All posts by n8rngtd.top

The pace bowler continued to be one of the standout performers of the season to push his Ashes case

Andrew McGlashan08-Nov-2021Scott Boland’s superb early-season form ensured Victoria overcame a herculean effort from opener Daniel Hughes to secure their second victory of the season over New South Wales.It took to inside the final hour until New South Wales’ resistance was finally broken when Boland trapped Liam Hatcher lbw to break a ninth-wicket stand that had spanned 25 overs and then he soon removed the injured Trent Copeland to wrap up the match.Hughes, who took numerous blows on the body and an additional one on the foot when James Pattinson hurled the ball back at him, was left unbeaten on 89 from 319 deliveries as he carried his bat. He was not dismissed by a bowler in the game having been run out in the first innings and in total faced 451 balls in the contest – the most in his career.Victoria were strongly placed at the start of the day with New South Wales already three down but they could not break through in the morning session against Hughes and Jack Edwards although Hughes had a life when he was caught at short leg off a Pattinson no-ball.However, after the break Boland – who has put his name in the frame for Australia selection – produced a beauty to take Edwards’ off stump and quickly found the edge of Lachlan Hearne with some late movement. He thought he had Hughes moments later with a brute of a bouncer that was fended to slip but it was given not out with replays inconclusive.Matt Short removed Sean Abbott moments before the new ball which was then shared by Boland and Pattinson. Late in the second session, Hughes played a delivery back to Pattinson who rocketed a throw into Hughes’ boot which left the batter in pain and angry. Words were exchanged although tempers appeared to have calmed when players returned after the break.Hughes and Peter Nevill ate into the final session before Mitch Perry trapped Nevil on the crease with one that nipped back. Perry struck again in his next over when Nathan Lyon clipped one firmly to short leg where James Seymour clung on with some help from his sweater.At that point the result appeared a formality, but Hughes and Hatcher repelled the Victoria attack. Hughes attempted to farm the strike where he could while Hatcher withstood strongly until Boland had the final say.

Dhoni also said they didn’t have the kind of openers who would target 60 runs in the powerplay

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-20251:36

Bangar: ‘CSK are in tatters at the moment’

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni wants his team to “look deep down inside” after they lost their fifth straight game in IPL 2025. CSK were trounced by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by eight wickets with nearly ten overs to spare in a chase of 104.”I think it’s quite a few nights haven’t gone our way,” Dhoni told the broadcaster after the loss. “What’s important is to look deep down inside. I feel the challenge was there. But it’s important to accept that challenge, figure out ways how you’ll tackle the difficult deliveries, and then look to get runs on the board. Today, I felt we didn’t really have enough runs on the board.”Not nearly enough. CSK posted only 103 – their lowest total ever at Chepauk – after being put in to bat by KKR. Before Friday’s game, CSK had been chasing in all five games and Dhoni had even said after losing the toss that he wanted to bat first. But a change in ideas didn’t change CSK’s fortunes.Related

• Outdated CSK near a point of no return

• CSK suffer fifth loss on the trot as KKR register monster win

• CSK's lowest totals: where does the collapse against KKR rank?

