His ability to construct allied to his rare spatial awareness has seen him singled out not just as the architect of one of the greatest club sides of all time, but that of arguably one of the best international ones too. '', Xavi supported Ferguson's view, saying: "He's still young, only 24, and I think he's going to break all the records that exist in this sport. As many as six Bara players make the top XI of the most valuable players in 2011, while the Catalans acquired the services of a seventh in August of the same year, when Cesc Fbregas (55 million) joined the club from Arsenal. Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), 10. In Gerard Piqu (38m) and Dani Alves (35m), two defenders make the line-up for the first time and prove the Catalans strength in all areas around the pitch. The full breakdown by nationality, club and position can be found in the downloadable spreadsheet. The information contained in Goal (English) may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the prior written authority of Goal (English), Scoring all four as the Blaugrana battered Arsenal 4-1 on April 6. He has laid his hands on six La Liga titles during that time, and two Champions League titles.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, or Pel as he is known across the world, is considered to be the greatest footballer the world has ever seen the youngest player ever to win a World Cup (three in total); scorer of 1,283 professional goals 12 of them in World Cup final tournaments; and Athlete of the Century, awarded by the International Olympic Committee in 1999. "I have been a very, very lucky manager to have had so many good players who have shared my vision and passion, and that's what makes Manchester United such a special club. Photograph: Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images, We have switched off comments on this old version of the site. Ravel Morrison follows Rooney to D.C. United - 12 club for "incredible talent", Jules Kound set for Chelsea move - Sevilla expecting record transfer fee for star defender, Man City join Chelsea in race for Gvardiol - RB Leipzig insist young defender is not for sale, Southampton set to sign Bordeaux youngster Mara - most expensive teenager of the summer, Galtier confirmed as new PSG manager - addresses Neymar's future at the Ligue 1 club, From 15m to 60m in two years - How Tchouameni became Ligue 1's next big star, Market values Ligue 1: Tchouameni passes Messi - Biggest minus for Neymar & Donnarumma, A 14th title?

Top 50 Players in the World 2011: #3 Xavi. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Real Madrid), 7. I am no one without them. Those mesmerising passing triangles, the rondos, leave opposing players in a whirl, not knowing whether to stick or twist as the ball is waltzed through their defence with scarcely more than a touch at a time. 2016 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. He was joined in the team by his Manchester United colleague Nemanja Vidic, while nine of the side either play for or operate in Spain. You don't always win in football - sometimes you lose but we always try to win.". Messi has never stopped winning trophies or breaking records over the last decade. For example, for the assessment of the best players of the world (FIFA Ballon d'Or) in 2014, assessment carried out by 544 persons / institutions consisting of 181 national team coach, 182 national team captain, and 181 media representatives berkopenten. Find out more by visiting www.artofpele.com. Messi, Iniesta & Co. Therefore, the football gods (the legendary) as Diego Maradona and PELE (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) at that time was not / has not been selected. The Bayern Munich striker top scored in the Bundesliga with 34 goals and hit the back of the net 15 times in the Champions League as Bayern won the treble.

I need team-mates, people to combine with.

Julie Foudy has 4 burning questions, Goalkeeper awards 2021-22: Best shot-stopper, most improved, breakout star and more. Few sides have ever been as good as the Catalans of course, but not many have reached the level of performance Xavi has sustained this past decade. FIFA Ballon d'Or: Messi crowned world's best, Germany find a way as unlucky Austria's Euro run ends with the sound of woodwork, Nottingham Forest sign free agent Lingard, New arrival Nunez nets 4 as Liverpool rout Leipzig, Sources: Man United rule out Martial exit, Mane wins African Footballer of Year again, Germany beat Austria, advance to Euro semis, Sources: Barcelona sell more TV rights to firm, Bakayoko: Police tactics put my life in danger, Ravel Morrison joins Rooney at D.C. United, Arsenal pull off hard-fought win over Orlando, Why Cristiano Ronaldo should leave Man United, go to Real Madrid (again), Leverkusen process heartbreak by clinging to promise of tomorrow, Transfer Talk: Barcelona want to convince De Jong, Depay to find new clubs, Transfer grades: Barcelona an A for Lewandowski, Why MLS clubs are rebranding, how some got it wrong and the opportunity that presents, Why free agents no longer have much power in the transfer market, USWNT ready to win the World Cup? Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan), 8. Xavi was a cyclone. Messi was only 24 when he broke in March 2012 and very nearly trebled it to 672 by the time he left Camp Nou for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2021.

