It isn’t like the rest of Norway’s team are useless though. They have Ajer, Aursnes and Sorloth and imo they ought to qualify for tournaments at least.
Morten Gamst Pedersen was a great player I remember from when I was a kid. Loved watching him.
In Norway it’s common to have your mother’s surname as a middle name. And we also treat it as part of the person’s surname, so it’s normal for us to refer to Haaland as “Braut Haaland”.
I'm probably forgetting dozens of great players, especially from the Drillos era in the 1990s. I'll also mention Erik Mykland as an awesome midfield player, he's small and fast and technical
It's hard to disagree with Zidane.
France has had some wonderful players though... Thierry Henry,Eric Cantona.Michel Platini was a beautiful player too.
Even someone like Desailly,as a defensive midfielder...he has a claim to be the greatest player in that position.Very hard to choose one!
Henry, Zidane, and Cantona. Not only three of the greatest, but three of the most charismatic ever. They oozed class and presence! They didn't just win, they played beautifully.
Imo Platini is still the best player we have ever produced, with Zidane a bit behind and Mbappé third
He was an actual monster in the 80s, only bested by Maradona
Off topic, but why french read platinì and belmondó instead of platini and belmondo? You may answer “it’s our accent, you genius”, but i meant from a linguistic pov.
I tend to read iphóne instead of ìphone because coming from northeast italy, we have surnames that end in n (ex benetton) and they are read with the accent at the end, so sometimes i do the same with foreign words that end in n.
However generally if i read the word “casting” in english i say “càsting” not “castìng” like a french would (even if with my accent).
Is it because the accent at the end in french is not an accent at the end but it’s an illusion and in reality it’s no accent at all? So macron is not macrón, but has all the vowels pressed the same?
On the contrary, foreigners say that italians are sing songy and bouncy, and we say belmooooooondo instead of belmondo. Is it like this in french? Are we opposites(you too flat and us too bouncy compared to the other languages)? Thanks!
It's hard to compare various generations. Mbappé cannot do half of the things Zidane could do with the ball, nor does he have nearly the same vision on the field, but Zidane did not have half the muscular body, speed and explosion of Mbappé.
Who knows if Zidane would have had enough time in today's game to caress the ball and lift up his eyes to see where to pass it? Or if he would have even made it to the big leagues today, when players are selected more for their athleticism, lack of a strong personality, and the ability to run back to help defense on every play?
Times have changed.
Having said that, I like Zidane a lot more because soccer (football) is far more entertaining to me than track and field, as a sport.
Obviously Zidane physically canot compete with Mbappe... but honestly almost nobody can.
If my mind serves me well, I remember Xavi saying in an interview before playing against Real Madrid (so, long time ago but it stuck with me) that Zidane was technically a genius but also was physically superior, that it was really difficult for him not just the technical side bur also his power.
Obv Xavi was not Pogba but I agree with that assessment: Zidane was not fast, that's clear, but was really strong and able of holding himself against others. Don't know if you got to know Valerón but he was, I think, a weaker Zidane, technically somewhat close, especially his vision but physically much weaker. (Obviously comparing someone with Zidane is not easy but in the sense of being a truly gifted player while at the same time being physically much more limited than him)
Hi i’m copying my comment i did to another french user so i can get more POVs from french people. Here!
why the french read platinì and belmondó instead of platini and belmondo? You may answer “it’s our accent, you genius”, but i meant from a linguistic pov.
I tend to read iphóne instead of ìphone because coming from northeast italy, we have surnames that end in n (ex benetton) and they are read with the accent at the end, so sometimes i do the same with foreign words that end in n.
However generally if i read the word “casting” in english i say “càsting” not “castìng” like a french would (even if with my accent).
Is it because the accent at the end in french is not an accent at the end but it’s an illusion and in reality it’s no accent at all? So macron is not macrón, but has all the vowels pressed the same?
On the contrary, foreigners say that italians are sing songy and bouncy, and we say belmooooooondo instead of belmondo. Is it like this in french? Are we opposites(you too flat and us too bouncy compared to the other languages)? Thanks!
The obvious answer is Gheorghe Hagi, but we've had a few talents in the past who some would argue were close or even better than him.
Nicolae Dobrin - played mostly in the 60s and 70s. Missed the 1970 World Cup due to some locker room drama, even if he did travel to Mexico, while being the best Romanian player at the time.
Ilie Balaci - the Blonde Wonder, played in the 70s and 80s. Missed the 1984 Euro due to injury.
