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.

Life in the group of death

With 0-0 against England Costa Rica has fulfilled the sensation and wins the group of death against three former world champions. That should be the only important news from this group, but of course, the group final between Italy and Uruguay took the headlines, as only one of the sides would survive the group of death.

It was typical Uruguay; they awaited the whole match, letting an inefficient Italy come forward, trusting that the chance would come. Eventually it did, when Diego Godin scored on a corner kick. The same Diego Godin who gave Atletico Madrid the Spanish championship and almost the Champions League. The same Diego Godin who is having the year of his life.

The red card to Marchissio can be discussed. I personally think it was too harsh (yellow would have been enough), but it can be defended. It was nevertheless not the reason Italy were eliminated, although it will be a good excuse in Italian media. Italy were inefficient. They were unconvincing against England, and in reality lost the next round against Costa Rica. And as against Costa Rica, they had the ball more against Uruguay, but without creating chances. They seemed to rely on 0-0, where the Uruguayans wanted Italy to believe in 0-0. This was wrong, and both against Costa Rica and against Uruguay one has the feeling that Italy should have done more, but did not want or were unable to.

That is the reason Italy did not survive the group of death. Anything else are mere excuses.

Two great European nations are going home after not surviving the group of deaths. Costa Rica and Uruguay live on. But only until the next round.

Monrovia troubles

The Champions League final is one of the most important matches of the year for every self-respecting football fan (and even for the ones who do not respect themselves, like myself). So it was with eagerness I speculated where to watch the match within my Monrovia-bubble.
Now, you have to know that I am an idiot; I never take decisions, but linger forever in the analysis.
After I put down an offer, I went to a bar called "Jamal's" to watch the match. I have watched a match there before. A large screen, but it is catering to fans for specific matches; otherwise they do not like football.
Twenty minutes into the match the screen went black. After three minutes (that is about as long I am willing to wait) I ran (yes, I ran, have you ever run in hot and humid Monrovia?) three blocks to a bar called Sajj. This is where many expatriates go to hang out and drink beer, and indeed, they had put up two screens. I got into the place just as Diego Godin had brought Atletico Madrid ahead 0-1.
Without the possibility of focusing on the match, I was nevertheless happy that Atletico were ahead. Would they really be able to do it...? I would have thought it impossible.
And of course it was impossible. There is only one great team in Madrid.
I found a good spot in Sajj, but halfway into the second half it started raining, and that meant we lost the signal. 50 quiet people in a bar to watch football...
The signal came back in the 92nd minute of the match, just in time to see Sergio Ramos equalising. After this, it was only a question of time before seeing the writing on the wall; years of experience and nerves from the midgets, but Real Madrid won 4-1, humiliating Atletico Madrid much more than they deserved. The saddest thing seemed to be that Diego Simeone went crazy and Raphael Varane did not understand what it is to win. So in the end, a match that all of Madrid should win, became a bit less of a victory for the city.
A bitter-sweet 10th for Real Madrid.
But this is not the saddest part of the match: I managed to watch extra time, drink a couple of beers, but never managed to watch the entire match. It reminded me of the Liverpool-AC Milan final of 2005, when light went out during the penalty kicks, when I also went crazy.