UEFA, European football’s governing body, recently picked out it’s all time greatest XI based on the number of times a player has featured in the UEFA team of the year and it has some big names.
Spain comprehensively dominated the UEFA all time XI with 5 players while Italy, Portugal, France, Argentina, Germany and England were represented by a player each. The All time XI surprisingly did not include a Brazilian, although two featured on the bench, where each substitute could probably make it into most people’s all time greatest XI teams, but they didn’t make it into UEFAs.
Here’s the image of the all time XI. [via: uefa.com]
The UEFA XI features a line up of Iker Casillas in goal, Philip Lahm, Carlos Puyol, Alessandro Nesta and Sergio Ramos in defense, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Steven Gerrard in midfield and Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in attack.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Pavel Nedved, Zinedane Zidane, John Terry, Kaka, Ronaldinho Gaucho and Gianluigi Buffon feature in the substitutes.
The XI Is Based On UEFA Team Of The Year Nominations, Not Statistics
Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Ronaldo de Lima, Paulo Maldini and David Beckham are players whose non-inclusion in the side have left fans bewildered but it is important to note that the XI is based on footballers who have featured in the FIFA team of the year since 2001.
This is more like a new millennium XI handpicked by UEFA and though it includes some legendary footballers, it isn’t the greatest all time XI, not by a long shot.