Football's best and worst of 2010
It's time for a look back at a year that featured many firsts in the football world. The first African World Cup, the first Italian team to win a treble and the first African club to reach the final of the Club World Cup, just to name a few.
I was fortunate enough to report on many of 2010's biggest football stories, and now here's my verdict on who was hot and who was not in the past 12 months.
Best team – Barcelona
It would have been easy to pick Spain considering they won the World Cup for the first time in South Africa in July and played a fantastic brand of football, but considering the backbone of the national team comes from Barcelona, and the Catalans have the best player in the world in Leo Messi, I have to pick Barca.
They play football in its pure form. It is truly poetry in motion. The passing, the movement and the unselfishness with which they play is amazing.
As much praise as their attack gets, one can't forget that Barca's defense has improved considerably in recent times. In a seven-match stretch at the end of this year, they scored 28 goals and conceded none. An unbelievable record which included that historic 5-0 win over eternal rivals Real Madrid.
Best player – Xavi
While Messi is the best player in the world, Xavi was the best player of 2010 and I hope he wins the FIFA Ballon d'Or award next month. One of my best friends calls him "Neo" - after the character from the film "The Matrix" - for his ability to see the game in slow motion when everyone else struggles to keep up with the pace of Barcelona's passing.
Xavi has the ability to consistently be in the right place at the right time in midfield, and he is the man who made Spain and Barcelona tick this past year. Just how good is he? The diminutive maestro makes everyone around him better, including Messi, who has scored many more goals when playing with Xavi for Barca than when playing for Argentina.
Best manager – Jose Mourinho
Love him or loathe him, one must respect him and what he has done in the world of football. In May, Mourinho became only the third coach to win the European Champions League with two different clubs and also helped Internazionale become the first Italian team to win a treble.
He is a master motivator who understands the needs of his players and always gets the best out of them. More than a coach, this man is a leader. He would also excel as a general in an army or as the CEO of a major company. Mourinho revolutionized the way managers prepare for games by compiling files on opposing teams and players to give to his own athletes.
Although most people are predicting that Barcelona will win the Champions League this season, it would be foolish to bet against the "Special One."
Best moment – Diego Milito seals Inter's Champions League final win
One moment I will never forget from this past year was Milito's second goal against Bayern Munich in Madrid. This is a man who for most of his career played for mediocre clubs such as Zaragoza and Genoa - and in the biggest game of his life scored one of the best goals I have ever watched live in a stadium.
It was magical the way the Argentine abused Daniel van Buyten with a body fake and a quick change of direction, and then placed the ball past the outstretched goalkeeper. One of the most underrated strikers in the world proved his worth last season with Inter, and that goal was a moment that neither he or I will ever forget.
Most overrated team – Manchester City
What have Manchester City won in the last two decades? Absolutely nothing. What have they done over the past year? Very little. Yet they keep on being considered one of the top teams in Europe. The English press can't get enough of them and I am truly baffled at the attention they keep getting.
Since Roberto Mancini took over as manager, they have won only three of 10 games against England's top-five teams (Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham) and haven't lifted a single piece of silverware, so please, let's wait until they actually win something before comparing them to other top Premier League sides.
It's not as if they play an engaging brand of football, either. This is primarily a counter-attacking team that struggle to dominate possession and have trouble performing in big games.
Most overrated player – Wayne Rooney
Maybe I made this pick because I live in England and constantly have to hear how great he is from everyone around me. I am not going to sit here and say he isn't a very good player, but he isn't a superstar and must improve his scoring rate if he wants to be considered a top striker.
Since joining Manchester United in 2004, Rooney has scored a goal every 2.6 games. He had an abysmal World Cup, and this season he has yet to score a goal from open play for his club. Yet he continues to be branded by most people in the UK as God's gift to football.
Even Sir Alex Ferguson is guilty of overrating Rooney, giving him more minutes than Dimitar Berbatov when the Bulgarian's goalscoring rate is much better this season. Wayne needs to get sharper and needs to start scoring more consistently in order to be a permanent member of football's royalty.