• Edge or no edge – MS Dhoni lbw stirs up debate

In the first innings, the pitch was not easy to bat on. KKR seamer Vaibhav Arora swung the new ball away from left-hand openers Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway, and offspinner Moeen Ali found turn immediately when he was given the second over. The ball also stopped a bit in the pitch, which forced some miscued shots. CSK crawled to 31 for 2 in the powerplay before slipping to their third-lowest score in the IPL.”Yes, it did [stop] but it has been the case over here,” Dhoni said about the surface. “Whenever we bowled first, even in the second innings, it stopped a bit. But today in the first innings also it was stopping. But also, if you lose too many wickets, it looks very different because it puts pressure on the batsman who is going in, and with quality spinners it becomes slightly difficult. And we never really got any kind of partnerships going. So that also makes it tough. I feel overall a bit more partnerships, a bit more runs, a bit more application, and we’ll be on track.”When asked what message he would pass on to his batters whose slow returns have made CSK the slowest starters in powerplays this season, Dhoni said: “What is important is to also see the conditions. I feel there have been couple of games where we have done decently well. But what is important is to back your strength and play the shots that you can play.”What is important is our openers are good openers, and they just need to back themselves and play authentic cricket shots. They’re not the ones who will start slogging or look to hit across the line. But what is also important is not to get desperate seeing the scoreboard. You need, maybe one or two boundaries and run rate keeps on going. If you start looking for 60 in six overs with our line-up, it will be very difficult for us. It’s important to get partnerships going, maybe look to capitalise in the middle and the later overs. That’s what our strength will be. But if we lose too many wickets, the middle order needs do their role differently and the slog has been delayed for quite a while.”It’s also the first time CSK have lost three consecutive games at home in a single IPL season. The loss to KKR took them to a new low as it was the biggest margin of defeat for them in the IPL in terms of balls remaining, the 59 left in the KKR chase beating the previous record – Mumbai Indians (MI) beating CSK with 46 balls left in 2020. They are, however, not at the bottom of the points table, being placed ninth, just above Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with a marginally better net run-rate.

Honors even in Derby as four visiting batters register half-centuries in follow-on innings

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay28-Apr-2025Ryan Higgins found his form at just the right time to save Middlesex from defeat on the final day of the Rothesay County Championship Division Two match against Derbyshire at Derby.Higgins scored 56, his first fifty of the season, sharing a seventh wicket stand of 75 from 155 balls with Zafar Gohar who was unbeaten on 52 off 108 balls to take Middlesex to 307 for 7, 150 ahead, when the teams shook hands on a draw.Max Holden with 94 and Stephen Eskinazi, 61, had added 169 for the second wicket only to throw their wickets away in the last over before lunch.Derbyshire’s hopes lifted when the visitors slipped to 220 for 6 but Higgins and Gohar stood firm to deny them although the draw takes them to second place, 13 points behind leaders Leicestershire.Middlesex started the morning 97 runs behind needing to bat deep into the day to deny Derbyshire victory.Their first objective was to deny the hosts early wickets on a pitch that was offering turn and Eskinazi and Holden started well although both had moments of good fortune.Eskinaz edged Blair Tickner between first and second slip to the third man boundary before Holden was given a reprieve on 46. He swept Jack Morley hard to short mid-wicket where Tickner could only parry the ball in front of his face.It was a tough chance withTickner doing well to get his hands up to protect himself and the rest of the session was largely uneventful until Middlesex inexplicably pressed the self-destruct button in the last over before lunch.Holden had passed 500 runs for the season and was closing on a third century in seven innings when he went for a big slog sweep at Morley and was bowled.Perhaps he was trying to get to three figures before the interval but given the game situation it was an irresponsible dismissal.What followed bordered on farce as Leus du Plooy, batting with a runner, drove the ball towards the cover boundary where Harry Came’s return to the bowler’s end ran out Eskinazi who had raced down the pitch looking for a third run.Those two dismissals had opened the door for Derbyshire who gave it another firm shove after the interval.Du Plooy injured his right foot batting in the first innings and a Tickner yorker struck his left foot in line to send him hobbling back to the pavilion.Four runs later, Ben Geddes got an inside edge off Alex Thomson onto pad and Caleb Jewell dived at leg slip to take the catch.Chappell then produced a beauty to have Jack Davies caught behind but Gohar and Higgins got to tea with Middlesex 86 ahead.Derbyshire took the second new ball but the pair continued to steer their side towards safety until Higgins swept Thomson to deep square leg with the visitors 138 ahead.But Gohar completed his 50 with his second six and Derbyshire called off the chase with 15 overs remaining.

