Photo by ISIphotos.com
Now that all 32 World Cup teams have played at least one match, it is time to look back at which players impressed the most in the tournament's first 16 matches.
Now, there haven't been a ton of goals scored, but that doesn't mean there haven't been good performances from attacking players. There were actually plenty of strong individual performances from offensive players despite organized team defending being the story of the tournament so far.
Here are our picks for the World CUp Best XI After the first round of group matches:
FIFA World Cup Best XI (After First Matches)
————Robinho—–Tshabalala———-Lionel Messi—–
—————————-Mesut Ozil——————————
—-Alexis Sanchez—————————-Park Ji Sung——-
————————–Michael Bradley————————–
Stephan Lichsteiner—–Kolo Toure———————Maicon
————————–Vincent Enyeama————————
Coach– Ottmar Hitzfeld
HONORABLE MENTION– Tim Howard, John Mensah, Michel Bastos Oguchi Onyewu, Ji Yun-Nam, Yaya Toure, Yong Hak-An, Jean Beausejour, Steven Gerrard, Asamoah Gyan, Miroslav Klose, Jong Tae-Se.
I'm sure there are some players who I forgot, and will gladly tweak the squad accordingly. Consider this a launching point for discussing which players you have liked in the tournament so far. No, last night's Uruguay-South Africa match was not included in the consideration. As for positions, we obviously massaged some positions to make this group work. Considering the varied positions we've seen in this tournament, you can't really go wrong with any particular formation.
Yes, there were obviously some tough calls, such as Asamoah Gyan missing out, and Robert Koren and Yaya Toure being edged out by Michae Bradley. Oguchi Onyewu could have also made the squad, but Toure got the nod and there were other positions with great performances so I went with a three-man defense (and yes, I do realize it's been an ultra-defensive tournament, but that puts even more of a premium on attacking success).
Who did we forget? Who would be on your Best XI after the first round?
Share your thoughts below.
Onyewu was good out of the air, and ONLY out of the air. He was out of position a number of times, not just on the goal (rewatch the breakaway chance that Heskey blew early in the second half, Onyewu looked lost). The sad thing is that he still had a better game than Demerit (who needs to take a seat). Jay’s just not the same player that he was this time last year.
And Ives, making the case that every reporter thinks he had a great game is not a good rationale to rate Gooch as high as you seemingly are (though it is not surprising because everyone seems to be enamored by Onyewu’s recovery/presence). Especially when his performance was nothing more than poor during the run of play, but great out of the air.
I think Rooney unmarked from 25 is preferable to Gerrard unmarked from 6. And it was not just that goal, Onyewu got caught chasing his own deflection upfield early in the second half that allowed Heskey to run in on Howard, entirely unopposed.
He was strong in the air, challenged cleanly, and cleared the ball on a number of dangerous occasions. But the type of mistake he made was repeated and the USA were fortunate not to concede both times. Hopefully, as the rust comes off he will eliminate that kind of play and solidify the defense that much more. Until then, putting him on the honorable mention list for an opening set of games where great defensive performances were the norm seems pretty ridiculous.
No Robert Green? He was USA’s best player.
I definitely thought Onyewu was more a liability than anything in the England game. He was an aerial presence, but there were a handful of times where he looked like he was clueless, and breakdowns in his marking or communication lead to very scary balls through the middle for England. If the English strikers could finish, those chances alone could have meant multiple goals for them.
Surprised to see him mentioned on here.
My dissatisfaction with Clark definitely started long before the match against England.
Any discussion about not including German players because their competition was Australia, but having no issue with including Brazilian players (who’s competition were the world beaters, North Korea) is silly. Lahm was flat out dominant. Maicon had a sick goal, but Lahm had a much more complete game. Plus Lahm played on the right anyways, so I would take him over Lichsteiner, but I would still put him over Maicon.
He goes to a bottom-rank EPL team — probably one newly promoted…or, maybe Wigan, if Roberto is impressed. He doesn’t fit the Arsenal system, at all…and Liverpool needs more proven talent.
Those of us, including me, who said that Sacha Kljestan wasn’t good enough for the team were right, and that should count for something when making an argument. Meanwhile, I think have been right all along on Edu being better than Clark. I was happy with the draw against England, but we drew in spite of Clark’s screwup on the goal, not because he played well. I simply think Edu is better and have thought so for a long time. I don’t care that Edu plays in Scotland whereas Clark plays in Germany, because Edu and Rangers have played a lot better than Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt. Also, I don’t think Edu played poorly in the warmups–he made one goof playing at centerback but was very strong at defensive midfield. One last thing, Clark seems like a decent player (much better than Kljestan) and a good guy, but in my opinion Edu is better (and this is a website to discuss our opinions, and this is a topic that matters).
Yes
Hard for a sub to be Best XI. But, he’s got legs, for sure…and style.
What about in South Africa in 2010?
These lists are crap, Klose was way better than the south african.
other than that i like a lot of these picks. ozul and sanchez are out of control. forlan and suarez also looked great in their second game.
lahm? sanchez? grichting from suisse? inler was better than MB in my opinion. MB played well, but was below demerit and dolo for my money. and inler was fantastic against spain…plus they won.
Has Ricardo Clark become the new Sacha Kljestan because some seem to hate him for a play that was a combination of mistakes. Im sorry, but would you rather play in the SPL which has better competition between players in its top two clubs than against other league teams or in the Bundesliga. Plus if fans actually watched Edu play in his last friendly, he didnt exactly show great defensive ability to displace Clark, maybe three possible red card tackles. Also, why distrupt a good thing. If it works dont fix it.