Most overrated team ::: England
at least Man City is good "some of the time" and they have genuinely world class players.
What does England have?
44 years of .......... 44 YEARS
jezz its an embarrassment & insult to the sport of Football when people constantly put this country as favorites to win the World Cup.
i couldn't agree more with you.I have never regarded Rooney as the best striker in the world.Last season,yes you could have said that but now he is the second division striker and bare in mind that he is by far the highest paid player in the club and yet there is nothing to show for it .On the other hand you have Barbatov who is scoring goals like nobody else at first i doubted Barrba's capabilities but he is proving me wrong.I blame the British media for branding him as the best,he may be the highest paid but not the best,Having said that i dont think an English player will ever win a Fifa player of the year award in our lifetime..i put my lifesavings on that....
Agree on a few but you got a couple wrong
Best PLayer: Messi
2010 he scored 47goals and 11 assists in 53 games. He's already topped it half way this year with 27 goals and 14 assists in 24 games. The figures speak for themselves he a bad world cup but thats it (more of a poor team effort that individual). Anybody who watches La Liga or Champions League can vouch.
Best Moment: Spain winning the world cup.
Not in the prettiest fashion, but there is nothing better than seeing a team with such promise and finally fulfilling their expectations
Most overrated player: Fernando Torres
Might be cause his heart is not in it for Liverpool anymore and aside from a few moments of brilliance he has been on poor form. Terrible World Cup, and not playing as he did when he was first transferred from Atlético Madrid, yet he is still considered one of the best strikers in the world.
England will never ever win the world cup
Honestly I did not like Rooney one bit when he joined Man U. He was just an English teenager that the English hyped to fill in the Vacuum that is English football. I know so coz I'm a Barca fan.
I watched a few games featuring Rooney and I have to admit, he's the most influential player in the premiership, you see his impact! He, Van Der Vaart and Carrol sure show why they get paid.
Hi
All of what is said in this story are all true.
I hope and pray that come nerx season both Rooney and Torres will improved. Was there on the best league of the year?
Manchester City the most over rated team?????
Actually, that should go to liverpool. They were once in top 4. now they are like falling giants (remember leeds united).
Also, man city beat Liverpool and Cheslea this season. They also drew with united and lost to arsenal because one of their players was sent of in the 2nd Minute.
Manchester City have lost most of their games where batlotellu was part of starting 11.
if Man City want to win any games, they have to keep balotellt out (he has a bad temper)
*He's also a clown in my opinion, causes to much controversy*
best moment-tshabalala's goal in the fifa world cup opener
most overated team-england
best team-barcelona
beat player-messi messi messi
most overated player-so not rooney,i mean think of the entire english team
best manger-jose mourinho
Maybe they should put you in charge of Man Utd, because Sir Alex just doesn't have your keen expertise. Well it's not the first time I see you write negative comments about probably England's best player. If you watch the games he plays in, weather he scores or not he makes his team play. So either you have someone like Van Nistelrooy who can only score or get the full package.
Maybe we got used to seeing Ronaldo score rather than play the team game.
Either way I think your problem is personal. Lets cut the bad propaganda and focus on real flops...
damn
so many england haters
LMFAO
I completely agree with your best player and teams.
However, Wayne Rooney starts week in week out for Manchester United, a club regarded as one of the best in the world. He scored 34 goals in all competition in the 09-10 season. His vision, touch and the way he links up with his team mates ensures that even when he doesn't score, the team itself thrives. True he had a poor world cup, but to be labelled as 2010 most overrated player is farcical!
No one in England considers Manchester City one of the top teams in Europe. However, they are excited about their potential- there's a difference (Remember, Chelsea were a top 8 club until Roman bought them, and they are now a European heavyweight. People are excited that they COULD become a top European side).