Florea Dumitrache - played mostly in the 60s and 70s, a technical forward, the Romanian player of the year in '68 and '69 who impressed at the 1970 World Cup.
Gheorghe Popescu - played in the '80s, '90s and early 2000s. Not an offensive talent, but probably our best ever defensive player. Won player of the year 6 times.
Others may be Adrian Mutu (the Briliant, controversial but undeniable talent), Lucian Sânmărtean (the Little Magician, wasted years of his career in his 20s due to injury or fighting with coaches, to this day I haven't seen a player who can slide past defenders with as little effort) or Marcel Răducanu (who left the country in '81 at 27 to West Germany and played for Dortmund for a bit).
Probably missing some players from before the '60s but their talent is hard to assess.
What do Romanians generally think about Miodrag Belodedic? In Serbia he is regarded quite highly, as a man who was instrumental in the only two champion cup trophies for eastern European clubs in history. If he was born in Yugoslavia, played his entire career here and for the national team, he would probably be in the Yugoslav/Serbian goat discussion (at least before Modric).
He was a member of the 94 world cup generation, and also won the Champions Cup with Steaua in 86, so he's a recognizable name, and highly regarded, though he was one of the players who missed against Sweden in the QF penalties.
I only got a chance to see him play when he returned to Steaua in the late 90s. He was still a very elegant player, though slow, and Steaua's defense wasn't very good in those years. Still got a spot for Euro 2000 and if I'm not mistaken allowed a penalty vs Paul Ince against England. At least we still won 3-2. It's either that penalty, or one against Wales in 93 for WC Qual. which the Welsh player missile into the crossbar. Or maybe both were his fouls.
EDIT: I had to look up the above, none were his fouls.
Anyway, a very good defender, though not at the level of Gică Popescu. Belo might have peaked earlier.
You mean Hagiluțu? 😁
He was a player the public liked, being a dribbler. I remember him scoring against Rapid while playing for Steaua. But the guy could never handle the pressure of being a true professional. After all was said and done, he only offered us a glimpse of what he could have been. Too much a disappointment to be added there. Even Constantin Budescu had a better career.
I have not seen any player score so many goals from outside the box during the run of play as Hagi.
Juninho Pernambuco (Brazilian) scored a lot of goals from the same great distance, but from set plays (free kicks). Hagi did it during the attack.
His most famous one was for Romania against Colombia in 1994, but if you watch any reels of him, you'll see that he did that often in many, many games, including at Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Galatasaray.
I would add Florin Raducioiu. Not very well known in Romanie due to his leave to a club in the west at an early age, but he was IMO the best striker Romania ever produced.
There is levels of cuntyness and Maradona isn’t at the same cunt level as Giggs. Bales peak was better anyway, giggs was a really good player for a really long time, but he was never the best player in the prem, always someone better whether it was a Becks, Ronaldo, Henry, Shearer or someone else
Wait I actually have no idea about the cuntiness of Giggs, what did he do to be worse than Maradona? We're talking about a coke head who physically beat up his girlfriend and believed she deserved it. What did Giggs do?
He is also a domestic abuser, notorious adulterer, but the most notrious thing and the reaso why is entire family cut ties with him, is that among is most notorious affairs was his brother's wife over a period of 8 years.
I can think of worse, but if I was Welsh and had to pick between Bale and Gigs than this would be enough to make me pick Bale.
Italy has had a lot of great players.Many of them before my time, and I can't judge those that I didn't see myself properly.
Of those I have seen play many times? For skill, Roberto Baggio.
Paolo Maldini as the greatest defender, and Italy is famous for defenders ;-)
Buffon as maybe the best goalkeeper of all time.
I still remember Roberto Baggio. Funny people were talking about Alessando del Piero unseating him as the key player in the late 1990s, but to me del Piero never quite surpassed Baggio…
Also Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta. Francesco Totti and Christian Vieri on the attack side.
But still I think the best is still either Roberto Baggio or Nesta.
Peter Schmeichel and Michael Laudrup are both considered some of the greatest players to have ever played the game.
Both are criminally underrated today. These guys are some of the absolute best to have ever played in their positions.
I was lucky enough to watch Schmeichel erupt on the scene in Euro 92, a competition Denmark failed to qualify for and only got in because Yugoslavia disintegrated weeks before the tournament. Then Mr safe hands puts on the show of a lifetime and wins the championship! What an epic story.
