Rovers best Foreign 18

[glen9mullan]

I have been thinking of writing a blog over the last week regarding the best foreign players to have played for Rovers, after seeing some of the crazy amount of money being spent in World football at present.

If you could pick an 18 from this lot, who would it be?

It does not have to be based on their achievements at Rovers, but their overall career achievements.

Of these in today's market who would cost the most?

Some of these players obviously never really got a game at Rovers, but this is a comprehensive list of the foreign players to be under contract at Rovers, how many of these do you remember?

 

Lorenzo Amoruso		Italy	Defender	28/06/1971
Anders Andersson		Sweden	Midfielder	15/03/1974
Patrik Andersson		Sweden	Defender	18/08/1971
Martin Andresen		Norway	Midfielder	02/02/1977
Osvaldo Ardiles		Argentina	Midfielder	03/08/1952
Benny Arentoft		Denmark	Midfielder	01/11/1942
Yakubu Ayegbeni		Nigeria	Forward	22/11/1982
B
Markus Babbel		Germany	Defender	08/09/1972
Dino Baggio		Italy	Midfielder	24/07/1971
Modou Barrow		Gambia	Forward	13/10/1992
Yıldıray Baştürk		Turkey	Midfielder	24/12/1978
Benjani		Zimbabwe	Forward	13/08/1978
Henning Berg		Norway	Defender	01/09/1969
Eyal Berkovic		Israel	Midfielder	02/04/1972
Bruno Berner		Switzerland	Defender	21/11/1977
Stig Inge Bjørnebye		Norway	Defender	11/12/1969
Lars Bohinen		Norway	Midfielder	08/09/1969
Bruno Ribeiro		Brazil	Defender	01/04/1983
Pascal Chimbonda		France	Defender	21/02/1979
D
Bryan Dabo		France	Midfielder	18/02/1992
Martin Dahlin		Sweden	Forward	16/04/1968
Neil Danns		Guyana	Midfielder	23/11/1982
David Raya		Spain	Goalkeeper	15/09/1995
De Pedro		Spain	Midfielder	04/08/1973
Franco Di Santo		Argentina	Forward	07/04/1989
Kaba Diawara		Guinea	Forward	16/12/1975
Diogo Rosado		Portugal	Midfielder	21/02/1990
El-Hadji Diouf		Senegal	Forward	15/01/1981
Mame Diouf		Senegal	Forward	16/12/1987
Youri Djorkaeff		France	Midfielder	09/03/1968
Georgios Donis		Greece	Midfielder	29/10/1969
Edinho Júnior		Portugal	Forward	07/03/1994
Brett Emerton		Australia	Midfielder	22/02/1979
Marvin Emnes		Netherlands	Forward	27/05/1988
Peter Enckelman		Finland	Goalkeeper	10/03/1977
Dickson Etuhu		Nigeria	Midfielder	08/06/1982
F
Fábio Nunes		Portugal	Forward	24/07/1992
Roy Faulkner		Canada	Defender	05/08/1897
John Filan		Australia	Goalkeeper	08/02/1970
Per Frandsen		Denmark	Midfielder	06/02/1970
Brad Friedel		USA	Goalkeeper	18/05/1971
G
Rudy Gestede		Benin	Forward	10/10/1988
Gaël Givet		France	Defender	09/10/1981
Hérold Goulon		France	Midfielder	12/06/1988
Corrado Grabbi		Italy	Forward	29/07/1975
Vince Grella		Australia	Midfielder	05/10/1979
Vratislav Greško		Slovakia	Midfielder	24/07/1977
Rostyn Griffiths		Australia	Midfielder	10/03/1988
Niklas Gudmundsson		Sweden	Midfielder	29/02/1972
Stéphane Henchoz		Switzerland	Defender	07/09/1974
Doneil Henry		Canada	Defender	20/04/1993
Junior Hoilett		Canada	Midfielder	05/06/1990
Hugo		Spain	Defender	30/11/1993
J
Simeon Jackson		Canada	Forward	28/03/1987
Lars Jacobsen		Denmark	Defender	20/09/1979
