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Today’s My Favourite XI is a truly international affair from Roger Domeneghetti, the man behind Who Ate All The Goals. It features some Leicester City legends, a couple of Arsenal icons and plenty of global superstars. This XI would give any of our selections so far a run for their money - except in goal, maybe.

Previous Favourite XI: Simon Walsh
Next Favourite XI: Suhail Seedat

Goalkeeper: Zeljko Kalac (Retired)

‘Spider’ Kalac only played three times for Leicester but will be remembered by the club’s fans forever. Signed in the 1995/96 season, he was responsible for all five goals conceded in his first two games. His only other appearance was as a sub in the last minute of extra time in that season’s play off final as Martin O’Neill prepared for penalties.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only person nervously thinking he still had time to throw the ball into his own net, but thankfully Steve Claridge scored the winner before he touched the ball. Amazingly, ten years later Guus Hiddink picked Kalac for Australia’s crucial World Cup game against Croatia and the keeper duly obliged by conceding a soft goal which nearly cost the Socceroos a place in the last 16. Even more amazingly he was playing for AC Milan at the time.

Right back: Lee Dixon (Retired)

Back in the day, when Liverpool were the team all the glory-hunting kids supported at school, I plumped for Arsenal as my second team instead – just to be different. Dixon was part of the remorselessly resolute defence upon which the Gunners success was built and the player I associated with most as I played right back too. He broke into the team for their title-winning campaign in 1989 and helped set up Michael Thomas’ title clinching strike at Anfield. It would be the first of four league winner’s medals Dixon would pick up in three different decades.

Central defender: Steve Walsh (Retired)

If you think Vinnie Jones epitomises the hard-man footballer then check out Steve Walsh. Banned for 11 games in 1989 for smashing David Geddis’ jaw, Walsh also received 13 red cards – still a record. More than that, he defined the Foxes in the late 90s and early 00s. Pushed up front because of his disciplinary problems, he scored 15 goals in the 1992/93 season. He missed most of the following season through injury but came off the bench in the play-off final to score twice and send Leicester up at the expense of East Midlands rivals Derby. Four years later he would lift the League cup and take his team into Europe. A genuine legend.

Central defender: Franco Baresi (Retired)

The un-tucked shirt, the rolled-down socks, the messy hair - Baresi looked like a tramp. He was small too, but I grew to love him on Football Italia as he marshalled AC Milan’s defence through a golden period of dominance at home and abroad. He was also imperious for the Azzurri. Shame about that penalty, mind.

Left Back: Fabio Grosso (Juventus)

Grosso makes this list for the spectacular winner he scored in the 2006 World Cup semi-final against Germany – a curling left foot volley past Jens Lehmann minutes before the end of extra time. Not only did it secure Italy’s place in the final, but it secured me £30. Sweet. The left back then stepped up to score the winning penalty in the final shoot out, winning me another £40. And the World Cup for Italy, of course.

Midfield: Steve Thompson (Assistant Manager, Blackpool)

Steve Thompson scored my favourite goal. Ever. The goal in question was in the 1993 Division One Play-Off Final against Swindon. Leicester were 3-0 down after 54 minutes but overturned the deficit in the space of 12 unforgettable minutes. Thompson’s goal was the equaliser and, for a moment, at least, it seemed to stop time. Ultimately City lost 4-3, but somehow Thomo’s goal made it all worthwhile.

Midfield: Marco Tardelli (Assistant Coach, Republic of Ireland)

Tardelli’s explosive primal scream celebration after scoring in the 1982 World Cup final is one of my earliest football memories. If you want to know what it means to score such an important goal check out the footage of Tardelli going postal, fists clenched, tears in his eyes, head shaking as he runs towards the Italy bench screaming “Goal! Goal!”

Midfield: Zinedine Zidane (Special Adviser, Real Madrid)

Zidane was the best player I’ve ever seen - one of the game’s true greats with an abundance of talent that saw him help three great teams – Juve, Real and France – to win all there was to win. Among his goals were two in the 1998 World Cup final as well as a wonder volley to clinch the 2002 Champions League trophy. Yet there was always a brooding passion swirling around him which saw him collect 14 red cards, most memorably for head butting Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final – Zidane’s last ever game. It is a testament to his genius (and only right) that he is not just remembered for that.