But it’s a bowling attack that’s going great guns, with Prasidh Krishna – “he’s bowling with good heat” – at the top of the Purple Cap table at the moment

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-20252:44

Boucher: Strange that Sai Kishore only got one over

We are 36 matches into IPL 2025, and the Purple Cap table is led by a Gujarat Titans (GT) man, one of his team-mates is at No. 6 on that list, and another is at No. 9. Between them, the three of them – Prasidh Krishna, R Sai Kishore and Mohammed Siraj – have 36 wickets in seven games each. But after Saturday’s win over Delhi Capitals (DC), the most interesting talking point was perhaps the overs Sai Kishore wasn’t given a chance to bowl.”It was quite strange,” Ambati Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut after the game. Sai Kishore bowled just one over in the game. It was the last over of the DC innings. He gave away just nine runs and got the wicket of the big-hitting Ashutosh Sharma. With Rashid Khan hardly setting the IPL on fire – he had none for 38 this time – why hide Sai Kishore away?”Given the conditions – it was an afternoon game – you would expect the ball to grip a little bit, especially with the new ball when the seam is hard and slightly elevated,” Rayudu said. “He should have bowled at least one over in the powerplay and definitely through the middle. He’s been their best spinner so far; he’s been bowling better than Rashid in this competition. Doesn’t make sense to me.”Related

• Spinners' resurgence in IPL 2025: Lengths and speeds the key, says Chawla

• Boss Buttler and the art of ball hitting bat

• Buttler told Tewatia 'don't look at my hundred'

• Buttler bosses the chase to power GT to No. 1

The answer, not unsurprisingly, could be match-ups, since the left-handed Axar Patel was batting from the fifth over onwards, till the 18th, and Nicholas Pooran, a left-hand batter like Axar, had given Sai Kishore a hiding in GT’s previous match – he ended with 1.3-0-35-0.”Spooked by match-ups and perhaps what’s happened before. I think the last time we saw him bowl, [he was] put under the pump, but it was Pooran. And that’s why we’re all scratching our heads, going ‘why didn’t he give him a go?’ Especially when three of your topline seamers are all going at more than ten runs an over,” Mark Boucher said on the same show.”Even if he’s bowling to a match-up like Axar, he’s still got the mindset that ‘I can bowl it outside his eyeline’ and I think he might still have created opportunity there. Yes, your best spinner in the competition at the moment and he only bowled one over, in a day game – it is very strange not to have given him the opportunity, or a better opportunity.”With Rashid well off his best, Shubman Gill, the GT captain, might have a job to do to make sure Sai Kishore doesn’t lose his confidence.”One of the biggest things as a spinner is the knowledge of your captain backing you in situations,” Boucher said. “There are certain times when, unfortunately, you’re going to have to bowl against a left-hander. And you get put under pressure. But the one thing as a captain you can do is go to him and say, ‘listen, I know it’s a match-up you don’t enjoy but you’re actually bowling really well, picking up wickets, so just bowl your best ball to him; you’re clever enough to bowl balls and deliveries that are going to make it tough for him to hit’.”On the day, Gill didn’t think so. And they won in the end to go to the top of the table, so who can question the plan?1:30

Rayudu: Prasidh a great prospect for India going forward

Boucher: ‘Prasidh is bowling with good heat’

The bowler who is only providing answers to GT is Prasidh. He started with a wicketless game, but has been a star since, the constant in an attack that is often shuffled around based on conditions. On Saturday, he went off his plan of bowling into the pitch for a moment and bowled one of the deliveries of the tournament, nailing the inswinging yorker to KL Rahul and catching the batter lbw.”He looks in great rhythm. His strength is hitting the pitch hard, but the ball he has bowled to KL Rahul was quite surprising and also it moved right at the end,” Rayudu said. “He surprised KL Rahul, and he has a lot of variations – his slower ball is quite effective as well. I think he’s a great prospect not only for GT but for India also going forward.”Prasidh had been out with an injury for the longest time, but made an impressive comeback in the Sydney Test against Australia earlier this year, picking up six wickets, and hasn’t looked back.”I think he really enjoys bowling with Siraj in his team. He takes a bit of pressure off him, as a sort of wicket-taker,” Boucher said. “His pace is up. He gets good bounce obviously because of his height. He’s also getting nice and tight to off stump when he’s delivering. So the ball doesn’t have to do a lot.”KL’s ball didn’t swing a lot, but just swung enough. I think he’s high on confidence at the moment, his release points are good, he’s bowling with good heat, and it’s a great position for him to be in and it’s a great position for GT to have a guy who’s not taking the new ball but is coming in the middle overs and taking wickets for them.”

