what would the trini version look like?
http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=goal-tophowthehelldidtheygetsoma&prov=goal&type=lgnsIt is widely accepted that Brazil is the best producer of footballing talent in the world, and indeed it is difficult to find a top flight club team anywhere that hasn’t possessed a Brazilian at some point in recent years.
Another unique phenomenon surrounding the South American nation is just how many players have been capped by the Selecao. With Brazil organising numerous friendlies each year, this has often led to obscure, local, and less than prestigious names receiving international call-ups.
10) Amaral - 31 caps
This centre midfielder was a grave digger before he began his footballing career, and some cynics would suggest that along with the earth and the worms Amaral found himself 31 Brazil caps. Despite brief spells at Parma, Fiorentina and Benfica, the schemer was never a headliner. He also never played in a World Cup, Copa America or Confederations Cup.
9) Edilson - 25 caps
A productive goalscorer in his homeland during the nineties and early noughties, the only success Ederson had abroad was in Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Given the presence of the likes of Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Bebeto, the pint-sized forward did well to earn a quarter-of-a-century of caps.
Kleberson - 31 caps
Raised eyebrows before he joined Manchester United in 2003 when he announced that he was set to marry his 15-year-old girlfriend when she turned 16. Going from young bride to Old Trafford proved too much for Kleberson as he was an unequivocal flop with the Red Devils. Now at Flamengo, the 30-year-old has still managed to rack up 31 appearances for Brazil, as well as a 2002 World Cup winners medal.
7) Savio - 44 caps
Savio was not lacking in ability, and indeed he was an under-rated member for Real Madrid between 1998 and 2003, winning three Champions League titles. But, for someone who never made a World Cup squad, and hasn’t featured at national level for 10 years, it is hard to work out just where the tricky winger’s 44 caps came from.
6) Ricardinho - 23 caps
A Brazilian who travelled to two World Cups you would expect to be a household name, but not Ricardinho who only really succeeded in Europe on the legendary Championship Manager 97/98 computer game. In real life, he failed at Bordeaux and Middlesbrough, spending most of his career in his homeland.
5) Doriva - 35 caps
Remember Doriva? Probably not. He was a centre midfielder with less identity than a home crowd at a Wigan Athletic match. Despite recently retiring it is difficult to describe what kind of player the former Sampdoria and Middlesbrough man was. He sat on the centre circle, and was neat and tidy in a Liverpool Lucas kind of way, but what exactly did he do? Well, he won 35 caps for Brazil - that is what he did!
4) Ze Maria - 43 caps
His name is repeated a billion times a day in Italy, but only because there are a lot of Auntie Marias in the peninsula. Spent the best part of a decade in Serie A with Parma, Perugia and Inter where he was a decent if inconsistent performer at right back. Just how he managed to make 43 appearances with the Brazil shirt, though, is a real mystery when you consider that not only did he never appear in a World Cup but that he had 142-cap record holder Cafu ahead of him in the queue. Obviously played a lot of ‘Pele’ friendlies against Guatemala and the Cook Islands.
3) Roque Junior - 48 caps
He may have a cool name, but there was nothing 'bad' about Roque Junior on the football pitch. Well, actually there was! The centre back was a catastrophe waiting to happen whenever he donned the Milan or Brazil shirt, committing numerous errors in the last line of defence. Helped prolong the myth that all Brazilian defenders were rubbish, winning 48 caps and a World Cup winners medal along the way.
2) Vampeta - 39 caps
In second place we have the midfielder whose name translates as ‘Vampire-devil’. One of Inter president Massimo Moratti’s many disastrous signings, Vampeta will be remembered as one of the biggest flops in Serie A history during his time at San Siro at the beginning of the millennium. Indeed he is more noted for not only being involved in the swap deal that took Flamengo’s Adriano to Inter, but also for being the first Brazilian footballer to pose totally naked for a LGBT magazine. Somehow he still won 39 caps for Brazil, and was a benchwarmer during the 2002 World Cup win.
1) Serginho Chulapa - 20 caps
Brazil 1982 are the greatest team never to have won the World Cup, containing a whole host of legendary players such as Zico, Falcao, Socrates, Eder and Junior, and playing some mesmerising football before they were eliminated 3-2 by Italy in a classic clash. For all these brilliant champions, Brazil ’82 also contained a striker described by Sir Bobby Charlton as a "Sunday League player". The 6ft-plus hitman was lanky, clumsy, and so un-Brazilian he could have been the lovechild of Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch. He won 20 caps, but also lost the Selecao the World Cup.