I'm totally convince with your analysis but how do you see A. C. Milan this time around? Don't you think they are capable of winning the champion league this time around?
i don't see Chelsea winning the league this season. it's Manchester's turn this season. Xavi deserves to be the world's best player, he's had a good year. Madrid will be European champions this year.
Football is a team game and nothing matters more than the actual team's results. Man-U sits on top of the English premier league and in fact have not lost a league game so far this season. This is the team that Rooney plays for and greatly influences. I don't care whether you (whoever you are) like Rooney or not. He is a winning player in a winning team. Enuf said!
"This is primarily a counter-attacking team that struggle to dominate possession and have trouble performing in big games."
That shows how much u know about football.
Mancini is a proper Italian who plays 5 holding midfielders, a fast tempo game is his enemy!!
Dear Pedro, you're a good man but you've seen this completely wrong, because it is like this;
Best Team: Internazionale, for winning four big prices (Champions League, World Cup, League & Cup)
Best manager: Jose Mourinho, that's right.
Best Player: Wesley Sneijder, for winning 4 big titles and for reaching the World Cup Final, being the tournaments topscorer as a midfield player, in not a very good team.
Most Overrated Team: Brazil, look at all the comments about them before the world cup started. And then at what they've achieved.
Most Overrated Player: In this one you are right, is is Wayne Rooney.
Your score is 2 out of 5 which is quite disappointing for a good reporter.
Totally agree with this article. FC Barca earned that title as the best of the world. I still don't understand how they make all those movements on the field and the great performe they show in each game is just amazing! I love FCBarca.
Best Team Barcellona????
INTER played by far prettier and better football than barca did.
Pinto's love-affair with Xavi is getting nauseating!!!
...and South Africa's hosting of the World Cup was definitely football's BEST moment!!! Come on Pinto
I agree with you on the best team, player and manager. I totally agree with you on most overrated player as well. Rooney is a good player and that's it. There is no way one can compare him with Ronaldo, Messi, Xavi or Iniesta. These players are maestro, rooney is a good player. On the most over rated team, Man. City is a new team (as a big one) and is improving. It is going to take Man. City few years to establish itself as a powerhouse in Premier League as well as Europe, but for me the most over rated team is England. They have some really good players like Gerrard and mostly over rated players like Rooney, A. Cole, etc.
Well done Pedro;
One more thing that seems to be missing from your judgement is the exclusion of Inter Milan.They showed the best performance in the Italian Club History,and with no dubiety-the best display in Europe -for this year!!
Messi had been better than others by a mega distance,and the whole England Team was a huge dissapointment...
One and onee forever Leo Messi
Best team Barcellona? Why?
F.C. Internazionale won all in Europe and Worldwide (except European super cup)
first in Italian championship
first in European championship (Champion's league)
first in Italian super cup
second in European super cup
first in World Club Championship
There are no other cups for club teams in soccer.
What did Barcellona win?
Spanish championship
Spanish super cup
Very subjective article. The author has only mentioned the European football scenery but there is a lot more to account for.
I'm English, here's my criticism of English Football 🙂
our national team are poor, we have no chemistry because all of our players think they are truly the best and their over sized ego's (fuelled by their ridiculous wage) mean that its impossible to assemble a truly passionate team, most respected players in the Premier League are only concerned about how much money is being put into their accounts on a weekly basis.
I see this as a problem of England in general, the whole nations attitude towards football is wrong, we think we are the best, but what do we have to back up that statement??? England's motto for the 2010 world cup was 'England Expects' that straight away is the wrong attitude, it piles too much pressure on the players and it just goes to show how arrogant our nation is towards football
We may have big big teams, some of the biggest in the world and we may also be possibly the biggest league in the world. This is down to all the money that is pumped into football leagues and clubs due to tv deals, extremely loyal fans constantly buying merchandise and last but not least, filthy rich folk taking over the clubs as its seen as the new fad!!!
