My 'Childhood XI'

Most football fans begin their love for the ‘beautiful game’ at an early age. Whether it was Pele, Maradona and Lineker or Rooney, Ronaldo and Messi, every fan had their childhood favourites. I first began playing football when I was six years old in 1998, which just so happened to be a World Cup year. From that year onwards my love for football began to grow and to that I owe the players who caught my eye the most. From the thousands of players that have graced the professional game I have selected my very own ‘Childhood XI’.

Starting off at the back, I have picked the most prolific goal scoring keeper I have ever seen. José Luis Chilavert scored an incredible 62 goals in his career as he cemented himself as one of the best penalty and free kick takers of all time. He could also pull off the odd stunning save too.

Moving onto the ‘hard men’ in football, the centre backs. First up is Sami Hyppiä a Finnish international who made his career at my favourite Premiership club, Liverpool. Solid as a rock at the back and unstoppable in the air, Hyypiä played a huge part in Liverpool’s cup wins in the early to mid 2000’s. My second centre back is Alessandro Nesta who is largely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time. His trophy list supports that claim having won the World Cup, the Champions League (2), Serie A (3), Coppa Italia (3) and several others, including the U21 Euro Championship. Nesta stood out in an era of great defenders, and that’s exactly why he is in my ‘Childhood XI’.

John Arne Riise was my favourite footballer of the early 2000’s, just because of the sheer power of his left foot. He could score from anywhere on the pitch and, in my opinion, his abilities to this day are underrated. I eventually came to the conclusion that Lilian Thuram would be my right back. He is the highest capped Frenchman of all time and among the world’s top 20 capped internationals, which is no mean feat.

Onto the midfield, of which I have gone for three central midfielders, the first of whom is Luis Figo. When I was a kid I only wore football shirts, and guess who was on the back of my Portugal top? That’s right, Figo. A mastermind in midfield, Figo dominated European football as I was growing up. My second will probably come as a surprise to many but Hidetoshi Nakata features in my eleven. Alongside Junichi Inamoto, Nakata helped Japan reach the knockout phase of the 2002 World Cup, really helping to promote Asian football to the rest of the world. The final centre midfielder is the unmistakable Gianfranco Zola. Zola had the football equivalent creativity of Picasso mixed in with the intelligence of Stephen Hawking and scored my favourite ever goal, his near post flick against Norwich City in 2002.

Saving my best for last I shall reveal Gabriel Batistuta as my first of three strikers. Possibly the only Argentinean I liked at the time, there was something about watching Batistuta that made me marvel at his ability. He did score over 300 club goals and 56 international goals after all. Dwight Yorke is the second of my top three, with his flicked up collar and laid back attitude. Possibly the greatest player to come out of the Caribbean, Yorke had a prolific scoring record at Manchester United and was also a big fan of cricket.

I have saved the best for last. He was nicknamed ‘God’, once snorted the line markings during a celebration and had a knack for breaking his nose. If you haven’t guessed by now (then you’re not a true football fan) it’s Robbie Fowler. He had a goal-to-game ratio of better than one goal every two games at Liverpool and never failed to entertain the crowd. There is no doubt in my mind that he should have played more for England.

There we have it, my ‘Childhood XI’. Have a think back to your childhood and see if you can come up with a team.



Robbie Fowler's infamous celebration