Gullit: Netherlands, Germany have no stars

Ruud Gullit believes Netherlands and Germany have no stars, insisting there are only three players in the game who deserve that tag.

The Dutch great believes the German outfit are one of the best national sides in the world, but says only Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar can be considered true ‘stars’ of the global game.

“The German national team has developed wonderfully. Your attacking football is fantastic. You have one of the best teams in the world,” Gullit told Bild.

However, when pressed on the standout players of the team, he quipped: “Stars? You don’t have any stars.

“There are good players, very good players, a couple of excellent ones and exactly three stars.

“Stars to me are just Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar. Marco Reus is an excellent player, but not a super-super-super-star.”

The Euro 1988 winner was quick to point out that the same applies to his own nation ahead of their meeting with Germany in a friendly on Wednesday.

“Do Netherlands not have stars? That is right. We rarely have experienced players anymore,” Gullit said.

“(Arjen) Robben, (Robin) van Persie and (Rafael) van der Vaart. Other than that, there are many young players in the team. (Wednesday) will be very difficult for us, also because our defence is not that strong.”

When asked who from Joachim Loew’s side he would like to have in the Netherlands squad, he said: “Give us (Mesut) Oezil. We need him. He is technically perfect. With his short-passing game he would fit perfectly to us.”