Popular British internet portal Daily Mail made a report about those defenders who have astonished English fans and specialists. Aleksandre Chivadze, former captain of “Dinamo” Tbilisi and the Soviet team, is among these defenders.

In 1981 on March 4 “Dinamo” Tbilisi beat “West Ham” 4:1 at “Upton Park”.

“Chivadze used his position as the spare man at the back to control the match, with everything in front of him. He ran the show against West Ham from defence. Irons fans had never seen anything like it despite having seen Bobby Moore in his prime at the club. They had seen Bobby Moore every week and World Cup clips of Franz Beckenbauer, comfortable on the ball, easy on the eye and fast across the ground. But, no matter how stylish and elegant, they both tended to concentrate on defending”.

Daily Mail names the following best defenders: Franz Beckenbauer, Ronald Koeman, Ruud Krol, Matthias Sammer and Rio Ferdinand. Ferdinand ended his career in the national team. This article was dedicated to him.

Video

“West Ham” – “Dinamo” 1:4

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5gV8ro7KdQ

Ilia Nanobashvili