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26 February 2024
Maurice Revello Tournament top 100 players : 50th to 46th
On the occasion of its 50th edition, which will take place from 3 to 16 June 2024, the Maurice Revello Tournament is opening its history book. Since it was founded in 1967, the competition has seen many talented players. More than 2,000 have gone on to become senior internationals, and some of them have written football history. To celebrate its anniversary, the Tournament is updating its top 100, created in 2017. Until 29 March, our website will be displaying the updated rankings of the 100 greatest players to have taken part in the Tournament. And it continues today, with the rankings from 50th to 46th place.
50th : Ruben Dias (Portugal) - 2016
The 2016 edition of the Maurice Revello Tournament marked the start of a three-year English hegemony. Behind the Young Three Lions, winners of the competition three times in a row, the other teams had to aim for the other spots. Such is the case of Portugal, who finished third in the final ranking of the Tournament in 2016 after beating Japan and Paraguay. In this team, one player stands out for his size and qualities: Ruben Dias. The number 3 is the boss of the Portuguese defence. Gifted in both anticipation and recovery, he confirmed his talent first at Benfica, his training club, where he shone until 2020, winning the Portuguese League. He then moved on to Manchester City, where he joined when he left Lisbon. In England, Ruben Dias became a permanent member in Pep Guardiola's system, winning eight trophies in four seasons. All at just 26 years of age.
49th : Mark van Bommel (Netherlands) - 1997
With two draws and two defeats in four matches, the Netherlands' participation in the 1997 edition of the Maurice Revello Tournament will not go down in history. But it did at least reveal a number of players. In all, four members of the Dutch squad went on to become senior internationals. Among them was Mark van Bommel. The midfielder was a young player at Fortuna Sittard at the time, and began a career that would take him to some of Europe's biggest clubs. After a spell with PSV Eindhoven until 2005, he left the Netherlands to play for Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AC Milan between 2005 and 2012. It was in Bavaria that he enjoyed his most successful spell, making 275 appearances and winning five titles. With his national team, he was an unfortunate finalist at the 2010 World Cup.
48th : Sol Campbell (England) - 1994
Along with Robbie Fowler and Ray Parlour, he was the third member of the England team that won the Tournament in 1994 to appear in the top 100. Thanks in particular to its six future senior internationals, the British national team dominated that year's tournament and went on to win the competition. The centre-back even scored a goal in the semi-final against Belgium. A promising start to his career for the Tottenham player, who stayed with Spurs until 2001 before joining... Arsenal. With the historic rivals, he played five seasons until 2006, winning seven titles and being part of the Invincibles team that won the English title in 2004. Capped 73 times with the Three Lions, he also became an irremovable member of the national team until 2007.
47th : Nuno Gomes (Portugal) - 1996
Brazil, France, Argentina, England, Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Colombia... It was hard to imagine who would win the 1996 Maurice Revello Tournament before it kicked off regarding how strong was the line-up. The only certainty was that Portugal would be a formidable opponent for each of these teams. 1996 was no exception. Third in the final standings, the Lusitanian team put in another very good tournament, as they often did when they took part. That year, they could also count on an outstanding striker in Nuno Gomes. The tournament's top scorer with five goals, he won the award with a four-goal haul against Angola. A Boavista player at the time, he went on to become an accomplished player at Benfica, where his record was staggering: 368 matches, 157 goals, six titles won. He also scored 29 goals in 79 caps, making him the fifth-highest scorer in the history of the Portuguese national team.
46th : Fernando Couto (Portugal) - 1990
Portugal and the Maurice Revello Tournament... After more than half of this top 100 list, you know the drill by now, and this new episode illustrates it once again: the Portuguese national team is always a contender for victory, and many Lusitanian players have made their name at the Tournament. The third Portuguese in this episode, Fernando Couto took part in the Tournament in 1990, which saw Portugal finish fourth with an incredible generation: Couto, but also Vitor Baia, Paulo Sousa, Carlos Secretario and Paulo Madeira. In all, nine of them went on to become senior internationals. The rest of the central defender's career lived up to the expectations placed in him. From FC Porto to Parma, via Lazio for seven seasons and FC Barcelona, he won 23 trophies, including several European Cups. With 110 caps, he is also the sixth most capped player in Portugal's history.
