Here is my unbiased breakdown of what would happen if South America played Europe.

Each team i suppose would use a 4 4 2 and with two defensive midfielders.
I only listed the starters or who i consider absolute best so just because Buffon and Schimicheal are close I would give Sch. the nod because of experience for such a match.

South America Europe
GK Chivelert GK Schmicheal
LB Roberto Carlos LB Maldini
CB Ayala CB F Deboer
CB Walter Samuel CB Nesta
RB Cafu RB Bogarde

LW Rivaldo LW Giggs
CM Emerson CM Davids
CM Amedyla CM Roy Keane
RW Veron RW Beckham

ST Batistuta ST Schevechenko
ST Ronaldo (Healthy) or Salas ST Vieri

At goalkeeper without a doubt Chivelert has the better out field abilities and although close I would give him the edge. Also voted best keeper at WC 98. Schmicheal usually chokes in big matches eg against Brasil in WC 98, horrible positioning in CL final against Basler penalty.

In Defense I think the Europeans have the better center back depth but I dont think they could hold the South American strikers at bay considering their amazing pace.

The wing backs unquestionably are better in South America, since there is so much depth.

In midfield The wingers Rivaldo and Veron two of the highest paid and most respected. Rivaldo for sure on the left although Veron and Beckham are probably even.

The defensive midfielders well Keane and Davids are great but Leverkusen must have had a reason for turning down AS Romas 30+mil bid for Emerson. Also Amedyla is the best defensive midfielder in Italy. So edge to South America

Strikers well although both sides are great Ronaldo is the wild card. At his peak no defense can contain him. Europe is great but slight edge to South America with Ronaldo healthy. Otherwise even.

In the end South Americans are the better side

Does anyone else have a justifiable break down they may wanna share rather than simply writing So and So sucks.

I agree with you that European defenders have the edge, while S. Americans have the edge in mid-field and attack.

I don't agree with you as far as putting Schmeichel ahead of Khan, Buffon, Toldo, or Martyn. Also as far as S. America I would put Dida ahead of Chilavert(too bad Roa retired, he was probably better than both of them.) Also from games I saw of Barca recently, Bogarde(who is more left-center back) is playing at an atrocius level, put in Georgatos ahead of him.

Also I would rather have Tony Adams in center back, even though he is pretty old, right now he is playing great, he makes goal saving tackle almost each game he plays, just ask England...

[This message has been edited by PolishPower (edited 12-26-1999).]

Well you should win, look at the sh!tey european side you gave us, the midfield is the only good thing about it.

Defence
GK Sullivan
RB McNamara/Dixon
CB Adams
CB Stam/Karembeu
LB Campbell/Juanfran
LM Overmars/Giggsy
CM Vieira
CM Davids/Petit
RM Becks
SS Bergkamp
OS Henke

If your gonna pair us up give us a fair go eh. Not that we need it!

I ran a 20-minute game on Fifa 99 with the sides that Juninhio specified, both with 4-4-2, with one minor exception: I couldn't find Walter Samuel in Fifa 99, so I replaced him with A. Cruz of AC Milan (forgive my ignorance in not knowing his first name, and I wasn't able to find his country of origin, only that it was either Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia or Paraguay).

Game details:
World Class, Fastest Speed, 10 Minute Halves, Night, at Munich.
Bookings On, Injuries Off (there were only 11 players in each squad), Offside On, Ref Strictness Random.

Europe First, then South America
Total Shots: 2 3
Shots on Target: 2 3
Corners: 0 1
Offsides: 0 0
Bookings: 0 0
GOALS: 0 1

Half Time: Europe 0 - 0 South America
Full Time: Europe 0 - 1 South America

Goal:
South America, M. Almeyda, 86:15


Bear in mind that this is a game only 22% of the normal 90 minutes.

Tomorrow I'll run a 90 minute game with the same roster, then I'll run another 90 minute game with Goonerbhoy's European roster against the Juninhio's slightly altered South American roster.

I'll eventually run Fifa 2000 tests on them when FEd2000 comes out, because it's a real bastard trying to do all that without Fifa Editor.


Robbie

First of all ,Vieri is much better than Ronaldo(even when healthy).I dont if you noticed ,Ronaldo scored most of his goals on penalty kicks ,which proves that he lets everyone work like animals ,while he waits that someone get called in the penalty box so that he can score .The same thing goes to Amoroso.

Okay, let's keep the S americans the same.
The europeans would be
GK Schmeichel
LB Maldini
CB Adams (c)
CB Stam
RB F De boer
LM Ginola
CM Petit
CM Vieira
RM Overmars
CF Shevchenko
CF Bergkamp

Here's my breakdown
Chilavert ( is he related to the chivelert you mention ? ) is good, but just cause he takes penalties and score doesn't mean he's a brilliantd goalie. Schmeichel doesn't choke, his defence chokes him cause he relies on them like any good goalie should (eg the whole world cup ) At best I'd say this is a tie, but Schmeichel with his extra height and extra commitment in the box get's my vote.

Defensive wise I don't think that batistuta really worries anyone with his pace, nor does salas. With Adams commanding the defense and both him and stam good in the air the europeans get this one too.

