José Luis Chilavert - The name speaks for himself, he's considered to be one of the greatest South American Goalkeepers ever. He is a 3 time winner of IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper, he was one of the best keepers in the world in his time. He was a complete Goalkeeper known for his shot-stopping and agility, and also for his leadership where he marshaled his teams from the back.
The one unique feature about him is that he was so good in free-kicks, penalties and set-pieces that he has scored 67 goals in his senior career, which is remarkable for even defenders, let alone a goalkeeper.
He has won the Premier Club tournament in South America for clubs, Copa Libertadores, apart from plenty of league titles and he was named in FIFA World Cup 1998 Team of the Tournament and has also appeared in 3 Copa America tournaments.
José Nasazzi - He was one of the greatest ever South American defenders. He is in fact not just known as Uruguay's greatest ever defender, but as Uruguay's greatest ever player in circles of football historians.
The unique feature about him is that he played Right-Back in WM system and in 2-3-5 formations, which means effectively covering the center to the right side of defense in the deepest line, that could translate into both RB and CB in modern formations. This helps me to use him as the defensive minded full-back in my team.
He won the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930 as Uruguay's captain, he was selected best player in the tournament (ahead of attacking players) and he was selected best player in two South American Championships (Copa America) in 1923 and 1935. He won 1 World Cup & 4 South American Championships and that puts him among the most decorated players in International football.
Noureddine Naybet - He was one of the few North African players playing in Europe in the 90s and early 2000s. He has played in France, Portugal, Spain and England. He is one of Africa's best ever CBs.
What works for him in a unique way is that his time not only coincided, but was a big reason for the best period in Deportivo La Coruna's history. The Moroccan captain's tenure at Deportivo resulted in their only La Liga title and two more runner-up finishes sandwiching the title win, while they also won the Copa del Rey by beating Real Madrid. Their biggest exploits in the European Cup/Champions League also came in this period when they reached the Quarter Finals twice and Semi Finals once and the impressive list of teams he helped them to beat includes PSG, Man United, Arsenal, Juventus, Bayern Munich and AC Milan during those years, they even beat Milan 4-0 once.
He will forever be a Legend for Deportivo. He has the most appearances for Morocco (115), playing in 2 World Cups & 6 AFCONs, finishing Runners-up once.
Héctor Chumpitaz - He is widely regarded as one of the greatest CBs of all-time, and as one of Peru's greatest ever players. He was selected as the captain of the All-Star American team against European team, that boasted of players like Beckenbauer and Cruyff, the game was won by the American team. He is fondly known as 'Captain America' and his football and leadership skills were popularly known.
He was a high scoring CB and has scored 77 goals in his senior career. He captained the Peru team that won the Copa America in 1975. It was the first time the tournament was renamed to 'Copa America'. He is named in Copa America All-Star All-Time team, a testament to his legendary status.
Celestine Babayaro - He is one of the greatest African full-backs and was a popular player in the Premier League during the late 90s and the early 2000s.
One feature about him that helps me in my set-up is that he was equally adept in playing, Left Back, Left Wing Back and Left Midfield. This helps me play one defensive full-back and one attacking full-back in Babayaro and maintain stability in the side. He lost his brother 12 hours before kick-off when playing for Newcastle, yet went on to play the game, showing his grit and determination.
He won the Gold Medal with Nigeria in the 2000 Olympics and made the Team of the Tournament, while also scoring in the final. He played in the 2000 and 2004 AFCON tournaments and also played in 1998 and 2002 World Cups for Nigeria.
Jaime Pizarro - He is Chile's greatest ever Defensive Midfielder. He was known to be tenacious and was extremely aware off the ball in terms of positioning.
His unique feature in my team will be to mark the opposition attacking midfielders and also to cover the spaces left by Babayaro during his forays forward to make use of his defensive abilities and positional strengths. He won League Championships with Colo Colo as a manager (repeating the feat after doing it as a player), which shows his tactical acumen and understanding of the game. He could also score goals from distance. A great player to anchor the midfield.