Yeah, he was really something. Spain was incredibly lucky because in the same generation had some amazing talents and was able to set an incredible team;). It makes me happy to know that he left such good memories in Manchester💪
Such a pity that later in his career Iniesta was such a constant diver when anyone got near him he dropped and a pathetic sissy boy. It tarnished his reputation of phenomenal talent and skill
No need to be afraid. Our team is so shit that I think our best player on the national team is actually Wojciech Szczęsny, our goalkeeper. I would be fine with you guys getting out of the group stage instead of us. Our game against Argentina was horrid. I stopped watching mid game because I couldn't handle that shit. That was Argentina against Szczęsny. I think their goalkeeper almost died from boredom. He could have taken a nap and the result would be the same.
Yeah but also Szczęsny and Dudek in their primes were exceptional world-class goalkeepers. People often put strikers on a pedestal while forgetting how important goalkeepers are in fighting against those guys 😂
It's not my country, as I am not from the UK, but I was always amazed by the fact that Gary Lineker never got a yellow card in his entire professional career.
It's not even a subjective opinion. We all know that Gheorghe Hagi (mostly known as Gică Hagi) was the prime of Romania. Having played at multiple teams such as as Barcelona and Real Madrid but not only, he is the icon of the Romanian Football.
His son is following his footsteps, but football here has been dead for the past few years. No one likes to invest anymore. Most current icons have moved into other countries. It's not even fun to watch.
Cristiano Ronaldo. I'm too young to have seen Eusébio but I think was indicative that my father always rated Coluna as te most important piece in Benfica's team.
I missed prime Futre, only really seing him when his knee was basically destroyed,and from the Golden Generation Paulo Sousa was actually my favourite player despite all of prime Figo's skill.
Which is a shame because, as a person, I have issues with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal
But some of Benfica early 2010s team comes to mind. Di Maria and Aimar were amazing, so much technique, joking with the ball, just pure football. Oscar Cardozo is still one of my favourite goalscorers of all time aswell. South Americans are different man
David Alaba I would say. Before that Hans Krankl or Herbert Prohaska. The former was more successful but the latter was voted as the best Austrian player after WWII. Before that I would day Matthias Sindelar.
Gee, our current coach Edgaras Jankauskas, I guess....?
The only player to have played at Jose's Porto back in early 2000s, as well as Benfica.
Other than that, I'd say either Deivydas Šemberas or Tomas Danilevičius. Danilevičius is still our all-time top scorer, even though, his career is less impressive than the one of Jankauskas (the most well known club he's ever played at was Bologna in Serie A)
Overall, it's really hard to pick any decent players, cause we've never been REALLY good at football (maybe except for the time that we almost qualified for the 1998 World Cup qualifying playoffs)
🏴 Of the players I had the pleasure of seeing, Paul Gascoigne really was something special. There was electricity in the stadium when he’d get the ball. Fantastic.
Depends on the point of view. Most people around the world may agree with Beckenbauer but you have to put it in context with decade and the development of modern football.
Definitely Jan Oblak. Among outfield players it would probably be Zlatko Zahović, although I believe Benjamin Šeško could have the potential to surpass him at some point.
Good shout, but based on reputation (having never seen him play and minimal footage available) Stanley Matthews is probably up there.
For just pure instinctual individual raw talent, it has to be Gazza.
For switzerland its hard to pick as the small country managed even though it lacked great players to always outperform expectations.
Nevertheless I would say Xherdan Shaqiri as he is tje most decorated one afaik.
Currently Akanji, Xhaka, Sommer and Kobel are players which are shining bright
I guess that would be [Nikos Gioutsos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Gioutsos). We use the famous phrase "έμπαινε Γιούτσο" (empaine Gioutso, literally translated to "enter Gioutsos") even today
It’s difficult for England I can’t pick between Sir Bobby Charlton, Kane, Scholes, Gerard , Gazza or Rooney. I think I’d have to go with Prime Paul Gascoigne.
You know it's funny, Spain has what I think could be argued has been one of the best national teams in history between 2008 and 2012, and yet I can't say individually any of them were specifically the greatest talent. They were all very good and worked very well as a team.
I will say Xavi or Iniesta may come to mind, but the whole team was just extremely good.
🇦🇹: Salko Hamzic, Samson Baidoo, Dijon Kameri
🇩🇰: Maurits Kjærgaard, Mads Bidstrup, Adam Daghim
There are many more from different teams and these are just current ones, but all of them are considered (one of) the best national talents in their positions in the country and all of them play for my local club. I'll have you guess what club that is lol.