Matty Hirst makes 51 as rock-bottom hosts recover from another ropey start

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay16-May-2025Luke Wells’ first century of the season soothed Lancashire’s current pain and helped them just about shade the opening day of their Rothesay County Championship match against Derbyshire at Emirates Old Trafford.The home side’s players began the day at the bottom of Division Two and with their director of cricket Mark Chilton’s warning that he would make the changes necessary to get their season “back on track” fresh in their minds.But new skipper Marcus Harris’s batsmen took advantage of the invitation to have first use of a what looks a good cricket wicket to finish on 250 for five with Wells making 141 and Matty Hurst, 51.The pair but on 121 but a run-rate of 2.6 suggests Lancashire will do well to collect three batting bonus points. Derbyshire, who began the day in second place, might therefore be happy with their efforts to contain Lancashire’s batsmen. The impressive Ben Aitchison finished the day with three for 51 and the New Zealander, Blair Tickner, took two for 59.In the morning session, Lancashire recovered from the loss of Keaton Jennings and Josh Bohannon with just 11 runs on the board to reach 67 for two at lunch.
Jennings, who stepped down as four-day captain earlier this week, was caught at second slip by Wayne Madsen off Tickner for two and Bohannon was pouched by wicketkeeper Brooke Guest for three when he tickled a Aitchison delivery down the leg side.Resuming in the afternoon on 40, Wells took only seven deliveries to reach a 92-ball half-century, his progress assisted by successive boundaries off Aitchison. Indeed, the temper of the day changed in the first half-hour or so of the session as the third-wicket pair rattled up 47 runs in ten overs.That progress was immediately halted when Harris fished at the next ball from Tickner and Madsen clung on to a high two-handed catch above his head. The dismissal of Lancashire’s new skipper for 45 ended his 103-run stand with Wells and it greatly slowed the home side’s momentum without seriously disrupting it.Wells and Hurst had put on 51 for the fourth wicket at tea, by which time the Lancashire opener was 14 short of his century and the Derbyshire attack had done well to restrict the home side to a modest scoring rate.Three balls after the resumption, Harry Came’s wayward throw presented Wells with the four overthrows that took him into the nineties and he reached his 27th first-class century and his ninth for Lancashire with a cover-driven four off the former Lancashire slow left-armer, Jack Morley. He had faced 212 balls and hit 13 fours.Hurst reached his fifty off 129 deliveries but was beaten off the pitch and bowled by Aitchison two balls later. That ended his 121-run stand with Wells and four overs later the same bowler produced a vicious lifter to have the former Sussex batsman caught in the gully by Caleb Jewell.

Goal takes at a look at the bright young talents waiting in the wings at United, including some who have already made an impression on Jose Mourinho

Manchester United have a long history of producing players through their storied academy, with 3,912 consecutive first-team games stretching back to October 1937 featuring at least one former member of their youth system in the squad.

The likes of Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Scott McTominay have been regulars in the United senior ranks this term as that trend continues, but the prospects remain good for a longer-term presence as well thanks to the strides being made by some of their current academy stars.

Kieran McKenna's free-scoring under-18s have remained largely unaffected by the graduation of many of their better players to Ricky Sbragia's under-23 squad, and that in itself says much about the quality on display in the younger ranks.

Below,  Goal  looks at 10 of the greatest teenage talents in the Manchester United system.

