Bit of fun: Your all time World Cup XI

[TBM]

The rules

- They must have played in at least 1 world cup
- You can't pick more than 2 players from the same nation
- At least 3 defenders, 3 midfielders, 1 striker....but the formation is up to you

What would your XI be?

[Hoop Blah]

Oddly, once you take out the Brazilians I can't think of many out and out wingers who've made a great impact on World Cups.

Banks
Thuram Beckenbauer Moore Maldini
Hagi Zico Matthaus Zidane
Maradona
Pele

[TBM]

See whereas you've gone down the route of their form at a world cup, i've also included players who have played in one but it might not have been at the top of the career at the time.

------------------Jennings
--------Moore Beckenbauer Maldini
-------------Matthaus Rattin
Messi ----------Maradona -------------C.Ronaldo
--------------Pele -----B.Charlton

[Hoop Blah]

Yep, I was thinking of how they've impacted a World Cup and my memory of it (I'm not old enough for a few of them, but watching those World Cups back they stick in my mind).

I wanted to include a few like Baggio, Schillachi (sp?), Roberto Carlos, Brehme, Millar, Cannigia (if only for being fouled) but trimming it down to an 11 is tough.

From your team then, you're basically saying they're the worlds best XI ever? Excluding one or two who never played in the World Cup like Best and Little?

[Royalclapper]

My team:

Zoff (Ita)


Thuram (Fra) Beckenbauer (Ger) Moore (Eng) Maldini (Ita)


Jairzinho (Bra) Gascoigne (Eng) Matthaus (Ger) Cruyff (Ned)


Pele (Bra) Maradona (Arg)

[TBM]

Yep, I was thinking of how they've impacted a World Cup and my memory of it (I'm not old enough for a few of them, but watching those World Cups back they stick in my mind).

I wanted to include a few like Baggio, Schillachi (sp?), Roberto Carlos, Brehme, Millar, Cannigia (if only for being fouled) but trimming it down to an 11 is tough.

From your team then, you're basically saying they're the worlds best XI ever? Excluding one or two who never played in the World Cup like Best and Little?

Actually i've made a mistake in putting 3 Argentinians in

I was just thinking about how good they were as players, like you i was too young for most to remember if they were good in a world cup or not

[No Fixed Abode]

Cech

Petrescu
Terry
Desially
Essien

Ballack
Makalele
Lampard
Robben

Zola
Drogba

[Hoop Blah]

My team:

Zoff (Ita)


Thuram (Fra) Beckenbauer (Ger) Moore (Eng) Maldini (Ita)


Jairzinho (Bra) Gascoigne (Eng) Matthaus (Ger) Cruyff (Ned)


Pele (Bra) Maradona (Arg)

How could I have missed out Cruyff! I'd probably swap him for Hagi, and I'd love to have put either Jairzinho or Rivelino in on the right but I didn't want to not have Zico, the former is probably the right choice on the right though.

I'm leaning towards this being the best 11 now.

[floyd__streete]

Cech

Petrescu
Terry
Desially
Essien

Ballack
Makalele
Lampard
Robben

Zola
Drogba

Nice effort but you could have had World Cup winners Franck Le Boeuf and Emmanuel Petit in for those serial miserable losers at international level when they aren't backed up by superior foreign players who play for their club, Terry & Lampard.

[genome]

Cech

Petrescu
Terry
Desially
Essien

Ballack
Makalele
Lampard
Robben

Zola
Drogba

[6ft Kerplunk]

Banks

Carlos Alberto Moore Beckenbauer Maldini

Socrates

Messi Maradonna Cruyff Ronaldo
Muller


Tactic: Attack.
Doesn't work as a balanced team but so long as we never give the ball away we're going to win.

[sandman]

Casillas

Thuram Moore Beckenbauer Maldini

Iniesta Pirlo Zidane

Pele Ronaldo Maradona

From World Cups I've seen ('94 onwards and without the rules):

Casillas (Spain)

Thuram (France) Puyol (Spain) Cannavaro (Italy) Carlos (Brazil)

Xavi (Spain) Pirlo (Italy) Iniesta (Spain)

Rivaldo (Brazil) Ronaldo (Brazil) Zidane (France)

Casillas in goal maybe Buffon could have been in there but Casillas wins for me. Centre of Defence is slow and considered Desailly instead of Puyol but the central three in Midfield are very unlikely to give the ball away. Considered Xabi Alonso but thought that might be a little too Spain heavy so another great deep lying play maker, Pirlo is in. Between Thuram and Cafu for RB but went with Thuram as he can play centrally as well so if a bit of pace was needed he and Puyol could swap as the latter played RB at the start of his career.

Zidane can cut in onto his right allowing Carlos to overlap and play his usual game. Rivaldo is forgotten by a lot of people but was a great player and edged Ronaldinho for me due to Ronaldinho's poor performance in 2006. Ronaldo is pretty much the easiest choice given the fact that the next best in terms of goalscoring in this period was Klose who, with all due respect, isn't in the same league. Neither Messi or Cristiano have had a big enough impact on a World Cup to be considered in either line up imo.

[savage 4 england]

Cech

Petrescu
Terry
Desially
Essien

Ballack
Makalele
Lampard
Robben

Zola
Drogba

Zola has great world cup pedigree.

Made one appearance off the subs bench and got sent off.

Fantastic.

[stealthpapes]

He's sat there with the world's biggest wang on and you lot still reply?

[TBM]

From World Cups I've seen (without the rules):

Casillas (Spain)

Thuram (France) Puyol (Spain) Cannavaro (Italy) Carlos (Brazil)

Xavi (Spain) Pirlo (Italy) Iniesta (Spain)

Rivaldo (Brazil) Ronaldo (Brazil) Zidane (France)

and there's so many more you could put in too, the likes of Bergkamp, Laudrup, Lineker, Desailly

[Royalclapper]

Others that could justifiably be included that I've not seen here yet:

Platini
Ronald Koeman
Baresi
Rummenigge
Puskas
Eusebio

[No Fixed Abode]

Cech

Petrescu
Terry
Desially
Essien

Ballack
Makalele
Lampard
Robben

Zola
Drogba

Nice effort but you could have had World Cup winners Franck Le Boeuf and Emmanuel Petit in for those serial miserable losers at international level when they aren't backed up by superior foreign players who play for their club, Terry & Lampard.

No, you can only have two from one Country.

[sandman]

Cech

Petrescu
Terry
Desially
Essien

Ballack
Makalele
Lampard
Robben

Zola
Drogba

Nice effort but you could have had World Cup winners Franck Le Boeuf and Emmanuel Petit in for those serial miserable losers at international level when they aren't backed up by superior foreign players who play for their club, Terry & Lampard.

No, you can only have two from one Country.

Can't help thinking there is a theme here.

And who the f[u]ck are Desially and Makalele?

[No Fixed Abode]

[sandman]

Sorry Kes, didn't know you woz dislegsick.