Bettor.com's Football Team of the Decade: Centre Forward (Part 2)
In this part, we look at the ideal partner of Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry. A goal poacher with a stunning goal record is what exactly we are looking for. Here are the nominees:
Ruud Van Nistelrooy:
The Dutchman has scored goals where ever he has been. He impressed during his time at PSV where he won two Dutch league titles towards the end of the last century. However, he made a name for himself when he moved to Manchester United for a then British record fee of 19 million pounds in 2001.
He settled into the life in England with complete ease, scoring 36 goals in his debut season. His second season at Manchester United was the best of his career as he amassed a total of 44 goals, won the Premier League, and was named PFA Player of the year. He was also the top scorer both in England and in Europe.
He is second on the list of all time top goal scorers in the Champions League. He was twice the top scorer in Champions League during his time with Manchester United.
Van Nistelrooy moved to Real Madrid in 2006, after he fell out with manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The move proved to be a success as Van Nistelrooy continued to do what he does best i.e. scoring goals. He won the Pichichi trophy in his first season in Spain, for scoring 25 league goals.
After an excellent first season in La Liga, Van Nistelrooy was troubled by injuries in his next two and a half years in Madrid. He then moved to Hamburg in the January of 2010.
Van Nistelrooy is all about goal scoring. A career total of 339 from 541 says it all about the goal scoring ability of the Dutchman.
Raul Gonzalez:
A veteran of 740 matches for a club like Real Madrid, tells us quite a bit about the quality of Raul Gonzalez. He is three time Champions League winner and is the competition's all time top scorer.
Raul made his first team debut in 1994 and has been a constant fixture in Madrid’s starting line-up since then. He took over the captaincy in 2003 and enjoyed his best time at the club in 2000/01 season. That season, Raul scored 31 goals in all competitions and won the Champions League with the club.
He has been named UEFA club forward of the year twice in the last decade in 2001 and 2002. Raul also came second in European Player of the year award in 2001 and won Bronze in FIFA World Player of the year award in 2001 as well.
Raul’s goal scoring ability might not be as good as some of the other top European strikers but his all round game was what made him a fan favourite for the Los Blancos.
Raul is also Spain’s all time leading goal scorer with 44 in 102 matches. He is second in the list of most appearances for the national team.
Raul moved to Schalke last summer after 16 years in Madrid. He will always be remembered for his passionate displays, never say die attitude and his exceptional leadership skills.
Ronaldo:
Pele and Maradona will always remain at the top of the tree of all time greats but if there was ever a player who came closest to them, than it has to be this man (along with Zidane). The Brazilian had magic in his feet. We have seen Brazilians with bags of tricks but add to that exceptional amount of goals and you get a legend in Ronaldo.
Ronaldo started his career in 1993 and won two FIFA World Player of the year awards in 1990s. He was widely regarded as the best player in the World during his time with Inter Milan.
However, a couple of knee injuries meant that he only managed 17 league games in 3 seasons for Inter. He moved to Real Madrid after winning the World Cup with Brazil in 2002.
At the end of that year, he won the FIFA World Player of the year award for the third time in his career. We can have a separate article on his personal achievements but the major ones include his Ballon d’Or award in 2002, La Liga’s top scorer award in 2003/04 season. Ronaldo was Seria A player of the decade (1997-2007). He is the all time top scorer in World Cup history.
Ronaldo is the only player to have played for the biggest Spanish rivals, Barcelona and Real Madrid as well as Italian rivals, Inter and AC Milan.
Ronaldo is truly the greatest striker of the modern era. It was not just about his goals, it was the manner in which he scored them. Beating a man was too easy for him and he could finish with both right and left foot with ease. Ronaldo truly was a master of his trade and was always going to make in our team of the decade.
Verdict: Second centre forward of the decade = Ronaldo
Here is our TEAM OF THE DECADE (4-4-2):
Buffon
Cafu Nesta Cannavaro Maldini
Makelele
Figo Ronaldinho
Zidane
Henry Ronaldo
Tags: