BERLIN, June 30: Imagine a strike force of Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo and Marco van Basten. The quartet led a dream team picked by 20 current World Cup players plus tournament head Franz Beckenbauer. Each was asked by FIFAworldcup.com to pick their best 11, including themselves.
Brazilians Roberto Carlos and Cafu were clear choices at wingback, with Paolo Maldini and Sir Bobby Moore joining them in defence.
There was no clear winner in goal with Peter Schmeichel, Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas, Petr Cech and Fabien Barthez all getting equal consideration.
With such talent at the back and front, there's little room in the middle. Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira were the players' favorites in the midfield.
Players polled included David Beckham, Juan Roman Riquelme, Steve Gerrard, Alessandro Nesta and Raul.
Germany's Lukas Podolski picked his father, a former defender, and fellow German Bastian Schweinsteiger selected his brother, Tobias. —AP