Sir Bobby Charlton picks his All Time Football World XI

Bobby, thanks for joining us, not at all, it's a great pleasure now that you've played with and against some of the biggest names in

football

history, so you're in an ideal position to pick this 11, how difficult was it? The process, uh, was difficult and I had to let go of some really great players, but in other ways it was pretty easy, you know, there are certain players that have left such a mark on you, uh, when you're a

football

person you can't . exclude them and I think all the players I have selected were in that category, they just had to be chosen, they were so good in their position, you know they were unbeatable.

I have a great difficulty. I have a really hard

time

picking an 11 because most of these players we're going to talk about are my friends and I don't want anyone to be offended that I left it out, so I've had it. I have had a really difficult job finding the 11 best players and I have come up with 12 and they will have to go in rotation on the bench. I'm afraid according to modern habits, but okay, let's take a look. down on the team sheet starting with the last line of defense you're the goalkeeper well my goalkeeper is Gordon Banks um I know he's English and I don't want anyone to think that you know I'm going to have a predominantly English team here, but uh, but generally speaking, I think everyone certainly around 1970 uh, certainly thought that Gordon Banks was the best goalkeeper in the

world

.

What I loved about Gordon Banks was that he didn't show how good he was. He wasn't a dramatic goalkeeper, he didn't make things look more difficult than they were, in fact he was quite the opposite, he made really difficult things look absolutely simple, without a doubt, Gordon Banks was the best goalkeeper, the most difficult goalkeeper. difficult, I thought any striker would do it. I ever had to face and certainly P would testify to that because in the game against Brazil in 1970 in the World Cup he made what many describe as the greatest save ever made. It's in the Legend.

Now, isn't it? Don't you know that that is saving? He played in that game and when he said he saved it, I couldn't believe it and when Pelle headed the ball towards the bottom corner, he literally threw it with his little finger over the crossbar, it was simply sensational Carlos Alberto, who moves comfortably downfield . towards the halfway line, long pass downfield to try to find jino, he finds jino and J goes hard through the A and it's nothing, what a magnificent save by God Banks, an excellent run by jarino went for cross rights. and P came in, let's move on to the field players, we'll talk about formations and numbers a little later, but for the sake of argument, the number two, Carlos Alberto, the Brazilian captain who played in that same game, absolutely and what was it? good of Carlos.

Alberto was a very good defensive player, but he did it, he lent himself to attacking too, you know, and he had terrible distribution qualities, you know, the inside outside of the foot, but he wanted to go. forward too and he used to complement the forwards and overlap and um and scored a good number of goals rival on the line now to number seven changing boards that's jino jino cutting inside a beautiful touch of the ball to Pelle he is I got support in the right, that's Alberto Alberto with the chenging fires, the next your captain in the 1966 World Cup final, Bobby Moore, yes, well, I chose Bobby Moore.

He knew him better than probably anyone and he was a fantastic captain. He wasn't very good in the air and he wasn't fast, but his brain made up for everything he had. It's his instinct to figure out where problems were occurring and he would nip them in the bud with a well-

time

d tackle. interception, um, at any time, the ball was thrown into the 18-yard box every time we played him, you know, all I have are pictures of him running with the ball, you know he had picked it up, chest down, He cut his thigh. and he would know exactly who was around him, he was almost never approached, he knew exactly what was happening and had a great awareness of what was happening around him and found plenty of time to do things. true, he likes it, I mean he was not a tall person, but reader of the game and inspiration, second place in the field to Fel Fel, down the field to number 12, that's general, he is the man who has the curve while playing the ball is cool. and beautiful play by Bobby Moore reading it so perfectly, so beautifully, plus on this near side of the field, a long ball that crosses, carried in the air, is too deep for anyone, a sailor advancing from the other side of the field , plays the ball inside the back. more making the order again, but it's going to be quite fast and force the error coming in from liuda on the German, right to the ball, so Bobby Moore and Carlos Alberto, who else in your defense, well, I have, I have, um , I have chosen next.

Bobby Mo Fran Becken are very similar players although Fran Beckenbauer liked to go forward much more and he was too for a long period of time and I think probably his best position was midfielder but I am inundated with midfield players , so I took Fran Beckh Andar to the position where he really finished playing, which was as a central defender. He had all the qualities, an awareness, he read the game brilliantly, you know? and there again that arrogance when he received the ball, he, without saying it, was almost saying: no, no, don't get close to me, you know you're wasting your time, player without words.

Now Hala, back to Beckham BAU. Beckham came in trying to shoot again there Ying G and he can't do anything about it, it's a goal. He was just singing Yashin's praises and perhaps that was a fatal thing in any comment, but certainly no gatekeeper on Earth could have saved him. that magnificent one I have to find a place for Duncan Edwards Duncan Edwards played with me at Manchester United and died very young in the Munich plane crash um but he was him, without a doubt he was going to be the best player England had ever known.