• Getty
  

  Aidan Barlow

  A goal-scoring attacking midfielder, Barlow is one of the most exciting young players on United’s books. He thrust himself into the spotlight with a hat-trick against Newcastle and two belters against Liverpool in the latter stages of a 2016-17 under-18 campaign in which he ended as top scorer and has netted nine more times this term. Few 18-year-olds exhibit such confidence with the ball at their feet.

• Getty
  

  Tahith Chong

  After overcoming a serious knee injury, Chong has recently made the step up to the reserve ranks and has continued to sparkle. His strength, speed and rangy running style make for a wonderful vision on the ball and he also possesses fantastic footballing instinct, rarely switching off and often making opposition sides pay for lapses of concentration.

  The Dutchman clearly has a fantastic future in the game, and his fearlessness makes him a great team-mate to have for those in the final third.

  Read our in-depth profile here: Who is Tahith Chong? The Man Utd starlet closing in on first-team debut

• Getty
  

  Angel Gomes

  With two first-team substitute appearances already under his belt, the 17-year-old is well known to Manchester United fans as one of their stars of the future. His wonderful ability on the ball and priceless vision more than make up for his diminutive stature, and he has made a seamless rise to reserve team football this season.

  No youngster is guaranteed to become a star at first-team level, but the England under-18 international appears destined to be a household name in the future.

  Read our in-depth profile here: Who is Angel Gomes? The Man Utd wonderkid with a big future

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty
  

  Mason Greenwood

  Some players spend their entire career attempting to master the ability to control a ball the way Greenwood can with his wand of a left foot. His rise in prominence in the under-18s this season has seen him net 15 goals in 17 appearances, including seven in his last four games as he has been employed as a centre-forward rather than his previous slot as a number 10.

  Still just 16, he has plenty more time to learn his trade but hopes are high for him.

  Read our in-depth profile here: Who is Mason Greenwood? Introducing the 16-year-old star turn of Man Utd's academy title win

Ahead of this weekend's huge derby at the Etihad, Goal selects a side made up of the best players from City and United based on their form this season

• David de Gea

  Ederson has been a key signing for Manchester City, the composed and talented sweeper-keeper that Pep Guardiola requires for his style of possession football. However, while De Gea is not quite as good with his feet, there is arguably no shot-stopper in world footballer with better hands.

  Despite playing behind an inferior defence and having to deal with far more shots on his goal, Spain's No.1 has kept two more clean sheets (16) than Ederson, made fewer mistakes leading to goals (zero to two), while his save percentage is also superior (80.99% to 70%).

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  Kyle Walker

  Antonio Valencia has been a decent performer for Manchester United but Kyle Walker has been so good that pundits are no longer questioning City's decision to pay an initial £45 million for a full-back. The former Tottenham ace has been a key man for Guardiola's side, providing width and penetration out wide, without ever neglecting his defensive duties.

  Indeed, while he may have had a nightmare in European competition at Anfield on Wednesday night, no defender has provided more Premier League assists (6) than Walker, who also boasts a very impressive pass success rate of 87.81%.

• Getty
  

  Nicolas Otamendi

  There have still been occasional errors and he was poor against Liverpool in the Champions League but, for the most part, Nicolas Otamendi has been a player transformed this season, a rock at the back for City, as illustrated by his impressively high tackle success rate (73.58%) in the English top flight. The Argentine centre-half has also posed a threat at the other end of the pitch, netting four goals (Chelsea wing-back Marcos Alonso is the only defender to have racked up more), including the opener in City's win in the corresponding fixture at Old Trafford.

  However, it is his efficient and effective use of the ball which has most impressed Guardiola, with Otamendi boasting an incredible 91.92% pass success rate.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Adrian Dennis
  

  Vincent Kompany

  In light of Eric Bailly's injury issues, and the erratic form of the likes of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, the fit-again Vincent Kompany gets the nod alongside Otamendi somewhat by default.

