Five greatest World Cup players

[Simster]

BBC - World Cup Motty: Motty's greatest World Cup players

Personally I think Motson is embarrassing himself with his blatent "token Brit" choice, in Bobby Charlton. Does this choice really stack up alongside his other choices of Pele, Maradona, Cruyff and Beckenbauer?

So who would your top 5 World Cup players be?

I doubt anyone is going to argue with 3 if not 4 of those. Personally I'd go for:
Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Roberto Baggio.

 

[Was not Was]

Zizou!

 

[Jam The Man]

BBC - World Cup Motty: Motty's greatest World Cup players

Personally I think Motson is embarrassing himself with his blatent "token Brit" choice, in Bobby Charlton. Does this choice really stack up alongside his other choices of Pele, Maradona, Cruyff and Beckenbauer?

So who would your top 5 World Cup players be?

I doubt anyone is going to argue with 3 if not 4 of those. Personally I'd go for:
Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Roberto Baggio.

I'd have had Moore & Lineker ahead of Charlton...

 

[Simster]

I'd have had Moore & Lineker ahead of Charlton...

Lineker is actually a good shout, but I still think Baggio comes in well ahead of him, given his performance in 1990 and 1994.

Zizou!

Good call. Zizou or Baggio - tough call.

 

[Mellotron]

Depends on whether we're taking into account old football being rubbish or not.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Difficult one.

Ronaldo
Cafu
Lothar Mattheus
Jurgen Klinnsman
Paolo Maldini
Laudrup (Michael and/or Brian)
Cuauhtémoc Blanco
Brent Sancho

 

[Simster]

Why Cuauhtémoc Blanco? What have Mexico EVER done?

 

[Simster]

Roger Milla.

 

[Mellotron]

Van Basten or Bergkamp anyone?

Any excuse to post this really, three of the most sublime touches ever seen in football:

[yt]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Uc1H2hOHu_s&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Uc1H2hOHu_s&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/yt]

I'm sorry but that is better than anything Pele has ever done.

 

[Scotty Mac]

ronaldo and zidane

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Rossi

Back from the dead in 82

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Why Cuauhtémoc Blanco? What have Mexico EVER done?

Because he is the greatest man to ever set foot on a football field. It wasn't really a serious suggestion, but picking players on an individual basis should have no real relevance as to how their team performed on the whole.

Not questioning Brent Sancho?

 

[perth seagull]

Puskas

 

[Simster]

Because he is the greatest man to ever set foot on a football field. It wasn't really a serious suggestion, but picking players on an individual basis should have no real relevance as to how their team performed on the whole.

Not questioning Brent Sancho?

Sancho is flair though. Trinidad are flair.


The USA might well end up picking a player called EDSON BUDDLE. Does it get any more flair a player named after Pele?

 

[Simster]

Rossi

Back from the dead in 82

Paolo Rossi, like Toto Schillacci, was a one trick pony though. Found the form of their lives in just one tournament, then were never really seen again even at club level.

For top 5 material, surely we're looking at players who have impacted more than one tournament.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Paolo Rossi, like Toto Schillacci, was a one trick pony though. Found the form of their lives in just one tournament, then were never really seen again even at club level.

For top 5 material, surely we're looking at players who have impacted more than one tournament.

Agreed.

I just happen to remember the WC in 82 as if it was yesterday (I was there)

The game Italy v Brazil was something special.

Rossi had been banned (alleged match fixing I think) and came back into the squad, and helped an average Italian side win the WC

 

[The Large One]

For top 5 material, surely we're looking at players who have impacted more than one tournament.

If that's your main criterion, I think Bobby Charlton is a legitimate choice, though I'd have had Bobby Moore ahead of him. While Charlton's goals in 1966 helped us through, he arguably did more in 1970, including keeping Beckenbauer quiet - until Alf Ramsey took him off.

My top five in terms of impact...

Just Fontaine
Pele
Beckenbauer
Maradona (you can't not put him in)
Gerd Muller

Cruyff - brilliant though he was - to paraphrase yourself, was a one-tournament pony.

 

[Common as Mook]

I'd go on World Cups won.

Matthaus or Zidane

 

[Pavilionaire]

Sir Bobby Charlton is one of the few players I watch from the 60s and think they'd be any good in the modern game. He had the lot.

I agree with Motty on this one. He was selected for the 1958 World Cup aged 20 just months after the Munich disaster. He had a good tournament personally in 1962 but the rest of the team were shite. 1966 obviously a legend then in 1970 another good tournament in the sweltering heat of Mexico where he had a great game vs Beckenbauer and got subbed when we were leading and probably would have won but for a miss from Hurst.

Zidane blotted his copybook with the sending-off in the Final, Rossi a one tournament wonder.

 

[Lord Bamber]

For top 5 material, surely we're looking at players who have impacted more than one tournament.

On that basis I would go for

Pele
Charlton
Zidane
Cafu
Beckenbaur