The 24th installment of Barney Corkhill's Greatest Ever series is here!
In this series, I will look at the greatest talents to grace various sports. Here, I continue to look at football, this time counting down the top 10 left midfielders of all time.
As with the right midfielders list, I have included left wingers in the left midfielders category to avoid confusion.
Enjoy!
10. Billy Liddell (SCO)
A free-scoring left-winger, Billy Liddell spent 23 years as a Liverpool player between 1938 and 1961. His speed, strength, and goal-scoring ability made him a Liverpool legend, and he is still remembered as one of the greatest players in the club's illustrious history.
He played 28 times for Scotland, scoring six goals, and is one of only two players to have represented a Great Britain XI twice, the other being Stanley Matthews. For Liverpool he scored 228 goals in 534 appearances, helping the club to a First Division title.
His legacy remains to this day, shown by his sixth place in the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop countdown.
9. Lennart Skoglund (SWE)
Lennart Skoglund, known as "Nacka" throughout his career, amassed few international caps during his career, despite his obvious talent. The reason for this was Sweden's policy of refusing to pick players who plied their trade overseas.
His 11 caps did include two World Cups, however, in which he made a big impact. His performances in 1950 won him many plaudits, and eight years later he helped Sweden to the final on home turf.
8. Rob Rensenbrink (NED)
Although a key part of the "Total Footballers" of 1974, Rob Rensenbrink made an even bigger impact four years later, scoring a hat-trick in the opening match and the 1000th goal in World Cup history in the second match.
He played 46 times for Holland, which included the final of both the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. He came within a post's width of winning the '78 World Cup for Holland, but he didn't have lady luck on his side and Argentina went on to win in extra time.
During his club career he won two Belgian league titles, five Belgian Cups and two Cup Winners' Cups.
7. John Barnes (ENG)
John Barnes is perhaps remembered mainly for that goal against Brazil, which demonstrated his magnificent balance, control, and dribbling skills that the likes of Garrincha would be proud of.
He went on to win 79 caps for England, but his best performances came in the red of Liverpool. While at Liverpool, he won two league titles, two FA Cups and a League Cup. Individually, he was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year twice, and the PFA Players' Player of the Year once.
He was voted fifth in the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop countdown.
6. Pavel Nedved (CZE)
Equally adept on the left as he is in central midfield, Pavel Nedved was the front-runner of the Czech Republic's "golden generation." His performances for Lazio and Juventus have ensured his ability is known throughout the world.
He was part of the Czech Republic side that reached the final of Euro '96 and went on to win 91 caps for his country. At club level, he was won three Czech leagues, a Czech Cup, three Serie A titles, two Italian Cups, and a Cup Winners' Cup.
That Cup Winners' Cup success was the last in the tournament's history, and Nedved had the honour of scoring the competition's last ever goal. He was voted the Czech Player of the Year on five occasions and, in 2003, Nedved won the prestigious Ballon d'Or.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Real Madrid articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
24 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete