There have been many sides who have relied on one standout alongside ten worker bees, below are six legends, including Liverpool and Southampton favourites.
Gareth Bale (Wales)
Since making his international debut in May 2006, aged just 16, Bale has scored 26 goals in 65 appearances and despite the talents of Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen, remains the go-to guy every time the 26-year-old represents The Dragons.
The Real Madrid superstar has been emphatically instrumental in Wales’ recent successes. Indeed, during the qualifying campaign for the 2016 European Championships, Bale was directly involved in nine of Wales’ 11 goals – scoring seven and assisting two. Three of those strikes were game-winning goals against Andorra, Belgium and Cyprus.
At the tournament itself, Bale scored goals in each of Wales’ group games, including free-kicks against Slovakia and England, and was the key performer as he drove Wales to the Semi-Finals, where they lost against eventual winners Portugal – inspired by their own talisman, Bale’s club team mate Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
The current Ballon d’Or winner has scored an incredible 380 goals in 367 appearances for Real Madrid and helped the Spanish giants to a Champions League success earlier this year to add to a plethora of team and individual honours.
However, it is Ronaldo’s presence as captain of Portugal that assures him of a place on this one-man-team list.
Ronaldo led his country to the European Championship title in the summer of 2016 – a perfect accomplishment for the 31-year-old, considering his achievements at international level for Portugal.
Ronaldo is Portugal’s most capped player of all time, currently with 136 caps to his name, and is the only Portuguese player to reach 50 international goals (68 at present). He has also played in 7 major international tournaments and aside from Euro 2016’s successes, has guided Portugal to the Euro 2004 final and the Euro 2012 Semi-Finals.
The European Championships also saw Ronaldo become the most capped player of the tournament’s history, the competition’s top goal-scorer, and the only player to score in four consecutive European Championship finals.
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Admittedly, Liverpool have seen some fantastic talents at Anfield during Steven Gerrard’s 17 year career with the Reds – including the calibre of Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, Michael Owen and Xabi Alonso. However, what remained an absolute constant for Liverpool was Gerrard’s ability to drag his boyhood team through thick and thin.
Hailed as Liverpool’s greatest ever player, Gerrard’s legend will last for decades at Anfield, as heroic match-saving moments were commonplace throughout his club career. Most notably Gerrard’s starring role in the Champions League campaign of 2004-05, where he was the match winner in a must-win game against Olympiakos – before leading his club to victory as part of a memorable comeback against AC Milan in the final.
Gerrard is one of few to have an FA Cup final named in his honour. The ‘Gerrard Final’ of 2006 will be remembered for the Liverpool captain’s thunderbolt goal in the 90th minute, which saw the game into extra time, penalties and ultimately a Liverpool triumph.
In the twilight of his Anfield career, Gerrard so nearly led Brendan Rodgers’ side to a first league title since 1990, as the playmaker of an attacking, youthful line-up. However, Gerrard’s crucial slip against Chelsea led to a vital goal and contributed to the eventual collapse of Liverpool’s momentum in the final few games – leading to a second place finish.
Matt Le Tissier (Southampton)
The man endearingly known as ‘Le God’ by Southampton fans, Matthew Le Tissier spent his entire career at the Saints – making over 500 appearances between 1986 and 2002.
Le Tissier’s talents had him linked with moves to bigger clubs throughout his playing career – Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea amongst them – however Le Tissier’s loyalty to Southampton was a constant.
Le Tissier scored more than 200 goals for the Saints, many of which were hugely important in keeping Southampton’s Premier League status throughout the 1990s.
Despite his abilities, Le Tissier earned just 8 England caps, but will forever be remembered for being the south coast club’s saviour for more than a decade.
Diego Maradona (Argentina & Napoli)
One of the world’s greatest ever players, Diego Maradona was instrumental in Argentina’s 1986 World Cup triumph. The diminutive number 10 was the tournament’s best player – scoring five goals and making five assists. Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal in the Quarter-Final against England was followed by the goal of the century soon after.
However, it was Maradona’s spell at Napoli that really gives the Italian side the status of a ‘one-man-team’ between 1984 and 1991. When Maradona joined, Napoli had just finished 5th from bottom of Serie A and only had two trophy wins to their name from their previous 58 years.
After seven seasons in Naples, and upon Maradona’s departure in 1991, the Little Donkeys had won two Serie A titles, the UEFA Cup, the Supercoppa Italiana and the Coppa Italia for the club’s third time.
Steve Bull (Wolves)
When goal-getter Steve Bull joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1986, the Molineux club were languishing in the fourth-tier of English football. Throughout his 13 seasons with Wolves, Bull scored a record 306 goals and shot the Wanderers up the league ladder and into the First Division.
Most remarkably, Bull scored 102 goals in two seasons from 1987 to 1989 to help the club secure the 1988 Fourth Division and 1989 Third Division titles.
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