Nils-Eric Johansson		Sweden	Defender	13/01/1980
Jemal Johnson		USA	Midfielder	03/05/1985
Jermaine Jones		USA	Midfielder	03/11/1981
Jordi Gómez		Spain	Midfielder	24/05/1985
José Dominguez		Portugal	Midfielder	16/02/1974
K
Nikola Kalinić		Croatia	Forward	05/01/1988
Colin Kâzım-Richards		Turkey	Midfielder	26/08/1986
Marc Keller		France	Forward	14/01/1968
Tugay Kerimoğlu		Turkey	Midfielder	24/08/1970
Zurab Khizanishvili		Georgia	Defender	06/10/1981
Joshua King		Norway	Forward	15/01/1992
Bengali-Fodé Koita		France	Forward	21/10/1990
Oumar Kondé		Switzerland	Defender	19/08/1979
Shefki Kuqi		Finland	Forward	10/11/1976
L
Amine Linganzi		Algeria	Midfielder	16/11/1989
Lucas		Angola	Forward	04/09/1993
M
Dario Marcolin		Italy	Midfielder	28/10/1971
Benny McCarthy		South Africa	Forward	12/11/1977
Míchel Salgado		Spain	Defender	22/10/1975
Anthony Modeste		France	Forward	14/04/1988
Aaron Mokoena		South Africa	Defender	25/11/1980
N
Steven N'Zonzi		France	Midfielder	15/12/1988
Lucas Neill		Australia	Defender	09/03/1978
Ryan Nelsen		New Zealand	Defender	18/10/1977
Shabani Nonda		Congo DR	Forward	06/03/1977
Nuno Gomes		Portugal	Forward	05/07/1976
Nuno Henrique		Portugal	Defender	19/10/1986
O
Marcus Olsson		Sweden	Midfielder	17/05/1988
Martin Olsson		Sweden	Defender	17/05/1988
André Ooijer		Netherlands	Defender	11/07/1974
Egil Østenstad		Norway	Forward	02/01/1972
P
Paulo Jorge		Portugal	Midfielder	18/01/1993
Tim Payne		New Zealand	Forward	10/01/1994
Morten Pedersen		Norway	Midfielder	08/09/1981
Per Pedersen		Denmark	Forward	30/03/1969
Tore Pedersen		Norway	Defender	29/09/1969
Sebastian Pelzer		Germany	Defender	24/09/1980
Sébastien Pérez		France	Defender	24/11/1973
Sergio Peter		Germany	Midfielder	12/10/1986
Radosav Petrović		Serbia	Midfielder	08/03/1989
Sacha Petshi		France	Midfielder	21/06/1992
Karim Rekik		Netherlands	Defender	02/12/1994
Maceo Rigters		Netherlands	Forward	22/01/1984
Jason Roberts		Grenada	Forward	25/01/1978
John Roberts		Australia	Goalkeeper	24/03/1944
Rubén Rochina		Spain	Forward	23/03/1991
S
Christopher Samba		Congo	Defender	28/03/1984
Martin Samuelsen		Norway	Midfielder	17/04/1997
Grzegorz Sandomierski		Poland	Goalkeeper	05/09/1989
Roque Santa Cruz		Paraguay	Forward	16/08/1981
Florent Sinama-Pongolle		France	Forward	20/10/1984
Robbie Slater		Australia	Midfielder	22/11/1964
Yann Songo'o		Cameroon	Defender	17/11/1991
Hakan Şükür		Turkey	Forward	01/09/1971
Frank Talia		Australia	Goalkeeper	20/07/1972
Aaron Tumwa		Antigua & Barbuda	Midfielder	27/09/1993
U
Hakan Ünsal		Turkey	Defender	14/05/1973
Sebastian Usai		Australia	Goalkeeper	28/02/1990
V
Patrick Valéry		France	Defender	03/07/1969
Elrio van Heerden		South Africa	Midfielder	11/07/1983
Carlos Villanueva		Chile	Forward	05/02/1986
Johann Vogel		Switzerland	Midfielder	08/03/1977
Simon Vukčević		Montenegro	Midfielder	29/01/1986
W
Roy Wegerle		USA	Forward	19/03/1964
Lee Williamson		Jamaica	Midfielder	07/06/1982
Richard Witschge		Netherlands	Midfielder	20/09/1969
Y
David Yelldell		USA	Goalkeeper	01/10/1981
Yordi		Spain	Forward	14/09/1974
Dwight Yorke		Trinidad & Tobago	Forward	03/11/1971