Before Messi re-wrote history, the three Ballon dOr trophies each won by Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten were considered incredible achievements. How could we not choose him? Regardless, it was another success for Messi, but what did footballs top prize look like before he and Ronaldo took over?

With four players, FC Barcelona again provide the biggest group. Thats what talkSPORT.com is looking at, stretching back to 2000. Each piece interprets the significance of defining moments in his life, translating them into vibrant and colourful images. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Get Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota all to score at 7/1. Once again, Xavi was instrumental in this, fundamental; many would argue to the extent that he personifies this Barcelona side to a greater degree than any of his fellow players. The most obvious metric is that he has been voted the best player in the world four times (2011, 2012, 2015, 2019) in the last 10 years alone, while there has only been one occasion in that period he has finished lower than second. Here to tell us a little bit more about the midfield magician is Spanish football writer Joseph Sexton. The La Masia graduate marked the occasion by netting the opening goal, just as he had in that epoch-defining 5-0 victory over Real Madrid in 2010. Ability and outstanding achievements are one thing, but the longevity to repeat and repeat is quite another. But then, team has always come first for this midfield marvel. Lewandowski was among the front-runners for the 2021 edition but Paris Saint-German superstar and six-time winner Messi added a seventh triumph. However, since the incorporation of the best players to the FIFA Ballon d'Or, how assessment changed.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain), 4. Iker Casillas,Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Nemanja Vidic, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney.

"Critics have always questioned whether players like Pele from the 50s could play today. Michael Ballack (Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich), 6. "It's an honour to share the trophy with Mourinho and Ferguson, and with all coaches around the world.". Despite only a few English players making it onto the top 100, the Premier League is the best represented with 27 players, followed by La Liga with 23. Few players in history have epitomised a side as wonderful as this current Bara in the way that Xavi does.

The world's top 10 footballers: why are they so good? Without your help I would not be here.

News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. Robin van Persie (Arsenal and Manchester United), 10.

So how did the Guardian top 100 come about? This is the fourth time that we are are together at this ceremony and it is a pleasure for me to be with him on the pitch. "I would agree with that completely,'' Ferguson said. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. "Moreover, I want to share this award specially with my friend Xavi. From Daniel Taylor to Sid Lowe, Jonathan Wilson to Michael Cox, Richard Williams to Raphael Honigstein, we are blessed with writers whose knowledge covers not only the English game but who offer a genuinely global perspective. What there can be disputing is that neither of those sides would be the same without Xavis ingenuity. Head coach Pep Guardiolas team also left its mark on the Transfermarkt market values at the time. In the second spot, Real Madrids Cristiano Ronaldo (90m) kept his value from the previous year as well, while Andrs Iniesta (65m) surpassed his Bara teammate Xavi (50m) to complete the top three. "Lionel Messi without question fits into that category. To comment on crosswords, please, Check out our top 100 footballers in the world for 2013, More data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian, with Lionel Messi topping the list at No1, Search the world's government data with our gateway, Search the world's global development data with our gateway, switch over to the new version to comment. Team: However, he acknowledged the striker when he picked up the prize. Whether for club or country, his reading of the play, his constant positioning to receive the ball, and instinctive understanding of how to use it best sets the tone. 22 Nemanja Vidic - Manchester United - 37M, 21 Gonzalo Higuan - Real Madrid - 38M, 17 Sergio Agero - Manchester City - 40M, 15 Bastian Schweinsteiger - Bayern Munich - 40M, 14 Carlos Tvez - Manchester City - 40M, 9 Franck Ribry - Bayern Munich - 45M, 4 Wayne Rooney - Manchester United - 55M, 3 Andrs Iniesta - FC Barcelona - 65M, 2 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid - 90M. Women's Euro 2022 quarterfinal preview: Who will make the final four?

This Ballon d'Or is also yours. The 24-year-old becomes only the fourth player in history to win the trophy three times, along with Dutch legends Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten, plus Frenchman Michael Platini. Can you do something interesting with this data?

Founder and co-editor of Back Page Football and current host of our 'Three At The Back' weekly podcast.