He was definitely head and shoulders above anything at that moment. I always tell the story that he had a fantastic big right foot, left foot, short passes, long passes, delicate control, great, great in the air, he had goals, he was probably the best overall player. I have ever seen was impressively strong and had an aura of invincibility he could play in any position and could win a game for you head the ball from a corner at the other end he just wanted to play he had a great thirst and enthusiasm for the game Duncan, great tragedy that was not seen by more people he takes him off the field he puts him in to fery, fer gets there together with Edwards Edwards takes the ball away through his shot, a goal forward, a wonderful goal and Duncan Edward jumps high in the air as he scores that magnificent ball from about 25 yards out, okay, so let's move on to midfield. and the first pick here, Johan C, was another one with a big brain and a big skill, one of those players you had to keep an eye on all the time because he never did exactly what you were.

Waiting for him to do it, he was an impressive player, he could create chances, he could score well in the air, he always found space and time, and Al was also a great leader, he is captain of the Dutch team Ajax and he was first class. leader of the class a bit of today's Holland while vov takes it cries in the middle vov looking to cry oh sa on the line okay moving to the center of the midfield well I have uh what a midfield I have my The next player is Alfredo D Stefano was Argentinian, he went to Colombia he obtained citizenship there and finally he went to Spain he obtained Spanish citizenship um and in Buzar every time I go they talk about Alfredo Deepo as the little arrow because he was very fast.

And I only saw him the first time I saw him play was in Madrid when Manchester United played him in the European Cup in 1958 and um and I was a substitute and I was watching this man and he he ran the whole show and um I was watching him from above because some substitutes in those days wouldn't sit in the line because there were no substitutes so we had to go and sit in the stands and I couldn't take my eyes off him. I'm a midfielder and he passes his general control and discipline of him, the way he brought all the players.

I have never seen a player take charge of a game like he did in that particular match, Canario and the second is tied and Right in the middle is Alfredo Theano, the scorer of the goal at 26 minutes, so he maintains his fantastic record. He has played in all the European Cup finals and has scored in all of them. The best player I've ever played against, I would say Alfredo DeStefano. next to C and Deano, well, I chose Michelle Platini because she has her passing ability, where she can put it through the eye of a needle and she can pick a space and she can create people just by passing the ball.

I think I've seen someone as good as Michelle Platini he scored goals he scored goals he would track in defense um Michelle platini would take it in any position she wants the ball yeah let's have it I'll do it Let's see if there's anything I can do with this and the great creator of opportunities for his forwards and also scored goals, is almost exactly the center of the field. The Belgian referee put that on the wall of white England shirts, 10 yards back. Chilton, standing on his line a couple of inches from the line, the shot goes in, oh Platin, an absolute gem like a rocket into the corner of the net and not even Peter Shelton, I think he even saw it, Platini stepped up to that Shilon really couldn't do anything at all and Platini turns him into France. to England zero and that really was Magic, by the way, so if you're going to put in four midfielders to get all this talent in who's the fourth member, well, another goalscorer, a midfielder but a goalscorer is also, um, there could be made.

I had him as a striker um but um I put foren puskas fench puskas uh the first time anyone ever heard of him when he burst onto the

world

scene was when he played at Wembley and the Hungarians who are recognized as a good team behind IR and Cur, no We knew a lot in those days and they came to play at Wembley and beat England at Wembley. I forget about the score, but I think it was about four or five and um, and no one had ever seen control like this and skill like puskas if they had known that he rolled the ball back and, completely embarrassed , Billy fought against the England captain, uh, before putting the ball in the back of the net, he pushed the Hungarian captain like the outside left sir right down the right wing oh, a beautiful goal and that was puskas the inside left and the Captain who fought that one and my God, if he can perform tricks like this, we should have him in music, I already have him.

I've never seen ball control as tremendous as that display of that back heel and then the quick shot, what skill and, for a period of time, without a doubt, the best player in the world and, um, when Pelle scored His thousandth goal, I remember it. I remember everyone made a big deal about the thousand goals, you know someone had scored a thousand goals playing as a professional footballer and I remember seeing an interview with a friend, a cat, in a European magazine and they asked him about Pelle's thousand . goal said said well I think I scored a thousand my thousandth goal about five or six years ago he is he was a phenomenal goal scorer and a prolific goal scorer and certainly your three or four in the line of attack because you insist on choosing 12, but let's cross this line preview now starting with a man who really most of my generation suggests is the best to ever play the game.

Pelle, well, I think he was a tremendous player, with natural talent, color and character. and in 1958, as a young player, he got the feeling of the whole world for his performances in the semi-final and final when Brazil won the World Cup abroad for the first time, but he has a great left foot and a great left foot. right great awareness um another person who had this Sora you know don't try to tackle me I'm too good but in a good and kind way um but he scored phenomenal goals P Baba comes back to P now what is he going to do?

