Today’s My Favourite XI contributor is Rupert Fryer from southamericanfootball.co.uk. Rupert is one of the UK’s finest writers on his subject and his Favourite XI reflects both his passion and the diversity, brilliance and uniqueness of South American football. There are some serious players in this one - we think it could line up favourably against any that have been put together so far.
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Goalkeeper: Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo)
Rogerio Ceni encapsulates everything I love about South American football; it’s hard to imagine him having had anything like the career he’s enjoyed at Sao Paulo on any other continent. Now 38, the former Brazilian international and ultimate one-club-man is closing in on 100 career goals – not bad for a ‘keeper. No matter how familiar the sight of Ceni pacing the length of the field for both penalties and free-kicks becomes, it never fails to capture the imagination.
I’d also suggest that he is much more accomplished at the more banal tasks afflicting those crazy enough to stand between the posts than he is often given credit for. A fine shop stopper, and, obviously, superb with his feet, Ceni has been an essential part of the Sao Paulo club for nearly two decades. A World Cup winner in 2002 and two-time Copa Libertadores winning captain, he might not get the free-kicks in this side, but we’ll probably still invite him to trot up the pitch and stand over them.
Right-Back: Cafu (Retired)
Two-time World Cup winner, Cafu’s incredible career spanned two decades and also included a Champions League, two Copa Americas and a couple of Serie A titles. Unfortunately -or fortunately, depending on which way you want to look at it- I’m a little too young to remember him during his 1994 season at Sao Paulo that saw him crowned South American player of the Year, but I did see him charging up and down the flanks for over a decade in Italy. Probably the best right-back I’ve ever seen, he remains the only man to appear in three successive World Cup Finals, and a gentleman to boot.
Centre-Back: Roberto Ayala (Retired)
Nobody beat him. Ever! Well, except for Dennis Bergkamp in ’98. In seven years at Valencia he was one of the finest central defenders in the game. Great in the air, despite standing at just 5’10″, with impeccable timing in the tackle and an exceptional ability to read the game, the only blemish on an otherwise wonderful career was his unceremonious decline after returning to Argentina to join Racing Club last year. Earned 115 caps for Argentina over 13 years, he played an integral role in Marcelo Bielsa’s Olympic Gold Medal winning side that went the whole tournament without conceding a single goal.
Centre-Back: Paolo Montero (Retired)
A ‘proper South American centre-back’: he loved a tackle – if you can call them that. After starting his career with Uruguayan giants Penarol, he made the move to Italian club Atalanta in 1992 before joining Juventus four years later. He was a total brute. He’d spit at you, pull your shirt, fly in studs up, call you every name under the sun, and, if all else failed, just give you an almighty smack across the face. He still holds the record for the most red cards in Serie A history. He was nasty, but great fun to watch. Nothing lights up a boring game like a Montero-inspired mass brawl. Earned over 60 caps for Uruguay and enjoyed a hugely successful decade with Juventus, claiming five Serie A titles and three Champions Leagues.
Left-Back: Roberto Carlos (Anzhi Makhachkala)
His utterly perplexing free-kick against France at Le Tournoi and that time James Richardson stood around while he wrapped a tape measure around his 24 inch thighs aside, my everlasting memory of Roberto Carlos stems from one rainy night in Tenerife some thirteen years ago. With the ball bouncing out of play, the Brazilian displayed his both his lightening pace and unrelenting desire to chase everything down before unleashing a ferocious volley that swerved one way and then another before hitting the far top corner of Juan Carlos Unzue’s goal. To a 16-year-old kid, it didn’t really matter if he meant it or no! Regardless of intention, it was a goal that only he could score.
To this day, well into his thirties, he still plays the game with that infectious smile beaming between his chubby little cheeks. One of the game’s great characters, he also boasts one almighty trophy cabinet that includes a winner’s medal for just about every major competition in the game.
Centre-Midfield: David Pizzaro (Roma)
One of the most underrated players in Europe over the last half decade or so. A remarkable passer of the ball, the little Chilean is South American football’s Xavi. To watch him waltz around the field, constantly passing and moving, you’d think he had eyes in the back of his head. The last time I saw him live was at Craven Cottage in last season’s Europa League. He was introduced at half-time and completely changed the game, inspiring Roma’s utter dominance over Roy Hodgson’s side. In the last 18 months or so, Marcelo Bielsa’s Chile were an absolute joy, taking World Cup qualification by storm; however, I was always left wondering just how much further they might have gone had little David Pizarro conducting from the midfield.
Centre-Midfield: Alex Aguinaga (Retired)
The most talented footballer Ecuador has ever produced. Sporting his very own divine ponytail, Aguinaga never really looked like much of a footballer. With his waistband sitting at an almost Simon Cowell-esque altitude and his flat, wide nose resting just off centre of a face that looked as if it had lived a life much longer then the numbers on his passport would suggest, it always seemed as if this uncouth old man had just stepped out of a Guns ‘N’ Roses gig and wandered onto the nearest playing surface. Until, that is, he received the ball. Blessed with a magnificent left-foot, and an uncanny ability to amble past opposition defenders at will, Aguinaga dazzled Mexican football for over a decade before ending his career back in his homeland with a league title at LDU. He made over 100 appearances for his country and appeared in no less than seven Copa Americas.
Free Role: Juan Román Riquelme (Boca Juniors)
My favourite player of all time. If you look up the word “daedal” in any reputable dictionary, there should be a picture of Román. He’s a mysterious character, contrasting and ambiguous. Clearly a somewhat quixotic soul, he has a huge ego, but one that he seems to wear almost as a safety blanket to cover an underlying fragility. He seems to hate the spotlight, yet revel in it – unable to operate in a team that isn’t built entirely around him. His eyes drop to his feet when TyC shove their microphones in his face, yet his answers arrive confidently and spoken in the third person.
