The best players ever to play the game

Some news has come to our attention that will certainly get a lot of football fans drooling, as it gives us the hope of seeing a lot of our favourite players from yesteryear pull on their boots once more…

A Legends World Cup has been announced to take place in 2017! That means that all our old favourites will be given the chance to once again represent their countries and play the game they love on a competitive stage.

It’s going to be held in Mexico at the start of 2017, and Tamer Al-Saoud, head of the organisational committee had this to say:

“It’s all about reviving history,” he said. “Taking your kid, who’s grown up seeing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and showing them that we had ex-Germany captain Lothar Matthaus and the original Ronaldo.”

Definitely drooling.

However, there are some rules for the competition and the players that are eligible that are not the norm for a game of football;

• The games will only be 60 minutes long – obviously to account for all those ageing legs
• Players have to be retired
• Players have to be between the ages of 35 and 45 at the time of playing (early 2017)

That last rule was the one that caught most off guard, as it ruled out the likes of Maradona or the aforemetioned Matthaus playing in the tournament. It also made the Imaginary Super Retiree XI that we had immediately dreamt up at the time of hearing the news, void.

Back to the drawing board we went, and we feel we’ve came up with a pretty strong starting eleven. Bearing in mind that we have just decided to ignore the fact that nationalities are a thing and just picked whatever clansmen we wanted and made a super team!

Here it is:

We think that’s a pretty nifty team. Dida, one of the most solid and consistent goalkeepers ever to play the game; two fullbacks with the ability to attack and defend, something that modern fullbacks seem to lack; the pace and determination of Puyol and sheer class and charisma of Nesta in the heart of the defence; 3 of the class of ’92 in midfield with Becks and Giggsy on the flanks with Scholesy in the middle with the man that pronounced him the closest thing to the complete footballer that there ever will be, the great Zinedine Zidane; and to finish it off the classy, sexy finishing of Thierry Henry and the directness and trickery of the original Ronaldo.

That is a team if I ever saw one.

Of course, they’re all well past their best days now, and there’s a chance that Ronaldo might eat the others, however, at the top of their game, each of these men were world class, and to have seen this team play at their peak – indescribable.

Who would you have in your team? Remember that they need to be retired and they need to be between 35 and 45 at the time of playing. It’s in 2017 remember. I’m sure we can let you away if you get your maths off a little though.

Post your teams in the comments.