THE BEST OF THEM ALL?
SPORTSMAIL’S GUIDE TO THE GREATEST TEAMS IN HISTORY:
See Pages 68-69
IT’S a topic certain to cause much debate and deliberation. Never mind the greatest sportsperson of all time — just who was the greatest team? In the wonderful Netflix documentary The Last Dance, detailing the trials and tribulations of the legendary Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, there is a chapter focusing on the original ‘Dream Team’. The 1992 Olympics were the first time NBA superstars lined up for the USA at a Games, with Jordan in the company of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird et al. It was a frightening combination. But were they, as the American commentators insisted, the ‘Greatest Team’ ever assembled? Is it the combined talent of the individuals that makes a team great, or is it what they go on to achieve? Here,
Sportsmail’s writers make their arguments for who truly deserves to be labelled the best of the best...
FIRST UP, THE ORIGINAL DREAM TEAM (1992)
IN a country where any major league sports franchise can become ‘World Champions’ by beating domestic rivals in some complex set of play-offs, the whole concept of international competition is viewed as an irrelevance.
Sure, it’s okay for the track boys and the swimmers, even the soccer guys and gals. But ‘football’, baseball and basketball? Meh. What’s the point?
Well, in the summer of 1992, even the most cynical doubters were presented with a convincing argument — a slam dunk, even — against splendid isolation.
The Dream Team, the USA basketball squad sent to the Olympics in 1992, have a strong claim on the title of greatest ever.
As a reaction to the college kids — usually good enough to beat the best of the rest — failing to win gold in ’88, the Yanks packed their squad four years later with NBA talent. NBA Hall of Fame talent.
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were living legends. Any one of the ‘supporting cast’ – Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone et al – could probably have led a team of third-stringers to Olympic glory in any other Games.
And the USA had Michael Jordan. Yeah, that guy. At his absolute peak.
Now, because the Americans were so strong, never really pushed to the limit even by a very good Croatia side, questions will always be asked about just how great they really were.
Consider this, then. Four games before the Games began, a practice match pitting a Jordan starting five against Magic’s select has gone down in history.
‘The greatest game I’ve ever played in,’ said Jordan. Few were willing to argue with a guy who, as The Last
Dance confirms, usually got the last word.
Americans being Americans, of course, plenty on that side of the Atlantic will tell you that the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, maybe even the great LA Lakers or Boston Celtic teams of the mid1980s, were the best of all time.
Without being tested in international competition, though, none of those ‘World Champions’ could really stake a claim on that title.
BRAZIL (1970) by JOHN McGARRY
THE inimitable Kenneth Wolstenholme said it best. They seemed to take it in turns to give an exhibition. But the Brazil side which won the World Cup for the third time in Mexico 50 years ago were so much more than a show. They were footballing artisans with the instincts of assassins. We saw that moments after those famous words were uttered by the English commentator as Italy were swept aside in the Azteca.
Clodoaldo’s dribble out from the back, Rivelino’s surge up the left, Jairzinho’s dart inside, Pele’s walking pace pass to Carlos Alberto. Then came not so much a shot as the launch of an Exocet missile by the man who would soon be lifting the Jules Rimet trophy high into the thin air.
Italy were a fine side. But they were mere mortals pitted against Gods in canary yellow. Brazil took the world’s breath away that summer, with their irresistible brand of style and substance.
WEST INDIES (1976) by HUGH MacDONALD
THERE was whispering death but there was also loud, brash and swaggering life. The former epithet was applied to Michael Holding who with Wayne Daniel, Andy Roberts and Vanburn Holder formed an attacking quartet that destroyed England in 1976.
Holding’s approach to the wicket was so aesthetically pleasing it should have qualified for an arts council grant. He and his fellow quickies employed a scorched earth policy that consumed England.
But that West Indies side was not one-dimensional. They were exuberant and life-enhancing with their pads on. The power of Gordon Greenidge, the technique of Alvin Kallicharran, the effortless swagger of captain Clive Lloyd made the West Indies a batting side that was formidable and beautiful. And there was Vivian Richards who resembled a West Indian warlord but was, of course, far more belligerent.
There was a justifiable arrogance in his play and that of his teammates. England’s captain Tony Greig had ordered the West Indians ‘to grovel’. They responded with a barrage of shiny, spherical missiles and the fatal swish of willow. They murdered England. Whispering death was accompanied by joyous calypso. Perfect.
AC MILAN (1988-90) by MARK WILSON
SPARKLING attacking football
and one of the best defensive units ever to grace the game. All controlled by a tactical mastermind.
Arrigo Sacchi’s Milan exploded the stereotypes of Italian teams. Watching them on television felt like being granted a glimpse into the future of football. A 5-0 win over Real Madrid in the second leg of the 1988-89 European Cup semifinals is among the greatest-ever performances in that competition. Back-to-back trophies followed to establish a new era of dominance.
A back four of Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini exerted phenomenal control. In front of them, the Dutch trio of Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten wove magical spells.
Fabio Capello would continue Milan’s streak of success into the 90s but Sacchi’s side were the true groundbreakers.