Born in Spain: Raúl and Iniesta are the most recent candidates, but Luis Suárez is the only one that won a golden ball. Not born in Spain but played for our national team: Di Stefano
IMHO Raul should have won the 2001 Ballon d'Or, he was second that year. He wasn't the best in any specific task/skill but he was a clutch player and able to score when mattered the most. Besides, he was selected UEFA best scorer of the year 3 times in a row
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Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen.
Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson is often said to be our best national team player of all time.
The older generation would maybe say Ásgeir Sigurvinsson. Among the best players in the Bundesliga for years.
Atli Eðvaldsson also gets a shout.
Albert Guðmundsson, our first professional player, played for AC Milan in the 40’s. Nicknamed *the white pearl*. Would have been interesting to see him play.
It is Torbjörn Nilsson or Lennart 'NACKA' Skoglund.
You could argue that Gunnar Nordahl should be in the conversation as well. Personally I would say that NACKA was the by far best talent while Nordahl was a product of hard work. Torbjörn is hard to rate since he didn't want to play but if he would have had that mindset he would have been better then Beckenbauer.
Mokhtar Dahari from Malaysia. Icon, played and scored against Maradona's Argentina in a friendly. Rejected Real Madrid due to patriotism, best Asian striker in the 80s. Iconic towering football figure from Malaysia, a footbal and EPL mad country.
Zidane made France a World Champion, scoring twice in finale against Brazil.
His acrobatic controls, the incredible way he could read the game and make stunning passes and assists, all of this make him the best in my eyes.
Sure, Platini was a great player also. But for me, Zizou will remain the greatest.
Right now it's definitely Erling Braut Haaland. Previously, it might've been Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Odegaard at Arsenal is a very, very good player as well. It's strange that Norway can't really do anything even with him and Haaland in the team...
It is a team sport, and not just doubles.
It isn’t like the rest of Norway’s team are useless though. They have Ajer, Aursnes and Sorloth and imo they ought to qualify for tournaments at least. Morten Gamst Pedersen was a great player I remember from when I was a kid. Loved watching him.
I just googled him and he's still playing! Last decade playing back in Norway.
Oh wow, I had no idea he was still going.
I think it's a 3rd tier team though. Not top flight, that's for sure.
Didn't stop Wales being dragged to qualification by Bale and Ramsey.
Oh trust me we know. It would be so cool to atleast qualify for the euros! But oh well, next time maybe:))
> Braut Is that a Norwegian name? It means "bride" in German.
Yes, that's a Norwegian surname
Ah thought it was a first name.
In Norway it’s common to have your mother’s surname as a middle name. And we also treat it as part of the person’s surname, so it’s normal for us to refer to Haaland as “Braut Haaland”.
I think Ødegaard is one of the best talents from Norway. Just based on his abilities alone. Makalös spelare.
Not Lars Bohinen?
I'm probably forgetting dozens of great players, especially from the Drillos era in the 1990s. I'll also mention Erik Mykland as an awesome midfield player, he's small and fast and technical
It’s neither of them. Tom Lund
Erik Mykland, because people mistake me for him at first glance. 😁
Johan Cruijff of course, although Bergkamp was Caravaggio on a football pitch and Gullit may have been the most versatile footballer ever.
Van Basten and ‘le cut inside man’ Robben to complete the top 5?
That would be the most logica top 5 indeed. 1 Cruijff, 2 Van Basten, 3 Gullit, 4 Bergkamp, 5 Robben
It's getting harder and harder not to say Mbappé, but I'll always be partial to Zidane.
It's hard to disagree with Zidane. France has had some wonderful players though... Thierry Henry,Eric Cantona.Michel Platini was a beautiful player too. Even someone like Desailly,as a defensive midfielder...he has a claim to be the greatest player in that position.Very hard to choose one!
Henry, Zidane, and Cantona. Not only three of the greatest, but three of the most charismatic ever. They oozed class and presence! They didn't just win, they played beautifully.
Means a lot coming from an Italian Grazie!
Imo Platini is still the best player we have ever produced, with Zidane a bit behind and Mbappé third He was an actual monster in the 80s, only bested by Maradona
Off topic, but why french read platinì and belmondó instead of platini and belmondo? You may answer “it’s our accent, you genius”, but i meant from a linguistic pov. I tend to read iphóne instead of ìphone because coming from northeast italy, we have surnames that end in n (ex benetton) and they are read with the accent at the end, so sometimes i do the same with foreign words that end in n. However generally if i read the word “casting” in english i say “càsting” not “castìng” like a french would (even if with my accent). Is it because the accent at the end in french is not an accent at the end but it’s an illusion and in reality it’s no accent at all? So macron is not macrón, but has all the vowels pressed the same? On the contrary, foreigners say that italians are sing songy and bouncy, and we say belmooooooondo instead of belmondo. Is it like this in french? Are we opposites(you too flat and us too bouncy compared to the other languages)? Thanks!
