Pele gets a snub in Beckham's dream team

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Berlin, June 26: The soccer world may have crowned Pele as the best footballer ever but David Beckham thinks otherwise and leaves out the Brazilian legend from his dream team.

Beckham picks Northern Ireland's flawed prodigy George Best, Argentine legend Diego Maradona and Real Madrid team mate Ronaldo in the attack but Pele is conspicuous in his absence.

Under the bar, Beckham selects former Manchester United team mate Peter Schmeichel, ahead of the likes of Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks while going for another Real Madrid team mate, Roberto Carlos, at left-back.

''One of my two central defenders would have to be the great Bobby Moore, of course. At the moment, he's the only English captain to have ever won the World Cup for our country, so I would be honoured to have him in my team,'' Beckham told official FIFA World Cup website.

''Next to him would be Franz Beckenbauer. He was immense on the pitch, just incredible. I never played against him obviously, but I have met him quite a few times and he's a very nice man,'' he added.

At right-back, Beckham opts for national team mate Gary Neville while shouldering the duty himself on the right wing.

In the midfield, the England skipper picks Germany's 1990 World Cup winning captain Lothar Matthaus ''...a player who was excellent getting forward and scored goals but was also brilliant at defending and stopping the other team from attacking. An incredible player and a very nice man as well.'' An ageing Zinedine Zidane maybe past his prime but Beckham feels he would need ''a ball-player-type midfielder, and the greatest one that I can think of is Zinedine Zidane, the best player I've ever played with. I've been lucky enough to have played in the same team as Zizou for a few years and I would be honoured to have him in this side too.'' Beckham's three-pronged attack comprises Best, Ronaldo and Maradona.

''On the left, it would have to be George Best, one of the Manchester United greats. George was an incredible player, a great person, and his talent was absolutely immense.

''The first striker I have picked is Ronaldo. He is definitely one of the best forwards I've ever played with and, again, it would be an honour to have him in this team. Then, last but not least, I would have Diego Maradona. He was one of the best players ever, if not the best,'' Beckham added.

UNI