The class of 1949

The star names on the teamsheet is Ruud Krol regarded as one of the best defenders of all time and Peter Shilton, considered by pundits to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world in his prime. But other than that it's a team with players, who is just behind the very best and playing for the second string teams of the era of the 70's and early 80's.

With few very good strikers on the bench in Henning Jensen, Leopoldo Luque, Quini and Nené. There is a lot of depth of quality in attack in this yearbook.

GK: Peter Shilton; 2x European champion and 1x English champion with Nottingham Forest. He's the most capped player for the England national team with 125. He retired at the age of 47, having competed in over 1,000 professional matches.

RB: Ze Mariá; a non-playing member of the 1970 brazilian World Cup winners but gained his place in the team after the tournament winning 46 caps.

CB: Morten Olsen; 3x Belgian champion with whom he also won the 1983 Uefa Cup. He is one of only two persons ever in football to achieve 100 national matches for his country both as player as well as coach. Olsen is characterized as the most important player in the history of danish football.

CB: Martin Buchan; 456 appearances for Manchester United and winning the 1977 FA Cup. He took over the captaincy after the legendary Bobby Charlton.

LB: Ruud Krol; 3x European champion and 6x Dutch champion with the great Ajax team of the 70's. Captained the team from 1975-80. 2x World Cup runner-up with Holland.

RM: Franco Causio; 6x Italian champion with Juventus and a substitute when Italy won the 1982 World Cup. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest ever wingers and given this nickname because of his stylish moves on the pitch.

CM: Clodoaldo; 1970 World Cup winner with Brazil. Scoring in the semi-final and contributed to the famous Carlos Alberto goal in the final.

CM: Paulo "Caju" Cesar; used as a substitute when Brazil won the 1970 World Cup. Won 57 caps in an era with great players as Pelé, Rivelino, Jairzinho and Tostao.

LM: Teofilo Cubillas; played for Porto in the mid-70's scoring 48 goals in 85 games. Renowned for his technique, shooting ability and free kick ability. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS* poll. Won a lot of individuel awards ranking him among the best players of the century.

FW: Klaus Fischer; a prolific german goalscorer, ranked 2nd of the most scoring players in the Bundesliga. he was noted for his bicycle kicks and scored a spectacular overhead kick equalizer in extra-time of a 1982 World Cup semi-final against France. He also scored the goal of year in 1977, also a bicycle kick, against Switzerland. This was later voted as goal of the century**.

FW: John Toshack; 3x English champion and 2x UEFA cup winner with Liverpool. Noted for his partnership with Kevin Keegan and Steve Heighway.

Substitutes: Émerson Leão, Ronnie Hellström, Evgeniy Lovchev, Pat Rice, Quini, Nené, Leopoldo Luque, Henning Jensen

*International Federation of Football History & Statistics

** https://www.sportschau.de/sendung/tdm/archiv/chronik70er/november77tdm100.html

-The XI is based on one player for each position born in the given year.
-All XI’s is made with regards of balance in the team.
-Well known players who are left out will be named on the bench, for a better view on the generations strength. Therefore this should not be a discussion on each player individuel or if they should be on the XI.