Jamie Carragher has named his all-time World Cup team and has opted to leave modern-day greats Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo out of his XI.
With the Qatar World Cup experiencing a brief lull between the last-16 ties and this weekendâs quarter-finals, some pundits have had a go at picking an all-time XI. Their decisions have been made harder by the rule that you cannot choose two players from the same nation.
That means you canât pick Pele, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos in the same side and you canât have Messi and Diego Maradona, or Miroslav Klose and Franz Beckenbauer either. The idea is to choose players from across the eras who stood out at tournaments.
Former Liverpool defender Carragher has posted his XI on social media â and sparked plenty of debate in the process. He went for a 4-2-3-1 formation, consisting of:
Carragher's XI: Peter Schmeichel (Denmark); Lillian Thuram (France), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Bobby Moore (England), Paolo Maldini (Italy); Xavi Hernandez (Spain), Luka Modric (Croatia); Diego Maradona (Argentina), Pele (Brazil), Johan Cruyff (Netherlands); Eusebio (Portugal)
Carragher prompted many replies, with commenters questioning some of his selections. In reply to someone asking why he chose Modric in midfield, Carragher wrote: âGot to the final with Croatia! In the season he won the Ballon dâOr.â
HAVE A GO YOURSELF! Think you can create a better XI? Leave it in the comments below.
Former England striker Alan Shearer has also selected his, using a 4-3-3 formation. His contains eight of the same players as Carragherâs and looks like this:
Shearer's XI: Lev Yashin (Soviet Union); Jose Nasazzi (Uruguay); Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Bobby Moore (England), Paolo Maldini (Italy); Xavi Hernandez (Spain), Luka Modric (Croatia), Zinedine Zidane (France); Pele (Brazil), Diego Maradona (Argentina), Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
Carragher had a pop at Shearerâs choice of Nasazzi, telling a commenter that, âHe didnât do it, heâs not got a clue who the right back is!â Nasazzi captained Uruguay to the title in the first-ever World Cup in 1930.
Both Carragher and Shearer have selected Pele, Maradona and Cruyff together in an attacking trio you canât really argue against. Pele won three World Cups â in 1958, 1962 and 1970 â and is therefore widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Maradona starred at the 1986 World Cup, helping Argentina beat West Germany in the final, following his infamous Hand of God goal against England in the quarter-finals. Cruyff won the Golden Ball at the 1974 tournament, where the Netherlands finished as runners-up to West Germany.
Former Argentina international and Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettinoâs XI has a slightly different make-up, with a bizarre formation leaving Englandâs David Beckham at right wing-back. His looks like this:
Pochettino's XI: Thomas NâKono (Cameroon); Carles Puyol (Spain), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Paolo Maldini (Italy); David Beckham (England), Zinedine Zidane (France), Michael Laudrup (Denmark); Diego Maradona (Argentina), Johan Cruyff (Netherlands), Pele (Brazil), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