He won 6 League Titles, he won Copa Libertadores (South American version of Champions League), and was also runner-up in Copa America with Chile.
Ahmed Hassan - He is known to be one of Africa's best midfielders and Egypt's best players of all-time. His greatest attribute is that he is poly-functional. He had played full-back, central midfielder, attacking midfielder and winger positions in his career with success. This helps me to use him in midfield as the all-action midfielder who was hard-working, quick and talented. He may remind of the current Mr. Reliable, Mr. NOT Boring, Ribena drinking player in European Champions Liverpool.
Hassan holds the record for most International Appearances in football history with 184 appearances for Egypt. He has won 4 AFCON tournaments, which is a unique record held by few footballers, he scored in the 1998 AFCON final helping his team win the tournament, he also won the 2006, 2008 and 2010 versions of the tournament. He captained Egypt in 2008, and he won AFCON Best Player of the Tournament twice, in 2006 and 2010. He started as a Wing-Back, then became a top class Box-to-Box midfielder and then in 2010, he became his side's playmaker to replace Aboutrika (who got injured) and still won Best Player of AFCON in 2010. This shows how invaluable he was to Egypt during their AFCON glory days.
He allows me to play a Defensive full-back on the right side (Nasazzi), as Hassan can morph into a wing-back/winger like Milner and provide the necessary width on the right, while he moves to the center off the ball or when the attack is through the Left Side.
Apart from winning 3 titles in Egypt & the CAF Champions League, he also played for Beşiktaş and won the Belgian League with Anderlecht, capping a remarkable career decorated with trophies and achievements. He is known to be a humanitarian, promoting & supporting International football for orphans and refugees.
Rivaldo - The name says it all, coming from a country of great attacking players and yet his name is capable of standing on his own, is no mean feat. His ability to play wide, or as a playmaker helps me to use his movement cleverly, as he can combine with Babayaro on the left by drifting wide as well as pull the strings from the middle. Having a playmaker as good as him, means I can afford to have hardworking midfielders behind him, who are good ball players in their own right as well. He was an exceptional goalscorer for a player who was not an exclusive forward.
He won the 1999 Copa America Player of the Tournament, having top scored with 5 goals and he made the FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament in both 1998 and 2002, where Brazil reached the Finals on both occasions and became World Champions once. He won the Ballon d'Or in 1999 and apart from his playmaking and goalscoring abilities, he was a fantastic free-kick taker which confused opponents. He won the La Liga twice with Barcelona and the Champions League with AC Milan. He is deservedly known to be one of the best players in his position of all-time.
Alfredo Di Stéfano - The name stands tall, one of the greatest ever footballers of All-Time, Di Stefano is a proud winner of 5 European Cups with Real Madrid, and the unique feat achieved by him is that he scored in each of those Finals, top scoring in two of those European Cups, while scoring 7 goals in European Cup Finals alone.
He is one of the most complete attackers in football history, having every facet of attacking football under his belt. He scored a lot of goals, but he wasn't a pure striker, he was also very good with his playmaking duties, while he had fantastic stamina. Playing him behind my 2 forwards makes my lineup a very potent attack with two of Africa's great forwards playing ahead of him.
He won the Ballon d'Or twice in 1958 & 1962. He made the World Team of the 20th Century elected by 250 international football journalists. He also scored 6 goals in his only South American Championships (Copa America) and helped his team Argentina win the tournament. He won a remarkable 9 League Titles with Real Madrid. Legend among legends of the game.
Roger Milla - He is famously known for his goals and celebrations in the World Cup & his longevity, but he wasn't a conventional striker. He was a deep lying forward and one of the best forwards Africa has ever produced. He isn't Cameroon's best player ever, Eto'o is, but it can be safely said that he is the 2nd best ever player from Cameroon and the oldest goalscorer in the history of World Cups.
He was both inventive and effective and his game was as much about link-up play in attack as much as scoring goals. An analysis of his style said "Milla was a constant penalty-area menace. He was also a relentless ball-carrier, runner of channels and, when the chance finally presented itself, a decisive finisher."
He played majority of his career in France. The highlight of his individual accolades was that he won his two African Player of the Year awards spaced out 14 years in between, being 2nd two more times, it shows the quality he has maintained over decades. He was top of his game in 70s, 80s and at the start of 90s, which is remarkable. He won the AFCON twice, he top scored in AFCON 1986 and won Player of the tournament. He will be forever remembered as a major ambassador for African football.
Rabah Madjer - One of the greatest African strikers, Madjer had a unique feat of winning both the European Cup (Champions League) and the AFCON tournaments. He was Top scorer in European Cup in 1987 and he famously scored in the European Cup Final to help Porto become European Champions defeating Bayern Munich, a goal which Pele has spoken about as with the potential to be one of the greatest goals he had ever seen.
Bayern Munich were interested in signing him, while Cruyff went close to signing Madjer for Ajax which is testament to how much of a superstar he was in Europe at that time. The deal broke in the last moment, when Porto pulled the plug.
He won the African Player of the Year in 1987 and he won AFCON best player in 1990. He was elected Arab footballer of the 20th Century by an Algerian Journal and he was selected 5th in the list of African Players of the 20th Century by IFFHS. He also won 3 League Titles and the aforementioned European Cup for Porto.
Tactics The arrow lines dictate my tactics and they bring the best out of the available personnel. It's a fluid formation.
My back four is asymmetric with Nasazzi as the defensive full-back, Naybet and Chumpitaz as the center-backs and Babayaro is the attacking full-back going up & down the left side.
Off-the-ball, the formation remains as in the graphic and it's a 4-3-3, similar to Klopp's set-up. Di Stefano is Firmino (Di Stefano's stamina works here), dropping deep & pressing the opposition CBs & DM. Milla and Madjer replicate Mane & Salah as they cut-off opposition passing lanes. Rivaldo acts as the most forward player of our midfield (similar to Ox/Hendo recently), while Pizarro & Hassan stay back & cover (like Fabinho and Gini/Milner). Chumpitaz is VVD (complete defender), while Naybet is Matip - who blocks opponent runs & intercepts. Nasazzi is more defensive than our RB in our set-up, that adds to more solidarity, without compromising on the width from right side, which I explain below. Chilavert was a complete keeper, he could cover the pitch behind the CBs & dominated his area.
On the ball, when Babayaro moves up on the Left to attack/combine with Rivaldo, Jaime Pizarro, with his tactical and positional awareness covers for Babayaro when he moves up the field. When the attack is on the left side, Babayaro moves up, Jaime Pizarro moves to the left, covers for Babayaro and Hassan remains central with Pizarro and Hassan holding the midfield.
When the attack is on the right side, Nasazzi stays deep, Hassan moves to the right to provide width on the right while Chumpitaz also pushes up to support Pizarro in midfield if required. Now Hassan becomes the Right Wing Back, Chumpitaz and Pizarro hold the midfield, while Nasazzi & Naybet become the center-backs.
Rivaldo acts as the playmaker and can receive the ball from several sources like Babayaro, Pizarro and Hassan. Pizarro, Hassan and Rivaldo can cycle the ball well, while Rivaldo can cut-in and stay central when Babayaro overlaps. It gives him the perfect opportunity to combine with Di Stefano or set one of the front 3 through. Di Stefano combines with Hassan on the right and Rivaldo on the left to receive the ball and then there's the threat of him scoring as well as supplying Milla & Madjer.
Milla & Madjer are versatile, they are a menace to the opposition in the box, and they can also drop deep, hold the ball & set Di Stefano or Rivaldo on the run towards the goal. The front 4 is also fluid and unpredictable with their link-up play, so man marking these players will not work. Milla and Madjer can also target to meet headers from deep from Babayaro (Left) or Hassan (Right), so that adds to the pressure to opposition.
Rivaldo, Di Stefano and Chilavert were adept at free-kicks so they rotate based on the position. Corners to be taken by Rivaldo and Hassan.
