My top-10 favourite players of the year

The following is my personal list of my 10 favourite footballers of the year; the players who were special, who I will remember:

10) Miroslav Klose: Klose is not the most memorable striker in the world, and is in the autumn of his career. But he has always been a fair player and a gentleman, and as part of the German World Cup side he went on to become the most scoring player in World Cup history. Perhaps unlikely, but not undeserved for a player who will be missed when he retires.
9) Lionel Messi: Messi has been criticized for not being at his former level, and at the World Cup, we only saw his genius in glimpses despite FIFA giving him a weird player of the tournament price. That said, he is still a marvelous player, scoring one goal after another, and carrying the entire weight of Barcelona on his small shoulders.
8) Diego Godin: Godin was core in the strong defense of Atletico Madrid which ended up taking the title. On top of this he was also a great threat in attack, witnessed by his crucial goals against Barcelona or against Italy in the World Cup for Uruguay. In my view, one of the best defenders in the world.
7) Thibaut Courtois: It has been the year of the goalkeepers, and at 22 Courtois is set to become one of the greatest ever. He gave Atletico Madrid the tranquility in defense they needed to take the title, and was immediately taken back to Chelsea, where he has continued being a wall. For Belgium he was also a strong last man. An amazing goalkeeper.
6) Toni Kroos: Bayern Munich, Germany, and now Real Madrid. Every team the German plays on seems to win, and he has been (and continues to be) a crucial side of all these sides. He is an outstanding passer.
5) Arjen Robben: It is easy to dislike Robben as he is a prolific diver, becoming infamous in the World Cup after his dive against Mexico. That said, it is undeniable that he is an incredible footballer, playing a crucial role in the Dutch World Cup campaign (taking his revenge on Spain) and most notably for Bayern Munich, where his characteristic runs continue to tear defenses apart (I particularly remember his match against AS Roma).
4) Cristiano Ronaldo: I like that Ronaldo is so competitive that he will settle for nothing less than being the best, and I am happy for him that he received the FIFA player of the year award. His goals for Real Madrid are incredible, and he has become more of a team player, although he will always, foremost, be an individualist. His poor performance at the World Cup showed this.
3) Manuel Neuer: At a time with many incredible goalkeepers, it is difficult to pinpoint the best, but Manuel Neuer it is. He made important contributions to Germany winning the World Cup title (playing almost as a libero against Algeria, he surely prevented a better Algeria for scoring) and is a bastion in Bayern Munich's defense. Neuer is a goalkeeper who would make any team great, and is already playing in great teams.
2) Philip Lahm: The Bayern Munich and Germany captain is often the kind of player most people take time in noticing, but he is the crucial piece in these two great sides. From varied defensive positions he varies between defense and offense superbly, and is often the player with most touches and longest runs. An absolutely world class player, who is already difficult to replace after having retired from the German national team.
1) Thomas Muller: Muller was an instrumental part of both Germany's and Bayern Munich's teams in 2014. Nobody really knows what position Thomas Muller plays, and in that sense, he is perhaps one of the most complete modern players in the world. He can play as striker, offensive midfielder, wing... and will probably define what it is to be a complete footballer for a foreseeable future.

It was not an easy list: there are indeed a lot of Germans and Bayern Munich players (there could have been more, with Bastian Schweinsteiger), and even two goalkeepers! I also think this is the first time for many years no Brazilians have made my list, although Neymar came close. But other players who could have come in and thus deserve a mention are James Rodriguez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Yaya Toure, Luka Modric,  Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano, Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal.

The Fantas-Tico warriors are out

Nobody expected Costa Rica to get this close to a semifinal. It took penalty kicks for the Dutch to defeat the Ticos, who held on to 0-0 with hard fight and commitment. No teams have fought their hearts out like the Ticos. If teams like Spain, England or even Argentina fought just a fraction of what the Ticos do, they would be title contenders.

That said, Netherlands deserved to be in the semifinal from a purely football perspective. While Arjen Robben's antics and diving may be disgusting, he creates a lot, and is proving one of the best of the tournament. And this has nothing to do with him being dislikeable. Many people do unfortunately not distinguish.

