Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo all included in the best team since the turn of the Millennium…
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GK) Gianluigi Buffon
This was a straight choice between the legendary Italian and World Cup winning Spaniard Iker Casillas. Buffon also won the World Cup with Italy in 2006, having joined Juventus in 2003 for a fee of £23m, which is still the most expensive fee ever spent on a goalkeeper. In that time he’s won five Serie A titles, been voted into the World Team of the Year twice, and racked up over 700 career appearances. In terms of pure shot-stopping ability, Buffon is up there with the greatest keeepers of all time.
DR) Philipp Lahm
The brilliant fullback recently captained Germany to World Cup victory, having enjoyed a sensational individual tournament. He’s won six Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, for whom he’s made almost 400 career appearances. Lahm’s a brilliant passer, offers a consistent attacking threat up either flank he’s deployed, but is rarely compromised defensively either. He’s so good in fact, he’s been used as a holding midfielder for Bayern as well, leading legendary coach Pep Guardiola to claim that Lahm is the most intelligent player he’s ever worked with.
DC) Sergio Ramos
Ramos is only 28-years-old, but already has 119 caps for Spain. He’s won everything there is to win with both his national team (consecutive European Championships and one World Cup) and Real Madrid (three La Ligas and a Champions League). As a result, he’s been voted into the World Team of the Year on five separate occasions, which is more than any other defender in the history of the game. This is perhaps why he gets the nod over Carles Puyol, John Terry and Nemanja Vidic – three equally superb centre-backs.
DC) Fabio Cannavaro
The World Cup winning Italian won the Ballon D’or in 2006 after a jaw-droppingly effective World Cup campaign. He’s the only defender in the history of the game to do so. He won two La Liga titles with Real Madrid as well, although his titles with Juventus were stripped due to the Calciopoli scandal (when The Old lady were relegated due to match fixing allegations). Cannavaro was not especially tall, but he was so positionally excellent and brave that he made up for it. A terrific leader, too.
DL) Ashley Cole
The Englishman gets the nod over football legend Paulo Maldini, who was at his peak during the 1990s. He won two Premier League titles with Arsenal, one with Chelsea, seven FA Cups in total, and a Champions League as well. Defensively, none were better than Cole at left-back, and since the turn of the Millennium, he’s arguably been the only England player to consistently play well in big tournaments.
MC) Xavi
Xavi epitomised everything that the brilliant Barcelona and Spain sides stood for. The midfield metronome dictated tempo, retained possession relentlessly, and slipped intricate through-balls through to onrushing attackers at will. He was the cornerstone of Spain’s World Cup and European Championship wins, and at the centre of Barcelona’s brilliant 2010-11 Champions League winning side, arguably the greatest club XI ever seen.
MC) Zinedine Zidane
The Frenchman retired in 2006, but it’s impossible to leave him out. Zidane became the world’s most expensive ever footballer when Real Madrid signed him from Juventus in 2001 for almost £50m, having won three Serie A titles with the Italians. In his first season with Los Blancos, Zidane won the Champions League, scoring the winner against Bayer Leverkusen in the final with arguably the best goal the competition’s ever seen. The Frenchman oozed class and guile, and aged 35, carried France through to the World Cup final in 2006, which earned him the tournament’s Golden Ball. Infamously of course, he was sent off in the final for a ridiculous headbutt on Italian defender Marco Materazzi – but is luckily still remembered for everything brilliant he did on a football pitch.
AMR) Lionel Messi
Simply unrivalled. Messi’s won a record four Ballon D’ors, peaking during 2012, a calendar year in which he bagged a simply unbelievable 91 goals for Barcelona and Argentina. A better dribbler has never graced a football pitch. Despite being aged only 27, he’s already scored 354 goals for the Catalans since his debut in 2004, notching 42 for Argentina as well. By the time he retires, it’s very plausible that he’ll be regarded as the best footballer of all time.
AMC) Ronaldinho
Between 2003 and 2007, Ronaldinho lit up world football for a brilliant Barcelona side. He scored, created, and did so with a beaming smile on his face. Having already played a part in Brazil’s World Cup win in 2002, he won two La Liga titles and Champions League, and went on to secure a Serie A title with AC Milan and the Copa Libertadores in his native Brazil. Two Ballon D’or awards only go some way in explaining how loved and respected the buck-toothed Brazilian was when at his best.
AML) Cristiano Ronaldo
The current Ballon D’or holder, Ronaldo’s goalscoring record (from the left wing, it’s important to add) since joining Real Madrid in 2009 is unparalleled in the modern game. In 246 matches to date, he’s scored 252 goals. He earned an £80m move from Manchester United, where he won Premier League and Champions League titles, earning his first Ballon D’or in 2008. With Los Blancos, he’s secured the Spanish Cup, La Liga and a Champions League as well. A better all-round athlete, in terms of pace, power and skill, has probably never walked a football pitch.
FC) Thierry Henry
The phenomenal Frenchman joined Arsenal just before the turn of the 21st Century, and went on to become the club’s greatest ever player, their top scorer, and probably the Premier League’s greatest ever as well. Henry made a habit of scoring beautiful goals, capped off with nonchalantly cool celebrations, which won the hearts of Arsenal fans and neutrals alike. He won the European Championships with France in 2000, two Premier League titles with Arsenal, four Golden Boot awards, two La Ligas with Barcelona and a Champions League with the Spanish giants too. Now aged 36, he;s still scoring goals for New York Red Bulls in the MLS.