 

[The Gull]

Tough call as so many names, but if I was to base it on who I thought played best for us during my time, and I am old enough to remember Ossie Ardiles wearing the blue and white halves, I would go with the following:

Brad Friedel	USA	Goalkeeper	1
Henning Berg	Norway	Defender	2
Gaël Givet	France	Defender	3
Christopher Samba	Congo	Defender	4
Ryan Nelsen	New Zealand	Defender	5
Tugay Kerimoğlu	Turkey	Midfielder	6
Brett Emerton	Australia	Midfielder	7
Steven N'Zonzi	France	Midfielder	8
Morten Pedersen	Norway	Midfielder	11
Benny McCarthy	South Africa	Forward	9
Roque Santa Cruz	Paraguay	Forward	10

Funny that most of them are from the Souness/Hughes era which outside of the Dalglish era is the best we have had it that I can remember, and Kenny's team was very British, as were most of the top teams.

I had a soft spot for one or two of the payers that didn't make it in my starting 11, obvious ones like Salgado, but maybe not so obvious Berkovic and Bohinen, who I thought were superb for us, and Jermaine Jones who I thought should have gone on to be a top player, and one from back in the day, Roy Wegerle who I really enjoyed watching in a Rovers shirt

[Garage Flower]

1 hour ago, The Gull said:

Tough call as so many names, but if I was to base it on who I thought played best for us during my time, and I am old enough to remember Ossie Ardiles wearing the blue and white halves, I would go with the following:

Brad Friedel	USA	Goalkeeper	1
Henning Berg	Norway	Defender	2
Gaël Givet	France	Defender	3
Christopher Samba	Congo	Defender	4
Ryan Nelsen	New Zealand	Defender	5
Tugay Kerimoğlu	Turkey	Midfielder	6
Brett Emerton	Australia	Midfielder	7
Steven N'Zonzi	France	Midfielder	8
Morten Pedersen	Norway	Midfielder	11
Benny McCarthy	South Africa	Forward	9
Roque Santa Cruz	Paraguay	Forward	10

Funny that most of them are from the Souness/Hughes era which outside of the Dalglish era is the best we have had it that I can remember, and Kenny's team was very British, as were most of the top teams.

I had a soft spot for one or two of the payers that didn't make it in my starting 11, obvious ones like Salgado, but maybe not so obvious Berkovic and Bohinen, who I thought were superb for us, and Jermaine Jones who I thought should have gone on to be a top player, and one from back in the day, Roy Wegerle who I really enjoyed watching in a Rovers shirt

Some team that. Wonder how they'd get on today.

[blueboy3333]

43 minutes ago, MGPensioner said:

oh wow

Dino Baggio (forgot about him) >>>>> Joe Nuttall

What happened to us ?!

Dino Baggio was appalling.at Rovers.

[Dreams of 1995]

1: Freidel

2-11: Tugay

[Mark Atkins' Bald Patch]

Good thread.

Agree with most of the line up posted by The Gull. Might just give Lars Bohinen the nod over N'Zonzi.loved watching Bohinen.

 

Also had a soft spot for Vratty Gresko at left back so would start him ton.  He had a shaky start to his time at Rovers and had just started showing his worth when (I think) Leeds' Danny Mills crunched him and he was never the same from memory.

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

What about Damien Duff?? 

[Mike E]

3 hours ago, The Gull said:

Tough call as so many names, but if I was to base it on who I thought played best for us during my time, and I am old enough to remember Ossie Ardiles wearing the blue and white halves, I would go with the following:

Brad Friedel	USA	Goalkeeper	1
Henning Berg	Norway	Defender	2
Gaël Givet	France	Defender	3
Christopher Samba	Congo	Defender	4
Ryan Nelsen	New Zealand	Defender	5
Tugay Kerimoğlu	Turkey	Midfielder	6
Brett Emerton	Australia	Midfielder	7
Steven N'Zonzi	France	Midfielder	8
Morten Pedersen	Norway	Midfielder	11
Benny McCarthy	South Africa	Forward	9
Roque Santa Cruz	Paraguay	Forward	10

Funny that most of them are from the Souness/Hughes era which outside of the Dalglish era is the best we have had it that I can remember, and Kenny's team was very British, as were most of the top teams.

