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10 Spain (2008)
Casillas, Ramos, Marchena, Puyol,
Capdevila, Senna, Iniesta, Xavi, Silva,
Villa, Torres
European champions
Discard the back four, and this is one
of the most perfect line-ups imaginable.
With David Villa and Fernando Torres
in front of a mouth-watering midfield of
Marcos Senna, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and
David Villa, it's no wonder Spain swept
away their tag of nearly men last year.
9 Holland (1974)
Jongbloed, Krol, Rijsbergen, Suurbier,
Haan, Van Hanegem, Jansen, Neeskens,
Cruyff, Rensenbrink, Rep
World Cup runners-up
The 1974 World Cup winners have
already featured in this list at No 29. But
most sided with Johan Cruyff and the
Total Football kings when Holland were
conquered by West Germany in 1974.
How could you resist those orange shirts.
8 Hungary (1954)
Grosics, Buzanszky, Lantos, Bozsik,
Lorant, Zakarias, Toth, Czibor, Kocsis,
Hidegkuti, Puskas
World Cup runners-up
The legendary Ferenc Puskas led the
fabled Magnificent Magyars, with a fair
bit of help from Sandor Kocsis, to within
fingertips of ultimate glory. The attacking
trailblazers were cruelly beaten by West
Germany in the World Cup final, 16 years
after suffering the same fate at the hands
of Italy.
7 AC Milan (1989)
Galli, Tassotti, Costacurta, Baresi,
Maldini, Ancelotti, Rijkaard, Colombo,
Donadoni, Gullit, Van Basten
European Cup winners, Super Cup,
Intercontinental Cup
The team with typically uncompromising
Italian defenders, more than a flavour of
Dutch flair - and an English name! This
side - with the outstanding Marco van
Basten and Ruud Gullit striking fear into
the opposition - looked damn good in
those rossoneri stripes, too.
6 England (1966)
Banks, Cohen, J Charlton, Moore,
Wilson, Stiles, Ball, B Charlton, Peters,
Hurst, Hunt
World champions
England's pride - yet not good enough
to make the top of our list. Perhaps one
day the Three Lions will win the top prize
again, joining the legends of Banks,
Charlton, Hurst and Moore as names
etched on the hearts of a nation.
5 Arsenal (2004)
Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure,
Cole, Ljungberg, Gilberto Silva, Vieira,
Pires, Bergkamp, Henry
English League champions
The Invincibles. Need one say more?
Arsenal took the moniker first given to
Preston some 120 years earlier by going
a whole season unbeaten on their way to
lifting the League title. Arsene Wenger's
finest moment - and one he is unlikely
ever to match.
Related List
The Daily Mail’s football correspondent pooled their expertise and came up with a list of the greatest teams in
history. Which, if any, could beat today’s Barcelona?
4 Liverpool (1984)
Grobbelaar, Neal, Kennedy, Hansen,
Lawrenson, Whelan, Dalglish, Lee, Rush,
Johnston, Souness
European Cup winners, English league
champions, League Cup winners
It's hard to pick a fault in this Liverpool
side. Deadly striker Ian Rush scored 47
goals as he led the side to a fantastic
treble. Bruce 'Wobbly Legs' Grobbelaar
was the hero in an memorable European
Cup final penalty shoot-out in Rome.
3 Real Madrid (1960)
Dominguez,
Marquitos,
Santamari,
Pachin, Vidal, Zarraga, Canario, Del Sol,
Di Stefano, Puskas, Gento
European Cup winners, Intercontinental
Cup winners
Ferenc Puskas makes his second
appearance in this top 10, this time in the
iconic white of Real Madrid. The 1960 side
claimed Los Merengues' fifth successive
European Cup - as well as being crowned
kings of the world - with Madrid's finest:
Alfredo di Stefano banging in the goals.
2 Manchester United (1999)
Schmeichel, Neville, Stam, Johnsen,
Irwin, Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs,
Yorke, Cole
Champions League winners, English
league champions, FA Cup winners
Reached new heights with their fantastic
Treble-winning achievement. The closing
moments of that night in Barcelona turned
a rather drab European Cup final into
arguably the most dramatic of all time -
and made legends of Sir Alex Ferguson's
XI.
1 Brazil (1970)
Felix, Brito, Piazza, Carlos Alberto,
Everaldo, Clodoaldo, Gerson, Jairzinho,
Tostao, Pele, Rivelino
World champions
Sublime, inventive, breath-taking... words
which fail to do justice to the beauty which
Brazil's heroes of 1970 gave the world on
the biggest stage. This was futebol-arte,
this was Pele in his last World Cup, this
was the side that produced perhaps the
finest team goal of all time in the final
against Italy. No wonder they let them
keep the trophy.
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