Fantasy Football : The Nice Blokes (soccer) Quiz

Answer: Eusébio

Mozambican-born Eusébio da Silva Ferreira was the top scorer at the 1966 World Cup (nine goals) and has long been considered the best Portuguese footballer of all time. He is also one of football's "nice blokes", known for his fair play and modesty, despite the accolades.

Jack Charlton let the side down in the semi-final against Portugal, conceding a penalty that ended Banks's fabulous run as the safest keeper in the tournament. Luckily, Jack's brother, Bobby, had already scored twice, so England won a place in the final, in which they beat West Germany 4-2.

Geoff Banks, another "footballing nice bloke" that nobody seems to have ever had a bad word to say against, went on to make what has been described as the greatest save in footballing history. Many such claims are made, but considering the bloke who hit the ball and made the comment was Pelé, it demands the utmost respect. It occurred during the 1970 World Cup on the 7th June at the group stage. Pelé headed the ball so well that he thought that the out-of-position Banks would never reach it, but in a superhuman act of contortion, "safe as" Banks got it. Brazil still won the match, and the tournament, but that save entered history as the goal that Pelé didn't score.

All the other choices are top-scoring, heavily-capped Portuguese players, but none of them are old enough to have played in the 1966 FIFA World Cup, or even against Banks.

Answer: Barcelona

Guadeloupean-born Lilian Thuram started his career at Monaco in 1990, and then moved to Italian club Parma in 1996, which is where he really made a name for himself. The club won the UEFA cup in 1999. In 2001 he signed for Juventus, as did fellow Parma team-mate, goalkeeper extraordinaire (at the time) Gigi Buffon. Thuram stayed with the Torino-based club until 2006 when they were involved in a huge match-fixing scandal called "calciopoli" and he, along with other players, moved on. He went to Spanish titans Barcelona.

In his international career, Thuram won the FIFA World Cup in 1998 (France beat Brazil), and lost it in the final in 2006 to Italy. He was part of the French team that beat Italy in Euro 2000. He only scored for France twice, both in the 1998 FIFA World Cup semi-final against Croatia.

In 2008 he was diagnosed as having a rare heart condition that meant it was sensible for him to retire from professional football. He had been planning to go to Paris Saint-Germain and was on the verge of signing a contract with the club, but he never got the chance to play for them.

On the field he was known for his clean, fair play. Thuram's "nice bloke" status mainly comes from his political activism, which often involves speaking on behalf of underprivileged ethnic minorities in his native France, and it's not just chat as he has actually set up "La Fondation Lilian Thuram" which aims to fight racism through education programmes and cultural activity. Whether you agree with all his outspoken views, which can be controversial, or not, it's hard to deny that he means it and isn't just wearing armbands with "respect" written on them.

Answer: AC Milan

Paolo's father, Cesare, started his career at his home town club, Triestina, in 1952. He went to AC Milan in 1954 and stayed until 1966, when he moved to Torino. Paolo, who was born in 1968 in Milan, started his professional career at AC Milan in 1985 and stayed there until 2009, never playing professional football for any other club. At a national level, his dad was manager during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and Maldini junior was captain of the team. They didn't get beyond the quarter-finals, and Maldini senior resigned.

Neither player ever appeared for Inter Milan or Fiorentina.

Paolo's strength was not in the tackle, but in his incredible perception of positioning, and many forwards who have played against him have told of him seeming to know where they were going with the ball as much as they did. He was also well-respected by his team-mates, who talk about his maturity and calm in the face of adversity.

Paolo Maldini retired from professional football at the end of the 2008-2009 season, aged 41. He had won seven Italian leagues, five European Cups/Champions Leagues, and a ton of other silverware, but never the FIFA World Cup.

Answer: Peter Shilton

Apart from Moore's manager and teammates' touching tributes to the great man when he died in 1993, people who aren't usually complimentary about Englsih football, such as Franz Beckenbauer and Jock Stein, sang his praises. Pelé was quoted as saying Moore was "the greatest defender I ever played against. The world has lost one of its greatest football players and an honourable gentleman."

Moore bagan his professional career at West Ham United in 1958, and debuted for England in 1962 against Peru in a friendly. Just a year later he was England captain for the first time, and by 1964 he was the first choice as captain. He went on the lead his team to World Cup victory in 1966 and it was he who set up the final goal of the match, England's fourth, that Geoff Hurst scored in the 120th minute. It made it a hat-trick for Hurst, the first in World Cup history.

