Best Footballers Who Never Played At The World Cup ----------------------------------------------------- Some players achieve greatness for their clubs but never have the opportunity to represent their country at the highest level. This usually happens because their country failed to qualify or, as in the case of one German in this list, because of his disputes with his national football association. How would a World Cup have been remembered if Di Stefano, Weah, Best or Schuster had played? We will never know. 1. GEORGE BEST The incomparable Best played only 37 times for Northern Ireland and scored an unimpressive 10 international goals, but won two league titles and the European Cup with his beloved Manchester United while lighting up British football like no other before or since. Voted European player of the year in 1968 after helping United lift the European Cup, Best was the complete footballer. The man the Spanish media lauded El Beatle after running Real Madrid ragged at the Bernabeu Stadium in the semi-finals of the European Cup, had supreme balance, the dribbling skills of Stanley Matthews on fast-forward and two magical feet. Pele once named Best the greatest and who could argue? 2. ALFREDO DI STEFANO In Latin America those who saw the Blond Arrow play say he was better than Pele. Di Stefano won five consecutive European Cups with Real Madrid and was twice voted European footballer of the year, in 1957 and 1959. In terms of longevity he outshines them all and won international honours with three different nations, Argentina, where he was born, Colombia and Spain. In 1950, while still playing in Argentina, his country refused to enter the World Cup and by 1954 Di Stefano had arrived in Spain, via Colombia, where he was first considered ineligible. He qualified to play for Spain at the age of 31 in 1957, but the Spaniards failed to qualify for the World Cup finals in 1958 and when he finally got his chance in 1962 he was injured. 3. DUNCAN EDWARDS Edwards was destined to become the greatest British player of them all before tragically losing his life in the 1958 Munich air disaster. Edwards was aged 21 when he died, but had already played for England 18 times and won two English league titles with Manchester United in 1956 and 1957. Former Scotland and Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty once said: You can keep all your Bests, Peles and Maradonas, Duncan Edwards was the greatest of them all. Sir Bobby Charlton, World Cup winner with England in 1966 and a former team-mate at Old Trafford, said: Duncan Edwards was the only player that ever made me feel inferior. 4. JIM BAXTER All of Scotland will have Baxter at the top of their list. He was a very talented midfielder who won the hearts of a nation while playing for Rangers and Scotland during the 1960s. In 1967 Scotlands match with England at Wembley carried greater significance because England were the reigning world champions, having lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy at the same venue just under a year before. Baxter orchestrated Scotlands finest victory that day, a 3-2 win against the team that had defeated West Germany in 1966. The Scot was simply far better than all the other players on the pitch. Such was his dominance he even sat down on the ball during one moment of the game. 5. RYAN GIGGS The World Cup in Brazil will again be missing the supreme talent of Giggs. The Manchester United winger has won pretty much everything there is to win at club level and spent his entire career at Old Trafford. He holds the record for the most appearances for Manchester United and reached the milestone on the night he won his second European Cup - Uniteds third - against Chelsea in Moscow. Wales failure to qualify for a World Cup, or even a European Championship, has deprived him of the chance to shine on the international stage. 6. GEORGE WEAH The explosive Liberian caused a sensation when bursting onto the scene in France with Monaco and Paris St Germain before truly setting the world alight in Italy with AC Milan. Weah was the first African footballer to be voted World player of the year in 1995, was three times African player of the year - in 1989, 1994 and 1995 - and filled the chasm left by Marco van Basten at Milan with aplomb. Weah was all strength, power and agility, scoring spectacular goals out of nothing to help Milan win two Scudetto titles in 1995 and 1999. 7. ERIC CANTONA Considering the success that Manchester United and France both enjoyed during the 1990s, it seems incredible that Cantonas talent was never seen on the greatest stage. France failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1990 and 1994 and, with Zinedine Zidane having taken his role in the team during his suspension in 1995, he never played for his country again on his return to the game and missed their 1998 triumph on home soil. At club level, Cantona won seven domestic titles with Marseille, Leeds and more famously Manchester United. 8. IAN RUSH Just like Ryan Giggs, Rush enjoyed huge success at club level but his talents alone were not enough to take Wales to a major finals. The prolific striker scored 28 goals in 73 appearances for his country and came close to helping Wales qualify but at least had huge success with Liverpool to make up for the disappointment. He was a European Cup winner in both 1981 and 1984 to add to his five league titles, and his incredible tally of 346 goals for the Reds is a club record which will take some beating. 9. BERND SCHUSTER Schuster helped West Germany win the 1980 European Championship where he was voted as the second best player at the tournament but his repeated disputes with the German FA prompted him to retire from international football aged just 24, having won 22 caps, and therefore miss out on a World Cup. Nicknamed the Blond Angel, the midfielder won the Spanish league title with both Barcelona and Real Madrid and helped the former reach the 1986 European Cup final where they were beaten on penalties by Steaua Bucharest. 10. JARI LITMANEN Litmanen has an array of medals to show from an illustrious playing career but only at club level. The graceful forward made his name at Ajax, where he scored goals consistently and pulled the strings after replacing Dennis Bergkamp when he joined Inter Milan. Litmanen won the Champions League as well as the Eredivisie four times and then won three trophies in the same season at Liverpool after a short spell at Barcelona. Finlands failure to qualify meant an appearance at the World Cup eluded the technically-gifted Litmanen, who is the countrys most capped player and leading scorer. Do you have other players in mind to add?
Posted on: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 12:05:36 +0000
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