The golden generation, led by a once-in-a-decade genius, captivates all beings with a gorgeous and brilliant attack.
In the final analysis, their birth is the result of the large gap in ability between several groups of players of different eras, and the honors and status that the older generation failed to obtain were filled by the latecomers.
For example, some countries that are individually strong, but not always strong, often have a golden generation born. And teams like Brazil, Germany, Argentina and other teams, which are relatively stable all year round and have never missed major tournaments, we believe that they do not have the "golden generation" mentioned in this article.
In the more famous golden generation, because of the importance of the midfield and the combination of side-center tactics to the team, there are many combinations with wingers + forwards as the core.
Here are just a few examples.
Portugal: Figo + Rui Costa
Portugal has always been a small country, and although they have had a period of colonial glory in modern times, a look at the history of the country's football development shows that their record in international competitions is mostly blank. In the Eusebio era, finishing third in the World Cup was almost the only pride.
It wasn't until the late 80s and early 90s of the last century that the golden generation began to dominate international football, which made Portugal really get rid of the image of a weak football country.
Their leaders are undoubtedly Figo and Costa.
Figo, known as the right-sided Tianzun, is a fuller and full-midfielder, and won the World Footballer of the Year award in 01.
Costa is the epitome of a classical midfielder and the number 10 shirt owner of Fiorentina and Milan, with flowing dribbling and whimsical through passes.
One of the two is on the wing, using speed, technique and confrontation to win space, and the other is strategizing in the middle, waving the baton and controlling the team's attacking tempo.
The duo led Portugal to a stunning Euro 00 tournament and reached the semi-finals. But it's a pity that in the European Championship held on home soil in 04, Portugal went all the way to the final, but lost 0:1 to Greece and was the runner-up, failing to draw a perfect end to the golden generation.
After this tournament, Costa also announced his retirement from the national team
Netherlands: Robben + Sneijder
To be precise, these two plus Van Persie are already the golden "three generations" in the history of Dutch football, and the representatives of the first two generations are Cruyff and the Three Musketeers.
Robben and Sneijder worked together as early as the 06 World Cup in Germany, but Sneijder was not the main force of the iron fight at that time. In Euro 08, Sneijder played as the main midfielder, and the Dutch team hit Italy and France one after another, but was eliminated by Russia led by Zhirkov and Arshavin in the knockout round.
The summer of '09 was an important juncture, Robben transferred from Real Madrid to Bayern, switched to a right winger under Van Gaal, and developed an in-cut shot, which was truly sublimated into a wide killer;
Sneijder landed in Meazza and used his comprehensive skills to catalyze the team's offensive and defensive system and become the eye of the team. Inter Milan also won the treble that season.
Subsequently, Robben and Sneijder led the Netherlands to the World Cup in South Africa, where they finished runners-up. Arjen Robben scored two goals and Sneijder scored five to earn the tournament silver goal.
Four years later in Brazil, Arjen Robben improved his individual quality and the Netherlands finished third, but Sneijder's performance has dropped far from four years ago.
Chile: Sanchez + Vidal
After the "Double Sa", Chile did not become competitive again until they had a new golden generation, with Sanchez and Vidal being the top two stars.
Needless to say, Sanchez's ability has been well proven in Barcelona and Arsenal.
Vidal, on the other hand, is an underrated top midfielder.
First of all, he has a strong ability to score after insertion, the ability to run and cover a wide area, and a good sweeping ability; It also offers physical confrontation in midfield, some forward push, and a superb header. 再加上不错的精神属性，是任何豪门球队都稀缺的超级8号位。
比达尔在尤文、拜仁都是绝对的主力，后期去巴萨、国米，也有过出色的发挥。
拥有巅峰桑切斯和比达尔的智利队是那些年南美的第三强队，
They beat Spain 2-0 in the '14 World Cup and forced hosts Brazil to penalties, then beat Argentina in '15 and '16 to win the Copa America and finished runners-up in the last Confederations Cup in '17. Among them, in the quarterfinals of the 16-year Copa America, the bloodied team Mexico with a score of 7:0, showing terrifying combat effectiveness.
Belgium: Hazard + De Bruyne
At his peak, Eden Hazard had phenomenal dribbling ability, second only to Messi and Neymar in his contemporaries.
De Bruyne is a top-class midfield brain with a unique ability to pass the ball.
Maybe in terms of results, they surpassed their predecessors such as Schiff and Wilmots in the World Cup, but except for the narrow 2-1 victory over Brazil in the 18 World Cup, which can barely be regarded as a good performance (but Brazil injured the midfielder Casemiro in that game), the impression left by this team is nothing more than that when it is smooth sailing, it has become a background board again and again.
16年欧洲杯输给威尔士，21年欧洲杯输给意大利，22年世界杯小组未出线，综合来说，他们的表现没有对起他们的名声。
Wales: Bale + Ramsey
The Belle Ramsey generation fulfilled the unfinished dreams of Giggs, Rush and others.
Wales qualified for the European Championship for the first time in 16 years, and Bale led the team to top the group and scored direct free-kicks in the first two games. In the quarterfinals, Wales eliminated Belgium 3:1 to enter the semi-finals, creating the team's best result in an international competition.
They reached the World Cup in Qatar in '22 and Bale also scored a penalty against the United States.
Being able to qualify for the World Series frequently and qualify is more than enough for Wales, a small country with few people.
Croatia: Perisic + Luka Modric
If Croatia's glory in recent years, midfield master Modric is the leader, then Mandzukic and Perisic around him are the most indispensable wingmen.
Although Perisic has not yet reached the super word throughout his career, he deserves any praise when it comes to playing in the national team.
Considering the timing of the partnership and the fit with this article, Perisic is well deserved.
Perisic is the quintessential Eastern European player, full of energy, scrappy and capable of big games.
Spain scored the only goal of the game in Euro 16 1:0, the semi-finals and finals of the World Cup in '18, and the quarter-finals in '22. He is an important knife figure on the team's offensive line.
Croatia has also won the second and third places in the World Cup in the past few years, as well as the runner-up in the UEFA Nations League once, and the results have also surpassed the previous batch of "golden generations" such as Boban and Suker.
Russia: Zhirkov + Arshavin
Euro 08 belonged to Spain, as did Arshavin.
You could say he's a midfielder or you can say he's a shadow striker because Arshavin is swinging. His strengths lie in his speed on the ball, his agility and his ability to find space. He especially likes to play on the flanks or near the baseline, passing lethal balls and finishing final blows, and he can both finish directly and control the ball well.
In Euro 08, Arshavin only used two games with a total of 210 minutes of playing time to captivate the entire European and even world football world.
Two goals and a zero-degree pass assist, as well as numerous quick breaks and brilliant dribbles, were Arshavin's performance moments.
Zhirkov, known as the "Little Ronaldo of Eastern Europe", also performed well at that European Championship, breaking through on the left side. He was also named in the Ballon d'Or squad at the end of the year for his good performance in the cup.
Note: In the Czech golden generation, Nedved played mostly on the wing, and Rosicky was not in the same era as him, so he was not selected.
Additions are welcome