The Greatest European XI Dream Team
Europe has always been the powerhouse of football and has given birth to a plethora of great footballers over the years. It is also the home to the biggest clubs in the world, some of which are working as the stepping-stone for budding footballers. Explore The Greatest European XI of all time.
Hence, choosing a Euro XI of all-time team is not an easy task at all. However, we have decided to get on with the arduous task. The team will play with a 4-4-2 formation:
#1. Manuel Neuer (Germany)(Goalkeeper)
A lot of people would want Lev Yashin, the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d’Or, in that place. Some others will vouch for Gianluigi Buffon, who spent two long decades at the highest level. Sepp Maier, Oliver Kahn, and Iker Casillas are the other candidates.
However, Neuer is better than each of them considering all the factors. He has won the World Cup for Germany and a couple of UEFA Champions League titles for Bayern Munich.
He is also incomparable in one vs. one situation and do the additional job of a sweeper as well. Hence, he remains the best goalkeeper ever born in Europe and should feature in this team.
#2. Lillian Thuram (France) (Right-back)
It is quite ironical that despite all his defensive prowess, Thuram is remembered the most for the brace he scored against Croatia in the semifinal of the World Cup in 1998. However, what can also not be denied that he was an amazing defender, who played as a centre-back during the latter stages of his career.
He was a clean tackler and good in the air. He also possessed great anticipation and won the World Cup and European Championship with France and two Serie A titles with Juventus.
#3. Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) (Centre-back)
Beckenbauer remains the only defender to have won two Ballon d’Or’s. He has also won a World Cup, a European Championship and three European Cups while playing for Germany and Bayern Munich, respectively.
He remains the most elegant defender to have ever set his foot on a football pitch, only rivalled by Alessandro Nesta in that regard. However, he was a good man-marker, too, as Sir Bobby Charlton found out in the 1966 World Cup. Not to mention that he was a peerless leader on the pitch.
#4. Franco Baresi (Italy) (Centre-back)
Baresi played for AC Milan for two decades and never played for another club. He won three European Cups and multiple Serie A titles with the Rossoneri. Baresi was matchless as far as anticipation and reading the game was concerned.
He also played creditably for the Italian national team for a long time. However, he failed to win the World Cup or European Championship for them and came the closest in the World Cup in 1994, when Italy lost to Brazil in penalty shoot-out in the final.
#5. Paolo Maldini (Italy) (Left-back)
Paolo Maldini was another one-club man AC Milan were proud of. He spent more than two decades at the club and won five Champions League titles. No other individual has won more. Maldini also played for Italy for a long time, but, like Baresi, failed to win the World Cup or European Championship.
Maldini was a great but clean tackler and also very good in the air. His overlapping ability was also quite good and he always looked comfortable venturing forward. He also played as a centre-back for Milan during the latter stages of his career.
#6. Lothar Matthaus (Germany) (defensive midfielder)
Lothar Matthaus was quite possibly the most complete midfielder of all time. He primarily played in a defensive role but excelled while playing as a central attacking midfielder in the 1990 World Cup, which was also his finest moment. Germany won that World Cup and Matthaus was their captain.
Matthaus also won the European Championship with Germany in 1980 but failed to win the Champions League. He was a few minutes away from winning one in 1999, when Manchester United scored two late goals to thwart Bayern Munich.
Matthaus had brilliant game awareness and was a midfield general in the truest sense of the word. He also played as a sweeper during the latter stages of his career. He earned 150 caps for Germany, which remains a record.
#7. Johan Cruyff (The Netherlands) (Left-sided midfielder)
Johan Cruyff was quite possibly the finest footballer Europe has ever produced. He was the talismanic player in the Dutch and Ajax Amsterdam teams that introduced “Total football”, which gave emphasis on keeping ball-possession.
He won three European Cups with Ajax and won the Ballon d’Or thrice. He also did a stellar job while playing for FC Barcelona. However, he had to be content with the runner-up medal in the 1974 World Cup, as the Netherlands lost to Germany in the final. Cruyff’s intelligence, passing and dribbling were top-notch.
#8. Zinedine Zidane (France) (Central attacking midfielder)
Zinedine Zidane was one of the greatest big-match players of all time. He scored a couple of goals in the 1998 World Cup final to help France beat Brazil. He also played wonderfully well at the European Championships in 2000 that France also won.
Zidane came close in the 2006 World Cup, too, as France lost to Italy in a penalty shoot-out. He also had a phenomenally successful club career with clubs like Juventus and Real Madrid, and won the Champions League with the latter, once again scoring the winning goal in the final.
Zidane’s elegance and vision were of the highest quality and hence, he must feature in the Greatest European XI of all time.
#9. George Best (Northern Ireland) (Right-sided midfielder)
It remained a pity that Best was not able to play in a World Cup, as he played for a modest national team like Northern Ireland. However, he made amends while playing for Manchester United, winning the European Cup with them and the Ballon d’Or.
George Best spent more than a decade at United, making them one of the best clubs in Europe during the late 1960s. He was a fantastic dribbler and scored a fair number of goals in his club career.
#10. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) (Striker)
The fact that Ronaldo started his career as a winger seems to be a distant memory now. Since his move to Real Madrid in 2009, he has established himself as probably the greatest goal-scorer the world has ever seen.
He has won a total of five Champions Leagues with Manchester United and Real Madrid and won the European Cup with Portugal. Ronaldo has also won five Ballon d’Or’s, with only Lionel Messi winning more.
Ronaldo has scored more than 850 goals in his career so far, which remains the highest by any European player. He is also one of the greatest ever players without any doubt.
#11. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) (Striker)
Puskas scored more than 600 goals in his club career, with 242 of them coming while he played for the unstoppable Real Madrid side of the 1950s and 1960s. Puskas won three European Cups with Real and remained their most potent goal-scorer at that time.
However, he failed to win the World Cup in 1954, as Hungary lost to West Germany in the final despite being the favourites. Puskas had a lethal left-foot and scored with it quite freely. He also appeared in four international matches for the Spanish team.
And that rounds up The Greatest European XI of All Time.
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