At one point Costa Rica only had the great Keylor Navas and luck to not get behind in the face of Dutch attacks. At the same time the Dutch attack was poor in the sense that they did not know the off- side rule (the Netherlands has never in their World Cup history had so many off-sides called). Also the defense looked quite ordinary in the face of the few Costa Rican attacks.

Louis Van Gaal is perhaps one of the tactical geniuses of the tournament; he is surely a genius compared to Alejandro Sabella, whose only tactical order is "pass it to Messi". That is why the Netherlands are huge favorites against Argentina. On the other hands the Dutch have shown defensive vulnerabilities which a great team could exploit. 

But could Messi do that? (and the reason I don't mention any of the other Argentina players is because they could only if they fought like Costa Ricans, but they seem totally unable to do that).

But Costa Rica is out. No matter what, this tournament will be remembered for Costa Rica. The World Champions of Spirit, Commitment and Sportsmanship. 

And that is the only real World Champion. 

Concacaf 1-UEFA 1

Yesterday two matches between Concacaf and UEFA teams ended with a victory for each of their representatives.

For a long time it seemed that Mexico would be able to upset the Dutch, leading 1-0 until almost the end of the match. It was not an impressive Dutch side, which is not looking unbeatable any longer. However, it is most often teams that combine skills, luck and cynicism who win the world cup, and on that count the Dutch are surely the foremost candidate to win the title now. Wesleyyy Sneijder's equalizer was a canonball at the right time, while Huntelaar did not forgive the penalty when it seemed it would go tto extra time.

Was there penalty? Arjen Robben had surely been looking for it the entire match, diving again and again. I guess at one point it had to work. The penalty can be defended, but it looked weak considering other offenses and the time of the match. 

The heat and humidity probably affected the referee as well.

Cosa Rica-Greece was another encounter between a team that plays football and one that awaits to strike back. Greece are not a team that wins many friends, while the Ticos are now the favourites of the world. So it was great when they went ahead, but disappointing when only one minute from the end, Greece equalized after what in Greek terms can be considered massive offensive. It all went to the most nerve-wrecking penalty kicks of the tournament. Keylor Navas was the Costa Rican hero when he saved a good Greek kickk, but truth is that the Ticos also were steadfast and cool, scoring on all their kicks.

Another fantastic Costa Rican match.

The quarterfinal is another Concacaf-UEFA match, as the Costa Ricans will face the Dutch. It will look to be similar to what we saw today, with the Europeans waiting and the Central Americans looking for goal. 

The foretold fall from grace

All great teams fall from grace. Some people did not believe it would happen to Spain, but it had to. Perhaps the greatest surprise was that it would happen in such a way that it happened, getting hammered 1-5 by the Netherlands, whose revenge for the defeat in the 2010 final could not have been sweeter.

But looking at Spain's defense it was perhaps not so surprising. We have to admit that while Pique, Ramos and Albiol are good players, none of them are certainly not world class players. The genius of Spain's defense in 2008, 2010 and 2012 was Carles Puyol. Without him they are barely strong enough to withstand world class players. Teams like Brazil and Argentina must have been watching with delight. Pique and Ramos' weaknesses were particularly exposed in Robben's goals, where they proved to be slow and in wrong position. 

When the best goalkeeper in the world fails, it is a recipe for disaster, and that is what happened. He may not be at his best, and this is surely a cold shower, but Casillas has been the best goalkeeper in the world.

With the weak defense the Dutch team under Van Gaal did the right thing against the by-now predictable tiki taka. High pressure on the Spanish midfield and strike quickly. By the third goal (which was a free kick to Casillas) what happened to Spain was what happens to all great sides that have not faced adversity before: they fall apart. This included Del Bosque's changes, which seemed more of desperation than any tactical calculation.

Van Gaal again proved to be a genius, and Manchester United fans must be delighted at what lies ahead.

Of course the World Cup is not over for Spain, despite this heavy blow (never before has a World Champions been trounced this way). In 2010 they also opened with a defeat to Switzerland. But back then the problem lay in bad luck and underestimation, and that match proved to be crucial. I am not sure this match will be the same; there are structural weaknesses in an ageing side (Koke is the youngest player in the squad at 22). The match against Chile will be excellent. The Chileans will try to capitalize on the obvious Spanish weaknesses, while Spain needs to show that the 1-5 was a fluke.

I only watched first half of the match before I had to board a plane. I have watched second half online now, and will now be fully dedicated to the World Cup!

