Argentina’s Riquelme made a list with the best players in history he would choose for his team, if he could ever do that.

I’d probably put Oscar Cordoba in goal, because when I played with him at Boca, he always performed very well. Thanks to him I won a lot of titles, so that’s why I’d include him in my team.

The same can be said about Hugo Ibarra, who just seems to play better and better as time goes by. He was one of Boca’s main players when we won the Copa Libertadores. He has great spirit, never gives in, and that’s what has impressed me most.

At centre-half I’d play Fabrizio Coloccini, who’s my friend and an amazing player. He was a world youth champion with Argentina under Pekerman, and is one of the best defenders in the Spanish league.

Next to Coloccini, I would have Walter Samuel, because I really like the way he plays. His nickname is ‘the Wall’, which says it all really. I would say that is the best nickname you can hope for as a defender.

I would pick Diego Placente for the left wing position because he is always cool with the ball. He is rarely a spectacular player, but he almost never commits a mistake and is someone you can always rely on.

Fernando Redondo would be the heart of my team. I always admired his quality and his passing ability, and he was maybe the best that I have ever seen in terms of covering the field. The most impressive thing for me was that he didn’t do that by running a lot, but rather with his tactical strength and organisation skills.

Pablo Aimar would be my playmaker. What a talent! He is just so elegant and always has a trick up his sleeve to pull out at the right moment. Everybody will see at this World Cup what an amazing player he is - he can make the difference in our team.

I would be in midfield with these guys, and ahead of us would be my strikers: Gabriel Batistuta and Claudio Caniggia. I would have them because it was always really beautiful to see the two of them playing together. Batistuta was the best striker of the 90s, no doubt about that. He came from nowhere and scored goals like no other; I admire him a lot.

Caniggia, on the other hand, was the sort of player who would maybe only appear at some matches, but he had so many spectacular moments. And I will never forget his goal against Brazil at the 1990 World Cup. What a moment for all of us!

I only need one more player to make my perfect team and that would obviously be Diego Maradona. There is only one player who should be in every team, and it’s Diego. What he did in Mexico has never been done before, and nobody will come even close to that again. In those few weeks he was better than everyone before him and everyone since.

Source: WCoffsite