Most valuable South American XI
“In street football when you are 10 years old, you play with 15-year-olds so you have to be shrewd, you have to show that you are good, you have to fight, win impossible balls. When it is all a bit more formulated then it is developing your individual skill, your fighting attitude less. We have lost a little bit of that in football.”
That was Arsene Wenger on why South America is leading the world in the quality – when compared to Europe – of footballers they produce – especially strikers. The Latin American world of football has given us some of the greatest players the world has ever seen.
You’ll not see another Pele, another Diego Maradona, another Lionel Messi or even another Alexis Sanchez for a while. These are special players; players capable of turning games on their own and it’s no wonder they’re highly sought-after in Europe – a continent unable to match them in ruthlessness and craft.
We look at the best South American XI currently – based on their international positions:
Goalkeeper
While South America has been famous for churning out footballers capable of scoring through walls of defenders, they haven’t exactly been famous for producing world-class goalkeepers although there are exceptions.
Currently, however, the highest-valued goalkeeper to come out of the CONMEBOL set of countries is Manchester City’s Claudio Bravo – currently valued at €15 million. The Chilean hasn’t been in the news for all the right reasons recently but when compared to some of the others on the list, Bravo is the best choice.
In the 25 appearances he’s made for Pep Guardiola’s side this season, Bravo has managed to keep 7 clean sheets. And while it may appear that his time at the club is coming to an end – despite only having signed at the beginning of the current season – he’s still one of the most highly rated goalkeepers in the world.