I had a soft spot for one or two of the payers that didn't make it in my starting 11, obvious ones like Salgado, but maybe not so obvious Berkovic and Bohinen, who I thought were superb for us, and Jermaine Jones who I thought should have gone on to be a top player, and one from back in the day, Roy Wegerle who I really enjoyed watching in a Rovers shirt

I'd put Jermaine Jones in place of N'Zonzi just to put more bite in midfield, but that is otherwise a great team. Also Duff in place of Pedersen (as highlighted by Bigdoggsteel above). Don't forget the subs!

Ooijer, Martin Olsson, N'Zonzi, Wegerle, Pedersen, Yorke, Kuqi.

Tell you what, we're spoilt for choice at cb with Amoruso and Zurab also very tidy options!

[K-Hod]

Very good thread indeed!

GK: Brad Friedel

RB: Michel Salgado

CB: Henning Berg

CB: Chris Samba

LB: Gael Givet

RM: Brett Emerton

CM: Tugay

CM: Jermaine Jones

LM: Morten Gamst Pedersen

CF: Roque Santa Cruz

CF: Benni McCarthy

Subs:

John Filan,  Andre Ooijer, Martin Olsson, Steven N'Zonzi, Ryan Nelsen, Yakubu, Nuno Gomes.

I suspect there may be some curve balls amongst the subs especially, but these were my favourite foreign players I saw in the time playing for us.

P.S.- As Bigdoggsteel rightly observed, I'm assuming players from the ROI are excluded from this? otherwise Duff would have been a shoo-in at LM.

[Pedro]

Friedel

Perez

Henchoz (1st time)

Samba

Berg 

Duff

Tugay

N'Zonzi

Emerton

Santa Cruz

McCarthy

Subs: Givet, Nelsen, Berkovic, Bohinen, Kalanic 

 

[Dreams of 1995]

25 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I'd put Jermaine Jones in place of N'Zonzi just to put more bite in midfield, but that is otherwise a great team. Also Duff in place of Pedersen (as highlighted by Bigdoggsteel above). Don't forget the subs!

Ooijer, Martin Olsson, N'Zonzi, Wegerle, Pedersen, Yorke, Kuqi.

Tell you what, we're spoilt for choice at cb with Amoruso and Zurab also very tidy options!

Rumour has it there's still a divot in the pitch from where Kuqi landed. Almost brought the Riverside down.

[Sparks Rover]

3 hours ago, MGPensioner said:

oh wow

Dino Baggio (forgot about him) >>>>> Joe Nuttall

What happened to us ?!

Joe did more in the friendly at Morecombe than Dino ever did. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

3 hours ago, MGPensioner said:

oh wow

Dino Baggio (forgot about him) >>>>> Joe Nuttall

What happened to us ?!

That was the logical and most obvious link to make from the opening post. Well said

 

 

[Sparks Rover]

6 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Friedel

Perez

Henchoz (1st time)

Samba

Berg 

Duff

Tugay

N'Zonzi

Emerton

Santa Cruz

McCarthy

Subs: Givet, Nelsen, Berkovic, Bohinen, Kalanic 

 

I think Lucas Neil was a cracking right back for us

[oldjamfan1]

Great thread!

Can't argue too much with The Gull's choices really, but if I were to pick an 18 based on them at the peak of their careers rather than how they played for us, it might look something like this (ignoring formations/tactics to an extent as you would end up leaving dead certs out or shoehorning people into unusual positions):

 

Brad Friedel G 

Henning Berg D 

Michel Salgado D

Andre Ooijer D 

Ryan Nelsen D (Captain) 

Tugay Kerimoğlu M

Osvaldo Ardiles M

Jermaine Jones M

Youri Djorkaeff M

Benny McCarthy F

Roque Santa Cruz F

Subs: John Filan G, Christopher Samba D, Patrick Andersson D, Morten Pedersen M, Steven N'Zonzi M, Nuno Gomes F, Dino Baggio M.

[Bigdoggsteel]

15 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

I think Lucas Neil was a cracking right back for us

I really liked Neill too. Him, Savage and Todd are the types of players that would be incredible to have in our team next season. Tough battlers 

[Commondore]

Patrik Andersson might very well have had the best post-Rovers career. Played for Bayern Münich and Barcelona, won the Champions League, and captained Sweden to a bronze medal in the 1994 World Cup.