Bayern Munich champions!

Until Saturday's final Borussia Dortmund was the only undefeated team in the Champions League. Still, Bayern Munich was the slight favourite after taking the German title and played outstanding football in the matches against FC Barcelona and Juventus. But this did not show in the beginning of the final where Dortmund seemed liked the team with most desire to win, and only some outstanding saves by Manuel Neuer kept Bayern Munich in the match. One can only speculate whether Dortmund's attacking force would have been even stronger had Mario Gotze played. But without goals Bayern Munich worked themselves into the match. Arjen Robben missed a couple of excellent chances, and one wondered whether the curse that seems to follow Robben would continue. However, in the last minutes of the match, with the score 1-1, Arjen Robben slipped through the defense and scored the winning goal for a relieved Bayern Munich, for whom losing the third CL final in four years would have been a devastating blow. Jupp Heynckes finished his coaching career with a second CL triumph (his first was as Real Madrid coach), and there will now be enormous pressure on Pep Guardiola when he takes over as new coach: how can he do better that a German championship, a CL triumph and a possible Cup victory (they are playing the final next week)? A pity for Borussia Dortmund, who has been building up a young competitive side for some years. This has already resulted in German championships and Cups, and plays good attacking football. Mario Gotze's farewell for next season will undoubtedly be a huge blow, and the team will also struggle to keep players such as Lewandowski and Marco Reus. But they will be in the CL again next season and will surely continue to be one of the most competitive sides in the tournament. But thanks to both teams for a great final, and congratulations to all Bayern Munich fans out there celebrating with a good pint of beer!

Mighty Bayern

I knew Bayern Munich was the best side of the four remaining in the CL. And I thought that Barcelona was the weakest side without a working Lionel Messi. But I never thought the difference would have been so large.
4-0!
Bayern Munich disproved the Barcelona mantra that you need to have the ball to be the better team; the Germans just let the Catalonians pass the ball around, but without fantasy or capacity to do anything with its possession, FC Barcelona begin to look ordinary. And without the real star of the team, Carles Puyol, to dominate defense, Barca basically begin to look like an ordinary side. In almost every attack Bayern Munich were more dangerous; Frank Ribery, Javi Martinez and Arjen Robben (with one goal) were all in complete control of Barcelona, while Thomas Muller (with 2 goals!), was another of the superstars of the side.
FC Barcelona has been considered the best team in the world over the last few years, but with this match they have been pushed from the throne, and although it is not certain yet who will replace them, Bayern Munich are surely candidates.
I cannot believe that Barcelona can recover from this defeat next week.

While I was in Europe

I just spent ten days in Europe: Barcelona, Prague, Brussels and Madrid. I had originally planned to try to go to Munich to the CL final, but when I could not get tickets, I went to Prague and watched the final at the lovely and lively Old Square. It was on the same day where the Czech Republic had played and lost to Slovakia in the semifinal of the hockey World Cup, so there was a disappointed atmosphere under the sun in the square. Still, most places were full as the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea started.
Much bad has been said of Chelsea's defensive style in their defeat of Barcelona, so surely how they played against Bayern Munich cannot be surprising. Chelsea has been reborn under Roberto DiMatteo, so why change style? Surely Bayern Munich was most attacking, but it is also about defending and counterattacking, and Chelsea have proven great at both. Just as we were expecting a home triumph after Thomas Mullers' late goal for Bayern, Didier Drogba scored after Chelsea's first corner kick in the entire match. Undeserved perhaps, but any football fan knew what this meant for Drogba, who again scored in the most important game ever for Chelsea.
Then, that Bayern's great player Arjen Robben could not keep his nerve on the penalty spot, made everyone feel that this would be Chelsea's night after all, and indeed it was: after penalty kicks Chelsea took their first, and well-deserved CL title ever!
Roman Abramovich, the guy that did exactly what I would do if I had a billion dollars, has finally taken the most prestigious prize of all. And he should surely keep Roberto DiMatteo as coach!