2012 looks to be another glittering year for the Spaniard, with Barcelona still in contention on all fronts and la furia roja favourites to defend their European title in Poland and Ukraine. He went so close to international glory in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and could have won multiple titles with Argentina but for small margins. But who will it be Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? If at times, his contribution has been overlookedas it was most infamously by the Daily Mails headline in 2008, it is probably as much down to his own humility as it is to the ignorance of others. The chart above shows the top five leagues by the number of footballers appearing in the list. Wayne Rooney (Everton and Manchester United), 10. In celebration of his achievements Pel has created a colourful series of artwork that capture the many special moments throughout his truly legendary career. He dominated all aspects of the game; control, passing, precision, acceleration, pausing, pressure and a goal.. So how does the list break down by nationality? Required fields are marked *. Copyright 2022 Goal (English) All rights reserved. The average age for the footballers appearing on the list is 26 years old. An 11-strong international panel of experts were asked by Guardian Sport to name their top 30 players in action today and rank them in order of preference.

Four English players make it onto the list; Ashley Cole (30th), Wayne Rooney (31st), Joe Hart (65th) and John Terry (86). During that time he has never scored fewer than 25 in a full league campaign. Bara's 2011 squad in the gallery While the Ballon d'Or (French for Golden Ball) is an award bestowed football magazine France Football since 1956 the world football player, but initially only given to football players EUROPE, and then developed into the player the club EUROPE, and since 1995 then the World players. His lowest goal tally in a single season from the last 10 years since 2011 is 31 in all competitions. Now, that old record has been completely shattered and no one else is ever likely to get near to breaking it. Kandungan Copper (Cu) pada berbagai sayuran.

Very few players will play that many games in their career as a whole, never mind for the one of the best clubs in the world. Can a football side lay claim to be the greatest international team, across any sport? Not all may agree, but it is a personal belief that these pages are currently home to perhaps the finest collective of football writers and analysts in the English language. It is what people like about him. The day after Barcelona had delivered that manita to Madrid the previous month, the rabidly pro-Madrid daily Marca gushed that he broke the game with 20 minutes of genius. Lionel Messi kept his spot as the most valuable player in the world in 2011 and confirmed his place on top of the ranking with outstanding performances in the Champions League. All rights reserved. Man United's Maguire is Ten Hag's first choice, but can he earn redemption in 2022-23? View the longlist and voting process here. In those matches that he didn't score he often turned provider: in the 5-0 rout of Real Madrid, Messi set up two of the strikes for his teammates. Ferguson had some consolation as he received the FIFA presidential award for services to football and said: "It is an honour for me in the twilight of my life and very, very much appreciated. Theodoros Zagorakis (AEK Athens and Bologna), 8. FIFA World Best Player award is given to a football player since 1991, and is held every year by FIFA.

Neymar (Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain), 7. Buah-buahan yang mengandung Lemak tak jenuh jamak (poly). The award was named FIFA World Player. | Guardian writers. Rooney secured a prestigious accolade, as he found his way on to the fifpro Team of the Year. The debate has moved to another plane: it is not so much a question of whether Messi is the best player in the world right now, as whether Messi might just be the best player there has ever been. An indication of Messis utterly mind blowing superior quality is that a disappointing season by his standards would still be considered outstanding by anyone elses. USMNT's Pulisic talks Chelsea future, hunger for World Cup success, why not enter at our sister site, ESPN.co.uk.

Judged by a panel of journalists, the Ballon dOr ran in conjunction with FIFA from 2010 until 2015, when the governing body split to create its own and much less prestigious Best Player award. If you're wondering which position is the most common amongst the top 100 players then we've also broken that down too: 36 are midfielders, 29 forward, 19 defenders. He has completely redefined the standards at the highest level of the game. In the 2011/12 season, Messi found the net a staggering 73 times for Barcelona. "The answer to that is great players would play in any generation. Kylian Mbappe (Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain). Lionel Messi could play in the 1950s and the present day, as could Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff because they are all great players. "It is a huge pleasure and honour to win my third award," Messi said. The final debate was over the ordering of the top three, and with Xavi Hernandez coming in at third, the rest of the Top 50 will predictably write itself.

Messi dedicated the award to his coach and team-mates, reserving special mention for Xavi. The Ballon d'Or award caps a hugely successful year in which Messi won the Spanish Liga title, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

In comparison to the previous year, there are no new faces in the top 10 of the most valuable players in the world in 2011 and only few shifts in the ranking. It is not that he is a better player than the rest, which he is, but that he makes the rest better players too. 16 of the players are Spanish, 12 Brazilian and 10 German. Angel di Maria (Real Madrid and Manchester United), 3.