Wing backs, S americans better attackers, poor defenders, europeans other way around. Tie

Wide midfielders, especially with carlos on LB I'd pick Overmars to get into great positions for scoring or setting up others. Ginola can weave some of his own Rivaldo kinda magic, but Rivaldo wasn't voted Euro player of the year for nothing. Overmars and Rivaldo then, TIE

Central midfield, Petit and Vieira make an excellent combination, and sometimes a good combination is better than 2 good players who don't combine that well. As most S american teams rely on dribbling through the midfield I can't see them getting past Vieira and Petit too easily. Creative wise Petit can be brilliant with those passes and through balls, but I'd give the slight attacking edge to the S americans. Overall, europeans have this one. Please note the amount of money offered for someone doesn't mean they are brilliant, take Nic Anelka, 23mill and a great player for Arsenal, but a complete flop for Real.

Strikers, I don't think batistuta and Salas will play well together, they're too alike. With Ronaldo there I must say that the S americans look dangerous. But with Bergkamp who can score and set up Shevchenko I'd say this one is a tie.

Overall, Europeans win.

And yes, this is biased just as much as anybody else's breakdown will be, including juninhio.

Forgot to do my breakdown,
First half,
Bergkamp Scores a hat-trick
Batistuta gets beat up by Adams and Stam
Ref and assistants were not watching
Batistuta Gets sent off for protesting

Second half,
Bergkamp Gets another hat-trick
then puts Larsson through for one

End score
9 - 0 to Europe
Bookings Batistuta, Red, 38 mins.

Um Goonerboy, first of all if their was some post about the greatest player in the world, well we all know its some Scotish third divison chap that no one ever heard of right??

Not that silly Pele guy.

Also okay the goaltending is arguable but the midfield is obvious.
The European wide men Beckham and Giggs or Georgeotos or Overmars.
Well Rivaldo is the best on the left and Veron is just as good and arguable better than Beckham on the right.

Also Keane and Davids are not as good as Emerson and Ameydela. Emerson is worth about 1.5 as much as Keane. Ameydela is the best defensive midfielder in Italy.

By the way Italy82 Vieri even said that when Ronaldo is at his best he is a potential "world beater". You often use penalties as an excuse. Well if he wins them their just as good as any goal.

Batistuta and Salas are just as good as Schevchenko.

And by the way Goonerboy if the best players in the world are in Great Britian why dont the Italians and Spaniards buy and sell their asses like hotcakes?? I mean if anyone ever got good enough he would be in Italy fast.

Simple, why leave the best league in the world?

Some unknown Scotsman eh,
Does Jimmy Johnstone ring a bell?

Scoring only does not necessarly mean your a good player .Ronaldo is a lazy bum.Let see ,if I remember he scored 10 or 11 goals last season ,at least 6 or 7 were scored on penalty shots and whats weird is that the player that was tripped in the penalty area wasnt Ronaldo ,meanwhile Vieri who missed half of the season last year scored 13 goals making him ranked 5th or 6th on the scoring list and scored only 1 goaL on penalty shot .It shows you how Vieri is much more better than that bum Ronaldo .

this is to darobsta: if you have time please simulate this game, it was the European and rest of world teams as picked by soccer weekly in poland last year, (for 1998). do it on ten minute half setting world class setting, just like last one.

Europe(3-5-2 formation):
GK: Barthez
RB:Thuram CB: Blanc LB:Lizarazu
Defensive mid: Petit(maybe put him as sweeper?)
right mid:Michael Laudrup
center mid: E. Davids
left mid: Robert Jarni
offensive mid: Zidane(maybe make him withdrawn striker?)
CFs: Owen and Suker
5 subs would be Maldini, Beckham, Bergkamp, Raul, and Deschamps
S. America (3-4-3)
GK: Roa
RB:Cafu
CB:Aldair
LB:Roberto Carlos
RM:Javier Zanetti
DM:Redondo(once again, maybe sweeper?)
LM:Rivaldo
off mid, or cm: Veron
RCF: Ronaldo
CF: Batistuta
LCF: Salas
5 subs:Sensini, Poyet, Paulo Sergio, Zamorano, Elber

Well Gooner, why doesnt England go after Veron, Salas, Nesta etc???

I mean didn't Manchester want Rivaldo just a few weeks ago??
Do you think he will really go there??
Didn't Alex Ferg. want Salas?? Salas said that England was not the best league and he wanted to stay in Italy, after him and the Chile national team beat England 2 - 0.

So quite simply if England has such great players in their league why wont the people actually nominated for awards eg. the Verons, Amedyleas, Batistuta, Elbers of the bunch go to England??

Because its a mickey mouse league.

Mickey Mouse eh,
well i believe not just english but british football is the most passionate in the world and apart from a handful of players most of them play for passion not money,

why wouldn`t Rivaldo go to ManU there the bigest club in the world?

Rivaldo is crap ,I hope no Italian teams sign him.

Speaking of Mickey Mouse leagues.

Are you a Brazilian fan.

That's why all the decent S.American players go to europe.

