Goal.com is currently running a series predicting the team of the decade for the top clubs, countries, leagues etc. and trying to arrive at the team of the decade. Here are my predictions in advance.
Goalkeeper - Gianluigi Buffon ( very closely followed by Iker Casillas and Oliver Kahn )
Left Back - Paolo Maldini ( closely followed by Roberto Carlos )
Central Defense - Fabio Cannavaro,
Alessandro Nesta ( there have been a lot of great defenders such as Fernando Hierro, Jaap Stam and many others but it is the two Italians that define the highest level of defensive class )
Right Back - Javier Zanetti ( very closely followed by Cafu, Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta )
Defensive Midfielder - Patrick Vieira / Claude Makelele ( I just cannot decide between these two with Roy Keane a third option )
Attacking Midfielder - Zinedine Zidane, ( unquestionable )
Ronaldinho, ( just edges out the rest )
Cristiano Ronaldo / Kaka / Lionel Messi / Luis Figo / Pavel Nedved ( it's very tight here. Figo and Nedved have less chance. Messi will also probably miss out because his best is yet to come. So it's down to two. CRon will probably take it because of a hattrick of EPL titles in all of which he played a major part but Kaka could beat him because he won an international title )
Forwards - Ronaldo, ( unquestionable )
Thierry Henry ( it's hard to choose between many great strikers. There are several others such as Raul, Samuel Eto'o, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Michael Owen and above all Andriy Shevchenko but going for Henry because he was Arsenal's best player, has adapted well in Barcelona, won every major team honor in the game and also contributed well to his national team. However Shevchenko won a Ballon D'Or - something Henry missed out on. Owen also won this honor but slipped down after 2004. Similarly Shevchenko slipped down after 2006. Henry on the other hand continued to maintain his consistency. )
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After the teams of the decade for La Liga, Serie A and EPL were announced, the world team of the decade automatically became much clearer. Here are those three teams.
ReplyDeleteLa Liga - Casillas, R.Carlos, Puyol, Ayala, Ramos, Xavi, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Messi, Forlan, Ronaldo
Serie A - Buffon, Maldini, Nesta, Cannavaro, Thuram, Zanetti, Pirlo, Nedved, Kaka, Totti, Ibrahimovic
EPL - Given, Ferdinand, Terry, Campbell, Vieira, Gerrard, C.Ronaldo, Lampard, Giggs, Henry, Nistelrooy
Now let us try to predict the hopefully final world team of the decade.
Goalkeeper - Gianluigi Buffon ( Casillas and Kahn are also very good but Buffon is a world champion and is generally regarded as the best. )
Left Back - Paolo Maldini ( Roberto Carlos is the second choice but defensively he pales while Maldini is perfection in all respects though perhaps his very best was in the 90s. )
Central Defenders - Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta ( These choices are so obvious that it would be almost blasphemous to consider anyone else. Cannvaro is the biggest defensive star of this decade. He won the Golden Ball and the World Player Of The Year as a defender there by raising the prestige of defenders world wide. His performance in WC 2006 will always remain the stuff of legends. In spite of all this he is only the second best defender of this decade. Alessandro Nesta is quite simply the greatest defender of this decade - a text book on central defense that even the very best can learn something from.
Right Back - Lilian Thuram ( He beats the only other choice at right back as per the above teams i.e. Sergio Ramos by a mile. His success record at both club and country level is unbelievable and throughout his career his level hardly ever dropped. )
Defensive Midfielder - Patrick Vieira ( Andrea Pirlo and Xavi are two excellent options but where Vieira wins it is because he has greater defensive qualities besides being able to do a bit in offense as well. )
Attacking Midfielder - Zinedine Zidane ( What more can be said about the man who is quite simply the greatest player since Diego Maradona. He had it all - skills, passing, vision and shooting and goal scoring ability except perhaps the pace but he never let that affect him. He has won every single major team trophy possible and along with that every individual honor. )
Left Midfielder - Ronaldinho ( Yes, he has fallen from grace big time now but at his best he was mesmerizing. He used to run with the ball at such breathtaking speed and dribble every defender in his way with such exquisite skill that he left us all spellbound. )
Right Midfielder - Cristiano Ronaldo ( My heart breaks to have to choose him instead of Lionel Messi. The reason is Messi's best is yet to come, CRon has had 3 excellent seasons and is a very complete attacking player even if not necessarily as gifted with the ball as the likes of Zidane, Ronaldinho and Messi. )
Strikers - Ronaldo and Thierry Henry ( They pretty much pick themselves as no one else from the three teams above can really challenge them. If Zidane is the greatest player then he is closely followed by Ronaldo - quite simply the greatest striker of this decade and more. Henry has won every major team title but inexplicably individual honors have eluded him. For Arsenal and EPL, he has been the best that can ever be. At international level, he's been consistent with the only criticism being that he has not been as much a match winner as the likes of Zidane and Ronaldo. )
It's a 4-1-3-2 formation.
ReplyDeleteBuffon
Thuram Nesta Cannavaro Maldini
Pirlo
C.Ronaldo Zidane Ronaldinho
Ronaldo Henry
Please ignore the previous comment. One choice was incorrect.
ReplyDeleteBuffon
Thuram Nesta Cannavaro Maldini
Vieira
C.Ronaldo Zidane Ronaldinho
Ronaldo Henry