I was a defender who faced multiple Ballon d'Or winners but one stood out for me

Former Blackpool, Sunderland and Ipswich Town boss McCarthy has made a reputation for himself with his dry wit and deadpan press conferences but many years ago, the 64-year-old held together the defence for the Republic of Ireland.

Between 1984 and 1992, McCarthy starred for his country at the Euros in 1988 and captained them to their first ever World Cup appearance when the Boys in Green reached the 1990 quarter-final in Italy.

Along the way, he came up against some of the biggest names in the sport.

That included an England side brimming with talent such as Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne and John Barnes.

It ended in a 1-1 draw, but two years earlier, Ireland landed a hammer blow on their English foes in the Euros, winning 1-0.

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But it wasn't just England's talented players McCarthy shared a pitch with.

Others include Italy's Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi and the graceful Roberto Baggio, who won a Ballon d'Or in 1993.

But despite facing plenty of footballing royalty, it was Netherlands star Ruud Gullit whom McCarthy has ranked higher than the rest.

Speaking to Alan Pardew and DJ Majestic on the Final Word on talkSPORT, McCarthy said: "Ruud Gullit was one of the best I've ever played against. They used to rotate, the Dutch team.

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"But while he was up against me, he was quick, I'm thinking 'I'll go rattle him', no chance. He got his arm out - big strong fella.

"I thought 'if they ever kick it up in the air I'll beat him in the air', which they did from a goal kick.

"I jumped and he jumped in front of me. I've got all these dreadlocks in my face and I thought 'well, I can't beat him in the air'.

"When we landed, he caught it on his chest! I was in trouble. He was a proper, proper player. He had everything.

"He was as good as anyone I've played against."

Gullit, who won the 1987 Ballon d'Or, was captain of the Netherlands during Euro 1988, which the Dutch won with an incredible side, including Ronald Koeman, Marco van Basten (a three-time Ballon d'Or winner) and Frank Rijkaard.

The Irish did well to keep the scoreline down when they met in the group stage, with Wim Kieft scoring the only goal of the game as McCarthy stopped Gullit and Van Basten from scoring.

But speaking about strikers, McCarthy could not praise Alan Shearer more highly as he described him as the perfect player up front.

"My favourite - Alan Shearer. He did everything. He grafted, he scored goals from 30 yards, he scored tap-ins."

When Majestic asked if he was the complete No.9, McCarthy replied immediately: "Yeah. I would say so, yes.

"He comes back and defends that near-post from corners, I never beat him there at all. Proper player.

"Gary Lineker, wonderful goalscorer but he wouldn't put himself forward as a No. 9 battering into you and barging you around, knocking you about.

"Shearer, he could look after himself. Different class. One of the best I've seen."

When it comes to the Premier League, there are no better goalscorers in the division than Shearer who has the record for the most with 260.

He won the Premier League with Blackburn in 1995 then turned down Manchester United to join his beloved Newcastle.

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McCarthy's career was coming to an end, playing for Millwall in the early 1990s as Shearer came up through the ranks at Southampton where he started his career in 1988 before moving to Blackburn in 1992.

He scored 30 England goals in 63 games to put him joint seventh in the top scoring list, with Lineker finishing on 48.