My goalkeeper would be Amadeo Carrizo. I never saw him play but I have heard so many people speak wonders about him. One of those players who represents our notion of a modern player; a ball-playing goalkeeper, a modern goalie who can play with his feet.

At right-back, Eduardo Luján Manera – someone whose speed and headers were widely acknowledged as contributing factors to the success of the Estudiantes de La Plata team that in 1967 became the first small club to win a professional tournament, and who won the Argentine Primera with the club as both player and manager.

Daniel Passarella, for sure, undisputedly one of the best world-class central defenders of his generation, if not of all time, and Dr Raúl Madero, a former physician – again, I did not see him play but because of my old man I feel familiar with his style. A modern central defender; great timing, good technique, was able to dribble … everything that one looks for now in a central defender, he already had 50 years ago. It is difficult to find the last defender … El “Negro” Aguirre Suárez – a full-back and an assassin, bien rústico (agricultural).

Juan Sebastián Verón’s all-time Argentina XI

In front of the back four I want a “double No 5” with Juan José López – JJ López – one of those mixed midfielders, with a lot of technique, the genetics of a No 8 that can do both things, attack and defend. He is the emblem of that type of No 8, alongside Fernando Redondo, who I played with in the national team.

As a complement to JJ he is a No 5 that can do everything: a marker, dribbler, he’s able to sneak in a ‘filtered pass’ and freely roam the midfield. Just in front, Omar Sívori, the fantasist. It could equally well have been Di Stéfano but I’ll go for Sivori – an all-terrain player; the sort that would get hold of the ball in the centre of the pitch and lead it right into the back of the net.

Then, categorically and without any doubt, Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona – both have to be in. Can I imagine them playing well together? Yes.

And finally, the 11th man, the striker Manuel Pelegrina – not just because he’s ‘pincha’ (an Estudiantes fan); he was captain at the 1930 World Cup, top goalscorer for Estudiantes and the national squad, and nowadays we talk so much about the importance of education – well, he quit football to sit the exam that would complete his schooling and then returned to play at the World Cup … an example on and off the pitch, then and now.