Every England football fan is likely to have their own opinion on what an ultimate England XI might look like but there are certain legends who are always going to get at least a mention during any discussion on the subject.
Starting with the goalkeepers, the first name that leaps nimbly to mind is Gordon Banks. His heroic save from Pele in the 1970 World Cup is widely regarded as one of the best ever made and he is surely one of the best stoppers ever to pull on England's number 1 jersey. Others with a worthwhile claim to the shirt include Peter Shilton, who has the highest number of caps ever accumulated by an England international, and Frank Swift whose saw the prime of his career cut short by war but who is reckoned by many to have been among the best.
The art of defending doesn't always look terribly graceful on English pitches but Bobby Moore and Rio Ferdinand are two of the country's finest ever centre backs who have both made the business of mopping up at the back look a bit like ballroom dancing. Arsenal's powerhouse and leader of men Tony Adams is surely worth a mention as well and whose to say that the fledgling international career of Phil Jones wont eventually earn him the lofty status of legendary England centre-back.
Full-backs are rarely flair players but two men who epitomise what it takes to play for year after year in the often-overlooked positions are Stuart Pearce and Gary Neville. England heroes both, they amassed 158 caps between them. Ahead of them both in terms of games played at international level though is Ashley Cole who is perhaps not the most popular man in Britain but certainly one of England's best ever full backs.
In Midfield, any England manager would struggle to leave out Bobby Charlton whose thunderbolt shots from either side and tireless work ethic made him one of the world's best players in the sixties. He would no doubt have been ably assisted by the relatively modern midfielders Bryan Robson, David Platt or David Beckham but it would be difficult also to overlook the attacking prowess of Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews, both of whom were quite brilliant in the days of black and white. Honourable mentions go also to Paul 'Gazza' Gasgoine and 'Super' Steven Gerrard.
Playing up front might not quite be all about scoring goals but being your country's top scorer is something to be immensely proud of. Unfortunately, the prince among poachers Gary Lineker stopped just short of Bobby Charlton's 49 goal benchmark. Nevertheless, he is one of the best goal-getters England has ever had, scoring 48 times in 80 international performances. Other Englishmen who knew exactly where the net was when turning out for the Three Lions include Alan Shearer and World Cup winning hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst.
Whoever takes the field when England play of course they need to be physically, nutritionally and mentally prepared for top-level international action and this notion was part of the thinking behind the Nivea great football experiment. The initiative saw a team of local enthusiasts from Essex given the chance to work with some of the best football coaches in the country and to take on a team of legendary England players in a one-off event. Attitude and application paid off as Ivory FC saw of the challenge of Nivea's ex-pros in a keenly fought encounter.
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