 

I was in Madrid on May 25th on the day of the Copa del Rey Final between FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. Two hours before the match I went to Vicente Calderon Stadium, in part to experience the already lively atmosphere around the stadium, but also to see if it was possible to find some re-sell ticket. The latter was impossible, but surely experienced the lively atmosphere between fans of two teams that were having their last chance to win something this season. FC Barcelona surely would have expected to be somewhere else, but were triumphed by Chelsea and Real Madrid in the CL and Spanish League respectively. In the meantime, Athletic Bilbao had not expected to be so close at the start of the season, but they have surely grown under coach Marcelo Bielsa. They nevertheless lost the Europa League final to Atletico Madrid, and were surely hoping for glory in this match. Before the match started I found a tapas bar to watch it in, and talked with a passionate Bilbao fan who told me with tears in his eyes his memory of Bilbao winning the league as a child, and how for them, this meant much more than for Barcelona fans: "We have the club in our hearts, and we have won nothing for 28 years!"
There really was no contention about the best team of the match though: With two goals by Pedro and one by Lionel Messi, Barcelona was comfortably ahead 3-0 in the first half, and really did not seem to make too much of an effort to win the match in the end. The biggest pleasure of the players was clearly to give coach Josep Guardiola a proper goodbye with yet another title.
A pity for the Bilbao fan I talked to, but he was right about their passion: after the match I saw proud and dignified Bilbao fans all around the streets of Madrid, while Barcelona fans seemed to disappear into bed to sleep over yet another victory of those they are so used to...

Top-10 Player of the Year

Following my need to make top-10's for the year 2010, here is the list of my favourite 10 players of the year:

10) Carles Puyol: a brilliant defender who gives both Barcelona and Spain tranquility and solidity. His role in both of the world's greatest teams should not be underestimated!
9) Iker Casillas: In my view, the best goalkeeper in the world. He is the crucial captain of Real Madrid, and was very important in giving Spain the world cup title.
8) Diego Forlán: Had a splendid World Cup with Uruguay, and is a hugely dangerous striker, something he also showed with Atlético Madrid, although his form went down in the second half of the year.
7) Arjen Robben: A splendid season with Bayern Munich in the first half of the year. Although injured during the first round of the World Cup, he was splendid when participating in the latter matches, scoring against Slovakia and Uruguay.
6) Mesut Özil: wonderful young player who caught the world's attention on the excellent Germany side in South Africa. His new career in Real Madrid has started well.
5) Lionel Messi: There is no player to watch like him - what he does with the ball is magic, and he seems to have grown in the second half of the year to become more of a leader. However, he had a poor World Cup with Argentina.
4) Thomas Müller: Was a crucial part of Bayern Munich's "double" winning side in the first half of the year, and he scored five goals in the World Cup, besides becoming the best young player of the tournament. His absence in the semifinal against Spain in South Africa was crucial in Germany's defeat.
3) Andrés Iniesta: in spite of many minor injuries during the year (including in South Africa) he is one of the most complete players in the world, and is crucial in both FC Barcelona and in Spain. And well, he scored the winning goal in the World Cup final!
2) Wesley Sneijder: A brilliant player with a leading role in Inter Milan winning "the Triple", and won the title as best player of the CL 2009-10 season. At the World Cup he was consistently player of the match, and scored the crucial winners against Brazil in the quarterfinal.

1) Xavi: The competition at the top-3 is very very difficult, but I have decided to go with FC Barcelona's Xavi. His skills are superb, but it is his vision and passing abilities that have made him the architect behind many of Spain's and Barcelona's victories!

The semifinals

Yesterday FC Barcelona and Inter Milan qualified for the 2009-10 Champions League semifinals. Today the other two semifinalists were to be found.

I have for years said that one should look out for Olympique Lyon, but they have never made it beyond the quarterfinals. But today, they made history; after winning 3-1 at home, a 1-0 defeat to Girondins Bordeaux was enough to put them in the semifinal.
The other match between Manchester United and Bayern Munich was a true drama that must make the Champions League proud. After a late 2-1 victory last week in Munich, the Germans had to defend their narrow lead. But Manchester United started like lightning, and were 2-0 up after only seven minutes, and even made it 3-0 before Ivica Olic made it 3-1, the score after a first half where the English team had looked far superior to the Germans.
But as in the first match, the Germans never give up, as things also started to go against Manchester: shortly into the second half Rafael was given his second yellow card; with ten men and without an injured Wayne Rooney, United's pressure subsided. Fifteen minutes before time the Dutchman Arjen Robben scored a stunning goal that put Bayern Munich in the semifinals for the first time since 2001.
It is a pity to see Manchester United out of the tournament, since they are a great club. However, they lost to a German team that will surely be interesting to watch, and that got a slight revenge for the legendary 1999 CL final where Manchester United defeated them 2-1 on two last minute goals.

