Short Player Profiles Team Balu & Crappy
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira - Arguably the most explosive attacker in the history of European football, and one of the greatest footballers ever, Eusébio was awarded the Ballon d’Or in 1965 as Europe’s player of the year, and made the Ballon D'Or shortlist an astonishing 11 times, won the Golden Boot twice, and was the European Cup Top Scorer three times. In his prime, Eusébio cut an intimidating on the football pitch - a one man wrecking crew capable of tearing apart any defense on his day, and not just a finisher of the highest quality, but the possessor of one of the most fearsome shots to have graced the planet, with powerful stamina and strength, presence in air, combined with sublime dribbling and passing skills. In a glittering career, he was the Portuguese First Division's top scorer (Bola de Prata) 7 times, helped Benfica to 11 league championships, 5 Taça de Portugal Cup wins, reached 4 European Cup finals, scored 473 goals in 440 matches wearing Benfica's jersey, including 317 goals in 301 Portuguese league matches, a total of 679 goals in 678 official games according to FIFA. At the time of his retirement, Eusébio was the highest scorer in Benfica's history, the highest scorer for the Portuguese national team by far with 41 goals in 64 games (a mark that stood for about half a century until Cristiano Ronaldo finally overtook it), and the second highest scorer in history of the European Cup with 46 goals in 65 matches, 3 goals behind Di Stéfano's haul of 49 goals in 58 matches. That mark stood for decades until Raúl surpassed both him and Di Stéfano in the 2000s with Real Madrid.
Uwe Seeler - the Hamburg legend and one of the greatest German players of all time, only overshadowed by Gerd Müller when it comes to German strikers. He was renowned for his brilliance in the air, one of the strongest headers of all time. But he also had an astonishing record with his feet in the air, scoring many overhead kicks. He was the dominant player in the pre-Bundesliga era and carried that over into the first ever Bundesliga season, when he finished as top scorer scoring 30 goals in 30 games. But he wasn't just a limited goalscorer and showed his adaptility and fantastic all around game once he partnered Müller for the nationalteam and formed a magnificent strike partnership, linking up play from midfield to attack, which lead to both together scoring 13 goals in 6 games at the World Cup 1970 (10 by Müller, 3 by Seeler).
Zoltan Czibor - A left winger he was known for having a powerful shot, great finishing excellent ball control and dribbling. A key component of the Mighty Magyars’ golden team of the 50’s, he was the greatest left-winger in the World in the mid-1950s. Rated as Hungary’s best winger ever, the Barcelona legend was notable for having a powerful shot and world class finishing which resulted in him having a 1 goal per game ratio in 1955 and 1956. Known for his crossing and unpredictability when dribbling. He was also known for his ability to score goals in major finals Together with Puskás, Kocsis, Bozsik and Hidegkuti, he formed the nucleus of the Golden Team that went unbeaten in 32 consecutive games. He scored 17 goals in 43 games for Hungary. In this draft, only Dzajic and Nedved are better left wingers. Won the CEIC (EURO) 1948-1953.
David Beckham - May not make the top 10 winger list of all time but is right up there as a right sided midfielder. Invaluable to any team set up to play 442. His crossing needs no superlatives and defending against him provided any opposition an unique challenge and finally he has capability of winning the game just on his FK prowess. An underrated passer of the ball, he is capable of kick-starting counters from the back with precise long passes. At his very peak, he was arguably our best player in treble winning 99 season, finishing second in Ballondor to Rivaldo that year.
Duncan Edwards - A complete footballer who finished 3rd in Ballondor when he was just 20 years old and by all accounts was on his way to be the greatest British player of all time. Before the Munich tragedy he had played over 150 games for United and been part of 2 Division 1 winning teams. Modern day equivalent of his role would be that of a box to box defensive midfielder who could slot into the back 4 if needed to cover for someone or maraud forward to join the attack.
Josef Masopust - Greatest Czechoslovakian footballer of all time and 1962 Ballondor winner. Masopust's was renowned for his box-to-box ability to support attack with his slalom runs. He Possessed exemplary ball control, his transmission with ball on foot through the field was clinical, which he utilized for both; basic work, from the recovery of the ball in defense, to driving menacingly through the opposition in what was termed 'Masopust's slalom'. During these solo runs Masopust would seamlessly switch between both feet, easily jinking to the left and right but always moving forward. Masopust was instrumental in the 1962 world cup, being given the Silver Ball (second only to Garrincha, which is no mean fate). He scored the goal in the final to give them the lead, but unfortunately the lead couldn’t be held and Brazil ended up taking the trophy.
Puskas said:
Eusebio said:
Gaetano Scirea - Top 5 defender of all time. Lead Juventus and Italy NT defenses in early 80s and kept none other than Baresi out of the team for sometime. He was a graceful sweeper or central defender with great vision, ball controlling skills and tactical ability. He would always be in the right place at the right time and rarely needed to tackle to make interceptions. Best defender at the EURO 80', WC 82' winner, won all UEFA competitions and the Serie A 7 times with Juve.
Bixente Lizarazu - World cup winning LB who had a stellar career with French National Team and numerous club domestic and European honours with Bayern Munich. One of the best fullbacks around during the late 90's/early 2000's. A tireless runner and equally adept helping out in attack or snuffing out danger at the back.
Tarcisio Burgnich - Rather simply, Tarcisio Burgnich was known as “the rock”. And, unlike some of football’s quaint old nicknames, there’s rarely been one so apt. Burgnich was, essentially, a formidable presence that opposition attackers found very difficult to get around or by. He effectively set the template for the Italian defensive stereotype: uncompromising and unforgiving. Fittingly, “the rock” proved one of the building blocks to two for Italy’s greatest ever teams: the international side of 1968-70 that won the European Championships and got to the final of the World Cup; and Helenio Herrera’s Gran Inter. Of course, not only were they great Italian sides. But also two of the most durable defensive sides.
Alessandro Costacurta- the traditional intelligent aggressive stopper, a key defender in the unbeaten AC Milan team of 58 games, as well as consecutive Italian Supercup titles, League titles, and Champions league final appearances. Costacurta was part of a defensive system notorious for its aggressive defending; stepping out and squeezing space.
Gordon Banks - regarded as one of the greatest keepers of all time. Extremely agile and excellent at making reflex saves, he's also very reliable and comfortable in marshaling his defensive line. Also some regard him to have made the "save of the century", against a Pele header. Winner of FIFA Goalkeeper of the year award for 4 consecutive years 66,67,68,69.[/QUOTE]
Substitution: Nemanja Vidic, who certainly doesn't need any introduction (and @crappycraperson forgot him when writing the playerprofiles, shame on him)
