yes, but who wears the brown kits? answer us that! after seeing özil in the U-21's last year and some recent friendlies, i'm hardly surprised... in fact i expected more! but he's young, he can't be great every minute of every match. on further consideration there are always OG, so your logic is flawed. messi could theoretically score goals for argentina as well. the fact that they don't doesn't mean it's an absolute impossibility.
His first position is rightback, though his two-footedness makes him an excellent leftback. Bayern's lack of a leftback is why he has played there for most of his career before last season.
If Holland win the world cup, Sneijder will become the first player ever to win the CL, domestic league, domestic cup and world cup all in one year. Surely he should be included in any top three seeing that he's been vital to both club and country. 1. Messi 2. Sneijder 3. ?
No offense to anyone putting Mueller in the top 3 but...its ludicrous. Just on the German team, Schweinsteiger, Lahm and Ozil are better options as all around footballers on a consistent basis. Not even sure I'd put Mueller in the top 50 at this point. My 3 based on how dominant and consistent they are in their positions 1. Messi 2. Lahm 3. Sneijder
I have to agree with this, perhaps with Sneijder edging ahead at the WC. Villa ATM would be third - mostly due to WC performance, with Robben, Xavi, Iniesta and maybe even Drogba close behind. The Germans have a lot of good performers, but not a standout - Schwienstieger would be the closest. CRonaldo on his performance over the last 18mths doesn't deserve to be there - he still hasn't got back to the level he was at when he won it. Robinho has the potential but needs to perform consistently for club as well as country. IMO Golden ball is clearly between Sneijder and Villa.
Man of the tournament: 1) Sneijder 2) Müller 3) Suarez Villa is close but Suarez gets the third spot for saving Uruguay the way he did in the quarters.
GK Julio Cesar RB Maicon CB Pique CB Vidic LB Lahm CM Essien CM Xavi OM Sneijder OM Messi SS Rooney CF Villa
I have to admit that I am highly dissapointed with the new stars.. When I was a kid the greatest stars of club competition always performed very well in the world cup.. Zico, Rossi, Maradona, Platini, Stoichkov, Rummenigge, Careca, Scifo.. etc.etc..
The gap between the great an the average player is a lot more smaller than 20-30 years ago. Also there is a lot more tactics and fitness involved , so that the best players have less chances to exploit the errors of a sinlge player or encounter a weary defense after 60 min of play time.
I disagree with this.. If you watched the NT of France and Brazil in the 80's they were all full of stars and yet you were able to see clearly the ones who stand out... i.e zico, platini.
Well most of this season greatest stars are performed very well. Robben, Sneijder, Schweinsteiger and Forlán have been good. Suárez scored about 3 goals already, Messi although not starring showed quality and Higuaín is amongst the tournament's top scorers. In response to the thread title's question in no paticular order. 1. Sneijder 2. Schweinsteiger 3. Messi I expect the 2010 FIFA Ballon D'or to have all of them in the top 3 places.
Yes, they stood out because they were foxes in hen houses. Back in the 80s soccer was slowly becoming a real professional sport but still no comparison to nowadays. Watch the game ARG-GER form last week how they countered Messi and compare it with the '86 finals in Mexico. Either the stars got worse or the average players got better, I think it's the latter.
Yes, it all startet around the 80s. In 1980 ZDF and ARD payed ~600k DM for the right to broadcast the Bundesliga games, in '88 it was 18 millions and nowadays it's 420+ mio. And with the money came the professionality.
A foreign star of Spain’s La Liga may have been expected to light up the World Cup, but most people would have put money on Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo or Argentina’s Lionel Messi. While that pair have both been disappointing, [Diego] Forlán, who plays for Atletico Madrid, has carried his fantastic club form into the World Cup. As well as impressing in front of the goal, he has proven adept at orchestrating play from a more traditional No. 10 position http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Afri...vs-Uruguay-Three-reasons-why-Uruguay-will-win Diego Forlán
sorry but I am not following the acronyms.. football has always been the most popular and most appealing sport in the world.
Messi, Robben, Drogba in that order Ronaldo, Rooney, Sneijder honorable mentions This is my favorite goal of the year, because of both the beauty and the fact that it ended Man United's CL run [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx16iOUQn8A"]YouTube- [HD]Champions League 2010 Arjen Robben Goal Manchester United 3 vs 2 FC Bayern Munich[/ame]
World Cup 2010 : 1. Schweinsteiger 2. Forlan 3. Villa 2009/2010 season : 1. Messi 2. Drogba 3. Maicon