TOP TEN FOOTBALL TEAMS OF THE LAST 100 YEARS
Top 10 Great Football Teams of the last 100 years
Football supporters the world over have been privileged to witness teams which have dominated the football world, so much so that it would have taken a brave man to place a football bet against them. Upon glancing across the eleven names that swept all before them in their respective eras, the famous names stand out as players who would have instantly appealed to the football betting world. The debate will rage however, as supporters query some notable omissions from the Sporting index top ten.
BRAZIL, 1970
The Team
Felix, Carlos Alberto, Brito, Gerson, Piazza, Everaldo, Tostao, Clodoaldo, Rivelino, Pele and Jairzinho
The Story
The Brazilian World Cup winners of 1970 have topped just about every poll for the greatest team of all time. They were, quite simply, the real deal and played football the way it was meant to be played. Pele was at his peak, Tostao simply sublime and Jairzinho was a goal scoring sensation. Surprisingly, they didn’t travel to Mexico that year as favourites after failing to impress in qualification. Few would have placed a football bet on the South American’s on that form, yet they arrived with the intention of making a statement to the rest of the World. They wanted to remind everyone that their triumphs in Sweden in 1958 and in Chile in 1962 were no flukes.
They produced the most breathtaking display of attacking football in the searing Mexican heat. Paired with England, Czech Republic and Romania in the group stages, they certainly had to work hard to qualify. They famously beat England 1-0 where Gordon Banks pulled of arguably the greatest save of all time against Pele. They relentlessly marched into the quarter-finals where they outplayed Peru and won 4-2. In the semi-finals they saw off Uruguay 3-1 to set up a final clash with Italy. In a display of breathtaking attacking football the boys from Brazil proved to be completely unstoppable and won 4-1 and lifted the World Cup for a third time.
REAL MADRID, 1960
The Team
Dominguez, Marquitos, Santamaria, Pachin, Vidal, Zarraga, Herrera, Del Sol, Di Stefano, Puskas and Gento.
The Story
Real Madrid’s 7-3 European Cup Final demolition of Eintracht Francfort on 18th May 1960 at Hampden Park was the crowning moment for a special bunch of players. That win was their fifth consecutive European title – a feat that few in the in the football spread betting world would back to be repeated. The magical Puskas (‘All left foot’ according to the German media before the game) was on the score sheet four times that famous night and let’s not forget Di Stefan’s three goals either!
AJAX, 1972
The Team
Stuy, Krol Blackenburg, Hulshoff, Suubier, Haan, Neeskens, Muhren, Keizer, Cruyff and Blackenburg.
The Story
Ajax chose the 1972 European Cup Final to show the world how football should be played. They beat Inter Milan 2-0 that night and in doing so, not only ruled over Europe, but displayed a spellbinding brand of football that had not been seen before and probably will never be seen again. We’ll never know whether a team that included Cruyff, Neeskens and Haan would have beaten Real Madrid’s team of 12 years earlier, but their 36 month domination of European football ensures that they are quite rightly mentioned in the same breath The football spread betting world will be looking to see if the famed Ajax academy can produce another crop of youngsters to defy the odds once again.
BRAZIL, 1958
The Team
Goalkeepers: Castilho, Gilmar. Defenders: Bellini (capt), De Sordi, Djalma Santos, Nilton Santos, Orlando, Zozimo. Midfielders: Didi, Dino, Mauro
Forwards: Canhoteiro, Dida, Garrincha, Gino, Joel, Mazola, Moacyr, Pele, Pepe, Vava, Zagalo. Coach: Moreira
The Story
Even though they had terrible trouble overcoming Wales 1-0, a young Brazil side finally captured the World title they deserved. They arrived with a psychologist to help with the emotional pains of 1950 and a dentist to prevent any tooth infections having an impact on player performance.
Pele described his goal against Wales as the most important he ever scored. After that he added a hat-trick against France and two more in the final against Sweden.
HUNGARY, 1953
The Team
Gyula Grosics, Sándor Gellér, Jenő Buzánszky, Mihály Lantos, József Bozsik, Gyula Lóránt, József Zakariás, László Budai, Sándor Kocsis, Nándor Hidegkuti, Ferenc Puskás, Zoltán Czibor Coach:: Gusztáv Sebes
The Story
England faced a Hungarian side at Wembley in November 1953 and confidently expected to blow them away, as did the football betting public. The hosts had not lost to a side from outside the British Isles at Wembley for 52 years. However, they were simply blown away 6-3 by the magic of the visitors. The game changed football forever as the naivety of the traditional game had been ruthlessly exposed.
