Top 5 players in the world

Discussion in 'Women's International' started by silentbob, Sep 10, 2003.

  1. silentbob

    silentbob Member

    Aug 17, 2003
    Maryland
    Club:
    DC United
    With the WWC coming up, I was curious as to who was widely regarded as the best women players in the world right now. My knowledge of the sport is fairly WUSA-centric, so I'm curious as to what others think.

    The list I've come up with is forward-heavy, since I don't think there are many midfielders or defenders who are THAT influential currently (Riise would've likely made this list before tearing her ACL, however).

    My five would be, in no particular order:

    Marinette Pichon
    Hanna Ljungberg
    Abby Wambach
    Maren Meinert
    Homare Sawa
     
  2. Adam Zebrowski

    Adam Zebrowski New Member

    May 28, 1999
    my top 5, in no order too...

    prinz...pichon...sinclair...kelly smith (best when 100%)...zhao lihong
     
  3. DennisM

    DennisM Member

    Dec 10, 2000
    Nya Sverige
    Smith for sure when she's healthy.
     
  4. silentbob

    silentbob Member

    Aug 17, 2003
    Maryland
    Club:
    DC United
    Yes, that's why I prefaced my list with the word "currently" -- Smith would've easily made my list last spring, but seeing as how she hasn't been 100% in a while...

    As for Birgit, she was probably the best player in the world a year ago, but virtually disappeared in 2003.
     
  5. Adam Zebrowski

    Adam Zebrowski New Member

    May 28, 1999
    birgit will be a major force in a couple weeks....

    as will sinclair...

    smith just played 45 minutes in and england win over the aussies 1-0, setting up the winning goal...

    Smith is focusing on euro 2005, which will be in England...

    the north korean player Ri Kum-suk is the player I want to see...

    there's a reason North Korea has had such success against China, and it's Ri....
     
  6. toepunt

    toepunt Member

    Aug 24, 2003
    North America
    My top five choices of the world are:

    Sinclair
    Lang
    Latham
    Nonen
    Boyd
     
  7. soccerchick584

    soccerchick584 New Member

    Jul 28, 2003
    Tennessee
    Pichon for sure.

    Wambach... I don't know. This is her first World Cup, and she is good, but I think she's too young to be considered one of the five best in the world.
    Hamm looks pretty good, though :)

    Ljungberg - yeah. She's incredible.

    I'm thinking Sun Wen, too. She's a great technical player.

    Kelly Smith. When healthy, she can run with the best of them.
     
  8. Adam Zebrowski

    Adam Zebrowski New Member

    May 28, 1999
    Throw Marta into the mix too....
     
  9. TLC#1

    TLC#1 New Member

    Aug 6, 2003
    in no particular order (only going by the players i have seen)

    Mia Hamn
    Marinette Pichon
    Kelly Smith (Healthy)
    Charmaine Hooper (this girl can work hard how in the heck can she do it she is more fit than me and she is like 35 or 36 and im 16 lol)

    hmmmm cant really think of a 5th but if i had to choose it would be birgit prinz
     
  10. nordby1

    nordby1 Member

    Sep 4, 2001
    SAN DIEGO
    Club:
    Lillestrom SK
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Hege Riise would have been #1 on my list before she tore her ACL. It is unlikely that Hege will be able to play very many minutes for Norway, but I still think she will have the opportunity to do something special in her final WC.

    It is really difficult to select only the top five players so here are my top 5 international players:

    Bente Nordby
    Dagny Mellgren
    Maren Meinert
    Birgit Prinz
    Hanna Ljungberg
     
  11. Emre5

    Emre5 New Member

    Mar 25, 2003
    chelsea,the death of
    marta
    hanna ljungberg
    christine sinclair
    millbrett
    kim smith

    how close is aly wagner to this list ?
     
  12. DennisM

    DennisM Member

    Dec 10, 2000
    Nya Sverige
    Tough choices. Due to injuries, Smith and Riise aren't here but they should be on any list when they are healthy. Rather offensively loaded. But that's to be expected. I would say:

    Meinert: Playmaking extraordinaire

    Hamm: Like one needs a reason. I'll give you two more. No player attacks better running north to south or south to north within 25 yards. Wingers may go towards the middle of the box but they usually run from further out. She does it going more or less straight up or down. Also I've yet to see fewer attackers who are as effective as a marker.


    Lilly: Best winger in the world right now. Few players are as feared for their crosses as well as when they cross with the ball towards the middle of the box. Eat your heart out, Becks, you don't shoot like her. Although you are better on free kicks


    Pichon: Best striker right there. A constant bundle of energy. She has a great eye for goal. Can outrun you or sneak behind the defense. Can shoot from 25 yards without flinching or poach with the best of them.

    Can't decide on the 5th. Toss up between Sun, Mellgren, and Ri...

