Childhood favourites outside of Spurs.

[sweyid]

Which players outside of Spurs did you idolize as a kid?

One of my all time favourites is George Weah from his Milan days. Henrik Larsson was also a favourite as well as Sami Hyypiä (there aren't many good finnish footballers and he's one of the few).

 

[haxman]

Most of the great Milan side of the late 80's/early 90's, especially Van Basten.
Maradona.
Zico.
Paul McGrath. Ledley with a worse drinking problem but the same never give in attitude.

 

[maglajz]

Zidane, Kovacevic and Nihat

 

[Hoddle_Ledge]

Carl Heggs and Del Piero.

 

[michaelden]

Del Piero, Weah, van Basten, Muller & Litbaski (West Germany), Redondo (career cut short but what a player!)

One of my fav games was 1984 WC West Germany vs. Holland. the spitting and fighting and skill. It was ugly & beautiful all in one

Redondo
[yt]9PNFpayoUD8[\yt]

 

[dontcallme]

Maldini was the model professional for me and probably the best player of the 90's.

Viktor Onopko was the most cultured defender I saw as a kid and I just loved watching him play.

Des Walker was another excellent defender who really knew how to time a tackle to perfection. Probably the best English centre back in my lifetime.

Asprilla and Valderama were a lot of fun to watch with their flamboyant characters and flair play.

Brazilian Ronaldo was such a dominant player in his younger days. His mix of strength and skill wwre amazing. Also loved watching Bebeto and Romario together.

 

[mattyspurs]

Mine is the same as Haxman.

The great Milan side of the late '80s. Gullitt, Rijkaard, Van Basten, and I just used to think that Baresi was a sublime footballer. The closest comparison I can make is Ledley King, some accolade for him and I think that Capello made the same comparison.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Pele, Eusebio, Frank Swift, Bert Trautmann, Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas, Lev Yashin, George Best (not quite in my childhood though) and last but certainly not least my all-time football idol, we will never see the like again, Stanley Matthews who I was privileged if not to say honoured to see in action. I also saw George Best, Lev Yashin, Bert Trautmann and Eusebio play.

 

[Marty]

Gianfranco Zola. It was horrible that he had to play for Chelsea, it was like having Luke Skywalker working for the Empire.

Also have to mention the real Ronaldo, Zidane and so on.

 

[DuDe]

 

[chinaman]

British players were Georgie Best, Bobby Charlton, Peter Osgood, Johnny Giles, Willie Henderson. Foreign ones were Pele, Eusebio, Maradona, Beckenbauer, Cryuff.

 

[lillywhites61]

The Milan team that included van basten, rikkard, gullit, etc were outstanding. Others like zico, batistuta, romario, larsson so many, I am a real football fan, love spurs but live for football, I watch all games from anywhere in the world.

 

[tototoner]

George Best, Johan Cruijff and Diego Maradona

 

[michaelden]

The Batistuta - Rui Costa pairing at Fiorentina was a joy to watch

 

[werty]

Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos and Henrik Larsson.

 

[padgateyids]

My Main staple of live football was Channel four and their coverage of Italian football so I loved Del Piero, Ravinelli and Maldini to name a few.
Also when i was younger I use to love Shearer, Owen and Cantona.

 

[michaelden]

I had big man love for Denilson the Real Betis winger not Wenger's one. Never really fulfilled his potential but boy he was skilled.

Always remember Rivaldo's chest then backward overhead kick for Barca. Was legendary skills.

And who can forget how influential Figo was in all the teams he played. Another good winger,
Sérgio Conceição

 

[Dangerous_Clive]

Used to be Football Italia every Sat/Sun on Channel 4, so mostly Italian-based players (mainly Lazio).

Mancini, Signori, Del Piero etc...

 

[Vedi]

Old Ronaldo
Zvonimir Boban
Dejan Savicevic

 

[DuDe]

A Barca player getting a standing ovation by Real's own fans says it all.

One of the best performances I have ever seen: