply those players aren't excellent passers, was just putting the period when teams lined up with 7 or 8 forwards (ie. until the late 1800s) into context by pointing out that direct dribbling and hoofing was preferred over a build-up through passing.

Re: your WM-formation, lots of issues with shape and personnel; 1. Didi was NOT a halfback, he was primarily an inside-right who started dropping deeper when the Brazil NT adopted the 4-2-4, becoming something akin to a modern CM (who still spent most of his time in the attacking third; for example in his short stint at Real Madrid he deployed as an inside-forward), which in no way qualifies him to sit next to someone like Falcão and expect them to do an adequate job of tracking back or marking opp. inside-forwards/AMs, 2. Ronaldinho isn't an outside-left, he'll constantly come inside and clog the centre, 3. you have two centre-forwards, a WM only has one (nominal) CF, so which of Ronaldo/Romário is going to drop deeper in this scenario? On technical merit that would have to be Romário, I guess.. a rather poor choice as an inside-forward, especially considering Brazil's depth in that role or any later equivalent of it.


Not a typical Uruguay formation, but the one that best fits the cream of the crop.
Subs: Roque Máspoli, Montero, Goncalves, Ghiggia, Sosa, Forlán, Míguez.
Interesting. Rubén Sosa ahead of Suárez on the bench? I don't exactly remember him setting the world on fire at any continental/international tournament apart from the UEFA Cup he won with Inter. Where would you rate Suárez among Uruguay's all-time forwards at the moment?


Redondo would sort em out.
I think you mean Monti, who by several accounts was a real thug on the pitch -- but an effective one. On that note, not sure where these legendary defensive abilities of Redondo come from to be honest... fairly ironic too, considering he's most known for a typical enganche flair move. Surely guys like Rattín, Néstor Rossi, Mascherano, even Simeone are more reliable defensively? That said, in the context of that XI Redondo-Monti actually looks really well balanced, it's further up the field where you'll have issues with three playmakers occupying each other's space.
 

BorisontheRock

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Between this and the Didi-Falcão CM pairing a few posts up I'm not sure which one of them will ship more goals... Why even the charade of having defenders in there if no-one else apart from one midfielder is going to bother defending. Might as well go for a 19th century-style formation (back in the days when concepts such as 'defending' and 'passing' were novelties), like a 1-1-8... :D
How is dungoa it getting into that team, would do a great job as dm.
 

MrMarcello

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Unfortunately barely even got 20 caps. Jimmy Greaves should be an absoloute dead cert though.
They didn't play dozens of friendlies annually back in the 20s/30s. 1924: 5, 1925: 4; 1926: 4, 1927: 7, 1928: 5, 1929: 6; 1930: 5; 1931: 6, 1932: 4, etc. Not sure if you're holding lack of available matches against Dean.
 

MrMarcello

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USA :(

I'm sticking O'Brien at LB where he played most of his appearances for Ajax. I'm choosing Holden for subs despite his constant injuries, and leaving out Harkes. I'm tempted to select Gibbs as a defensive sub despite his injuries that practically halted his progression into possibly the best defender in Nats history (which isn't saying much) and cost him a starting spot ahead of the 2006 WC. Taking Dooley over Onyewu.

------------Friedel------------
Sanneh--Pope--Balboa--O'Brien
Ramos-Reyna--Bradley-Donovan
------------Dempsey----------
------------McBride-----------

Subs: GK-Howard, GK-Keller; CD/LB-Bocanegra, RB-Cherundolo, CD/CM Dooley, CD-Lalas; LW-Beasley, MF-Holden, WG-Jones, FW/WG-Stewart; FW-Mathis, FW-Wynalda