  In fairness, the Belgian has looked somewhat like his old commanding self in recent weeks, defending with his customary commitment and composure, while at the same time distributing the ball to great effect (his pass success rate in the Premier League is a whopping 92.23%).

‘King Eric’ became an icon at Old Trafford for his brilliance on the field, yet he was just as mercurial away from it

• Getty Images
  

  1"When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much." (1995)

  Cantona was responsible for one of the most bizarre press conferences in footballing history following his sentencing for the Crystal Palace fan assault. 

  He sat sullenly after being thrown in front of the media, having been given community service after a two-week prison sentence was successfully appealed. 

  Cantona’s only words during the entire affair were these two sentences, which were spoken slowly and deliberately, with the player taking sips of water as he did so.

  He then got up and left.

Advertisement

• Getty Images
  

  2"Deschamps gets by because he always gives 100 per cent, but he will never be anything more than a water carrier." (1996)

  Among the other players he fell out with during his career was Didier Deschamps, who was an icon with Cantona’s hometown club of Marseille for having captained them to Champions League success in 1992-93. 

  Ahead of a Champions League clash against Deschamps’ Juventus in 1996, Cantona made no bones about a man who was the antithesis of the artistic game that he believed in.

  “You can find players like him (Deschamps) on every street corner. At present Didier likes to act like a monk and a moralist but he'll end up wallowing in every kind of vice,” he said. “The only two decent French players in Italy are Youri Djorkaeff and Zinedine Zidane and the rest are nothing special.”

  It certainly provoked a reaction from Deschamps, who would carry those words with him as a badge of honour for the remainder of his career. Moreover, his Juve side won both games.

• Getty
  

  3"Sac à Merde" (1988)

  One of the driving forces behind Cantona’s move to the Premier League was because he had fallen out with apparently everyone in France. 

  One of those that was on the wrong end of his ire was national team coach Henri Michel, who had the audacity to drop him for a young Zinedine Zidane. 

  On live television, he called the coach a “bag of sh*t”, was indefinitely banned from the national team and only returned when Michel Platini took charge later in the year.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty Images
  

  4“I am Cantona. I can go as I want.” (1995)

  Cantona shocked Manchester United team-mate Paul Ince when he turned up prior to his court appearance for the aforementioned kick in a shirt unbuttoned to his chest.

  As Ince recalled in 2005: “I told him: ‘Eric, you can’t go to court like that.’ He says: ‘I am Cantona. I can go as I want.’ So he got into the dock and he got 14 days in prison. I thought: ‘Oh my God, it must be that shirt.’”

Which of the continent’s past and present stars have thrived at the global showpiece?

• Getty
  

  Roger Milla at 70

  The three-time African Footballer of the Year, who turned 70 on Friday, starred at two World Cup finals, with his greatest impact coming in 1990, where four goals helped Cameroon progress to the quarter-final.

  This was the best showing by an African nation until Senegal and Ghana matched the feat in 2002 and 2010 respectively.

  At 42, in 1994, Milla became the oldest player to ever feature at the showpiece, although two players have since supplanted the icon – Colombia’s then 43-year-old Faryd Mondragon in 2014 and Egypt’s Essam El Hadary who played in Russia 2018 at 45.

  Another goal at the finals in ’94 saw him break his own record, set four years earlier, of being the oldest scorer at the showpiece.

  His tally of five World Cup strikes was Africa’s highest return for two decades until Asamoah Gyan matched and overtook the legendary Cameroonian in 2014.

Advertisement

• AFP
  

  Asamoah Gyan

  Unlike Milla, Ghana’s top marksman thrived at three finals – 2006, 2010 and 2014 – and was instrumental in the Black Stars’ progress to the last eight in South Africa.

  He netted the Black Stars’ first World Cup goal only 68 seconds into their 2-0 win over Czech Republic, which was the fastest strike at the competition.