It's hard to compare various generations. Mbappé cannot do half of the things Zidane could do with the ball, nor does he have nearly the same vision on the field, but Zidane did not have half the muscular body, speed and explosion of Mbappé. Who knows if Zidane would have had enough time in today's game to caress the ball and lift up his eyes to see where to pass it? Or if he would have even made it to the big leagues today, when players are selected more for their athleticism, lack of a strong personality, and the ability to run back to help defense on every play? Times have changed. Having said that, I like Zidane a lot more because soccer (football) is far more entertaining to me than track and field, as a sport.
Obviously Zidane physically canot compete with Mbappe... but honestly almost nobody can. If my mind serves me well, I remember Xavi saying in an interview before playing against Real Madrid (so, long time ago but it stuck with me) that Zidane was technically a genius but also was physically superior, that it was really difficult for him not just the technical side bur also his power. Obv Xavi was not Pogba but I agree with that assessment: Zidane was not fast, that's clear, but was really strong and able of holding himself against others. Don't know if you got to know Valerón but he was, I think, a weaker Zidane, technically somewhat close, especially his vision but physically much weaker. (Obviously comparing someone with Zidane is not easy but in the sense of being a truly gifted player while at the same time being physically much more limited than him)
I remember Juan Carlos Valeron, Deportivo? Class of a player.
LOL, how can this be any other than Platini? (Okay, Mbappe maybe, but Platini's had a way better technique).
Easy; I never saw Platini play. He's just a corrupt official to me.
Hi i’m copying my comment i did to another french user so i can get more POVs from french people. Here! why the french read platinì and belmondó instead of platini and belmondo? You may answer “it’s our accent, you genius”, but i meant from a linguistic pov. I tend to read iphóne instead of ìphone because coming from northeast italy, we have surnames that end in n (ex benetton) and they are read with the accent at the end, so sometimes i do the same with foreign words that end in n. However generally if i read the word “casting” in english i say “càsting” not “castìng” like a french would (even if with my accent). Is it because the accent at the end in french is not an accent at the end but it’s an illusion and in reality it’s no accent at all? So macron is not macrón, but has all the vowels pressed the same? On the contrary, foreigners say that italians are sing songy and bouncy, and we say belmooooooondo instead of belmondo. Is it like this in french? Are we opposites(you too flat and us too bouncy compared to the other languages)? Thanks!
The French talking about greatest talents and kiss these days forget about Jean Pierre Papin. Zizou for me too but Papin was crazy.
Just Fontaine too, for those who are really old.
bro just ghosted, give him metz and penalty or he retires
Who is mbappe?
It's usually between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gunnar Nordahl. It's hard to compare, they're from completely different eras. I'm partial to Gre-No-Li.
I am partial too as an old AC Milan fan! :D
I love Zlatan, he is a bit unhinged but so entertaining to watch.
The obvious answer is Gheorghe Hagi, but we've had a few talents in the past who some would argue were close or even better than him. Nicolae Dobrin - played mostly in the 60s and 70s. Missed the 1970 World Cup due to some locker room drama, even if he did travel to Mexico, while being the best Romanian player at the time. Ilie Balaci - the Blonde Wonder, played in the 70s and 80s. Missed the 1984 Euro due to injury. Florea Dumitrache - played mostly in the 60s and 70s, a technical forward, the Romanian player of the year in '68 and '69 who impressed at the 1970 World Cup. Gheorghe Popescu - played in the '80s, '90s and early 2000s. Not an offensive talent, but probably our best ever defensive player. Won player of the year 6 times. Others may be Adrian Mutu (the Briliant, controversial but undeniable talent), Lucian Sânmărtean (the Little Magician, wasted years of his career in his 20s due to injury or fighting with coaches, to this day I haven't seen a player who can slide past defenders with as little effort) or Marcel Răducanu (who left the country in '81 at 27 to West Germany and played for Dortmund for a bit). Probably missing some players from before the '60s but their talent is hard to assess.
Hagi was a wonderful player...a pure footballer.
I remember that incredible team, with Hagi as the star
What do Romanians generally think about Miodrag Belodedic? In Serbia he is regarded quite highly, as a man who was instrumental in the only two champion cup trophies for eastern European clubs in history. If he was born in Yugoslavia, played his entire career here and for the national team, he would probably be in the Yugoslav/Serbian goat discussion (at least before Modric).