Peter Shilton debuted for England in 1970 against East Germany. His last game was a 2-1 loss to Italy at the 1990 World Cup battle for third place in which his mistake led to the first Italain goal. It was his one hundred and twenty-fifth cap. Shilton was never booked whilst playing for England.

Viv Anderson was the first black player to get a full game for England. He debuted for the national team in 1978.

Terry Butcher played for England seventy-seven times between 1980 and 1990.

David Beckham got one hundred and fifteen caps for England between 1996 and 2009. In 1998, whilst playing against Argentina at the World Cup, Beckham became the first England captain to get sent off.

Answer: Paraguay

The incident is pretty much the only moment that Carlos' expemplorary career has been marred, and even in this case he was the victim. However, goalkeeper Chilavert claimed Carlos had made a derogatory comment regarding his ethinc background. This claim was never confirmed, and Chilavert got a three-match ban.

Roberto Carlos started his professional career at Brazilian club União São João in 1991. He then moved to higher-profile club Palmeiras, then signed for Italian club Inter Milan in 1995. He only stayed one season due to Inter's then-manager Roy Hodgson's vision of him as a winger, whilst Carlos knew he wanted to play left-back.

His next club was Spanish giants Real Madrid with whom he signed in 1996. It was here that Carlos really earnt his name as one of the greatest left-backs of all time, and it was also the period when he found success with his national side. He made three hundred and seventy appearances for Real Madrid, and scored fourty-six goals. On a national level, between 1992 and 2006, Roberto Carlos played for Brazil one hundred and twenty-five times and scored eleven times.

Carlos left Real Madrid in 2007, went to Turkish squad Fenerbahçe for two seasons, played a season back in Brazil for Corinthians, and then went to Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala where he played a season.

Answer: Stoke City

Although loads of big clubs were interested in the young Stanley Matthews, he decided to sign with Stoke City in 1932. The club ended the season with promotion to the First Division, at that time the top tier of English football. His first goal for the club, which he netted that season, was against the team he had supported as a lad and Stoke's arch-rivals, Port Vale. Despite having become a star player, his rocky relationship with the board of Stoke City came to a head in 1947, and Matthews put in a transfer request that was accepted. He chose Blackpool as his new club, partly because he had been stationed there during World War II (in which he served in the RAF), and had made the seaside town his home.

Despite being no spring chicken, Matthews was at the top of his game whilst at Blackpool and is still a club hero. The team won the FA Cup in 1953, and the final has become known as The Matthews Final as he led the team, who were losing 3-1 to Bolton Wanderers at one point, to a thrilling victory thanks to two late goals: Stan Mortensen scored in the 89th minute, Bill Perry in the 92nd. Whilst at Blackpool, Matthews was still playing for England. In 1957 he played against Denmark in a World Cup qualifying match aged forty-two. It proved to be his last match in an England shirt as he didn't go on to play in the 1958 World Cup, although many thought he should have.

In 1961, aged forty-six years old, Matthews went back to Stoke City. During his second stint at the club he became the first English footballer to be knighted whilst still playing professionally. He retired from the game in 1965, having never received a booking.

He played for Stoke City from 1932 to 1947, then again from 1961 to 1965. He played for Blackpool from 1947 to 1961.

Matthews coached in African countries from the 1950s, through the 1960s, and most of the 1970s during the summer break. In 1975 he put together an all-black team of schoolboys, blatantly ignoring apartheid laws. He even got them a tour of Brazil.

Definitely the king of the football nice guys, Stanley Matthews could teach later upstarts with their twitter rants, tantrums and egos a trick or two about humility and decorum, and even football.

Sir Stanley Matthews died in Stoke-on-Trent in 200 aged 85 years old.

Answer: FIFA World Cup

Josep "Pep" Guardiola came from the Barcelona academy and by 1990 he was making senior first team appearances. With Barcelona he won "La Liga" in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, and 1999. He also got the Copa del Rey in 1997 and 1998. He got the European Cup in 1992 when Barcelona beat Italian club Sampdoria 1-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium.

He left the Spanish club in 2001 and signed with Italian club Brescia despite interest from much bigger names. He moved to Roma for the 2003-2004 season but his career was hampered due to his testing positive at a drug test, the findings of which he was later admonished.

He then moved to Qatar-based club Al Ahli after turning down offers from English big-name clubs such as Manchester United.

His honours as a player and as a manager are ad infinitum, and on top of all that, women often vote him the sexiest man in football, making him even more irritating, but he is so affable, erudite and charming, he's almost impossible to dislike.

