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With the 2010 World Cup now in the record books, it's time to think about the players who stood out the most during the tournament.
Some of the picks for Best XI should be easy enough, such as Diego Forlan, Tomas Mueller and Iker Casillas, but opinions vary all over the field so I'm sure SBI readers have their own unique takes on who should have made the World Cup Best XI.
I offered my take on the World Cup Best XI for Fox Soccer, but it should be noted that these selections came before the Final and Third-Place Match. I would make a few changes to my Best XI, with Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos and Jorge Fucile on my revised Best XI in place of Arjen Robben, Phillip Lahm and Diego Lugano,
Give my Best XI a look, then it's your turn. Who makes your Best XI? Select three defenders, five midfielders and two forwards, and we'll compile a sampling and release the SBI Reader's Choice World Cup Best XI>
Share your selections, and your thoughts on my Best XI, below.
Forlan-Villa
Bradley-Xavi-Sniejder-Mueller
Puyol-Maicon-Ramos-Pique
Casillas
Since I can only have 3 defenders, replace maicon with iniesta
GK: Casillas
D: Lahm, Puyol, Pique, Coentrao
M: Sneijder, Schweinsteiger, Xavi, Iniesta, Mueller
F: Forlan
Subs: Oezil, Salcido, Neuer, Bradley, KPB, Lucio, Honda
GK: Iker
D: Lahm, Puyol, Pique
M: Sneijder, Iniesta, Mueller, Schweinsteiger, Xavi
F: Villa, Forlan
It has to be a 3-5-2 because this World Cup was dominated and dictated by the midfielders.
Must haves for credibility: Forlan, Villa, Mueller, Sneijder, Iker, Schweinsteiger. All the rest have reasonable alternates.
I like the way you’re thinking! So close for these guys.
maybe in controlling the game, but I hate sissies that go down when someone farts next to them, waving their hands around to get them booked. If not Bradley and Landon, I say Podolski and Kevin Prince. But, I’ll stick with Bradley. Landon did fade in and out of games, but, he was there in it mattered.
Mark Paston the GK for New Zealand gets no mention? He was magnificent. And everyone is also forgetting how great a WC Robert Vittek had for Slovakia.
(SBI-Should we mention every single player who did well in the group stages? It’s a Best XI for the tournament, not a “Anybody who did well” team.)
G – Casillas
D – Ramos
D – Lahm
D – Maicon
M – Sneijder
M – Schweinsteiger
M – Mueller
M – Xavi
M – Iniesta
S – Villa
S – Forlan
+ Miroslav Klose
I’m putting out in a 4-3-3:
————-Casillas—————
Lahm—-Puyol—Friedrich—Coentrao
Xavi—–Schweinsteiger—–Sneijder
Mueller——-Forlan———–Villa
Subs: Landon Donovan, Asamoah Gyan, Mesut Oezil, Michael Bradley, Maicon, Per Mertesacker, Carlos Salcido
G Iker Casillas, Spain
LD Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, Netherlands
D Carles Puyol, Spain
D Paulo Da Silva, Paraguay
RD Maicon, Brazil
LM Andres Iniesta, Spain
CM Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands
CM Xavi Hernandez, Spain
RW Thomas Mueller, Germany
S Diego Forlan, Uruguay
S David Villa, Spain
Players who deserve mention but were left off because they didn’t make the semi’s (HEY FIFA! THERE SHOULD NOT BE SEVEN SPANIARDS ON THE TEAM!, including the coach).
Vincent Enyeama (look at the tape, he was everywhere and kept his team in every game)
Kevin Prince Boateng
Keisuke Honda
Michael Bradley
Lee Chung-Yong
Asamoah Gyan (I know he missed that penalty, but he created most of the Ghana offense and scored to get them to the quarter’s)
Players in the semi’s I liked
Jerome Boateng
Diego Forlan
Diego Lugano
Bastion Schwiensteiger
Thomas Mueller
Miroslav Klose
David Villa
Maarten Steklenburg
For everybody who has been complaining about this for the past month: falling down is not the same as diving.