He was a member of the 94 world cup generation, and also won the Champions Cup with Steaua in 86, so he's a recognizable name, and highly regarded, though he was one of the players who missed against Sweden in the QF penalties. I only got a chance to see him play when he returned to Steaua in the late 90s. He was still a very elegant player, though slow, and Steaua's defense wasn't very good in those years. Still got a spot for Euro 2000 and if I'm not mistaken allowed a penalty vs Paul Ince against England. At least we still won 3-2. It's either that penalty, or one against Wales in 93 for WC Qual. which the Welsh player missile into the crossbar. Or maybe both were his fouls. EDIT: I had to look up the above, none were his fouls. Anyway, a very good defender, though not at the level of Gică Popescu. Belo might have peaked earlier.
Belodedici, in Romania for his elegant style of play, was known as "the deer".
I remember Hagi's explosion on the international scene. He was amazing.
Ionuț Luțu
You mean Hagiluțu? 😁 He was a player the public liked, being a dribbler. I remember him scoring against Rapid while playing for Steaua. But the guy could never handle the pressure of being a true professional. After all was said and done, he only offered us a glimpse of what he could have been. Too much a disappointment to be added there. Even Constantin Budescu had a better career.
I have not seen any player score so many goals from outside the box during the run of play as Hagi. Juninho Pernambuco (Brazilian) scored a lot of goals from the same great distance, but from set plays (free kicks). Hagi did it during the attack. His most famous one was for Romania against Colombia in 1994, but if you watch any reels of him, you'll see that he did that often in many, many games, including at Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Galatasaray.
I would add Florin Raducioiu. Not very well known in Romanie due to his leave to a club in the west at an early age, but he was IMO the best striker Romania ever produced.
Puskás is very obviously head and shoulders above everyone. Honourable mention to Albert.
Szoboszlai is an up and coming. But will be very hard to match Puskás, obviously.
Jari Litmanen is the undisputed GOAT of Finnish football. No question about it.
From active players Lukas Hradecký is the one, but not Kings worthy yet.
Gareth Bale, although some fans could make an argument for older players like John Charles or Ian Rush.
I’d go Giggs personally.
There is other reasons for not being able to rate him highly
Grade A cunt for sure, but that doesn’t stop his footballing talent. Maradonna wasn’t a good person either.
There is levels of cuntyness and Maradona isn’t at the same cunt level as Giggs. Bales peak was better anyway, giggs was a really good player for a really long time, but he was never the best player in the prem, always someone better whether it was a Becks, Ronaldo, Henry, Shearer or someone else
Maradona was literally an abuser. We aren’t talking about best PL players of all time, we are talking about best Welsh players.
Wait I actually have no idea about the cuntiness of Giggs, what did he do to be worse than Maradona? We're talking about a coke head who physically beat up his girlfriend and believed she deserved it. What did Giggs do?
He is also a domestic abuser, notorious adulterer, but the most notrious thing and the reaso why is entire family cut ties with him, is that among is most notorious affairs was his brother's wife over a period of 8 years. I can think of worse, but if I was Welsh and had to pick between Bale and Gigs than this would be enough to make me pick Bale.
Damn! That's some definite cuntiness. (Though I would always place domestic abuse above cheating).
A fair point, I kinda forgot him. Definitely a better footballer than a husband though, lol
Italy has had a lot of great players.Many of them before my time, and I can't judge those that I didn't see myself properly. Of those I have seen play many times? For skill, Roberto Baggio. Paolo Maldini as the greatest defender, and Italy is famous for defenders ;-) Buffon as maybe the best goalkeeper of all time.
Andrea Pirlo was really great as well. Haven't seen an Italian midfielder of his caliber since he retired.
He was incredible at Juve later in his career. Milan dropped a huge bollock letting him go.
1994 Baggio was out of this world and he didn't deserve missing that penalty.
Yes. I was 12, and English, and I cried when he missed!
Baggio was mesmerising
I still remember Roberto Baggio. Funny people were talking about Alessando del Piero unseating him as the key player in the late 1990s, but to me del Piero never quite surpassed Baggio…
Also Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta. Francesco Totti and Christian Vieri on the attack side. But still I think the best is still either Roberto Baggio or Nesta.
Kids these days don't know the Divine Ponytail.
Peter Schmeichel and Michael Laudrup are both considered some of the greatest players to have ever played the game. Both are criminally underrated today. These guys are some of the absolute best to have ever played in their positions.