AJAX (1995) by BRIAN MARJORIBANKS
THE 40th European Cup final on May 24, 1995, saw the mighty
AC Milan huge favourites against a youthful Ajax. The big-spending Rossoneri were reigning European champions, thrashing Barcelona 4-0 a year earlier in Athens.
Their hugely expensive squad featured Marc el Dessa illy, Christian Panucci, Zvonimir Boban and Gianluigi Lentini.
But on a remarkable night in Vienna, the callow Dutch champions toppled the Italian aristocrats from their perch when Patrick Kluivert scored the only goal of the game with five minutes left.
An 18-man squad with 13 players who came through the fabled Ajax youth academy — like the De Boer twins, Edgar Davids, and Clarence Seedorf — Louis van Gaal’s side had an average age of 23.
‘Ajax are not just the team of the Nineties, they are approaching football utopia,’ said Real Madrid coach Jorge Valdano.
Surely the finest home-grown side of all time, Ajax’s eyepopping Champions League triumph was a snapshot in time, never to be repeated. The arrival of the Bosman ruling, seven months later, ushered in a new era and Davids, Kluivert, Michael Reiziger and Winston Bogarde all left Amsterdam for nothing.
BARCELONA (2010-11) by JOHN GREECHAN
THE greatest? It’s a contest between two versions of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona — and a matter of personal taste.
The 2008-09 Barca had guts as well as grace. But the boys of 2010-11 were so beautiful to watch that they’re hard to top.
Starting with Pep’s first season at the helm, the fact his team won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League represents a decent claim to immortality.
All the favourites were involved, with Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta having established themselves as a midfield three. The strike force of Samuel Eto’o flanked by Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi was utterly terrifying.
But the team of two seasons later did something transcendental to football. They pipped a hugely improved Real Madrid to the title, including a 5-0 thrashing at the Nou Camp. Beat them in the Champions League semis, too.
Then, in the final at Wembley, they left Manchester United spinning with a brand of football that left Sir Alex Ferguson in awe.
‘No one has given us a hiding like that,’ said Fergie. ‘In my time as a manager, they’re the best team we’ve faced.’ A convincing argument, if ever there was.
EUROPEAN RYDER CUP TEAM (2012) by EDDIE ISAAC
THE sedate game of golf becomes a wilder beast when it’s played as a team sport rather than an individual pursuit. But what we witnessed when 12 elite Europeans formed one glorious unit in the Chicago suburbs was something else. This was Avengers Assemble.
Trailing Davis Love’s Americans 10-4 with two fourballs to complete on the Saturday, they faced the mother of all hammerings in front of a hostile crowd. But there was something about the chemistry of this bunch, a camaraderie and strength reflected in the personality of skipper Jose Maria Olazabal, that saw them grit their teeth and deliver the Miracle of Medinah instead.
Where to start with a team of heroes? Donald and Garcia holding on for a gutsy win over Woods and Stricker. Poulter, eyes bulging, changing the whole dynamic with the birdie blitz that reduced the deficit to 10-6 ahead of Sunday’s singles.
A revitalised Europe went on to win eight of those 12 matches — including McIlroy beating Keegan Bradley despite almost missing his tee time, our own Paul Lawrie dispatching Brandt Snedeker, Rose taking Mickelson’s scalp and, finally, Martin Kaymer holing the winning putt against Stricker — for a 14½ to 13½ triumph.
ALL BLACKS (2015) by ROB ROBERTSON
NEW ZEALAND have had several top-class sides through the years but none better than the one that lifted the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Great All Black teams of the past — such as the one with the legendary Jonah Lomu that lost the 1995 World Cup final to South Africa — were a joy to watch but failed to lift the ultimate prize.
The 2015 team coped with the pressure of being pre-tournament favourites to go on to easily win the World Cup final against Australia 34-17 at Twickenham.
The two superstars were fly-half Dan Carter and captain and flanker Richie McCaw. But they also had number eight Kieran Read and second-row Sam Whitelock.
New Zealand’s form in the World Cup wasn’t just a flash in the pan. They were eight games into an unbeaten run when they beat the Wallabies in the final but didn’t take their foot off the gas after it. They won another ten matches before Ireland beat them 40-29 in Chicago in November, 2016 to end their fantastic run of form.
For putting together an 18 match unbeaten run with a World Cup final win in the middle of it makes that All Blacks team the best the world has ever seen.
LEICESTER CITY (2015-16) by KENNY STILL
YOU can keep your superstars. Greatest team ever? There is only one answer and it’s Leicester City.
Sure, Riyad Mahrez is no Michael Jordan. Maybe you would swap Jamie Vardy’s lethal finishing for Pele’s all-round artistry.
But the requirement is to identify the best team. The greatest teams overcome odds, defy expectations and slay giants in the process.
What Claudio Ranieri achieved in hauling the unheralded Foxes from the darkest confines of the English top flight and claiming the Premier League title by ten points was a miracle by a team of players whose bond was simply unbreakable. The fact they were so unfashionable means they are never considered when these accolades are dished out.
For such a recent, incredible memory, that is a great shame.