All-'90s Soccer Team

Four highly debatable squads relying on second-or-third-or-twelfth-hand information down, two even more uncertain ones to go. The "best of the century" and such lists thankfully offer few players from the '90s and even fewer who'd play in the '00s (which I'm typing as oh-oh's, though I could also call it "aughts"), but for these teams' purposes, this meant I had to derive a lot of them from other sources.

Also, by the time I stopped typing about these squads, I hadn't assigned numbers to all of the '90s players or to any of the '00s (again, I type it as oh-oh's) players. I prepare these offline and don't always have the resources to determine what numbers they'll have. So I did some quick image searching while online, made some decisions, and boom. Here we go.

NINETIES

Formation: 4-4-2

GK #1 Schmeichel
Peter Schmeichel was the best of at least the early '90s. He could quite often pull off magnificent-saves, and he kept his defenders alert. After inspiring Denmark to an unlikely title at Euro 92, he helped usher in a new age for Manchester United.

DF #2 Cafu
Cafu made his mark playing Brazil's right wing, and he played in three consecutive World Cup championship matches, two of which his team won. Along with those high accolades, he's won the Copa Libertadores twice and the Champions League once.

DF #6 Desailly
Marcel Desailly had a robust defensive game that made a big difference for France as they won the '98 World Cup and Euro 2000. Twice in a row he won the European Cup, once with Marseille and once with Milan.

DF #20 Hong
Hong Myung-Bo was the premier sweeper in Asia during his time. Eight years after some key scores for the Republic of Korea in the '94 World Cup, he captained his team to greater heights. He was also one of the stars of the K-League.

SW #8 Maldini
Paolo Maldini had the skills at defense and in aiding the attack that were useful whether he played sweeper or halfback. He played a quarter-century with Milan as they won trophies of all kinds, and was captain of Italy for nine years.

MF #7 Hagi
Gheorghe Hagi was "the Maradona of the Carpathians." In his club career, he scored big for Steaua Bucharest in the late '80s and for Galatasaray in the late '90s. With the Romanian national team, he shone particularly bright at the World Cup.

MF #12 Laudrup
Michael Laudrup had great technique, and his passing was like magic. A key player on Barcelona's "Dream Team," he was also a favorite with Real Madrid. The Dane brought his skill to the World Cup twice, but unwisely decided to skip Euro 92.

MF #19 Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne was greatly talented with the ball and able to handle it well. He was a superstar in his native England, and he had a rocky career, to say the least. The well-travelled "Gazza" won an FA Cup with Tottenham and a treble with Rangers.

MF #10 Zidane
Zinedine Zidane is probably the most celebrated player of his time. With vision, pace, and goal-scoring ability, he led France to titles at the '98 World Cup and Euro 2000, and helped bring trophies to Juventus and Real Madrid.

FW #18 Baggio
Roberto Baggio has scored plenty of goals, some of them quite amazing. A playmaker and second striker, "the Divine Ponytail" scored in every World Cup of the '90s (the last without said ponytail). He's one of Italy's all-time favorites.

FW #9 Weah
George Weah, the African Player of the Century, starred for Monaco and PSG, winning a French league title with the latter and leading the '94-95 Champions League in scoring. The Liberian then joined Milan and helped them win Serie A twice.

Substitutes
FW #11 Romario
FW #16 Hristo Stoichkov
FW #17 Gabriel Batistuta
DF #5 Laurent Blanc
DF #15 Lilian Thuram

Note: I'm pleased with the variety of nations represented in this team, but that variety wouldn't work for all the teams. Contrary to that, I could take Didier Deschamps over Thuram if I want a midfielder on the sidelines. And don't worry, Ronaldo fans, you'll see him on the Noughties team.

[EDIT 2-12-24: Removed "gonna," as was part of my job for over six years at the newspaper]