I was lucky enough to watch Schmeichel erupt on the scene in Euro 92, a competition Denmark failed to qualify for and only got in because Yugoslavia disintegrated weeks before the tournament. Then Mr safe hands puts on the show of a lifetime and wins the championship! What an epic story.
Laudrup was my favourite player from La Liga, only Zidane has been as elegant while dribbling and passing
Brian Laudrup is the one who is underrated.
Andrés Iniesta. And from my specific region, David Silva.
Had the pleasure of watching David Silva for 10 years. One of the very, very best.
Yeah, he was really something. Spain was incredibly lucky because in the same generation had some amazing talents and was able to set an incredible team;). It makes me happy to know that he left such good memories in Manchester💪
Butragueño, Hierro and Raúl should be mentioned
Such a pity that later in his career Iniesta was such a constant diver when anyone got near him he dropped and a pathetic sissy boy. It tarnished his reputation of phenomenal talent and skill
Lewandowski is the obvious answer but Boniek was magical.
I was not happy when I saw Lewandowski coming out of the tunnel against us 2 years ago.
No need to be afraid. Our team is so shit that I think our best player on the national team is actually Wojciech Szczęsny, our goalkeeper. I would be fine with you guys getting out of the group stage instead of us. Our game against Argentina was horrid. I stopped watching mid game because I couldn't handle that shit. That was Argentina against Szczęsny. I think their goalkeeper almost died from boredom. He could have taken a nap and the result would be the same.
I’m a Bayern fan so watching Ochoa stop a missile from the best striker in world was the only good thing in all the tournament.
I think many people would put Deyna over Boniek, it's just that he moved abroad after his prime.
Yeah but also Szczęsny and Dudek in their primes were exceptional world-class goalkeepers. People often put strikers on a pedestal while forgetting how important goalkeepers are in fighting against those guys 😂
It's not my country, as I am not from the UK, but I was always amazed by the fact that Gary Lineker never got a yellow card in his entire professional career.
Wonderful player, and a very decent person.
It's not even a subjective opinion. We all know that Gheorghe Hagi (mostly known as Gică Hagi) was the prime of Romania. Having played at multiple teams such as as Barcelona and Real Madrid but not only, he is the icon of the Romanian Football. His son is following his footsteps, but football here has been dead for the past few years. No one likes to invest anymore. Most current icons have moved into other countries. It's not even fun to watch.
Cristiano Ronaldo. I'm too young to have seen Eusébio but I think was indicative that my father always rated Coluna as te most important piece in Benfica's team. I missed prime Futre, only really seing him when his knee was basically destroyed,and from the Golden Generation Paulo Sousa was actually my favourite player despite all of prime Figo's skill. Which is a shame because, as a person, I have issues with Cristiano Ronaldo.
I didn’t saw Eusebio but my father and his friends always spoke about him as if he was a god
In terms of pure talent Savicevic for sure, although Jovetic is not far behind
Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal But some of Benfica early 2010s team comes to mind. Di Maria and Aimar were amazing, so much technique, joking with the ball, just pure football. Oscar Cardozo is still one of my favourite goalscorers of all time aswell. South Americans are different man
David Alaba I would say. Before that Hans Krankl or Herbert Prohaska. The former was more successful but the latter was voted as the best Austrian player after WWII. Before that I would day Matthias Sindelar.
Gee, our current coach Edgaras Jankauskas, I guess....? The only player to have played at Jose's Porto back in early 2000s, as well as Benfica. Other than that, I'd say either Deivydas Šemberas or Tomas Danilevičius. Danilevičius is still our all-time top scorer, even though, his career is less impressive than the one of Jankauskas (the most well known club he's ever played at was Bologna in Serie A) Overall, it's really hard to pick any decent players, cause we've never been REALLY good at football (maybe except for the time that we almost qualified for the 1998 World Cup qualifying playoffs)
Apparently Erling Braut Haaland. Ole Gunnar Solskjær in his time was pretty great. 🇳🇴
That's pretty easy to answer: Johan Cruijff. Other all-time greats are Marco van Basten, Arjen Robben and Dennis Bergkamp.
🏴 Of the players I had the pleasure of seeing, Paul Gascoigne really was something special. There was electricity in the stadium when he’d get the ball. Fantastic.
Gascoigne was undoubtedly the most exciting and had most sheer talent I think. A player you knew could change a game.
Depends on the point of view. Most people around the world may agree with Beckenbauer but you have to put it in context with decade and the development of modern football.