  While his last-gasp extra-time miss against Uruguay in 2010 saw him miss out on even more history by making his nation the outright best performing African side at the finals, he did break a 20-year record in Brazil four years later.

  Gyan netted twice in 2014 – against eventual winners Germany and Portugal – to overtake Milla’s five-goal haul, a truly commendable return for the West African.

• Getty Images
  

  El Hadji Diouf

  Despite not scoring for Senegal at the 2002 finals, Diouf was largely seen as the Teranga Lions’ best player in their hugely impressive debut.

  The West African nation stunned the competition by recording a shock 1-0 win over defending champions France who endured a forgettable defence of their crown to finish bottom of Group A.

  Bruno Metsu’s troops ended second behind Denmark and were to equal the great Cameroon side by making it to the quarters.

  Diouf was honoured with a place on the All-star team alongside greats like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Miroslav Klose.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty Images
  

  Moussa Wague

  Having included the oldest player to score at the finals, we've also included Africa’s youngest ever World Cup scorer.

  While Wague may not have had the influence of other players in this list, the right-back’s goal against Japan in 2018 saw him become the continent’s youngest to find the back of the net.

  At 19 years and 263 days old, the Barcelona defender supplanted Ghana’s Draman Haminu, who scored against the United States in 2006 at 20 years and 82 days old.

  Despite Aliou Cisse’s side's failure to progress beyond the group stage, Wague’s moment saw his name written in the competition’s history books.

Some all time greats have played for Argentina, but only the best of the best can make their dream XI!

Argentina have not just produced some of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen, but they are also one of the most successful national teams around in the game.

There were obviously the 1978 and 1986 World Cup wins, but they have also lifted the Copa America on 15 occasions!

The players behind those successes?

Well, how about Mario Kempes? Or Diego Maradona? Or Lionel Messi?

Yes, that is the level of players we are talking about here. Absolute global superstars.

Who make their best-ever XI, though?

Let's take a look at the ultimate Argentina dream team!

• Internet
  

  GK: Ubaldo Fillol

  The greatest goalkeeper in Argentina history, Fillol was part of the squad at the 1974 World Cup and was also included in the team that won the World Cup four years later.

  He was voted the best goalkeeper in both those tournaments and played a crucial role in his country's run to glory in the 1978 edition as he was included in FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 1978.

  Fillol just pips another legendary Argentine goalkeeper in Sergio Romero, who played 96 games for the national team between 2009 and 2018, featuring at the 2010 World Cup and 2014 World Cup.

Advertisement

• Getty Images
  

  RB: Javier Zanetti

  Regarded as one of the best right-backs of his generation, Zanetti was quite possibly also the most versatile Argentine player ever as he was capable of essentially featuring anywhere in defence or midfield.

  He played 145 games for Argentina, making him the third-highest in the list of players with most appearances for his country.

  Zanetti played a crucial role in helping Argentina reach the final of the Copa America in 2004 and 2007 as well as the Confederations Cup in 1995 and 2005.

  The Inter icon played at the World Cup in 1998 and 2002.

• CB: Roberto Perfumo

  Considered one of the most creative Argentine defenders ever, Perfumo actually started out as a midfielder, before moving into defence.

  As a defender, he achieved a lot of plaudits for his performances between 1964 and 1974.

  Perfumo played two World Cups in 1966 and 1974, and was one of their top performers at both tournaments, making eight appearances in total.

  He did miss a fair few matches for the national team in his 13-year career, though, playing just 37 games in total.

  Nevertheless, Perfumo still gets the nod ahead of Oscar Ruggeri, who was part of the teams that won the World Cup in 1986 and two editions of the Copa America.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty
  

  CB: Daniel Passarella

  Considered as one of the most influential South American defenders of all time, Passarella captained Argentina to World Cup glory in 1978.

  At one point in his career, Passarella was the world's top goal scoring defender, with 143 goals in 447 games at club level.

  For Argentina, he scored 22 goals in 70 games from centre-back.