Part 1 (50-41): 50 Ezequiel Lavezzi, 49 Thomas Muller, 48 Joe Hart, 47 Hulk, 46 Franck Ribery, 45 Juan Mata, 44 Phillip Lahm, 43 Roberto Soldado, 42 Arjen Robben, 41 Mats Hummels, Part 2 (40-31): 40 Gonzalo Higuain, 39 Alexis Sanchez, 38 Nani, 37 Karim Benzema, 36 Victor Valdes, 35 Gareth Bale, 34 Sergio Busquets, 33 Manuel Neuer, 32 Falcao, 31 Antonio Di Natale, Part 3 (30-21): 30 David Villa, 29 Eden Hazard, 28 Angel Di Maria, 27 Iker Casillas, 26 Luka Modric, 25 Wesley Sneijder, 24 Yaya Toure, 23 Mario Gomez, 22 Mario Gotze, 21 Xabi Alonso, Part 4 (20-11): 20 Nemanja Vidic, 19 Vincent Kompany, 18 Mesut Ozil, 17 Thiago Silva, 16 Daniel Alves, 15 Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 14 Bastian Schweinsteiger, 13 Luis Suarez, 12 Neymar, 11 Sergio Aguero, Part 5 (10-4): 10 Edinson Cavani, 9 Cesc Fabregas, 8 Gerard Pique, 7 Wayne Rooney, 6 David Silva, 5 Robin van Persie, 4 Andres Iniesta. That is what we have come to recognise.

Ten Hag talks to ESPN about a new era, Ronaldo and more, 'Welcome to Wrexham' trailer breakdown: From connection to American owners to club's ambitions, Barca club store couldn't sell Lewandowski jerseys because it ran out of 'W's, Arsenal's Xhaka sets a few more things straight in ESPN interview, Why Chelsea's move to sign Koulibaly could get them back in title race.

27 Dec 2012: The world's best footballers: how do you rate our top 100 list? Last year, everyone was in agreement to say that you were the big winner of this award.. Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Atletico Madrid), 9. Selection of Best Players by FIFA since 1991 done in a way chosen by the 50,000 people who are competent, the incompetent coaches and sports journalists (football) from all over the world with excellent competence. 24 Dec 2012: The world's top 10 footballers: why are they so good?

2022 Minute Media - All rights reserved. The choice of Messi at No1, beating Cristiano Ronaldo into second place, is explained below by Sid Lowe: There was only one name and one position on which all 11 members of the panel were in unanimous agreement; the world No1, Lionel Messi. Hosting diverse, award-winning original football writing since 2009. This service is provided on talkSPORT Ltd's Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy Policy. At the time he left Barcelona, Messi had also recently gone top of the clubs all-time appearance table, on 778. The Art of Pel brings his story to life on canvas. What the group stage tells us about Women's Euro 2022 quarterfinalists. Its also interesting to see who made it into voters lists of the top ten footballers in the world from every year since the turn of the millennium. "I wanted to share it with those who voted for me, my coach and my team-mates at Barca and in the Argentina national team. Before Messi, Barcelonas all-time goal record was 232, a mark set by Cesar Rodriguez in the 1950s. Robert, you deserve your Ballon dOr. Real Madrid will have a big say on matters at club level, but if the seleccin come through in the summer, they and Xavi will add some more history to this story; no country has won three consecutive international titles at this level before. CONCACAF W Championship look-back, England super-subs Russo and Toone showed vs. Spain why they deserve to start, Euro 2022: England's comeback win vs. Spain shows a new side of this special team, Will USWNT tactics keep working? What next for Mexico? Your email address will not be published. Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus and Real Madrid), 6. Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off.

", Pep Guardiola was named the FIFA Men's Football Coach of the Year, finishing ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. Gareth Bale (Tottenham and Real Madrid), 8. Andrey Arshavin (Zenit Saint Petersburg), 2. Samuel Etoo (Inter Milan and Anzhi Makhachkala), 8.

Xavi Hernndez passed a landmark recently at the Camp Nou against Real Betis, reaching his 400th league appearance in the blaugranas colours. 5. Your email address will not be published. Barcelona Ace Lionel Messi: I Didn't Expect To Win The FIFA Ballon D'Or, Archbishop Desmond Tutu Delighted With FIFA Presidential Award, Barcelona's Andres Iniesta: Being Nominated For The FIFA Ballon D'Or Was An Award In Itself, The FIFA Ballon D'Or Is A Triumph For The Philosophy Of Barcelona - Xavi.