    My top 11 for those under 25 are Marta, Daniela(a type of player only Brazil could produce), Lang, Ljungberg and Golebiowski, Peters, Sinclair, Han, Bompastor, Mueller, Gulbrandsen(Solveig).

    Honorable mention: Park Eun Sun. 6 games. 7 goals. Good average.
     
  13. Canadian_Supporter

    Staff Member

    Dec 20, 1999
    Prostějov, CR
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Haha... I see absolutely no bias in this post... ;)
     
  14. CAFAN

    CAFAN Member

    May 30, 2003
    2 defenders. Well done toepunt! :)
     
  15. DCUPopeAndLillyFan

    Apr 20, 2000
    Colorado
    Going on play in the World Cup alone I'd have to say (in no particular order):

    Hamm
    Svensson
    Prinz

    No firm opinions after that. Riise would probably be on my list when healthy though and I'd lean towards Meinert for the other spot.
     
  16. Fah Que

    Fah Que Member

    Sep 29, 2000
    LA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Bai Ji is definitely best winger in women soccer.
     
  17. soccerchick584

    soccerchick584 New Member

    Jul 28, 2003
    Tennessee
    Here is my post-World Cup top 5.

    *Svensson (Oh my God this chick is good!)
    *Meinert (great player, unfortunetly she plays for Germany :( )
    *Ljungberg (hey, her hubby is famous, and she's not so bad herself)
    *Wambach (she did absolutely fantastic. I couldn't have wished for a better performance from her. I expect great things for her in the future)
    *Rottenberg (she's great... as much as I HATE to admit it.)
     
  18. DennisM

    DennisM Member

    Dec 10, 2000
    Nya Sverige
    Jönsson and Rottenberg. Jönsson for the performance today and Rottenberg for the performance against the US.
     
  19. MarioKempes

    MarioKempes Member+

    Real Madrid, DC United, anywhere Pulisic plays
    Aug 3, 2000
    Proxima Centauri
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Strikers: Svensson, Pichon
    Midfielders: Meinert, Riise
    Defenders: Fawcett, Tornquist
    Goalkeepers: Rottenberg, Scurry
     
  20. sexysadie

    sexysadie Red Card

    Sep 29, 2003
    somewhere on earth
    SVensson
    Pichon
    Ljungberg
    Wambach
    Prinz
     
  21. nordby1

    nordby1 Member

    Sep 4, 2001
    SAN DIEGO
    Club:
    Lillestrom SK
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Birgit Prinz

    Birgit still had a good WUSA season with Carolina, but her offensive production was hurt tremedously first by the loss of Hege Riise and later Danielle Fotopoulos, both to season-ending ACL tears. :(

    No one on Germany's National Team benefitted more than Birgit from Maren Meinert's decision to play in one more WC. I personally hope that Meinert wins the FIFA World Player of the Year Award, but Prinz would also be a good choice as well.
     
  22. the_13th_redneck

    the_13th_redneck BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Sep 3, 2002
    A few pointers.
    If your list doesn't have Maren Meinert, you obviously haven't REALLY watched Germany play. I'd say about 80% of all attacking runs and moves and goalscoring chances originate from her feet. Not to mention she was tied in 2nd place for the most goals in the tournament with Garefrekes I think.
    Prinz scored a lot of goals, but really she should have had more. She missed some incredibly easy ones here and there and the number of goals she's scored attributes to the number of chances in front of goal she had.
    I think Meinert was the most underrated player of the tournament in terms of her capabilities and Prinz was slightly overrated.
     
  23. Woody-99

    Woody-99 Member

    Jan 19, 2002
    Germany
    I would say, that the most underrated midfield player from Germany would be Wiegmann. Overall Stegemann. After her WUSA season Meinert did get a lot of credit especially in the USA but losing Wiegmann will hurt even more imo.
     
  24. the_13th_redneck

    the_13th_redneck BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Sep 3, 2002
    It's debateable, but this is the reason why I believe Meinert was more underrated than Wiegmann.
    There is no doubt Wiegmann contributed greatly to the German team but consider the amount of hype each player got. Wiegmann was mentioned almost every time they wanted to talk about a certain player in the beginning... and despite Meinert's club credentials, she hardly had a word out about her. It was only towards the end of the tournament that Meinert got any recognition, and then, the player of the match for the final was Bettina Wiegmann despite the fact that Meinert had made a much bigger impact on the match itself.
    Also, Meinert got the bronze ball while Prinz got the gold and Svensson got the Silver. I would rate both Meinert and Svensson over Prinz.

     
  25. nordby1

    nordby1 Member

    Sep 4, 2001
    SAN DIEGO
    Club:
    Lillestrom SK
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Maren Meinert

    I was there at the HDC for the WC Final and I agree with you on both points. Wiegmann had a solid final for Germany, but my player of the match was Meinert. Especially since Prinz already received the golden boot I would have much rather seen Meinert cap off her great career by receiving the golden ball after having done so much to help Germany to win the WC Final.
     

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