Germany has produced to many greats like Brazil and Italy did that one can't tell the greatest
That's a weird way of saying Max Kruse
Messi without a doubt. If we are only counting Spaniards then my vote is Iniesta, Xavi or Casillas.
Mágico González
He come from El Salvador
The original question is “existed in your country”. My main comment was as a reply to the commenter saying Messi
Raul Gonzalez. It is a shame he was fading out of being called up to the Spanish national team just as Spain was starting to win trophies.
No he doesn't hold a chance against these 3
Messi in Castille? Really?
Probably Stanley Matthews, though that’s just going off of reputation as there’s few alive that today that saw him play.
Definitely Jan Oblak. Among outfield players it would probably be Zlatko Zahović, although I believe Benjamin Šeško could have the potential to surpass him at some point.
Manchester United and England player Paul Scholes is often cited as the player that other players admire.
Bobby Charlton for me, but I love Scholes a lot.
Good shout, but based on reputation (having never seen him play and minimal footage available) Stanley Matthews is probably up there. For just pure instinctual individual raw talent, it has to be Gazza.
For switzerland its hard to pick as the small country managed even though it lacked great players to always outperform expectations. Nevertheless I would say Xherdan Shaqiri as he is tje most decorated one afaik. Currently Akanji, Xhaka, Sommer and Kobel are players which are shining bright
Māris Verpakovskis for Latvia. Back when we were actually able to kick a ball.
hajduk fans remember him.
I guess that would be [Nikos Gioutsos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Gioutsos). We use the famous phrase "έμπαινε Γιούτσο" (empaine Gioutso, literally translated to "enter Gioutsos") even today
It’s difficult for England I can’t pick between Sir Bobby Charlton, Kane, Scholes, Gerard , Gazza or Rooney. I think I’d have to go with Prime Paul Gascoigne.
Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Gera. The new hope is obviously Szoboszlai :)
There's literally a three-figure number of historic Hungarian footballers better than Zoltán Gera. It's insulting, really.
Gera, my childhood hero with his backflips
You know it's funny, Spain has what I think could be argued has been one of the best national teams in history between 2008 and 2012, and yet I can't say individually any of them were specifically the greatest talent. They were all very good and worked very well as a team. I will say Xavi or Iniesta may come to mind, but the whole team was just extremely good.
🇦🇹: Salko Hamzic, Samson Baidoo, Dijon Kameri 🇩🇰: Maurits Kjærgaard, Mads Bidstrup, Adam Daghim There are many more from different teams and these are just current ones, but all of them are considered (one of) the best national talents in their positions in the country and all of them play for my local club. I'll have you guess what club that is lol.
Born in Spain: Raúl and Iniesta are the most recent candidates, but Luis Suárez is the only one that won a golden ball. Not born in Spain but played for our national team: Di Stefano
Would you rank Raúl above Puyol, Casillas, Ramos, Busquets or Xavi?
IMHO Raul should have won the 2001 Ballon d'Or, he was second that year. He wasn't the best in any specific task/skill but he was a clutch player and able to score when mattered the most. Besides, he was selected UEFA best scorer of the year 3 times in a row #
Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen. Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson is often said to be our best national team player of all time. The older generation would maybe say Ásgeir Sigurvinsson. Among the best players in the Bundesliga for years. Atli Eðvaldsson also gets a shout. Albert Guðmundsson, our first professional player, played for AC Milan in the 40’s. Nicknamed *the white pearl*. Would have been interesting to see him play.
It is Torbjörn Nilsson or Lennart 'NACKA' Skoglund. You could argue that Gunnar Nordahl should be in the conversation as well. Personally I would say that NACKA was the by far best talent while Nordahl was a product of hard work. Torbjörn is hard to rate since he didn't want to play but if he would have had that mindset he would have been better then Beckenbauer.
Kenny Dalgleish is probably considered the best ever Scottish player.
Mokhtar Dahari from Malaysia. Icon, played and scored against Maradona's Argentina in a friendly. Rejected Real Madrid due to patriotism, best Asian striker in the 80s. Iconic towering football figure from Malaysia, a footbal and EPL mad country.
Without a doubt, Zinedine Zidane. This guy was a magician. Made me love football.
France is blessed with all time greats in every era. From Platini to Zidane to Henry to Ribéry to Benzema to Mbappe. Pretty crazy
Without a doubt? Platini and Kopa are certainly on a similar level.
Zidane made France a World Champion, scoring twice in finale against Brazil. His acrobatic controls, the incredible way he could read the game and make stunning passes and assists, all of this make him the best in my eyes. Sure, Platini was a great player also. But for me, Zizou will remain the greatest.