ESPN’s Top 50 Players of the 2010 World Cup
Posted in Sports on March 2nd, 2010 by Hyphen
Fresh off the Winter Olympics, ESPN.com has jump started my anticipation for the world’s next big sporting event (March Madness isn’t quite international) by posting up their Top 50 Players of the 2010 World Cup. Peep the article for a breakdown of each player, but here’s the list:
NO. Â Â Â PLAYER
1 Â Â Â Lionel Messi, Argentina
2 Â Â Â Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
3 Â Â Â Wayne Rooney, England
4 Â Â Â Kaka, Brazil
5 Â Â Â Xavi, Spain
6 Â Â Â Didier Drogba, Ivory Coast
7 Â Â Â Andres Iniesta, Spain
8 Â Â Â Fernando Torres, Spain
9 Â Â Â Steven Gerrard, England
10 Â Â Â Michael Essien, Ghana
11 Â Â Â David Villa, Spain
12 Â Â Â Franck Ribery, France
13 Â Â Â Samuel Eto’o, Cameroon
14 Â Â Â Luis Fabiano, Brazil
15 Â Â Â Iker Casillas, Spain
16 Â Â Â Cesc Fabregas, Spain
17 Â Â Â Gianluigi Buffon, Italy
18 Â Â Â Dani Alves, Brazil
19 Â Â Â Nemanja Vidic, Serbia
20 Â Â Â Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands
21 Â Â Â Maicon, Brazil
22 Â Â Â Frank Lampard, England
23 Â Â Â Andrea Pirlo, Italy
24 Â Â Â Carlos Tevez, Argentina
25 Â Â Â Robin van Persie, Netherlands
26 Â Â Â Gonzalo Higuain, Argentina
27 Â Â Â Diego Forlan, Uruguay
28 Â Â Â Thierry Henry, France
29 Â Â Â Sergio Aguero, Argentina
30 Â Â Â Michael Ballack, Germany
31 Â Â Â Julio Cesar, Brazil
32 Â Â Â Arjen Robben, Netherlands
33 Â Â Â Gerard Pique, Spain
34 Â Â Â Miroslav Klose, Germany
35 Â Â Â Lucio, Brazil
36 Â Â Â Javier Mascherano, Argentina
37 Â Â Â John Terry, England
38 Â Â Â David Silva, Spain
39 Â Â Â Carles Puyol, Spain
40 Â Â Â Nicolas Anelka, France
41 Â Â Â Ashley Cole, England
42 Â Â Â Patrice Evra, France
43 Â Â Â Marek Hamsik, Slovakia
44 Â Â Â Karim Benzema, France
45 Â Â Â Yoann Gourcuff, France
46 Â Â Â Daniele De Rossi, Italy
47 Â Â Â Philipp Lahm, Germany
48 Â Â Â Yaya Toure, Ivory Coast
49 Â Â Â Giorgio Chiellini, Italy
50 Â Â Â Landon Donovan, United States
I’m glad to see my favorite players (van Persie, Cesc, and Didier Drogba) all well represented, but overall, I think this list is surprisingly solid. David Silva should definitely be higher and some of the bigger names aren’t as good as they used to be, but ESPN did a pretty good job. What do you think?