I agree that Rooney is seriously under achieving for the wage that he is on, he is seen as a talisman.......which he is not, if you put the england squad together, I'd say the most influential and the best leader is surely Gerrard, it doesnt take a genius to see that he oozes a passion for the game that many players in the Premier League lack, the reason Gerrard is on such high wages is because he has had an undying passion which has enabled him to reach his status of one of the worlds best midfielders. Players such as John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Carlos Tevez and Ashley Cole are clearly concerned mostly about how much money is being poured into their accounts (ashley cole said himself that money is power, carlos tevez states in his contract that no one at man city is allowed to be paid a higher wage than him)
Torres is a great player, but he is seriously off form and under achieving right now, but when he is on form, it is hard to deny that he is one of the deadliest strikers out their.
Messi.......the name speaks for its self
Balotelli.......far too arrogant, his latest comment about the only player in the world that is better than him is Messi made me laugh, just goes to show that he completely has the wrong attitude and doesn't under stand the skills, personality and attributes that make a great football player.
I would say Berbatov and Gareth Bale are possibly the 2 players creating the most stir in the Premiership right now.
finally i come back to Rooney, yes he is influential and his team are strong with him in it, but isn't he a Striker??? and strikers are meant to score goals, of which Rooney hasn't done in open play this season, yet he is one of the highest paid players in the world, people can not try to justify his poor form by saying his team plays well with him in the squad, Manchester UTD play well without him in the squad too, so I think that Rooney is possibly the biggest waste of money right now.
I think I'm done with most of what I had to say...... =P
I am no Inter Milan fan but when you see that a team that has won EVERYTHING in 2010, i mean everything nationally and internationally as a club, not being listed as the best team, not eve been mentioned in this list ... well... there must be something wrong with whoever made up this list!
I think in the year of 2010 the most overrated team is English national
team in the duration of the South Africa World Cup.
Some people had said this time(2010 World Cup) was most
optimal for England to take back title once again in 44 years.
They got wondrful squd(From Wayne to Gerrad, Lampard, Terry,,,,,
or course alas without Rio), and a maestro manager....
But their performance was smashed quirk from the very moment when Robert Green made one of the most pernicious mistakes in the history of English football...
and to the chagrin of many fans, England couldn`t help but to
stay out of the quarter final line-ups being absolutely powerlessly
tattered by Germany tank squad(even though there was a despicable misjudgement by referee and Lampard`s goal was cancled, England was really pathethic in that match all in all, you can`t refute to that)
Mr. Whoever Wrote This Article,
It is evident that you do not watch football at all or that you choose to totally ignore what you see in football games. For you to say that Rooney is the most overrated player is indicative of your ignorance of the game and that you simply join the bandwagon to glorify the Spanish.
He had an abysmal World Cup? So did Malouda, Evra, Anelka, Gerrard, Terry, even Kaka, Ronaldo and Messi! And the fact that he's not scoring takes nothing away from his quality as a footballer. Just for your information, since Rooney's return to the squad, the team has played the best football your eyes have seen this season.
For all negative commenters,
You are all entitled to your opinions, but bashing Mr. Pinto for having his own opinion is unacceptable and immature. Football is the beautiful game, so having hooligans and disrespectful idiots involved with it is something football fans should be ashamed of not something we should promote.
I agree about the overrated player, Rooney hasn't done anything much in this season and if you look at his teammates like Nani and Berbatov, they contribute even more.
About the best player. I want to mention Internazionale Javier Zanetti. This champion is 37 years old and an example to all the young players
there's only one team for me FEYENOORD ROTTERDAM
Barca best team in the world????? No way! Maybe Pedro has new rules to the game, In football its the team with the highest goals that wins a match, if Inter defeated Barca to win the champions league and you yet say Barca is the best. Maybe you should desolve fifa, eufa and have Pedro, Inter Milan for now is the best team in the world, maybe Barca could be crowned most entertaining team.
Mesi is a good player but I think Schnider should be given consideration for the amount victories this year and being one of the highest goal scorers in the world cup.
