REVEALED: The Legendary Footballer 90min Readers Would Love to Have in Their 5-a-Side Team

Published on: 10 February 2017

Ask any supporter what their footballing dream would be and, aside from becoming a legend for the club they adore, it would likely be to play alongside one of the world's best ever players.


There have been countless names throughout football's rich history that fans would love to take to the field alongside in a 5-a-side game and, thanks to our own recently conducted poll, we now know which legend most of you would choose to play football with:

With his infectious smile and clearly no recollection of that maddening free kick he scored against England at the 2002 World Cup, Brazilian legend Ronaldinho takes the crown ahead of his five rivals.


The 36-year-old recently became Barcelona's latest club ambassador, but it is his silky footballing skills and set-piece prowess that Ronaldinho will be remembered for as helped La Blaugrana, AC Milan, Atletico Mineiro and Brazil to numerous titles throughout his career.


Ronaldinho's time at the Camp Nou may have only lasted five years but, alongside fellow world-class forward Samuel Eto'o and then-teen prodigy Lionel Messi, tore up Spanish football to great effect.

Speaking of Messi, the four-time Ballon d'Or winner was just pipped to first place by his former team-mate and fellow South American in our poll.


The 29-year-old Argentina captain is often labelled the greatest player to have ever played the game - high praise indeed, although other legends may have something to say about that!


There's no denying that Messi is world-class, however. With 487 goals in just 564 appearances for Barcelona, a mammoth 29 titles at club level and having broken every conceivable club record for the Catalan giants, Messi is one superstar any fan would pay handsomely to play alongside.

Football records before and after Lionel Messi. 😳 pic.twitter.com/ZO7rdZIFLK

Messi hasn't had it all go his way in Spain, however. Real Madrid superstar and rival Cristiano Ronaldo has been hot on his heels throughout Messi's career, and it's no surprise to see the Portugal captain finish third behind the mercurial forward with 17% of the votes.


The 32-year-old has an ever better strike rate than Messi for Real - 384 goals in just 373 games - but, despite also bagging an international title before La Pulga, has only picked a third of the trophies at club level, for Real at least, that Messi has.


Still physically imposing and impressive as he enters the twilight of his career, Ronaldo would provide serious competition for Messi even among those wishing to play with a star footballer.

Cristiano Ronaldo steps up to help save Portuguese shelter with 80 dogs. https://t.co/i9ZfXcMdAN pic.twitter.com/DZPzuEn5kc

Links continue to abound in our poll - it's almost as if we planned this! - as Ronaldo's current boss Zinedine Zidane swoops into fourth place in the standings.


The France international was a magician during his playing days, and many young supporters would take to the pitches around their homes to try and pull off any one of the tricks and flicks that Zidane concocted during his 17-year career.


'Zizou' saw his reputation tarnished in his final ever game with that infamous headbutt in the 2006 World Cup final, but his footballing legacy will never be called into question.

Two strikers who perhaps deserved a bit more in the way of votes round off our poll, with Brazil legend Ronaldo and Manchester United's Zlatan Ibrahimovic tussling it out now to finish dead last. It is the man dubbed 'The Phenomenon' who just edges Zlatan into last place, and it's somewhat of a disappointment to not see the two-time World Cup winner secure a higher percentage, such was his natural ability to find the back of the net.


His return to form at the 2002 World Cup was something that the stuff of dreams are made of and, but for that horrendous spell on the sidelines with that knee injury, Ronaldo may have gone on to become the world's greatest ever player.


Zlatan, meanwhile, just lost out to more superior players in the end. The 35-year-old United marksman can still hack it at the highest level even at his age but, when it comes down to it, he arguably can't hold a candle to the other five world-class stars who fans could choose to play alongside.

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