Answer: He isn't eligible.

Despite the urban myth that Giggs had the choice between England and Wales, he could have only chosen between Wales and Sierra Leone thanks to his birthplace (Cardiff, Wales), Welsh ancestry (both parents), and Sierra Leonean ancestry (grandfather). He chose Wales. He did play for England Schoolboys, but the criteria are much more lax to be picked for them.

These days Giggs would get the choice, but as he had been playing for Wales' senior team for eighteen years when the eligibility rules for the England senior team changed in 2009, he was ruled out. Giggs has stated that he would never have chosen England even given the chance, although he has played for Great Britain, something that players with more fervid nationalist beliefs might not have done.

In his senior career, Giggs made his first appearance for Manchester United in 1991. Twenty years later, having made over six hundred appearances for the club, he became the first British player to win the Golden Foot award. He was also the first player from an English club to get the award.

Answer: UEFA Euro 1988

Gullit could have played for Suriname, but chose his native land The Netherlands and had his debut for the senior national team in 1981 on his nineteenth birthday. They lost 2-1 to Switzerland. The Netherlands didn't qualify for either the 1982 World Cup or the Euro 1984 competitions, the former due to Spain thrashing Malta an incredible 12-1 in a last-ditch attempt to qualify, which they did.

At the 1990 World Cup in Italy, The Netherlands were knocked out by West Germany at the round of 16 stage. West Germany went on to win the tournament.

Euro 1988 was the last tournament for the Soviet Union. The final was held in Munich, and Gullit opened the scoring in 32nd minute. Marco van Basten got a second in the 54th minute, a goal often voted as one of the best goals ever in UEFA Euro history. The Soviets got a penalty, but it was saved by Hans van Breukelen. The game ended 2-0.

Gullit retired from international football in 1994, and club football two years later. He went into management and has managed teams such as Chelsea, Newcastle United and Feyenoord.

Gullit gets his nice guy status thanks to his commitment to raising awareness about apartheid in South Africa. He made a pop song called "South Africa" in 1988, and famously dedicated his 1987 Ballon d'Or award to Nelson Mandela, who was still incarcerated at the time. Mandela is reported as later saying "Ruud, I have lots of friends now. When I was on the inside, you were one of the few."

Answer: New York Cosmos

What is there to say about Pelé that hasn't already been said? Let's stick to the facts...

Pelé's first club was his local team, Bauru Atlético Clube, with whom he played as a youth. He made his debut for Santos' senior team in 1956 when he was still just sixteen years old. He stayed with the club until 1974, appeared an incredible five hundred and eighty-nine times, and scored an equally impressive five hundred and eighty-nine goals.

When he went to New York Cosmos he was well past his prime and acting as much as an ambassador for the sport in the USA as a player. Nevertheless, he appeared fifty-six times and scored thirty-one goals. He left the club as a player in 1977, but continued with his work as ambassador for the beautiful game. Positive appraisal from the great man, despite not being sought out, has been a pinnacle of many players' careers, and the FIFA 100, Pelé's 2004 "greatest living footballers" list, is an honorable, if somewhat controversial, testament to some of the games' top-names.

Answer: FIFA World Cup 1986

The 1986 FIFA World Cup was held in Mexico. Gary Lineker got a hat-trick, which was a first for an English player at a World Cup, against Poland at the group stage, a brace against Paraguay in the round of sixteen, and one against Argentina in the infamous quarter-final that Argentina won 2-1. He was the only player to get six goals in the tournament. Argentina's Diego Maradona, Brazil's Careca, and Spain's Emilio Butragueño got five each. The number of goals at FIFA World Cups has generally followed a downward trend over the years, and although six seems paltry compared to Just Fontaine's thirteen goals in the 1958 World Cup, in 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998's World Cups the topscorer bagged six goals.

At Euro 1988, Lineker was in the England team, but didn't score a single goal. At the 1990 World Cup, he got four goals. England were knocked out by Germany in the semi-finals, after which our Gary came out with his much-quoted comment "Football is a simple game; twenty-two men chase a ball for ninety minutes and at the end, the Germans win."

At Euro 1992 England scored just one goal (David Platt), against Sweden. The latter proved to be Lineker's last game and he was subbed in the 62nd minute. The substitution was like a slap in the face for Lineker who was eager to match, or even overtake, Bobby Charlton's record.