If Mascherano leaves, i’d guess Liverpool make a move. They can’t splurge either, so an unheralded (but young and very talented) american might give them the best bang for the buck, etc. I’d love to see him on Arsenal though
Onyewu??? I thought he was responsible for the breakdown that led to the early goal..seems a step behind..
Ozil is scary good. I think he will win a game gor Germany in the later rounds..
(SBI- “Responsible”? How is he responsible? A lot happened on that play, and while he did step up to stay close to Rooney, which created space for Gerrard to run into, Clark is still much more at fault there. As is Demerit, who didn’t pressure Heskey on the pass. It’s easy to get on Onyewu for stepping up, but if you were a defender and Rooney was alone 25 yards from goal, would you leave him unmarked, or would you step to him?)
preach
I’ve been willing that move to happen for months…
Does this mean he gets more attention from EPL teams, and a transfer to top EPL team might be in the cards for him? Arsenal sure need some help for Vermaelen and Gallas in the back.
Think Kuyt deserves to be in the honorable mention category, he was great for the Dutch but I agree Ozil was better. Also v.Bommel and vd.Wiel were really good. Hope the Dutch will step up their game though.
From Sky Sports:
Well, Skysports gave Bradley a 7, Gerrard a 7, and Lampard a 6. Averaged together, Gerrard and Lampard received a 6.5, meaning Bradley, with a 7, outperformed them.
I graded Bradley at an 8. I’ve been critical of him because of his over agressivenss and silly cards, but I think Ives is correct on thois one.
If you don’t know it by now, you will soon.. His name is Eljero Elia. He plays for the Netherlands.
The way I know Michael Bradley had a great game is that we only gave up one goal and he was partnered with Ricardo Clark who was not good. I have seen many say that Ricardo was good after giving up the goal, but he was constantly giving up the ball and trailing his man. I hate to harp on this, but if people like Alexi Lalas keep on saying that Clark should start over Edu or even Torres, I am going to continue pointing this out. I, as well as many others on here, said it before the game and were proven right–we were first guessing, not second guessing. Edu should start over Clark in any game.
Haha, Michael Bradley best XI, must have been watching a different game, didn’t look all that special, definately not best XI
Plus, it was Gerrard who was marking Clint. He got spun like a marionette.
What about Podolski and Lahm? Both played well and deserved at least an HM
Ozil was impressive, but that dive, for me, puts him off the Best XI.
I honestly think that Jay Demerit should be on here somewhere. Wayne Rooney was invisible during that match.
No dolo?
Michael Bradley at DM ?? Yaya Toure bossed the middle vs Portugal , both defensively and offensively what are you smoking brother Ives , Gooch was enough we dont have to be biased here
(SBI-Jamez, or should I say Kawa, it’s okay to disagree, but the “What are you smoking” is childish. Keep it civil. Toure did well, and is mentioned, but Bradley was just as key to the USA tie as Toure was to Ivory Coast’s tie.)
ives has a man crush
Bornstein is on my worst 11 for the tournament so far.
No Honda? I did not realize you were a Toyota guy, Ives.
I can’t believe Onyewu made the XI. He constantly got drawn out of position and ran forward to the ball – leaving a massive hole in the defense behind him. England’s goal and 3 or 4 of their other chances came directly because of his poor positioning. He did well in the air, but if he plays his position well, the US keeps a clean sheet.
that was a very public implosion, indeed.
disagree. DM is one of the most unsexy positions in the game, when you have an amazing game the only indication if you’re not on the lookout for it is comments like Lampard is having a quiet night. that doesn’t happen by accident.
well done MB!
I also think Cherundolo deserved honroable metion. that guy was the man of teh match for me.
I thought Cherundolo and Demerit were the top two US players.
German was good but Australia played the worst game of any team in this tournament so far. They were godawful so were the Germans that good or were OZ that bad?
Nice. Hard to pick a best XI when many teams emphasized team defense…hard to pick a forward…none until Forlan’s second game.
Schweinsteiger was better than Bradley.
And Lahm seems to have been forgotten.
Actually the entire team should be German
Hmm. Not sure Tshabalala would ever be a center forward. I understand sometimes these best-XIs come out a little unbalanced, but in this case he’s a left midfielder/defender who doesn’t seem like his strength would be holding the ball up. Maybe replace him with Gyan or Klose?
at least give us a hint!
Sources?
I think Damarcus Beasley was the best player, thats what many Journalists said too!
Sources!,Sources!,Sources!
Steven Gerrard played at least as well as Bradley.
(SBI-Gerrard had the goal, and had a strong early going, but was a non-factor in the second half. He can get an honorable mention, but not Best XI in my book.)
Slight American bias in including Bradley. Howard deserved a spot. Nobody else
(SBI-No American bias. Bradley was widely regarded by several international journalists as the best American player. And as good as Howard was, can you really say he had a better game than Nigeria’s goalkeeper? That guy stood on his head.)
Mike has it right. Any 11 Man needs to include Sanchez. I’ve watched every game and I think he and Ozil have had the most impressive games so far.
(SBI-That’s fair. He edges his teammate for the Best XI slot.)
Ozil is going to be a world class star in Brazil in 2014
Alexis Sanchez!(or number 7 for Chile) this guy has talent!
Michael Bradley must either be a total stud or have an evil twin at this tournament because he both got on the team and made honorable mention.