Football thread spin-off thread spin-off thread! Forget arguing about Messi, let’s make it a whole team…

You’re picking a favourite XI which you get to watch play until the end of time… Has to be players you’ve watched (doesn’t need to be in person unless you’re really showing off) and it has to be a vaguely plausible formation – no two-man defences please! – but entertainment is prioritised over results. Here’s mine:

GK: Rene Higuita
LB: Julian Dicks
CB: Lothar Matthäus
CB: Trifon Ivanov
RB: Cafu
MF: Pavel Nedved
MF: Gheorghe Hagi
MF: Zinedine Zidane
FW: Hristo Stoichkov
FW: Lionel Messi
FW: Roberto Baggio

Subs: José Luis Chilavert, Philipp Lahm, Rafael Márquez, Steve Potts, Lilian Thuram, Robert Prosinečki, Carlos Valderrama, Hammez Rodriguez, Rivaldo, Roger Milla, Cuauhtémoc Blanco

WORLD CUP!