We expected Ruud Gullit’s five-a-side team to be ridiculous when we asked him to make one consisting of his former team-mates. The result made us open Skyscanner and book our trip to Italy.
Speaking to Planet Football alongside Gambling Insider, Gullit led us down memory lane to the 1990s, where Football Italia was on Channel 4 and the world simply seemed gentler.
“The best goalkeeper I ever played with was Sebastiano Rossi at AC Milan, so I’ll have him in between the sticks,” the former Milan and Netherlands defender said.
Rossi won 12 major titles during his career, including Serie A titles and the 1994 Champions League.
Younger readers may not be familiar with him, but the fact that he never played for Italy is more an indication of their staggering strength-in-depth than any slight on Rossi.
“My one defender would have to be Paolo Maldini, because he’s one of the greatest of all time,” Gullit continued, to no argument for us.
Maldini would arguably be a shoo-in for a greatest XI in football history. He is definitely one of the best players to never win an international trophy.
“Midfield is tough, but I’m going to give it to Frank Rijkaard, who I played for both club and country with,” the Dutchman explained for his third choice.
Gullit and Rijkaard were part of the Netherlands team that won Euro 88, still the only major trophy in their history.
You’ll recall Rijkaard giving Rudi Voller a free dollop of shampoo two years later at the World Cup, but he was a supreme footballer who could play in multiple positions.
“There’s a few forward options I could pick, but I’m going with Roberto Mancini as one of them from our time at Sampdoria together,” Gullit said.
“Then I’d have to go with Marco van Basten as the other striker.”
Both were elite Serie A marksmen back in the day. Mancini’s exploits at Sampdoria, firing the Genoese side to their sole league title in 1991, are the stuff of legend.
Meanwhile, Van Basten is simply one of the best strikers in football history. Only a succession of injuries stopped him from posting numbers that would’ve made Cristiano Ronaldo look like Ade Akinbiyi.
He simply had it all — technique, finishing, movement, heading and first touch. His goal in the Euro 88 final against the Soviet Union takes the breath away even today.
If only he could’ve been born a little later and had his body looked after by modern medicine and coaching methods.
Our final word of thanks to Ruud for sending us down a Serie A wormhole. See you on the other side.