h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Of course there are world class right backs. Lilian Thuram is a world class right back but he's not a great right back. Ot's weird because there's plenty of class left backs arounbd - Roberto Carlos, Bixente Lizarazu, Paulo Maldini, etc, etc

I don't thinlk today's stars can be judged under the same standards as those of yesteryear. When the game started getting serious 100 years ago, they had different rules, a different size and type of pitch, a much heavier ball, and vastly different tactics. A First XI of players around today, yes, but all time could only be judged in terms of someone who has been playing as a professional all through the time at the same standard. Quite obviously, no-one exists.

Egon, how can you say it was only Southall and Rush who were differnece between a good Wales side and an awful Wales side?
What about Ratcliffe and Hughes?

Also I'm sure a Saudi Arabian holds the world record for number of caps won
*off to do some research*

I think you are thinking about Majid Abdullah. He only got 120 caps. He got three deducted because they wern't officially international caps.

The player with the most caps is Claudio Suarez (33 years old) of Mexico with 167. He played in the Mexico team that played England. Hossam Hassan is close behind playing for Egypt (34), he has 157

However there is a player who plays for the United Arab Emirates who supposidly got 170 caps, but this was never proved.

Kevin Ratcliffe and Mark Hughes (both ex-Evertonians) were very good players, but if they had been in the Welsh team and Rush and Southall hadn't, the team would have been far weaker than with Ratcliffe/Hughes but without Southall/Rush.

Southall, Rush and Ryan Giggs are the only three welsh players who immediately spring to mind who I would class as world class. I mean, the country even had to adopt Vinnie bloody jones for christ's sake.

Southall, Rush and Ryan Giggs are the only three welsh players who immediately spring to mind who I would class as world class.



Now you are being sacrilegious ...

check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A511615



I mean, the country even had to adopt Vinnie bloody jones for christ's sake.



ah yes, the Geoff Thomas of Welsh International football

I humbly apologise to the entire Welsh nation for not knowing who the fk John Charles was. I hope you can forgive me. Also, who the hell was geoff Thomas.

Apologies accepted ...

Seeing as though we're realy rubbish we have to celebrate our true heroes and spread the gospel!

Stumbled across this thread and thought i'd lend my thoughts to this age old question:
GK: Lev Yashin
RB Wladyslaw Zmuda
CB: Franz Beckenbauer
CB: Bobby Moore
LB: Paulo Maldini
RM: Stanley Matthews
CM: Socrates
CM: Michel Platini
LM: Johann Cruyff
CF: Pele
CF: Gerd Muller

Bench: Gordon Banks, Lothar Matthaias, Ruud Gullit, Diego Maradona, Eusebio
My all time XI is always being revised, but that's what it stands at at the moment. The front two would score hatfulls together: the greatest forward and the best poacher paired together. Cruyff would have a free role and Matthews would just peg it up and down the right flank. The pairing of Socrates and Platini would be interesting: one is dynamic and the other is the most laid back player the world has ever seen; but their both hugely creative. Moore and Beckenbauer are probably the best two centre backs ever, Maldini is already a legend and Zmuda is probably the best traditional right back there has been. I agree that legendary right backs are kinda hard to name. Yashin meanwhile is a keeper who defied the laws of physics. On the bench, Banks would give 6000% every game, Matthaias could play sweeper, centre back or in midfield and Gullit could play everywhere from defence to up front. The only reason Maradona isn't in the first XI is because of the drugs thing. I also think he's very much like Matthews, and i wanted someone a bit different on the left wing. Eusebio was a class striker - a mix of Pele and Muller.

As you can tell, i've thought about this pretty extensively...