Imagine a strike force of Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo and Marco van Basten.
The quartet led a dream team picked by 20 current World Cup players plus tournament head Franz Beckenbauer. Each was asked by fifaworldcup.com to pick their best 11, including themselves.
Brazilians Roberto Carlos and Cafu were clear choices at wingback, with Italy's Paolo Maldini and Sir Bobby Moore joining them in defense.
PHOTO: AFP
There was no clear winner in goal with Peter Schmeichel, Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas, Petr Cech and Fabien Barthez all getting equal consideration.
With such talent at the back and front, there's little room in the middle. Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira were the players' favorites in the midfield.
Players polled included David Beckham, Juan Roman Riquelme, Steve Gerrard, Alessandro Nesta and Raul.
POLES APART
France falls well behind Brazil when it comes to national fervor for soccer.
France striker Thierry Henry feels there is just no comparison between the two countries.
"We don't have the [soccer] identity. It's different. Brazil is Brazil," Henry said on Thursday, adding that Brazil are "ahead of us in terms of this."
"On the beach, they play football; on the street, they play football; in shopping malls, they play football; on the motorway, they stop to play football," Henry said. "They play football since the day they are born."
France faces Brazil in today's World Cup quarterfinal. Henry says there is a reason why the Brazilians have the edge in terms of skill and technique.
"We go to school from 8am to 5pm. They are playing soccer from 8am to 6pm, so the technique comes easily," Henry said. "When I used to ask my mother if I could go outside and play [soccer], she would say no."
LAY OFF RONALDO
France's players can't understand why Ronaldo suffers so much criticism.
Ronaldo was heavily rebuked for being overweight heading into the World Cup, and it mounted after a sluggish performance against Australia. Since, Ronaldo has scored three goals to become the World Cup's career scoring leader with 15 goals.
"Ronaldo has always been very dangerous. I find it extraordinary that he is criticized," France forward Thierry Henry said. "They say he doesn't move much, they say this, they say that, but look at his numbers at the end of the season."
France defender Lilian Thuram will come face-to-face with Ronaldo eight years after blunting the three-time FIFA Player of the Year award winner in the 1998 World Cup final.
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM
David Beckham loves proving his critics wrong, particularly using the favorite part of his game -- free kicks.
His free kick gave England a 1-0 win over Ecuador in the World Cup second round on Sunday. Beckham said it was one of his most important goals after a constant stream of criticism from the British press and former England players.
"Definitely," he said. "It's always nice when you have had a certain amount of criticism to score a goal that puts your country through to the quarterfinals."
"There was a lot of personal satisfaction for myself with that goal and also being the first English player to score in three consecutive World Cups. That was a big thing for me as well," he added.
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