Jaap Stam’s five-a-side team includes ex-Man Utd team-mates and Ronaldo
Ex-Manchester United and AC Milan defender Jaap Stam has named an ultimate five-a-side-team consisting of former teammates – and it would take some beating.
Stam played alongside some of the biggest stars in world football during his 15-year career, having plied his trade in the English, Italian and Dutch top flights as well as the Champions League.
The Netherlands centre-back won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and the Champions League in his time at United, while also capturing the Eredivisie title at PSV Eindhoven and the Coppa Italia with Lazio.
His solid work at the back undoubtedly played a part, but he also had some extremely talented teammates to thank for those triumphs.
And during an interview with OTB Sports, Stam put together an outrageous five-a-side team made up of the very best he played alongside.
Peter Schmeichel
"He is so big that he'll fill up that goal straight away playing five-a-side," Stam said.
"Peter's been a great goalkeeper, his reach is enormous… but his reactions were so good as well and that is why I picked him. It gives you a great feeling of security… knowing that Peter is there to help out as well [if we slipped up.
"He always kept you on your toes as well. Even when he made the mistake, he would be shouting at us!"
Do you think Jaap Stam has missed anyone out of his team? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Alessandro Nesta
"He was like the modern defender," Stam explained.
"When you play on a small pitch you need defenders who can defend but who are also quite comfortable on the ball."
Andrea Pirlo
After picking the Italian ahead of ex-United teammate Roy Keane, he said: "It was a very tough decision.
"I picked Pirlo because of his technical ability on the ball and his passing accuracy. That's not to say Roy is less than him, but I think Pirlo is a little bit of a different player than Roy in taking up his positions."
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Paul Scholes
"Scholesy was one of the most underrated players in the world basically," Stam insisted. "I think Paul was one of the best midfield players [in his era.]
"His quality was outstanding in terms of on-the-ball, his touch, his passing, his work-rate and his sense of feeling where the space was and where he needed to be.
"You have his scoring ability then as well and he had the legs to go up and down the pitch. A complete midfield player."
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Ronaldo
"He had so much quality, it was just unbelievable," he said about his old PSV Eindhoven colleague.
"Before the start of a season he basically said, 'Yeah, I'm going to score 34 goals', and then achieving that and scoring more!
"With the ball at his feet he was faster than most players in the league are running without it – it was exceptional seeing a player that comfortable with the ball. I haven't seen a lot of players like him."
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