Anyway.
Yes europe has the better defence,and better forwards.

S.America definetley has better wing backs,wingers and strikers

and midfield is a toss up.

Attacking/Passing game i'd see the SA's winning.

Defensive/Long ball game i'd see the Europeans routing the SA's.

1) I agree completely with Woody.

2)This is regarding the first post by Juninhio. This post just...made me so angry!

-First of all, it seems like you've got half of Manchester United there. This isn't ManU vs South America!

-You say "Schmeichel chokes on big matches" and give an example of ECC 99, where he made a single mistake. Then you say Ronaldo is the best in the world "when at his peak". That's kind of unfair. Schmeichel "at his peak" could surely outkeep Chilavert. But that's not the point. Maradona, "at his peak" would be even better here but I believe we're talking about current players and current qualities...
Schmeichel has had some pretty great games, and he is still (one of) the best keepers in Europe.

-Maldini hasn't done anything substantial for a while, except for a lone championship in Italy.

I'd go on, but I just wanted to give a few examples...

-And your "unbiased" (???) opinion?
"the wing backs are unquestionably better"...

Rivaldo took a double in Spain, Veron took nothing.

Beckham and Giggs (both from Manchester? again?) took a treble.

So pal, take a deep breath and calm down, ok?

The last one: Veron took the UEFA Cup and the Italian Cup with Parma last year.

Juninho: "Almeyda", man..."Matias J Almeyda". Sorry, but he's one of the players I like a lot...so I'm trying to correct this little distortion.

Goonher, Yes...the English league does have good players. But making a team of English and Scottish stars and proclaiming it Europe's team sucks. Just one player from Holland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal AND France from the fellow's team!

As for forming such a team, someone was talking about people combining. Makes a lot of sense. Batistuta and Salas ARE very much alike and a Berkamp/Shevchenko partnership would probably have an edge. Have Owen and Shevchenko together while putting Rivaldo or Ortega behind Batistuta and the S. Americans might have an edge.

And anyway, such a match does not have a predictable result. Both the sides are evenly matched, and neither is dumb. The Eruopeans would employ strong defenders on the wings to contain S. American wingbacks, while the S. Americans might use pacy forwards like Claudio Lopez (when will he learn to beat an offside trap?) to find a way past European defenders. More than forwards, the form of playmakers like Zidane, Beckham, Rivaldo and Veron on the day would dictate the results because forwards representing such continents would not miss many chances created for them.

Forgot to compliment Robsta on his willingness to go ahead and TEST the validity of all these claims. Not that FIFA 99 will give accurate results at all unless player ratings are changed to reflect their current form, but at lease the guy is trying!

Goonerboy, i respect that you love your league. So im willing to give a hypothetical question.

Lets suppose these players had the same skill and all played in the premiership.

Rivaldo on Manchester United
Nesta on Tottenham
Vieri on Arsenal
Veron on Liverpool
Ronaldo on Manchester
Davids on Leeds
Schevchenko on West ham

or you know what put them on any team you want.

Then what does your dream team look like??

Fat Boy Thim I agree with pretty much all your saying. Football is not like hockey where goalkeeping can decide a match. I'd say your right but the strikers in South America have the advantage.

Who knows about the new Ronaldo - Ronaldinhio?? Every team in Europe is ready to bet the bank on him. Pele even said that he is the best he ever saw.

How can you compare Shevchenko to Bergkamp,I would compare more Christian Vieri to Bergkamp.Both have the same style of play .They are both tall players with a wicked shot .Shevchenko ,he is more like a Del Piero ,but more offensive.

If such a game ever took place South America would win 1-0 after a penalty shot in the 89th minute...yes it would be Ortega taking a dive that would give such a game a winner.taking into consideration that just because their all superstars doesnt mean that they will be coheisive and work as a unit (either team) therefor it would be more of a struggle than a game wich would result with numerous conflicting situations so skill would have to be replaced with cuningness and this is something argentines excell at (hand of god) and it would give them the slight advantage....

Regarding the Bergkamp,Shevchenco pertnership,
This would be a good one, Bergkamp for me has to be the fastest and smartest mind in football today he can make anyone look like a star (just look at Anelka now).

Shevchenco is a fantastic striker and can split defences so much like the Bergkamp anelka partnership bergkamp would put Shevchenco through. The only difference bieng that Shevchenco would score instead of firing it up into the cheap seats then whinging.

Juhninhio,
It would all depend on how they cope with the Brittish style. Many players come to the Prem and Shine and Many come and dissapiont it depends on the individual not their background.
As for Davids, Veron and Shevchenco i already rate them as great players.

Just look at Henrys performance at Monaco to Arsenal. And Anelka to Real.

You know .... I really wanted to say something in this discussion, but you guys must realize that neither of u can win. Even if FIFA held a S. America vs Europe game, no matter who won, there would be controversy. So just stop arguing. Europe and S America each have 8 World Cups, leave at that. When Japan 2002 comes around, then we'll see who the best Continent is. Until then, European and S American player are different in so many ways. Their heritage demands different styles than the other, and that is what makes it special to see them play. To the styles in combat, not the players. You guys should grow up.