The semifinals are as follows:

• FC Barcelona-Inter Milan
• Bayern Munich-Olympique Lyon

It is to note that this is the first time since 2003 without English teams in the semifinal (but I will not be one of the people to say that this means a decline of the Premier League) and the first time since 2004 with four different countries represented. Be sure that these will be thoroughly exciting matches!

Sad for Fiorentina

Fiorentina has in my view been one of the best teams to watch in this season's Champions League; I have never followed them closely, but they have been great to watch, in particular the young Montenegrin Stevan Jovetic. It was therefore disappointing that they have just been eliminated in the Champions League after defeating Bayern Munich 3-2 at home. After losing 2-1 in Munich, the Germans are progressing to the next round because of the away goals. Fiorentina was close though: they were 3-1 up until Arjen Robben scored a great second goal for Bayern midway through the second half, giving Bayern the ticket to the quarterfinals.
Bayern Munich played well, and were probably the better team, but the elimination must hurt Fiorentina the more knowing that Miroslav Klose's second goal in the first match in Munich was a clear off-side, and should have been annulled; a correct call then, would have meant that the match tonight would have been different.
But thus is football (until they allow the usage of TV pictures), and it will surely be interesting to see Bayern Munich in the next round, although Fiorentina shall be missed.

In the other match tonight Arsenal destroyed FC Porto 5-0 and is now in the quartefinals with 6-2 on aggregate.

My Top 10 favourite players of 2004

I have compiled a list of my very personal best top-10 players of 2004:

10) Ludovic Giuly: Also had an amazing season on the right midfield of Monaco, making it all the way to the Champions League final. This got him a deserved spot in the French national team, and later on the rising Barcelona team, where he has continued strongly.
9) Arjen Robben: The young Dutchman has impressed me all year, first at PSV Eindhoven, and more so after his change to Chelsea. He was also one of the best in the Dutch team in Euro 2004, although I thought he was not given enough playing time.
8) Roy Makaay: The Dutch striker has been one of the keys to success of this season's returning Bayern Munich side. He continues being as poisonous as a rattle-snake in front of the goal.
7) Xavi: In my view, the best Spanish player this year. In the renewed Barcelona side, he has managed to become the fighting mid-field general, who can make beautiful passes as well as score beautiful goals.
6) Samuel Eto'o: Has proven he is one of the world's leading strikers, especially after his change from Mallorca to Barcelona. In Barcelona, with his speed and technique, he has been amazing.
5) Frank Lampard: has been excellent in Chelsea and in the English national team. He is a very complete player, who scores important goals, puts up a spirited fight and organizes well the game. If he continues next season, he will be one of the foremost players of the Premier League, as well as in Europe.
4) Deco: What a season it must have been for Deco! Was simply the amazing centerpiece of the FC Porto side that won the Champions League. After that, he changed to Barcelona, where he has been an important contribution to the rise of the Catalonians. He did not have a very good Euro 2004 though; in spite of Portugal making it to the final, Deco did not show the strength he had shown in FC Porto.
3) Andrij Schevchenko: A world class striker, who continues bombarding the goals in the Italian league, one of the hardest for strikers in the world. With AC Milan he has also been very strong in the Champions League, and I believe that he will continue to be one of the main striking forces of Europe next year.
2) Wayne Rooney: I was simply amazed by Mr. Rooney during the Euro 2004, when his amazing tenacity brought him forth as a superstar. And I thought the expectations were too high for the youngster when changing from Everton to Manchester United. But I was wrong, which Mr. Rooney showed in his very first Champions League match against Fenerbahce, scoring three beauiful goals. I hope he continues.
1) Ronaldinho: Maybe I need not say so, as so many have said it already: but Mr. Ronaldinho is certainly also my favourite player of 2004.

It has actually been hard for me to make the list, as there have been many great
players this season, whom I could easily have included on this list, like Ruud Van Nistelrooi, Dellas, Paulo Ferreira, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Baraja... So many great players!