Euro 2020 is just around the corner and we really can’t wait.
There’s nothing quite like an international tournament, is there?
Despite the ability to watch any league around the world from the comfort of your own home, it’s great to watch all the best player gather for a month-long football festival.
We all know the players who will be involved in this summer’s tournament but how much do you know about the managers?
Well, we’ve decided to do a bit of research into all 24 managers and look at how good they were as players.
And in typical GIVEMESPORT fashion, we’ve decided to rank them from worst to best based on their playing career.
It required quite a lot of research for some names, while others are legends of the game.
Let’s take a look at the final rankings:
24 | Denmark – Kasper Hjulmand
Hjulmand was forced to retire at the age of 26 due to a knee injury and didn’t really have a professional career of any kind.
23 | Sweden – Janne Andersson
The Swedish striker didn’t have much of a playing career either, representing lowly sides in his country such as Alets IK and IS Halmia.
22 | Slovakia – Štefan Tarkovič
That’s actually very little information of Tarkovič’s playing career, who appeared to represent Tatran Prešov. Either way, it doesn’t look as though the left-back was particularly good at actually playing the game.
21 | North Macedonia – Igor Angelovski
Angelovski played in the Slovenian First League with Publikum Celje between 1998 and 2000. He did win the Macedonian Cup in 2003 with Cementarnica too.
20 | Switzerland – Vladimir Petković
The Sarajevo-born midfielder spent a lot of his playing career in Switzerland with Chur 97, Bellinzona and Locarno.
19 | Croatia – Zlatko Dalic
Played mainly in Croatia but not at any of the major clubs. Didn’t represent his country.
18 | Czech Republic – Jaroslav Šilhavý
The former defender represented RH Cheb in Czechoslovakia for 10 years, playing almost 250 league matches. Played for the national side four times.
17 | Finland – Markku Kanerva
The defender played mostly for HJK Helsinki, winning the Finnish title on five occasions. He also played 59 times for the national side between 1986-1995.
16 | Belgium – Roberto Martínez
Spent a lot of his career at Wigan, while also played for Swansea. Never played for Spain. His managerial career definitely surpasses his playing career.
15 | Germany – Joachim Löw
Low’s playing career was pretty underwhelming, mainly playing for SC Freiburg in three different spells.
14 | Portugal – Fernando Santos
Santos played in Portugal his entire career with Estoril and Maritimo without a call-up to the national side.
13 | Hungary – Marco Rossi
The Italian played in Serie A for both Brescia and Sampdoria but that was about as good as it got. He did win the Coppa Italia with the latter in 1993/94.
12 | Austria – Franco Foda
Best remembered for spells at Bayer Leverkusen and FC Kaiserslautern, winning the DFB-Pokal with both. Made two appearances for West Germany.
11 | Russia – Stanislav Cherchesov
The former goalkeeper played for a host of Russian clubs including Spartak Moscow as well as Austrian side Tirol Innsbruck. Where he won seven league titles between the two clubs. He played for the Soviet Union eight times and Russia 39 times.
10 | Scotland – Steve Clarke
Clarke spent five years at St Mirren before spending 11 years at Chelsea, making 330 league appearances between 1987 and 1998. Despite that, he only played for Scotland on six occasions.
9 | Wales – Rob Page
This should have been Ryan Giggs who would have ranked very highly indeed. However, his replacement spent most of his career below the Premier League with Watford, Sheffield United and Coventry. He did play 41 times for his country, though.
8 | Turkey – Şenol Güneş
The goalkeeper played for Trabzonspor for 15 years, winning six league titles and three Turkish Cups. He also played for Turkey 31 times.
7 | England – Gareth Southgate
Most remembered for missing that penalty at Euro ’96 but he played almost his entire career in the Premier League with Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. Played for England 57 times.
6 | Italy – Roberto Mancini
A Sampdoria legend during his playing days with 424 league appearances and 132 goals during a 15 year spell. He won Serie A with them as well as Lazio later in his career, six Coppa Italias and two Cup Winners’ Cups. He also won Serie A Football of the Year in 1997.
5 | Poland – Paulo Sousa
Benfica, Sporting, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan – Sousa’s CV is pretty impressive. He won the Champions League with both Juventus and Dortmund, while also earned 52 caps for Portugal.
4 | Spain – Luis Enrique
Enrique is one of few players to move from Real Madrid to Barcelona. He spent five years at the Bernabeu, winning a league title before becoming a Barca legend during a eight-year spell. Another two league titles and a Cup Winners’ Cup followed. He also played for Spain on 62 occasions.
3 | Netherlands – Frank de Boer
De Boer spent 11 years at his boyhood Ajax side before moving to Barcelona for a further four years. At Ajax, he won the league five times as well as the Champions League. He also won La Liga with Barcelona.
2 | Ukraine – Andriy Shevchenko
One of the greatest strikers of his generation. His peak was seven years at AC Milan, where he won Serie A once and the Champions League. He also won five league titles for Dynamo Kiev and the Ballon d’Or in 2004. He’s Ukraine’s greatest ever player with 48 goals in 111 appearances.
1 | France – Didier Deschamps
Marseille, Juventus and Chelsea – just three clubs Deschamps represented, winning the Champions League on two occasions as well as five league titles. He also captained France to the 1998 World Cup on home soil.