After a year of playing for free, he entered into an extended battle over a new contract with Boca Juniors, eventually convincing the board to award him a whopping $5 million four-year deal. It almost cut the club in half. Six months later, after managing just 135 minutes of 19-game season, he refused his wage, insisting he didn’t deserve the money and it would be better spent improving club facilities. The archetypal Argentine enganche, entire matches evolve solely around him. One of the last of the romantics, he plays the game at a different pace to the rest of them. On his day, there’s nobody I’d rather watch. And no matter how and few and far between those days are now becoming, they’re always, always, worth waiting for.
Wide Forward: Djalminha (Retired)
Above all else, Football should be about having fun and enjoying the freedom to express oneself. Djalminha never stopped expressing himself, and boy was it fun. From superfluous nutmegs to chipped penalties and the headbutting of coaches, there was never a dull moment with him around. Like the rest of my eleven, he was fabulous on his day. A Part of the magnificent Super Depor side that claimed the Spanish league title in 2000, he was capable of pure genius. Being mental simply comes with territory.
Wide Forward: Ronaldinho (Flamengo)
One of the few players of the last decade who can truly claim to have spent a couple years head and shoulders above anybody else on the planet. He seemed to invent a new trick every week, wowing the Catalan public with the finest football they’d seen since the centre forward I’ve selected in this team donned the blue and red stripes of Barcelona in ’96. His goal against England -which, despite Danny Mills being adamant was fluke, was wholly intentional- his overhead kick against Villarreal, and his virtuoso performance against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in 2005 will live long in the memory. You’ve probably realised by now that I watch football for the individuals. There have been few finer in my lifetime than Ronaldinho in his pomp.
Striker: Ronaldo (Retired)
Quite simply the best player I have ever seen. He joined Barcelona not long after Sky Sports started broadcasting Spanish football, if I remember correctly, and I will never forget my Dad asking me every weekend: “Are you watching Ronaldo tonight?” I’d never seen anybody so quick, so skilful, so powerful, or with that uncanny ability to bolt into the box and then suddenly stop. Compose himself. Have a look up. And either slot the ball into the corner or skip around the ‘keeper with consummate ease. Remember those school lunch breaks when you’d have a kickabout and every so often that big kid from the top year would ask to play? You couldn’t say no, so he’d join in. He was four years older, twice the size of everyone else, twice as fast, and would score about six goals in five minutes. It wasn’t fair, nobody couldn’t get anywhere near him.
That’s what Ronaldo was like that year – it just wasn’t fair on everybody else. His personal achievement in World Cup 2002 was nothing short of remarkable.
Substitutes:
Jose Luis Chilavert (Retired)
You need a sub goalkeeper, and this team needs one capable of chipping in with the odd goal. Another dead ball specialist, he managed over 50 goals over 10 years with Argentine Velez Sarsfield and eight for Paraguay. A 1994 Copa Libertadores winner, he saved a penalty and scored one himself in the shootout to earn Velez the only Copa Lib in the club’s history.
Mateo Corbo (Retired, I think.)
As a life-long Oxford United fan, the most excited I can ever remember being was the moment the club confirmed that Ramon Diaz had been appointed as our new manager. It was absurd. Utterly preposterous. And so, at times, was one his first major signings: Uruguayan defender Mateo Corbo. He came through the ranks at River plate and had played in Spain for Real Oviedo. God knows what on earth was he doing at Oxford United in League Two? Well, mostly he was just kicking people. He was class on the ball, but spent most of his time nailing any right winger stupid enough to come within a 6-yard radius of him. Made 13 league appearances for the club… and got booked in almost every one of them.
Carlos Valderama (Retired)
More than just a hairstyle, El Pibe’ inspired what many consider to be the most talented side Colombia’s history. They went into World Cup ’94 as quite probably the best team in the tournament after cruising through a hugely impressive qualification campaign that culminated in a 5-0 hammering of Argentina in Buenos Aires. Twice named South American Player of the Year, that blonde mop waltzed around the midfield spraying passes hither and thither for overt twenty years.
Alex (Fenerbache)
Quite simply a delight, I’ll watch any game he’s playing in. Even now, at 33, the Brazilian can still be seen working his magic in Istanbul with Turkish giants Fenerbache. One of the most naturally talented footballers I’ve seen, the fact that he never quite made it at the very top level only serves to make him all the enchanting.
Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors)
The only player in my squad that hasn’t got much talent to speak of. But what he lacks in ability, he more than makes up for in guile and unrelenting desire to be the very best he can be. While many will forever mock him over his triple penalty failure against Colombia in Copa America ’99, for me it was the moment that defined everything that’s great about the man: He missed one, and still wanted the other; he missed that, but immediately grabbed the ball to take the third. If there was a fourth, I have no doubt he would have wanted that too. You see, San Martin has never been afraid to fail or to make a fool of himself. So mock all you want, but over 300 goals, six Argentinian league titles and two Copa Libertadores crowns suggests that he’s actually been pretty bloody good.
Tags: Alex, Alex Aguinaga, Cafu, Carlos Valderama, David Pizzaro, Djalminha, Jose Luis Chilavert, Juan Roman Riquelme, Martin Palermo, Mateo Corbo, Paolo Montero, Roberto Ayala, Roberto Carlos, Rogerio Ceni, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo
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