The legendary Zico has picked his World Cup 2014 team of the tournament so far and has included three Brazilians in his line up despite Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team failing to produce the type of form they achieved in the 2013 Confederations Cup.
Zico has been writing for the Guardian throughout the World Cup and at the conclusion of the round of 16 matches he picked the eleven players he has been most impressed with in the tournament.
The former Brazil national team player picked the likes of Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Netherland’s Arjen Robben while unsurprisingly chose Mexican Guillermo Ochoa as his goalkeeper.
The 61-year-old wrote in his Guardian article: “These are the guys who deserve to be in my XI. Some of them might have gone home now but what they did remains special.”
His team in a 3-4-3 diamond formation goes as follows:
Goalkeeper: Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico)
Defenders: Mauricio Isla (Chile), Mario Yepes (Colombia), David Luiz (Brazil)
Midfielders: Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica), Luiz Gustavo (Brazil), James Rodríguez (Colombia), Daley Blind (Netherlands)
Forwards: Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Neymar (Brazil).
It is hard to argue too much against Zico’s XI and although the exclusion of Alexis Sánchez will appear harsh, considering the Barcelona ace enjoyed an excellent tournament, it is hard to find room for him in the outstanding front three selected by the Brazilian.
Zico’s team would certainly be a force to be reckon with in this World Cup were they all together.
