Ahead of the launch of FIFA 20 in September, EA Sports have been taking to Twitter to release small pockets of information to get gamers excited – including new Icons.
Anyone who plays FIFA Ultimate Team, will know Icons are a massive part of the game mode, being one of the most popular but more expensive card types to obtain as they link to every player on the database, helping you reach a maximum chemistry of 100.
EA Sports have already announced the addition of ‘the Bundesliga experience’ to FIFA 20, adding in detailed features from 13 stadiums and all the teams have had a revamp in terms of player faces and appearances to improve accuracy in the game.
With all the excitement building towards the release of the new game next month, EA have named another legendary player joining the franchise – goalscoring Mexican maestro Hugo Sanchez.
Sanchez is one of the most prolific past strikers in LaLiga history, scoring aplenty in Madrid – for both Real and Atletico.
He is one of a small few to make the shocking move between big rivals in the capital of Spain, scoring 58 times in 120 appearances for Atletico, and a staggering 189 goals in 251 appearances for Los Galacticos, between 1985 and 1992.
Once again, EA Sports announced the news via their social media account on Twitter, showing all three variations of the player that will available which are his baby version, mid-tier and Prime Icon – but as seen below no overall ratings have been released yet.
Sanchez isn’t the first new Icon to be announced ahead of the the launch of FIFA 20 in September, but who else had made the cut so far to be included in this exclusive club?
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Didier Drogba
The Ivorian striker will bring pace, power and finesse to FIFA 20 and is already a frontrunner to be one of the most popular players for both FIFA eSport stars and casual players.
On FIFA 19, pace and strength were one of the best combinations with attacking players, and Drogba fits this role perfectly.
He is deadly inside and outside of the penalty box, in the air or from a direct set piece – there is nothing he can’t do.
Name: Didier Drogba Born: March, 1978 Clubs: Marseille, Chelsea, Galatasaray, Montreal Impact Key Stat: Scored 164 goals in 381 appearances for Chelsea Club Honours: 4x Premier League titles, 4x FA Cups, 3x League Cups and 2x African Footballer of the Year Iconic Moment: A last minute equaliser against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final, before scoring the decisive spot kick to win the game after extra time
Andrea Pirlo
Perhaps the classiest man to ever grace a football pitch, as well as one of the most talented midfielders when it came to deep-passing play and controlling a game.
However, it may come as a surprise that Pirlo, like many existing Icons on FIFA, may not be very popular in the game as he is lacking some key attributes.
As mentioned above Drogba will be highly popular due to his bully-like play style whereas Pirlo isn’t very physical, and doesn’t have the pace or mobility some players will want in the midfield.
There is no doubt that he will offer some of the best passing stats in the game as well as being adequate for any set piece situation – it remains to be seen how much of an impact Pirlo could make on this years FIFA players.
Name: Andrea Pirlo Born: May, 1979 Clubs: Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus and New York City F.C Key Stat: 493 appearances in Serie A and 116 appearances for Italy Club Honours: 3x Footballer of the Year, 1x World Cup (2006), 6x Italian titles and 2x Champions League wins Iconic Moment: Pirlo was a starter in the 2006 World Cup final, and went on to score the opening penalty in a shoot-out which Italy went on to win 5-3
Zinedine Zidane
One of the most anticipated players to be put into FIFA Ultimate Team since Icons were added to the game mode, Zizou will be one of the most used cards by professional players at eSports events, and those who can afford him outside of that.
He will no doubt be one of the highest rated players in the game, rivalling the prime version of Maradona and Pele who are 97 and 98 rated respectively.
The current Real Madrid boss was regarded as one of the best, a world-record signing when he moved from Juventus to Real Madrid for £48million in 2001, and is now in his second spell as manager in the Spanish capital.
He will add strength, clinical finishing, long range shooting as well as flair dribbling amongst a plethora of attributes in FIFA 20, and is the definition of a complete midfielder along with Ruud Gullit, Michael Ballack and Lothar Matthaus who already exist on the game.
Name: Zinedine Zidane Born: June, 1972 Clubs: Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid Key Stat: Zizou made 100 or more appearances in Ligue 1, Serie A and La Liga and contrubuted to 157 goals in just over 400 games in that time from midfield Honours: 3x FIFA Ballon d’Or, 1x World Cup (1998) and 1x Champions League Iconic Moment: It might just be his most memorable goal for Madrid and his whole career as Zidane scored a volley from the edge of the box against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final in 2002 where he also picked up the man of the match award for a masterclass in midfield
Ian Wright
Yet another English striker is being added to the Icon list for FIFA 20, in the form of ex-Arsenal front man, Ian Wright.
Wright joins the likes of Micheal Owen, Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker in the game but will offer a more direct threat.
For Arsenal fans, he is a certainty to be in a dream Ultimate team, possibly alongside Thierry Henry, with Wright scoring 113 goals in 213 Premier League appearances across spells with Arsenal and Crystal Palace.
‘Wrighty’ is one of 28 players to make it into the Premier League 100-goal club, ranked joint-19th with former Everton and Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku.
Name: Ian Wright Born: November, 1963 Clubs: Crystal Palace and Arsenal Key Stat: In 280 appearances Wright scored 158 goals, and has one of the best returns in English football history Club Honours: 1x Premier League title, 2x FA Cups, 1x PL Top Scorer (29 goals 1991/92) Iconic Moment: Wright came on as a substitute in the FA Cup final against Manchester United in 1990, when he came onto the ptich Arsenal were 2-1 down, Wright scored twice to take the game to a replay as it ended 3-3
Ronald Koeman
Koeman is set to be the only one of his kind on the game as a defender from the Netherlands, with Frank De Boer being removed from the game in FIFA 18.