Of course Jose Mrinho is the best, love it or leave it that way!!!
Dear Moe....Best Team Barcellona????
INTER played by far prettier and better football than barca did.
I think I may need crutches to support me walk.. so hard did I laugh after reading this. Unless we were watching soccer matches from different planets, there is no way that Inter played prettier/better football than barca. Reall?
Come on, man, try another Joke..
couldn´t agree more with xavi being the best player of 2010. true messi is an amazing talent but without the foresight of xavi in the centre his abilities are reduced to half. maybe you could have added pedro rodriguez as best world cup debut.
i agree with u mourinho is the best coach but milan is the best team and iniesta the best player
Pedro, how can you possible say that Barcelona was the best team in 2010? Admitedly they played beautiful football, but Mourinho's inter won ALL there was to win this year.
"All" that Barça won was La Liga, even the Copa del Rey went to Sevilla.
Best player Xavi? Possibly due to the WC, but I think Sneijder deserved it.
Pinto i thought you are a guy nice but you discriminate like your other brothers.Who is better than Samuel Eto?The first striker on Earth to play defense and held players like Messi,Xavi etc.The only player on Earth to have more than ten trophies within two years and lets count it please.With Barcelona,Champion league,spanish champion,Spanish cup and spanish super cup.In Italy.Champion league,Italian super cup,italian champion,italian cup winner,world club cup winner and best African player 2010.Grosso Mondo 10:If Samuel Eto was a White Male you people could have put it in all the press but since he is a Black i say shame on you people and you are all BIAS:Shame on you again
First of all I'm Tired of all "non football fans" writing about football when they don't have a clue what true football is.
The Best Team: It has to be either Spain or Inter Milan. Barcelona play beautiful football but they did not win the Biggest tournament of club football and hence CANNOT be the best team.
Best Player: Xavi in the WC and Sneijder during the regular campaign
Best Manager: Jose
Most Overrated Team: Italy- They were the WC holders and didnt even reach the knockout
Most Overrated Player: Ibrahimovic for Clubs and Messi for the WC
Most underrated team: Ghana- The Black stars shown who they were in 2010 and INTER MILAN- nobody is giving them the respect they are due!
Thanks you,
Issa
BARCA
Messi
Elnd
Best team : inter milan,. inter won 5 tropies this year, barca is good but they havent proved it. untill next year june the verdict is out on barca
Best player – Xavi
Best manager – Jose Mourinho
Best moment – Spain winning the worlc cup, at least they are no longer the biggest underachievers ( Portugal and Netherlands are still there and England will be there if they dont win anything in the nest 100 years or Portugal and Netherlands win more trophies before England win something)
Most overrated team – Portugal, has not anything in football history
Most overrated player – mario boleteli and wayne rooney
Hi Pedro,
I praise your insight of football. It makes so much sense when things that really matter in football are brought to light. People should learn to understand that football has individual appeal as well. It is such a unifying force. I agree that Xavi deserves to be the best player in the world. He deserves a chane at it. His input cannot be denied.
I do beg to differ on the issue of who is best manager. I think that Guardiola deserves the spot. Credentials do not matter here. Just who do you think is boss, Pinto?
Isn't France maybe the most overrated team? Although they weren't very convincing in the qualifying round, they were seen as one of the favorites at the world cup. And wow, they screwed up big time.
I totally Agree with you on rooney....He is the MOST overrated player in England. I dont care how England see;s him ..much of england football is not played by england in the premiere league.take out all the foreign players and the EPL would resemble a league in say Papua New Guinea.
So you england fans quit acting like England has such great players.....Rooney however being the best of them..isnt and will never ad should never be rated along side Messi Xavi Raul Zidane I mean come on! this is Rooney....he may seem big but its all hype.....inflated hype.
Man U will not win the premier league this season.
It is not a question of how many trophies a team has won, it is about consistent good play throughout 2010 and Barcelona win that hands down.