Lineker never picked up either a yellow or red card in his professional career and is often referred as "Mr Nice Guy", although following his exploitation of this image in adverts for a well-known brand of snacks, he has been labelled "Crisp Man" by The Fall's singer/mainman, Mark E. Smith.

Answer: Leeds United & South Africa

Radebe is a Leeds United hero, and a suite at Elland Road (Leeds United's ground) is named after him. He joined the club from South African club Kaizer Chiefs in 1994, and although he wasn't an immediate hit, his reputation grew solidly and by 1998 he was captaining the team. The club was doing well under his captaincy, getting a place in the 1999-2000 UEFA cup, and then in the 2000-2001 Champions League. Unfortunately, Radebe was kept out of football for almost two years due to injuries, and by the time he came back Leeds United had begun their infamous spiral downwards.

As captain of South Africa he led his team through the group stages of 1998 World Cup held in France, and the 2002 edition in South Korea and Japan. In the latter, Radebe scored one of his rare goals, against Spain no less, but South Africa didn't get beyond the group stage, where they finished third, just as they had four years previously. However, back in 1996, Radebe had been a member of the African Cup of Nations' winning squad, having beaten Tunisia in the final.

Radebe has never played for either Manchester United or AC Milan, although both clubs were reported to have been interested in signing him. Senegal, Cameroon and Nigeria all qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Answer: "Il Gigante Buono" (The Gentle Giant)

John Charles was one of those rare players who could play in defence, midfield, or as a forward. Whilst playing for Juventus, Charles was employed as a centre forward, and in his first season with the club he became the Serie A's top-scorer. He stayed five seasons, made one hundred and fifty-five appearances, and scored ninety-three goals. Whilst with Juventus, the club won Italian league three times, and the Italian Cup twice.

In 1997, "Il Gigante Buono" was voted the club's best-ever foreign player. He got the nickname "The Gentle Giant" thanks to his impeccable behaviour, in deed throughout his whole professional career spanning twenty-four years, he never picked up a caution or any cards.

Charles was one of the first British players to go and play abroad, and when he went back to Leeds United in 1962 he found it hard to fit back in. He played just eleven games, then went to Roma for the rest of the season. On his return to the UK he joined Cardiff City.

Answer: Rose Bowl, California, USA

The 1994 FIFA World Cup Final was a pretty dull affair, with a nil-nil score after extra time and ending up with penalties. Franco Baresi was the first up for the Italians, and he whacked way high, then Brazilian Márcio Santos' penalty was saved by Gianluca Pagliuca. Brazilians Romário, Branco and Dunga all scored, as did Albertini, and Evani. However, Daniele Massaro's fluff meant that Baggio had to score to keep the Italians in the game. He booted it high, and they lost.

Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA had hosted the 1994 quarter-final between Italy and Spain that the Italians won 2-1. Stadio delle Alpi in Turin hosted the 1990 semi-final between England and West Germany, which the Germans won on penalties. The Germans went on to win the tournament at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, beating Argentina 1-0.

Baggio made his name as an international player during the 1990 World Cup, despite being used mostly as a sub in accordance with the (later-broken) Italian tradition of being hesitant to field youngsters for big matches. He netted a fabulous goal against Czechoslovakia that is still revered by hardcore football enthusiasts. He was one of the Italian players to bag his goal against Argentina in the penalty shoot-out that decided one semi-final, but it was to no avail and the Italians were knocked out. Part of his nice bloke status comes from his refusal to take a penalty in the third-place match when he let Salvatore Schillaci take it, so that Schillaci would get the top-scorer award.

Answer: Paris Saint-Germain

After the affair, Ossie Ardiles insisted that Tottenham Hotspur had put no pressure on him (or fellow Argentine Ricardo Villa) to leave the club, but that it was a personal choice. Ardiles himself has stated in interviews that he couldn't deal with the fact that his native land and his beloved adopted country were at war.

His season at the French side wasn't very productive, and the sensitive-soul blamed the war for his lack of concentration. Indeed, he only played for the club fourteen times, and scored one goal. He was soon back in England, and he stayed with Spurs until 1988.

In 1989 he went into management at Swindon Town, but despite his amazing results that got the club into the top-tier of English football, the club was denied promotion due sanctions incurred because of crookedness on an administrative level. Nevertheless, he got a name for himself as a manager willing to sacrifice defense in favour of attack.

About the red herrings; in 1989, towards the end of his career, Ardiles signed for Fort Lauderdale Strikers, where he made five appearances. He managed Tokyo Verdy from 2003 to 2005. He played for Club Atlético Belgrano before coming to England.