L'EQUIPE RANKS THE FIVE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD AT EACH POSITION ON A TEAM.
L'Equipe | 07/07/1954

NO GOALKEEPER POSSESSED EXCEPTIONAL TALENT.

GOALKEEPERS: 1. Grosics (Hungary); 2. Beara (Yugoslavia); 3. Schmied (Austria); 4. Turek (West Germany); 5. Ghezzi (Italy).

The first observation that must be made is that no goalkeeper in this tournament appeared to possess the highest class: thus Grosics, who is given first place, is not without blame; his first match against Germany in particular (8-3 in Basel) was rather mediocre. Two men disappointed: Beara and Ghezzi. Turek's fourth-place ranking highlights the very average level of the goalkeepers.

ANDRADE THE BLACK WONDER.

RIGHT FULL-BACKS: 1. Andrade (Uruguay); 2. Posipal (West Germany); 3. Hanappi (Austria); 4. Djalma Santos (Brazil); 5. Stanković (Yugoslavia).

Although announced as a right half-back, Andrade actually plays at right full-back where he dominates all his rivals, including the fast Posipal and the artist Hanappi.

LIEBRICH FIRST.

CENTRE-BACKS: 1. Liebrich (West Germany); 2. Horvat (Yugoslavia); 3. Loránt (Hungary); 4. Carré (Belgium); 5. Neury (Switzerland).

Here again, the blond Liebrich indisputably stands out as number 1. The other four men are very close to each other and Neury, who was the hero of the two Italy-Switzerland matches, found, among our special correspondents, many votes raising him to second place; but this incomparable destroyer has too much disdain for his constructive role; so he was finally fixed in fifth place.

FEW LEFT FULL-BACKS.

LEFT FULL-BACKS: 1. Giacomazzi (Italy); 2. Nilton Santos (Brazil); 3. Barschandt (Austria); 4. Lantos (Hungary); 5. Crnković (Yugoslavia).

The selection is poor and a Giacomazzi cannot compete with an Andrade.

BOZSIK AHEAD OF OCWIRK.

RIGHT HALF-BACKS: 1. Bozsik (Hungary); 2. Ocwirk (Austria); 3. Čajkovski (Yugoslavia); 4. Eckel (West Germany); 5. Marcel (France).

Although indirectly responsible for Rahn's goal that eliminated his team, the Hungarian, perhaps less skillful but also a good attacker, and certainly a better defender than Ocwirk, deserves first place. The invaluable Čajkovski appears in third, and behind the German Eckel, the Frenchman Marcel takes fifth.

MARTÍNEZ, KOLLER AND THEN...

LEFT HALF-BACKS: 1. Martínez (Uruguay); 2. Koller (Austria); 3. Zakariás (Hungary); 4. Nesti (Italy); 5. Mai (West Germany).

The first two seem to dominate by quite a distance. Between them and those behind them there is a small gap that the worker Zakariás has not been able to close.

KOCSIS WITHOUT RIVAL.

RIGHT INSIDE FORWARDS: 1. Kocsis (Hungary) 2. Didi (Brazil); 3. Morlock (West Germany); 4. von Lauthen (Switzerland); 5. Wagner (Austria).

No one here could challenge Kocsis for the crown, the most complete and brilliant man in this tournament; but the qualities of the Brazilian Didi and the German Morlock are no less remarkable.

PUSKÁS, SCHIAFFFINO, FRITZ WALTER ALMOST TIED.

LEFT INSIDE FORWARDS: 1. Puskás (Hungary); 2. Schiaffino (Uruguay); 3. Fritz Walter (West Germany); 4. Stojaspal (Austria); 5. Pingo (Brazil).

We mentioned earlier the difficulties we encountered in ranking these three exceptional men: Puskás, Schiaffino, and Fritz Walter. While they were ultimately assigned these numbers, it was not without lengthy discussions, and Fritz Walter, ranked third, had many supporters for first place, a position seemingly justified by both his individual qualities and his status as captain of the victorious team. Puskás may have benefited from the favorable opinion held by the entire Hungarian team well before the start of this World Championship.

MATTHEWS, ONLY THIRD.

RIGHT WINGERS: 1 Julinho (Brazil); 2. Abbadie (Uruguay); 3. Matthews (England); 4. Rahn (West Germany); 5. Hlaváček (Czechoslovakia).

The wizard Matthews garnered many votes for first place; but the Briton, who is so adept at setting up his teammates for shots, shoots far too infrequently. Yet, for a high level forward, efficiency is a valuable quality. This is why Matthews was overtaken by Julinho and Abbadie. Rahn, efficient but frustrated, is only ranked fourth. A Czech player appears in fifth place. He is a man of worth.

OTTMAR WALTER IS NOT AMONG THE FIVE.

CENTRE-FORWARDS: 1. Hidegkuti (Hungary) 2. Lofthouse (England); 3. Coppens (Belgium); 4. Milutinović (Yougoslavie); 5. Hugi (Switzerland).

Apart from Hidegkuti, the center forwards appeared to be of modest quality. At first glance, it seems surprising that an Ottmar Walter didn't have a place; but isn't the younger Walter a controversial figure in Germany, and didn't he derive most of his value from the eminent qualities of his brother, who excels at setting him up in the best possible conditions? Hugi's performance isn't any better; but the Swiss player doesn't have a Fritz Walter alongside him.

VINCENT 4TH.

LEFT WINGERS: 1, Cziber (Hungary); 2. Schaefer (West Germany); 3. Piobst (Austria); 4. Vincent (France); 5. Fatton (Switzerland).

The nervous Czibor, so unlucky in the final, certainly deserves first place. But Schaefer isn't far behind the Hungarian. The German is one of the tournament's great revelations. Behind these two, the field is more modest, which is why the Frenchman Vincent managed to slip into fourth place.

He is the second Frenchman, along with Marcel, to rank among the five best footballers in the world in every position; but this doesn't justify the 20 million transfer fee demanded by Sochaux from Marseille for Jean-Jacques Marcel.

THE WORLD TEAM.

And if we were to create the World Team now, taking each of the top-ranked players, we would have the following lineup:

  Czibor                     Hidegkuti                     Julinho

Puskás                  Kocsis

Martínez               Bozsik

Giacomazzi            Liebrich            Andrade    

Grosics

The team was predominantly Hungarian (six men), which confirmed the general impression that Hungary had the best formation and, above all, the most brilliant individual players.

But if you read the player rankings carefully, you will have noticed that while the Germans only secured one first-place finish (Librich at centre-back), they were represented in eight other positions within the top five. Only Kohlmeyer and Ottmar Walter narrowly missed out on making the top five in their respective positions. The German team therefore owes its ultimate victory to its cohesion and its TEAM VALUE.