[matt83]

If taking contributions mainly for rovers I'd go (wouldn't necessarily work as a team):

Brad friedel

Berg

Henchoz

Samba

Nelsen

Tugay

Duff

Pedersen

Emerton 

Santa cruz 

Benni

 

Given

Givet

Salgado

Ooijer 

N'zonzi

Jones

Reid

Yakubu

If talking overall career achievements (ie better stuff elsewhere) likes of baggio, yorke, dahlin, djorkaeff, Andersson, kalinic

[roverandout]

For me zidane and dugarry. Oh hang on uncle jack said we didnt need zidane because we had sherwood

[matt83]

1 minute ago, roverandout said:

For me zidane and dugarry. Oh hang on uncle jack said we didnt need zidane because we had sherwood

Yeah if players we've been closely linked with with Christ we'd be able to assemble one hell of a squad. Lewandowski, Keane...

[Butty]

I'm only 21 so this line up is gunna have too be post 2000 really so.....         GK- Friedel RB- Givet CB- Nelsen CB- Samba LB- Salgado (Can't leave him or Givet out) RM- Emerton CM's- Tugay + J.Jones LM- Morten St's- Benni and Roque.                                                 Subs: El Hadj Diouf, Di Santo Kuqi, Neill, Chimbonda, Yakubu, Nzonzi...... Can't leave Di Santo or Chimbonda out purely for them goals against the Dingles!

[Oldgregg86]

5 hours ago, The Gull said:

Tough call as so many names, but if I was to base it on who I thought played best for us during my time, and I am old enough to remember Ossie Ardiles wearing the blue and white halves, I would go with the following:

Brad Friedel	USA	Goalkeeper	1
Henning Berg	Norway	Defender	2
Gaël Givet	France	Defender	3
Christopher Samba	Congo	Defender	4
Ryan Nelsen	New Zealand	Defender	5
Tugay Kerimoğlu	Turkey	Midfielder	6
Brett Emerton	Australia	Midfielder	7
Steven N'Zonzi	France	Midfielder	8
Morten Pedersen	Norway	Midfielder	11
Benny McCarthy	South Africa	Forward	9
Roque Santa Cruz	Paraguay	Forward	10

Funny that most of them are from the Souness/Hughes era which outside of the Dalglish era is the best we have had it that I can remember, and Kenny's team was very British, as were most of the top teams.

I had a soft spot for one or two of the payers that didn't make it in my starting 11, obvious ones like Salgado, but maybe not so obvious Berkovic and Bohinen, who I thought were superb for us, and Jermaine Jones who I thought should have gone on to be a top player, and one from back in the day, Roy Wegerle who I really enjoyed watching in a Rovers shirt

Think id go with that team to being honest. Although if , like Glenn said their not being judged solely on their rovers career it's hard to argue that the salgado of real Madrid was head and shoulders above berg as a right back. As was Marcus babbel of Bayern times. Your djorkaeff and Nuno gomes would also walk into that team at his peak. I would also swap samba for henchoz . Possibly berkovic for nzonzi

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, oldjamfan1 said:

Great thread!

Can't argue too much with The Gull's choices really, but if I were to pick an 18 based on them at the peak of their careers rather than how they played for us, it might look something like this (ignoring formations/tactics to an extent as you would end up leaving dead certs out or shoehorning people into unusual positions):

 

Brad Friedel G 

Henning Berg D 

Michel Salgado D

Andre Ooijer D 

Ryan Nelsen D (Captain) 

Tugay Kerimoğlu M

Osvaldo Ardiles M

Jermaine Jones M

Youri Djorkaeff M

Benny McCarthy F

Roque Santa Cruz F

Subs: John Filan G, Christopher Samba D, Patrick Andersson D, Morten Pedersen M, Steven N'Zonzi M, Fabio Nunes F, Dino Baggio M.

Have you gone with Fabio Nunes by accident instead of Nuno Gomes?

[oldjamfan1]

10 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Have you gone with Fabio Nunes by accident instead of Nuno Gomes?

Well spotted Pedro, thanks!!

[Pedro]

Just now, oldjamfan1 said:

Well spotted Pedro, thanks!!

No problem, I'm trying to erase as much of that era from my mind too.