The Dutchman will join the likes of Johan Cruyff, Frank Rijkard, Ruud Gullit, Edwin Van Der Sar, Clarence Seedorf and many more Dutch Icons on FIFA 20 – establishing the quality of the footballing nation.
As much as he was a central defender, Koeman was always a threat from set pieces, especially direct free-kicks during his time with Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven.
He will most likely be a popular pick with players across the FIFA Ultimate Team platform, especially if one of his three card variants is released as a defensive midfielder, as Koeman had spells in several positions.
This will mean it is easier to utilise his shooting ability from range in game, pairing it with his defensive attributes when the game is released in September.
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Carlos Alberto Torres
To most football fans, especially in younger generations, the name Carlos Alberto Torres may not mean a lot – but what if you were to learn he’s one of the best Brazilian defenders of all time.
Why you may have never heard of Carlos Alberto is due to him playing almost the entirety of his football in his home nation of Brazil.
He was apart of the Santos side that included Pele and Garrincha in 1966 and linked up with Pele in the USA in 1977 at New York Cosmos, helping them to obtain back to back NASL titles in 1977 and 1978.
Currently on FIFA 19, there is only one fellow Brazilian defender which is full-back Roberto Carlos, other Brazilian Icons include Pele, Ronaldo, Socrates, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo.
Name: Carlos Alberto Torres Born: July, 1944 Clubs: Fluminense, Santos, Flamengo and New York Cosmos Key Stat: Carlos Alberto returned to Fluminense in 1974 and went on to move again to rival side Flamengo in 1976, which was a huge move when it comes to the culture of Brazilian football Club Honours: 1x World Cup (1970), 4x Paulista Championship (Santos) and 4x NASL Soccer Bowl Championships Iconic Moment: Alberto was left out of the 22-man squad for the 1966 World Cup squad, but once they were knocked out in the group stages, incoming manager Joao Saldanha promoted Alberto to captain of Brazil – they won the next World Cup in 1970
Ian Rush and John Barnes
John Barnes made 314 appearances for Liverpool in a ten year spell between 1987 and 1997 scoring 87 goals along the way as well as making 233 appearances for Watford and scoring a further 65 goals with the Hornets.
Barnes has every chance of being a very popular option on FIFA 20 as he was known for his powerful play down the left wing, with very quick feet and a cultured finish when given the opportunity.
Some of the most popular wingers on FIFA 19 especially with the professional FIFA players, had these attributes such as Kylian Mbappe’s Team of the Year card, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo. Barnes could be the breakthrough icon in that position people have been waiting for.
Name: John Barnes Born: November, 1963 Clubs: Liverpool and Watford Key Stat: Alex Ferguson rejected the chance sign Barnes when he left Watford, backing Jesper Olsen instead – Ferguson later revealed in his autobiography that he regreted not signing Barnes after how well he did at Liverpool, helping them dominate english football for another three years. Club Honours: 2x First Division title, 2x FA Cups, 1x PFA Player of the Year and 2x FWA Player of the Year Iconic Moment: In his debut season at Anfield, Barnes scored 15 goals which saw him claim the PFA Player of the Year award as well as a league winners medal also having success in music as ‘The Anfield Rap’ reached no.3 in the UK Music charts
As mentioned above, Ian Rush is to be the second Welsh icon to grace the FIFA franchise when the game launches next month, and he will be another viable option up-front.
The striker is known for his time at Liverpool, where he had three spells. The first for six years from 1980/86 where he scored 109 goals in 182 games before moving to Juventus where he played a disappointing 29 times in two years, before returning on loan to Liverpool where he scored another 30 goals.
In 1988 he rejoined the Reds on a permanent deal where he linked up with the above mentioned John Barnes, making a further 245 appearances for Liverpool and netting another 90 times.
For the most part of his goalscoring career, Rush was a poacher, getting most of his strikes in and around the six-yard box – which is why I don’t see him being a big hit on FIFA 20.
Gamer’s want to use players who are expressive on the ball, skilful when dribbling and despite being a prolific striker – Rush just doesn’t fit this algorithm in a term described by the FIFA community as ‘meta’ otherwise meaning ‘end game’ in the eSports world.
Name: Ian Rush Born: October, 1961 Clubs: Liverpool and Juventus Key Stat: Scored 229 goals in 469 goals for Liverpool, coming third in a survey of 100 players who shook the Kop Club Honours: 5x First Division titles, 2x European Cups and 1x PFA Young Player of the Year Iconic Moment: In the 1986 Cup final, Liverpool found themselves 1-0 down to Everton but after the break Ian Rush netted twice as Liverpool went on to win the final 3-1, it was the first Merseyside derby in the competitions history – Rush was also named Man of the Match
With a little over a month until FIFA 20 is set to release, EA Sports will continue to leak content coming to their new game, including the names of more confirmed Icons, with the FIFA community crying out for some big names to be announced in the coming weeks.
Whether it will be Garincha, Kenny Dalglish, Xavi, David Beckham or Ashley Cole, the list goes on – but who do you think will make the grade for FIFA 20?
