Coach: Ayrton MOREIRA






GOALKEEPERS:

FÁBIO
RAUL PLASSMANN


DEFENDERS:

BALU
CRIS
NELINHO
NONATO
Roberto PERFUMO
VANDERLEY
VAVÁ


MIDFIELDERS:

Eduardo AMORIM
DIRCEU LOPES
DOUGLAS
Luís Fernando FLORES
Wilson PIAZZA
RICARDINHO
ZÉ CARLOS


FORWARDS:

EVALDO
JOÃOZINHO
NATAL
NIGINHO
NINÃO
PALHINHA
TOSTÃO


__________________________________________________


RESERVES:


GOALKEEPERS:

DIDA
GERALDO II
PAULO CÉSAR


DEFENDERS:

Adílson BATISTA
CAIEIRA
CÉLIO LÚCIO
DARCI
DEDÉ (1988)
LÉO (1988)
LUISÃO
MARCELO DJIAN
MARQUINHOS PARANÁ
NECO
PEDRO PAULO
PROCÓPIO


MIDFIELDERS:

ADEMIR
ALEX
BOIADEIRO
CAIEIRINHA
Fernando CARAZO
CLÊISON
GEOVANNI
HENRIQUE
Claudio MALDONADO
Walter MONTILLO
TONINHO ALMEIDA
WÁGNER


FORWARDS:

BENGALA
CARECA (1968)
FRED
NOGUEIRINHA
PIORRA
RAIMUNDINHO
Marcelo RAMOS
Thiago RIBEIRO
ROBERTO BATATA
ROBERTO GAÚCHO
RONALDO
WELLINGTON PAULISTA









INFO:
https://www.cruzeiro.com.br/idolos
https://cruzeiropedia.org/P%C3%A1gina_principal

Alex instead of Joaozinho in best XI?
Alex only played two years at Cruzeiro and spent of most his career at Fenerbahce while Joaozinho played ten years for them, scoring numerous goals, including this one here (one if not the most important goal in Cruzeiro history):

I know that Alex is popular among Cruzeiro supporters (and no one will doubt his quality as a player) but I really don't think that he deserves this spot instead of Joaozinho..

Yeah I was really in doubt if put Alex or Joãozinho.. at the end I decided to put Alex because of the caps in the Brazil NT.. however I'll change it with Joãzinho

Thanks! I couldn't find him because I was looking for Marcelo Moreno instead of Marcelo Martins

I suggest putting José Francisco de Morais in the first team instead of Luisao since he played for Cruzeiro much longer than him, and won Copa Libertadores and 5 state championships. Also I'd drop Fabio to reserves, mainly because I don't prefer putting 3 GKs in the first team, and I'd put Darci Menezes instead of him (he was CB in the 70's). Instead of Edu Dracena, I'd put Vanderlei Lazaro, one of the most capped players for the club, he was a LB, also winner of the 1976 Copa Libertadores. Regarding midfielders, I'd put Eduardo Fernandes Amorim (more than 10 years at club, winner of the 1976 CL) instead of Ramires. To conclude it, I'd go with this first team:



Also, you can add these players to reserves:



P.S. Thanks for the new All Star Teams!

I made the changes in the first team and added almost all of the players you suggested.
I didn't add Aristizábal because he only played one season.
Wendel didn't play enough matches despite having played five seasons.
I wasn't sure about Ronaldo because of his very young age but I've added him.
Roberto Batata is already in the team under his real name Roberto Monteiro.
Thanks for the help mate!

Great job!

Anyway, I have some suggetions:

you should find a place for Alex in the 23, altought have played for a short time in Cruzeiro, he was the most relevant player in 2003, wining the "Tríplice Coroa" (Brazillian Championship, Brazillian Cup and State Championship). It was a team to be remember and Alex was the icon of this team.

Tostão played as midfield in Cruzeiro, he was put as a forward by Zagallo in the Brazil 1970 team.

I also would put Sorin between the 23, he is a great idol for Cruzeiro.

Valdo played very well for Cruzeiro and was very important for the team, even being with advanced age. I would consider him in the reserves, but his missing is not a big deal. Jairzinho and Müller is the same situation.

The place of Alex was already discussed. I ultimately decided to move him to the reserves because, as you mentioned, he didn't play that much even though he won those trophies.
Tostão was mainly an inside forward, so secondary striker or attacking midfielder. He could still play as centre forward and the formation I chose already has Dirceu Lopes behind the strikers.
Most of the players here are idols. Would you put Juan Pablo Sorín, who didn't even play 100 matches ─ excluding the regional leagues ─ in three different spells, in the first team?
Regarding Valdo, Jairzinho and Müller, you said yourself that their missing is not a big deal. Since I prefer not adding too many reserves, I believe they can stay out.

No. Tostão was a number 8 in Cruzeiro. That's a common mistake about Tostão. Dirceu Lopes were the number 10.

Sorín played 125 games for Cruzeiro and made 18 goals, a lot for a side-back. If you exclude regional league, you are excluding a big part of Brazilian football (mainly at the past). Also, he was in his prime there and he is one of the best left backs in history of Argentina (I would say only Marzolini and Tarantini were better than him).

Would you replace though Nonato or Vanderley? They both played more than Sorín, won a Copa Libertadores and regional leagues.
Plus Nonato won two Copa do Brasil and two Supercopa Libertadores. Sorín won only a Copa do Brasil and a regional league.

About Sorín I wouldn't recommend him instead of Wanderley or Nonato because I believe these two were more iconic players for the club.

The player that look kind of an intruder to me in the 23-men squad is Cleisson. Apart from being part of the 1997 team and some type of box-to-box with a lot of dedication, his technical contribuiton wasn't anything special, I doubt Cruzeiro fans would remember him so fondly. To replace him I suggest two names: one is Luís Fernando Rosa Flores, a long period in the club during the 90s, technical reference in the midfield of the two Supercopas. The other may brake a little the criteria for the AS, but Éverton Ribeiro despite playing only two seasons won Brasileirão twice and was in both years best player of the tournament, so I think he would be a good reference especially because there is no one from the 2013/2014 period in the 23-men squad.

There are already two left backs. That's what I wanted to point out.
Agree about Luís Fernando Rosa instead of Clêison.

I would have thought Fábio would be a better choice than Dida. He's played over 900 games for Cruzeiro now and has won plenty of trophies and individual awards. Dida took the club to court to get out of his contract so he could sign for Milan (where he had his peak anyway).

Fábio instead of Raul Plassmann. It's a difficult decision, the 2 are super idols of Cruzeiro, but I believe that Fábio, even though he is still a player, already deserves this place.

Raul has 577, Fábio has 959 and counting (well, it's absurd, he's the player with the most games in the club's history and almost twice as much as Raul).

Titles (sources from Cruzeiropedia website):

Fábio - Campeonato Brasileiro: 2013, 2014
Copa do Brasil: 2000, 2017, 2018
Campeonatos Mineiro: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019

Raul - Campeonato Mineiro: 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 e 1977
Taça Minas Gerais: 1973
Taça Brasil 1966
Copa Libertadores da América 1976

Raul gets the better of this one, but not with a big difference.


Raul played 13 years at the club (1965–1978)

Fábio played 17 years at Cruzeiro (2000 and 2005-currently).

In addition to the fact that Fábio is still playing today, at the worst moment in the club's history, which further increases his size as an idol in the club's history. Fábio, even though he is still a player in activity (which seems to be a problem for some here) he is the greatest goalkeeper in Cruzeiro's history.