The Greatest Video Game Football Team Of All Time

Madeira, Larcos, Espinas, Ronarid... True legends of the game. They helped our beloved teams to their greatest heights, and gave us our happiest moments as fans. They have done everything from saving us from relegation, to lifting continental trophies. These names are often more fondly remembered than those of our real life heroes. In the parallel universe of footballing video games, they attained the same statuses as Ronaldo, Messi, Pele and Maradona.

Some of them were real, some were based on real players and one never actually existed at all. From programmers with favourite teams and players, to a man who lived out his unfulfilled footballing ambitions through Football Manager, each player has his own intriguing backstory. This also makes our cast of digital heroes so much more relatable, as we made them "ours".

No team has ever been able to assemble such a lineup of champions. The squad in question has quite literally won every trophy there is to win. Sadly, we were never able to see them in action together at the height of their digital powers.

It should be noted that most of these players come from previous generation games, where a bit more leeway existed regarding licensing workarounds and the accuracy of player attributes. It's been a long time coming, but finally these pixelated heroes get the recognition that they deserve.

What would a dream team be without an unknown keeper from a relatively obscure league? Dionisis Chiotis fits that bill perfectly. A product of the legendary Championship Manager 2001/02 edition, Chiotis was blessed with incredible stats.

Renowned for his ability to keep out wave after wave of attack, he made AEK Athens practically unbeatable. Tales from the internet tell of how he double-handedly helped the Greeks to numerous scoreless draws against even the greatest teams to ever grace the UEFA Cup.

Chiotis would go on to form the defensive foundation of many CM teams, offering a superbly reliable presence in goal, while also being a bit of a bargain. For those who enjoyed the kind of football played by Otto Rehhagel's 2004 Greece team, Dionisis was the first name on the team sheet.

Despite his incredible heroics on digital pitches, he actually achieved his greatest feat in real life. Chiotis managed to break the fabled CM/FM curse by going on to have a pretty successful career - something very few CM/FM wonderkids can lay claim to.

While his time at AEK was nothing special, his move to Cyprian giants APOEL saw him play in the UEFA Champions League. Not only did he make the Champions League team of the week during the 2009/10 season's group stages, but his efforts also saw APOEL make it all the way to the Quarter Finals in the 2011/12 season.