Iniesta gets tugged on the shoulder. That’s a foul. If he still has an advantage, he stays on his feet and continues the attack. The referee won’t and shouldn’t stop the play. If iniesta sees there’s no advantage, he’ll go to ground. The ref’s decision to call the foul is now an easy one.
Replace iniesta’s name above with any other player and the scenario is the same. There’s nothing wrong with leaving your feet once you’ve forced a defender to foul you.
Am I the only one that thinks Puyol is extremely overrated. The goal was great but he was badly beaten on the breakaway and was LUCKY not to see red.
+1
Xavi is a baby? I’m confused. Dude is a man amongst boys controlling the game.
And..Bradley and Landon…yes, they played well, but really?
I’d give Tshabalala the Hometown vote.
Trying a popular formation (4-1-3-2), and some names we shouldn’t forget for their hustle, productivity, and game-changing ability. Maybe not the best XI, but the ones I would want to send out for 90 minutes:
———-Villar———-
M.Perreira–Mensah–Pique–P.Boteng
——-Xabi Alonso——
–Muller–Iniesta–Sneijder
—-Forlan—–Tevez
(Coach-Tabarez)
Forlan-Klose
Landon-Bradley-Schweinsteiger-Muller
Gio Van B-Lugano-Pique-Maicon
Stekelenberg
Honorable mention: Kevin Prince Boateng, Jerome Boateng, and Keisuke Honda.
Nigel De Jong and Van Bommel as Security escorts.
I don’t take babies on my team, so “Tommy Pickles” #11, Iniesta, Xavi and Ronaldo don’t make it.
Soccerjohn
If it was make a roster of 23, I think Donovan would definitely be on the bench for MF with his performance. Bradley and Dempsey would be in the group below that.
I think its a little strange coincidence that there are zero players not in the semis on this list. I certainly agree that it should mostly be guys whose teams went far, but probably not exclusively. Although, that being said I can’t think of anyone specific who should be added.
Messi is regarded as the best player on the planet. While he wasn’t garbage, he didn’t live up to expectations. He also had the most shots in the WC with zero goals, taking all the set pieces too.
Messi was just okay. If he was some guy we never heard of playing for Argentina, no one would be talking about his performance. Maybe he didn’t get the help he needed, but he also didn’t seem to lift the team either.
I agree Clark was awful. Where did all the guys pushing for Clark over Bradley the last year go?
Outside looking in?
GK: Neuer
RB: Paintsil
CB: Juan
CB: Mathijsen
LB: Fucile
CM: Bradley
CM: Honda (if counted as a mid)
RM: Lee Chung-Yong
LM: Podolski
ST: Klose
ST: Suarez
So true, its sad that the difference in the world cup was Robben not diving and Iniesta diving. BTW, I didnt know people fly forward when pulled back by the shoulder. It defies physics.
Okay, so there are a number of players who get included in the discussion for Best XI overall. Let’s say those players are the elite of the WC, the first-teamers. What “team” would Bradley, Donovan, and Dempsey be on? Are they second-teamers, guys who’d be in the discussion once the first-teamers were selected? Third-teamers? Fourth? How good were the USMNT’s best players?
I honestly don’t know enough about half the teams to evaluate their players well. But if you allow that 3-4 wings and 3-4 central midfielders should be in the discussion for each “team,” my sense is that Donovan would be a second-team All-WC wing (as I’ve defined it above), Bradley would be a second- or third-teamer, and Dempsey would be a third- or fourth-teamer.
It’s hard to argue with most of your “worst” selections, but I think Messi has no place on that team. Rather, I think his teammates wasted him. Whenever Tevez or other Argentine midfielders or forwards received the ball, they looked to dribble first. Messi showed in the same dangerous ways he does for Barca, but by the time he received passes, the defense had recovered and he had limited options. Messi wasn’t a failure; his touch was good, his passing inch-perfect as always. He was simply wasted.
Buddle? Gotta give felihaber the nod here.
