Death reminds us of soccer’s Best of the best

Saturday, Dec. 3, 2005 | 8:32 a.m.

George Best was laid to rest today in Belfast, and it will be difficult to forget him.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention the first time he zipped out of the Old Trafford tunnel to represent Manchester United, in 1963, and many must have had the same reaction last Saturday before Chelsea's game at Portsmouth.

Thousands of fans bellowed "One George Best! There's only one George Best!" to the tune of "La Guantanamera." Best, who died the previous day at 59, likely wouldn't have wanted to be remembered by a silent moment, anyway.

A tragic figure who wrote in his 2001 autobiography "Blessed" that his first 27 years were "sheer bliss" and his second 27 were "a disaster," Best battled the bottle all of his adult life.

The man who easily won a "Sun" reader's poll to decide the greatest British sports figure of all time still considered himself fortunate.

"Despite all the bad press I've had over the years," Best wrote, "the public still seems to like me and tends to remember the good things I did on the football field, rather than the mistakes I made off of it.

"And they seem to be sympathetic about the latter."

Here's to a host of fallen football heroes, our own Pitch of Dreams.

HEAVEN'S XI

GOALIE: LEV YASHIN (1929-90) The only keeper to win European Footballer of the Year honors, in 1963, was known as "The Black Spider" because of his all-black outfit and long fingers. Guided Russia to Olympic gold (1956) and a European Championship ('60), and a hockey club title -- yes, he minded the net -- in '53.

RIGHT BACK: OBDULIO VALERA (1917-96) Fellow Uruguayans have considered him immortal ever since he led the national team to a 2-1 World Cup final victory over Brazil before a world-record crowd of 200,000 at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro. He was 7-0 in World Cup games.

CENTER BACK: BOBBY MOORE (1941-93) Earned 108 caps for the English national team, which included the thrilling 1966 World Cup victory at Wembley Stadium against West Germany. An aggressive and graceful tackler, Best called him the best defender he'd ever seen.

LEFT BACK: MARIO RIGAMONTI (1922-49) The rock of the Torino defense died with nine other first teamers when the team's plane crashed into the 2,200-foot peak Superga outside Turin. The motorcycle-riding rebel would disappear for days, appearing at the fabled Filadelfia Stadium minutes before kickoff.

RIGHT MIDFIELD: SIR STANLEY MATTHEWS (1915-2000) "The Magician" collected a hat trick for a 10-man England squad against Czechoslavakia in 1937. He won the first European Footballer of the Year award, in '56. At nearly 23 years, he played for the English national team longer than anyone.

CENTER MIDFIELD: ROBIN FRIDAY (1952-90) A career lower leaguer in Britain, the 35-yard bicycle kick the former Reading player once converted against Tranmere is the stuff of legend. No footage of it exists. Best might be hearing about all the details right now.

center midfield DUNCAN EDWARDS (1936-58) Mention his name and see 60-year-old Brits weep. He and seven Manchester United teammates -- the Busby Babes -- perished when their airplane skidded off a snowy and slushy Munich runway Feb. 6, 1958. A stained-glass window depicts him in the parish church of St. Francis in Dudley, England.

LEFT MIDFIELD: JEF MERMANS (1922-96) "The Bomber" helped Anderlecht win seven Belgian titles, scoring 38 goals in 1946-67 and 37 in '49-50. The stadium in his hometown of Merksem, Belgium, is named after him.

RIGHT WING: ROMEO MONTI (1919-49) A free- and penalty-kick specialist, he and nine other Turin mates once started for the Italian national team. A plaque outside the church of Superga marks the exact spot where the Grande Torino's G212 plane crashed May 4, 1949.

IN THE HOLE: GEORGE BEST (1946-2005) His two goals in Man U's 5-1 victory over Benfica in Lisbon, in a European Cup quarterfinal in '66, marked the arrival of "the fifth Beatle." The direct heir of the tragic Busby Babes delivered beyond expectations.

LEFT WING: JOE ZAHER (1984-2002) The Bishop Gorman High star earned Pac-10 Conference freshman-of-the-year honors at Oregon State, helping the Beavers reach their first College Cup, before suffering fatal injuries in an auto accident. No doubt he is having a ball kicking it around with Best.

Rob Miech can be reached at 259-4087 or at miech@lasvegassun.com