Who makes the all-time Football Manager cult XI?

Published on: 24 November 2019

Alexis Nunes presents four Liverpool players and manager Jurgen Klopp with their respective FC 100 awards.

The Football/Championship Manager game has brought our attention to some of the best players around over the years, but it's also responsible for some of the biggest flops (sorry Freddy Adu).

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Jump to: Neymar celebrates Flamengo win | Chivas keeper scores a goal

To celebrate the launch of Football Manager 2020 last week we've assembled an all-conquering team of bona fide cult legends and gems who have graced the franchise over the years.

GK: Dionisis Chiotis

In reality, Chiotis enjoyed a decent career and even managed to win one cap for Greece. However, his FM alter ego quickly became an unbeatable giant betwixt the sticks in the 2001-02 game after he was plucked from AEK Athens.

RB: Anthony Vanden Borre

Available from Anderlecht for a minimal fee in the 2007-08 game, Vanden Borre proved more than strong and versatile enough to build a Champions League winning side around -- which is quite an accolade for a right-back.

CB: Michael Duff

The definition of rock solid. Teenager Duff was easily procured from Cheltenham Town in the earlier Championship Manager games and routinely became a staple of countless Football League back fours.

LB: Taribo West

Available on a bargain free transfer at the beginning of the 2001-02 edition, the Nigerian behemoth quickly became even more dominant and foreboding that his real life counterpart who played for both Inter an AC Milan.

CM: Mark Kerr

Kerr was the stuff of legend in 2001-02. A hard-working Scottish central midfielder who was available for peanuts from Falkirk and could soon out-run, out-pass and out-play almost all of his contemporaries.

CM: Nii Lamptey

One of the original hidden gems in Championship Manager 1993-94, attacking midfielder Lamptey boasted a 20/20 pace rating with flair and creativity stats to match. It didn't require much cash to lure him to your club either but the Ghanaian ended his real life career in South Africa after disappointing spells at Villa and Coventry.

AM: Tonton Zola Moukoko

One of the most renowned and revered cult heroes in FM folklore, once recruited from Derby County, Moukoko could almost guarantee you at least 20 goals a season from his advanced midfield position. In real life, he never played for Derby once and he spent most of his career in Scandinavia.

FW: Kennedy Bakircioglu

It took less than a couple of million to sign Bakircioglu from Hammarby in the 2000-01 game and, deployed properly in his preferred position just behind the striker, he'd soon repay you with a consistent glut of goals. Arguably, he had the best real career of anyone on this list with success at Ajax and Hammarby IF on his CV.

FW: Freddy Adu

One of FM's most famed wonderkids, Adu was just 14 years old in the 2003-04 game which made securing him a work permit a fruitless nightmare. However, patience and perseverance were eventually rewarded when he blossomed into THE GREATEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD BAR NONE just a few years later. Then everything went wrong.

ST: Maxim Tsigalko

Those 2001-02 managers who scoured Belarus for talent were able to unearth Tsigalko, who was capable of hitting triple figures for goals in the space of just one season. Well worth the £2m investment it took to pinch him from Dinamo Minsk, but the real life stirker ended his career aged 26 because of injuries.

ST: Cherno Samba

Also known as the first player you signed after loading up Championship Manager 2001-02 for the first time. The Millwall schoolboy soon developed into an insanely powerful target man, capable of ravishing even the strongest of opposition defences on his own. But he was nowhere near that in reality and retired in 2015 after a stint in the Norwegian Second Division.

Neymar celebrates Flamengo win

PSG and Brazil star Neymar certainly enjoyed Flamengo's Copa Libertadores victory over River Plate on Saturday night.

Brazilian side Flamengo produced two last-gasp goals to overcome the defending champions 2-1 in the final in Lima, with Gabriel Barbosa, known as "Gabigol" and on loan from Inter Milan, netting the vital goals to give the Rio de Janeiro giants their first Libertadores crown in 38 years.

But why is Neymar so excited, you may ask? Especially seeing as he used to play for Santos, and won the Copa with them in 2011.

Well, never underestimate the power of Brazilian nationalism, especially when playing against eternal rivals Argentina, plus his sister is Gabigol's girlfriend.

Neymar is also something of a Flamengo fan and told Canal Esporte Interativo back in 2017: "I have a lot of desire to one day play for Flamengo, with the Maracana full, playing in the Copa Libertadores. I still have strong sentiments towards Santos. But they went to court against me [after he left to join Barcelona] and I still don't know why. There is a lot the people don't know about."

Viva O mais querido do Brasil (The most beloved of Brazil).

Chivas goalkeeper scores goal

It's always fun when a goalkeeper scores at the other end and Chivas goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez can write his name in history now alongside some of the greats.

Rodriguez scored from his own penalty area with the Veracruz keeper Sebastian Jurado up for a late corner and the score standing at 2-1.

Top marks for accuracy.

Source: espn.co.uk

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