GK – Gianluigi Buffon
Picking one from Dino Zoff, Gordon Banks and Gianluigi Buffon amounts to an impossible task.
Zoff won a World Cup aged 40 and was never less than an outstanding custodian for Juventus and the Azzurri.
When compared to Banks though we yield to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics who voted the Italian third – behind Banks and Lev Yashin – when determining the greatest goalkeeper of the 20th century.
Yet how can we possibly omit Buffon, the man who forever redefined his craft?
The Parma and Juventus legend won 176 international caps and the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year merit a remarkable 13 times.
In addition to his countless personal accolades, he has made countless saves that defied belief.
RB – Giuseppe Bergomi
The formidable full-back swiftly gained the nickname ‘Uncle’ after emerging as a brilliant teen with the bushy eyebrows and moustache of a septuagenarian.
Aged just 18, he marked Karl-Heinz Rummenigge out of the World Cup final.
Eight years later he was captaining the Azzurri at Italia ’90 and all told the versatile defender gained 81 caps.
A staggering 517 appearances for Inter Milan is a testament to his durability as well as his immense quality.
CB – Bobby Moore
It will always feel odd not to put ‘sir’ before the great man’s name, this giant of British sport who read the game like few others have, before his time or since.
A study in elegance for West Ham, Fulham and England, Moore would have excelled in any era, perhaps even more so today.
With his ball-playing attributes and his innate sensing of danger, he’d be priceless.
CB – Franco Baresi
A rock on which Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello constructed their fabulous, all-conquering teams, Baresi won six Scudettos and three Champions League titles with AC Milan, establishing himself as a peerless defender in the process.
Across two decades of magnificence the sometime-sweeper made it all look so easy.
Indeed, David Platt tells of not getting a kick in one encounter and when they swapped shirts on 90 minutes there was not a drop of sweat on Baresi’s. He could still smell the aftershave.
What’s the betting that with Franco and Moore at the back, this team keeps a clean-sheet?
LB – Paolo Maldini
Class personified, Maldini had the timing of a Cartier watch and the passing range of a midfielder.
In 647 appearances for AC Milan and 126 for Italy he perhaps looked troubled twice, out-foxed never.
One quarter of one of the most venerated defences in club football, the five-time Champions League winner played most of his career at full-back before switching to the centre.
He was immaculate at both.
Mid – Paul Gascoigne
It was always a thrilling sight seeing Gazza weave his way through defences in the Nineties, this glorious man-child who treated every pitch, great or small, as his playground.
So naturally gifted it felt like nature had made a mistake and given him someone else’s share as well, it’s worth remembering – in fact, it should be put on the national curriculum – that he didn’t become a cultural icon because of his plastic breasts or front page headlines.
He became a cultural icon because he is the second best midfielder England have ever produced.
Mid – Sir Bobby Charlton
As for who the best is, well that’s easy.
Bagging 247 goals in 745 outings for Manchester United and 49 for England, Charlton was for some considerable time the record goal-scorer for club and country, until Wayne Rooney surpassed him in both.
That’s not half bad for a midfielder who was also entrusted to start moves from deep, spraying balls out to the flanks.
That his majestic football was exhibited on muddy fields, in boots that weighed half a tonne, just frazzles the mind.
Mid – Gianni Rivera
When Sir Alf Ramsey was asked to name the four best Italian players ahead of an international clash in 1973, his response was telling. “Rivera, Rivera, Rivera, Rivera.”
The AC Milan fantasista began as he intended to go on, scoring a dramatic late winner on his debut aged just 17. The ‘Golden Boy’ tag that accompanied this feat followed him for the rest of his career.
And what a career it was, effervescent on 501 occasions for the Rossoneri, his creativity helping them to three league titles and two European Cups.
For – Roberto Baggio
Like Rivera, the Divine Ponytail won a Ballon d’Or, and shone for Milan, but it was for Fiorentina and Juventus where our memories take us, fondly recalling his poise and trickery as he made mugs of some astonishingly good defenders.
The first player to be inducted into the Italian Hall of Fame, the famed Buddhist was once described as ‘technically flawless’ by the Brazilian great Zico but though his touch and control were absolutely dreamy, it’s his prolificacy in front of goal that most stands out.
Despite being a trequartista, Baggio is the seventh highest goal-scorer in Serie A history.
For – Jimmy Greaves
With a left foot that was feared around the world Greaves scored goal after goal after goal, at an incredible and sustained rate throughout a distinguished career that took in Chelsea, Milan, Spurs and West Ham.
It’s a ratio that is hard to make sense of, demanding a double-take even when they’re incontestable on the page.
In 661 appearances – including for England – the train driver’s son from the East End scored 466 times. For England alone he scored 44 goals in 57 games. In the English top-flight, over 14 seasons, he averaged 0.69 goals per 90. Ridiculous.
For – Wayne Rooney
For the bulk of his 13 years at Old Trafford, ‘Wazza’ was one of the main reasons why the Reds were short-priced in the Premier League odds, averaging 19 goals per season across all competitions, and consistently playing with a fire in his belly, not always a given with feted superstars.
Having exploded onto the scene with a dramatic late winner for Everton when just a boy, the striker went on to exceed the heightened hype that quickly grew around him.
By his career close, Rooney was the third highest goal-scorer in the Premier League. He is England’s second highest goal-scorer. He is Manchester United’s record goal-scorer.
Great things were expected from him. He gave us even greater.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