He has the third oh beautiful goal, here he comes now, this is dangerous, the ball seems tied to his feet, it's fantastic, this man J, he is not offside, there was a big debate recently when FIFA announced their award for player of the century should be P should be Diego Maradona where your point of view fell I don't have either of them I had Alfredo Deano as the best player but I'm a midfielder maybe I'm a little A little spoiled, Diego Maradona is in my again team and I have to know what he had, he had this charisma and like all the other players on my team, you didn't know what was going to happen when he got the ball.

I knew he could pass it, he could, uh, he could make a very complex pass, he would score goals, but when he came to life, when the crowd came to life was when he took the ball and started running with it. I've never met any. I have never seen a player that ever ran with the ball with the ball under control so quickly and not only that, if there were players in his way, he would be close to them and I mean in uh in the game where he handled the ball and uh and he was given the goal, he was given the hand of God as they called it, but in that same match he scored another goal that was incredible maradon tours likea small field and gets out of the problem the squat little man enters butcher leaves him for dead outside fenick leaves him for dead and keeps the ball and that's why maradon is the best player in the world he buried the english defense he picked up that ball 40 meters away it's a goal of great quality from a player of the highest quality the first goal should never have been allowed that maradon has put the seal on his greatness he has left it in this world cup he scored a goal that England simply could not cope with, they could not cope with it, he was beyond his ability, it's England without Diego, sensational player, you know, unfortunately, it's REM remembered for some of the wrong things instead of the right ones, I mean what they do off the field.

No, that has nothing to do with me. You have asked me to choose a team of footballers who played and it has to be on any team. If you had asked me to pick a coach who was different, you know? because I would have to choose someone special to handle people like him, but he is a great footballer and a great star and someone else, you know, who glorified the South American game and was successful and I love this. the big stage I love the big stage that most of these players made and it has a similar character.

I suppose every last member of your team, one of your old teammates from the glory days of the 60s, the European Cup of 68, yes George, the best. I have to do it. choose because he was, again he was such a wonderful, wonderful player and the star people loved to come because they were afraid that if they didn't come see him they would miss something really special because he, he, he was a special player that he had, uh, he had . great ability, he was brave, he was strong in the tackle, he was, he was fast, um, but he was a pleasure to watch and he didn't just score goals and, uh, he would chase, he was, he was a really great player, George, you better know not to.

I have qualms about saying that an opportunity here for George, the best, George, the best, is when he turns around, Enrique, he must score. George Bner, score, George B scored. Bobby Charon falls to his knees. Noby Styles, there is a Cartwheel United are leading again, a brilliant run from George Best who saw Gap round a defender and the red and white banners are really waiting now, 12 incredible players and I found it very difficult which one to leave out . But I'm not going to leave them out. I'm going to say we'll start with 11 and there will be changes all the time.

I couldn't have left any of them outside when I returned home. Tonight I will probably think about I wish I had mentioned it there will be someone I forgot, but my substitutes are goalkeeper Schichel, John Charles, defense and Marco van Baston as forward and Ginia from Brazil on the right. usabo side Midfielder and forward and Dennis Law Forward strong talents strong temperaments who would be captain any of them any of them could have been captain and probably captained their particular teams I think you would think that D Stefano in his position in central midfield, I think , and he was him, he had the mobility to move everywhere and in this fantasy world, if we were to have a coach too, you played with Sabat Busby, you are working here alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, would they be qualified? for work, well yes, but to be honest, it takes a lot, it wouldn't take much training with this group, I really think you just have to choose the equipment, don't you think?

Some great coaches. Alf Ramsey was a great coach for England. Me and I got the best out of his players, if Alf Ramsey could get the best out of these players, well, it's impossible to think anyone could beat them. Busby was great in his own way, you know, another type of character, Alex Ferguson at club level, you know he's unbeatable, really any manager worth his salt wouldn't need help with that team, so Bobby Charlton registered at Old Trafford at the beginning of the year and, to summarize, this is how his teams line up in goal: It's his former England teammate known as England Banks Gordon Banks four men at the back former Brazil captain Carlos Alberto then the only man to have lifted the World Cup for England Bobby Moore France of Germany Beckham a World Cup winner as captain and as coach and left back Duncan Edwards who lost His life was so tragic in the 1958 Munich air crash , so Bobby also plays Four in the middle, the Dutch maestro Johan C on the right, the rotund left-handed genius from Hungary, pushing Gass to the left and in the center Michel Platin from France and the man Soobi.

Qualifies as the best player of all time Alfredo DeStefano, the maestro of that unbeatable Real Madrid of the 50s and 60s, then three players up front to be used in the rotation, George Best, who played alongside Sir Bobby in the team winner of the Manchester United European Cup in 1968, Argentine Diego Maradona. as a tortured genius and Pelle three times World Cup hero with Brazil