Some pundits suggest that 25 November 1953 was the day that football emerged from the dark ages. This Hungarian side holds the longest consecutive run of matches - unbeaten in 33 games between May 1950 and July 1954. Would you be brave enough to place a football spread bet backing someone to beat that?
ENGLAND, 1966
The Team
Banks, Cohen, Charlton, Moore, Wilson, Stiles, Ball, Charlton, Peters, Hurst, Hunt, Coach: Ramsey
The Story
Little has to be said about the only successful English football team in history. On July 30th 1966, almost 100,000 people packed Wembley Stadium to see the greatest moment in English football. England, managed by Alf Ramsey and captained by Bobby Moore went onto win the 1966 World Cup.
The game itself was a thriller with the Germans snatching a last gasp equaliser to send the game into extra-time. After 11 minutes of extra-time, Geoff Hurst scored one of the most controversial goals of all time when the Russian linesman, Gottfried Dienst, concluded the ball had crossed the line.
The Germans threw everything forward in the last few minutes desperately trying for an equaliser. In the last minute, Kenneth Wolstenholme of the BBC called the most famous goal in English football: ‘and here comes Hurst he’s got…. Some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over, it is now! The rest as they say is history, but who would bet on England travelling to South Africa to repeat the feat in 2010?
LIVERPOOL, 1984
The Team
Grobbelaar, Neal, Kennedy, Lawrenson, Whelan, Hansen, Dalglish, Lee, Rush, Johnson, Souness (Capt) Coach: Fagan
The Story
This Liverpool side won the first penalty shoot-out in a European Cup Final to beat Roma in the Olympic Stadium in Rome. This completed a Treble for the Reds having secured the League and the League Cup. The team was coached by Joe Fagan who was one of the ‘bootroom boys’ at Anfield.
Fagan took over from the mighty Bob Paisley in 1983 and this team was the team he put together in his first season as a manager. The European Cup Final will long be remembered for Bruce Grobbelaar’s antics during the penalty shoot-out with his leg-wobbling distraction. A significant player of that team was the young Striker Ian Rush who had broken into the Liverpool side and became a prolific goalscorer.
FFRANCE, 1984
The Team
Bats, Amaros, Domergue, Bossis, Battiston, Fernadez, Ferreri, Bravo, Genghini, Platini, Bellone, Coach: Hidalgo
The Story
This was a golden time for French football. Led by the magnificent Platini, the French went into the European Championships as hosts and favourites. Expectations were massive in France due to the side’s fantastic performance as losing semi-finalists in the World Cup of 1982. ‘Les Bleus’ certainly had improved since their defeat to West Germany and with Platini controlling the midfield they were definately the team to beat.
Joel Bats proved to be fantastic between the sticks and with a solid defence, the so called ‘carre magique’ (magic square) of midfield were the best in the World. The team lived up to all expectations going on to lift the European Cup with Platini topscoring with nine goals. That year they also went onto win gold at the Los Angeles Olympics.
BAYERN MUNICH, 1974
The Team
Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer (c), Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Bernd Dürnberger, Björn Andersson, Rainer Zobel, Franz Roth, Jupp Kapellmann, Ulrich Hoeness, Gerd Müller, Conny Torstensson Coach:Cramer
The Story
This was the golden age for Bayern Munich and German Football. The team led by the infamous Franz Beckenbauer with the great Gerd Muller up front and Sepp Maier between the sticks won three consecutive European Cups.
When anyone thinks of this German side they think of the mighty Beckenbauer. He was known as the ‘Kaiser’ (emperor) and he won everything there was to win that year. Not only leading Bayern to European glory but also leading the National team to World Cup success.
CELTIC, 1967
The Team
Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Auld, Murdoch, Lennox, Wallace and Chalmers Coach: Stein
The Story
On Thursday May 25th 1967, eleven Scotsmen of Celtic Football Club became the first British and Northern European team to win the European Champions Cup. They defeated Internazionale of Italy in Lisbon’s National Stadium by two goals to one to enter the record books for all time.
That year Celtic won every competition they entered which included the Scottish League Title, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the European Cup and the Glasgow Cup. The team had been moulded together by the mighty Jock Stein. Stein had arrived at Celtic in 1965 and within two years had created a team never to be forgotten. They are affectionately known today as the Lisbon Lions.
For supporters of their respective clubs, the overlooking of certain sides will fuel debate and possibly even fury amongst football fans.
Even the teams of today which are the focus of your football spread bet, despite building their squads with the aid of Russian Roubles or American sports tycoons will have a long way to go before they considered as a side worthy of being classed amongst the greatest XI’s in the world.
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