Alexi had a theme and he stuck to it. My complaint with his list is he included Van Bommel. Although Van Bommel certainly fit Alexi’s theme (toughness/guys you’d want with you in a bar fight).
GK – Villar
DEF – Lugano, Juan, Lahm
MF – Schweinsteiger, Xavi, Sneijder, Robben
FW – Mueller, Forlan, Villa
Close – Casillas, Puyol, Ozil, Honda, Suarez, Higiuan. Closest American would be Donovan in MF.
Jozy-Buddle
Donovan-Edu-Bradley-Dempsey
Bornstein-Boca-Demerit-Dolo
Howard
Why they have Best XI as a 3-5-2, when nobody plays that formation, puzzles me. Anyway:
GK: Iker
DF: Puyol, Fucile, van Bronckhorst
MF: Schweinsteiger, van Bommel, Sniejder, Xavi, Mueller
FW: Forlan, Villa
I have to put van Bommel in there, as the story of the Dutch team was their rugged, ballwinning midfield, not their goal scoring.
GK: Casillas
Three defenders: Sergio Ramos, Pique, Coentrao
five midfielders: Iniesta, Xavi, Schweinsteiger, Sneijder, Muller
two forwards: Villa, Forlan
Coach: Oscar Tabarez
I’ve already posted my Best XI. But here is my all flop/worst XI team:
——-Rooney—Anelka——-
————-Messi—————–
Kaká——————Ronaldo
————-R. Clark————–
Evra-Both Nor. Korea CBs-Otamendi
————-Green—————
Casillas—Ramos-Lugano-Lahm—Schweinsteiger-Muller-Iniesta-Sneijder-Ozil—Forlan-Villa
the Barcelona starting XI
That team would get dirtied on the counter.
At least you didn’t embarass yourself like Alexi Lalas did by including Michael Bradley. Jr. had a good world cup but not that good.
————Casillas——–
—-Lahm——Puyol——Van Bronckhorst
–Iniesta—-Schweinsteiger——Ozil——Sneijder
—- Forlan—–Mueller——Villa——
Gk: Stekelenburg
Defense: Maicon, Sergio Ramos, and Puyol
Mid: Iniesta, Sneijder, Xavi, Mueller, Kedhira
Forward: Forlan, Villa
casillas; ramos, lucio, lugano, coentrao; iniesta, sneijder, muller, ozil; villa, forlan
Iniesta is on mine for best dives.
This is a World Cup best Xl, not auditions for the Karate Kid sequel
Good picks, but I leave Robben off, mainly for his persistent diving.
Also, I play 4 in the back. I hate it when the all tourney team switches to 3 to get more middies and forwards in there.
GK: Casillas
RB: Maicon
CB: Puyol
CB: Lugano
LB: Van Bronckhorst
CM: Scheweinsteiger
CM: Xavi
RM: Mueller
LM: Villa (more effective when he played here)
CAM: Sneijder
ST: Forlan
Close but not quite:
FB: Fucile, Lahm
CB: Juan
CM: Elano, Ozil
LM: Rubinho,
RM: Iniesta, Robben
F: Klose, Saurez
Having said that, Ives’ list is pretty good. I might try to squeeze Coentrao in as well, as well as Maicon. Hard to argue with the rest of the inclusions.
De Jong x11
———-Casillas——————–
Lahm——–Puyol—Ryan Nelson—–Coentrão
——-Xavi——–Schweinsteiger——-
Muller—–Sneijder———–
——–Forlan———Villa——–
I don’t make Best XI’s, I only criticize Best XI lists…..
GK Casillas
RB Maicon
CB Puyol & Piqué
LB Coentrão
CM Schweinsteiger
RM Müller
LM Iniesta
CAM Sneijder
CF Forlán
ST David Villa
———-Casillas——————–
Lahm——–Puyol——–Van Bronckhorst
——-Xavi——–Schweinsteiger——-
Muller—–Sneijder———–Robben
——–Forlan———Villa——–
I’ll tell you who wasn’t on it, not a single african player.