Striker: Eric Cantona (Director of Soccer, New York Cosmos)

Back in the early 1990s, Eric was a stranger in a foreign land when playing for an English team meant being English (well, British). But he had the two things he needed to succeed – skill and attitude – in spade loads. The former helped him kick-start Manchester United’s Premier League dominance while the latter means he’ll be as much remembered for that kick and quitting at his peak. Who else could call for a worldwide anti-bank protest and become football director of the New York Cosmos within the space of a month with equal élan and no hint of irony?

Striker: Paolo Rossi (Retired)

If Tardelli’s scream is the defining image of Espana 1982, it was Rossi’s goals that ultimately determined where the trophy went. A scintillating hat trick against Brazil, two in the semi against Poland and the first in the 3-1 final win against West Germany saw Rossi win the Golden Boot and Italy the World Cup. As a seven-year-old I wasn’t aware at the time of his involvement in the Totonero scandal or his subsequent ban but the fact that he played just three games in two years before that summer’s tournament makes his achievements all the greater.

Striker: Steve Claridge (Retired)

When Claridge pitched up at Leicester in 1996 things weren’t going too well for manager Martin O’Neill, and when it transpired our new £1.2m signing had the symptom of MS (he actually had a blood disorder) it seemed things were going to get worse. However, the scruffy striker would write himself into the club’s folklore with his shinned winner in the play-off final. A year later he scored another historic winner – in the League Cup final replay at Hillsborough - meaning he’ll never have to buy himself a pint in Leicester again.

Substitutes:

Goalkeeper: Jose Luis Chilavert (Retired)

I first came across Chilavert in an episode of Trans World Sport one lazy Saturday morning. He came to wider attention in 1998 when he became the first goalkeeper to take a direct free-kick in a World Cup finals and led his side to the last 16 before they were beaten by the hosts, France. The Paraguayan was a free kick and penalty expert and he scored 62 times in his career (a record at the time) but he was known as much for controversy – he spat at Roberto Carlos and fought with Faustino Asprillia. Oh, and he was pretty good between the sticks, too.

Defender: Tony Adams (Manager, Gabala FC)

More so even than Lee Dixon, Adams was a key part of Arsenal’s imperious defensive unit. But for me what marks Adams as a great is the much different journey he took in that time. His spell in prison in 1990 for crashing a car while drunk might have finished some player’s careers but Adams lifted the League trophy that season. Six years later he would admit his alcoholism and, with the support of Arsene Wenger, overcome that to captain the Gunners to two further titles (both doubles). This remarkable change both on and off the pitch is perhaps best summed up by his sweet half-volley with his weaker left foot to seal the 4-0 victory over Everton and the title in 1998.

Midfield: Joey Barton (Newcastle United)

Joey Barton’s like Marmite - you either love him or you hate him. But out of all the controversy – the red cards, the fights and the spell in prison - a genuinely talented midfielder has emerged. Barton provides a rare blend of defensive strength with attacking flair. But what I like even more about Barton is that he’s not afraid to speak his mind – telling Alan Shearer he was a sh*t manager and criticising members of the 2006 England squad for cashing in on failure were both spot on in my book. Just like Marmite.

Midfield: Neil Lennon (Manager, Celtic)

When Leicester signed the flame-haired Irishman in 1996 little did we know he was going to form the foundation for a midfield that would take us back to the Premier League and then into Europe. While his best performance for the club was one of his earliest – the play-off final against Crystal Palace – I’ll always remember him most for being pushed around the foyer of the hotel where I worked, in a wheelbarrow at one in the morning after one Guinness and black too many. And let’s not forget he made Alan Shearer fall over by head butting his foot.

Striker: Roger Milla (Retired)

Italia ’90 is remembered for being almost relentlessly awful, but one bright spot was the Indomitable Lions and their dancing centre forward Roger Milla. Two goals against Romania and two more against Colombia (including his memorable dispossession of comedy keeper Rene Higuita on the halfway line) helped Cameroon to a quarter final where they took England to extra time. Surely I wasn’t the only person who secretly wouldn’t have minded if they’d won.

Tags: Eric Cantona, Fabio Grossi, Franco Baresi, Joey Barton, Jose Luis Chilavert, Lee Dixon, Marco Tardelli, Neil Lennon, Paolo Rossi, Roger Milla, Steve Claridge, Steve Thompson, Steve Walsh, Tony Adams, Zeljko Kalac, Zinedine Zidane