There's something about a fantasy XI that every football fan finds intriguing.
And when the manager of your international side has selected his XI of the best ever players to play in an international tournament - the European Championships in this case - then it's a particularly intriguing fantasy XI and since both Martin and Michael O'Neill have had a think back over the history of the Euros and named their sides, we can actually compare the two.
UEFA.com have been asking a representative from each nation participating at Euro 2016 to pick their all-time Euros XI, and the managers of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland stepped forward to offer their choices.
Here they are:
Martin O'Neill
Dino Zoff; Franz Beckenbauer, Paolo Maldini, Carlos Puyol, Lillian Thuram; Michel Platini, Xavi, Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo; Gerd Muller, Marco Van Basten.
Michael O'Neill
Gianluigi Buffon; Phillip Lahm, Frank Rijkaard, Matthias Sammer, Jordi Alba; Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Pavel Nedved, Brian Laudrup; Marco Van Basten, Theirry Henry.
Interesting selections.
Marty has gone for a far more historical approach with the selections of Zoff, Beckenbauer, and Muller, while Michael's team is compiled of many more 'recent' players, and one current player in Jordi Alba... Which is a very strange call it must be said.
The only players to make both teams were Michel Platini and Marco Van Basten, and by glancing at the 22 other teams that have been picked it seems to be a common theme throughout for obvious reasons.
Jordi Alba though, Michael? Really?
We're scoring this one in favour Martin for his balance of historical and recent players as well the inclusion of the likes of Maldini and Thuram, the glaring omissions from Michael's team.
Funnily enough it wasn't just the managers who picked the teams, as Nani was tasked with representing Portugal. His team wasn't that bad either.
[via UEFA.com]