Granted Inter eliminated Barcelona in the Champions but frankly their match in Barcelona was probably the most anti football game I've seen from a top team in years (except of course Kung Fu Holland in the WC final with the colour blind ref.). Inter basically played 10 defenders. Inter had an inspired game in Milan and that was it because it was clear who would have won had Barcelona played Bayern in the final considering Bayern's level.
No other team in the world could put 5 past Madrid today.
Xavi is the best. I would even say the combination Xavi / Messi was the best even though players like Puyol, Pique, Busquets, Pedro also had an incredible season.
Iniesta is a great guy and scored the most important goal of his career but given that he was injured for months doesn't really enter the competition for best consistent player 2010.
If Sneijder had scored that 1 on 1 against Casillas in the WC final then he would have been the FIFA player of the year.
i totally agree with you on all your choices besides the best moment,to me its TP Mazembe reaching the finals of club champions
hey guys have you seen capitan tsubasa`s anime there you can see football soul
That u made no mention of Holland in your lecture baffles me. The Dutch are the most consistent team in the world at the moment, even more so than spain, have lost only one major game and that was in world cup final against spain. The dutch have won every major game in God knows how long and they also have some of the best midfielders in the world at the moment. I think you of all people Pedro should know that.. or is it because you are portuguese, looking at the recent history of portugal against holland?
why dont they donate 5% of takings from each mach and
from players to aliviate the economic crisis'??? or for a environment
fund??? why is soccer so immuned??
@ frank-ibel – I agree with you 100%!! If Samuel Eto was white he would definitely be on top of Pinto's list! Eto has scored more golas & won more silverware than anyone playing football today in the space of only two years & yet somehow he has never featured in white men's selections of best players. He has even won the best African Player of the Year for a record 4 times!!!!
good job Pinto atleast that was great and i hope you continue like that. but what happen to samuesl eto'o who has won over ten trophies in two years, i don't think that any player on earth has done that, if i am wrong then prove me. perhaps you were un able to see him because of his colour i guess. the white skin may not regconise him but every black colour know he is the best.
Pedro over the years i have not been a fan of you concerning football matters cos you always look down on African players,but never the less i will agree with you cos this current team of Barcelona is the best Team ever since the begining of this wonderfull sport,words cannot describe the inteligent,formidable,excellent mid fielder like xavi,i wish he wins the ballon dior,best coach hmmm hmmm no comment.
Varun.. England the most overrated team... Have you seen the FIFA rankings.. Overrated compared to what... Your outsourced numbers?
Best teams – Inter ( how can Pinto rate Barca over a team that did the treble?) T.P Mazembe (Europe is not the only football continent)
Best player – Xavi (the conductor of the Spanish and Barca team while Messi is only the lead violinist)
Best manager – Mourinho (Treble-winner. Enough said)
Best moment – Michael Bradley's equaliser against Slovenia at the World Cup, after which his dad, coach Bob Bradley, said "thanks son". Lump in the throat time time or what.
Most over-rated player - Fernando Torres (moody and whiny. Looks like a petulant schoolgirl most of the time. It's always someone else's fault.)
Most over-rated team – Real Madrid..(win something with all the money you've spent. Pinto should apply the same rules to los blancos as he does to Man City)
best teem club: BARCELONE
best player : MESSI
best coach :JOSE MOURINHO
best teem; SPAIN
best goal keeper: CASILLAS
best game: URUGUAY VS GHANA (world cup)
best moment: SPAIN VS NETHERLANDS (world cup final) iniesta scoed 1-0 at 91mns
most overrated team: LIVERPOOL FC
most overrated player: RONALDINHO
must be grazy to write i can agree with best team BARCA alldue SPAIN WERE TOO CLOSE but overrated palyer wayne rooney in that point go to hell what about TORRES RONALDINHO , BENZEMA , BERBATOV , you just guess it i think for thier last performences rooney had his best season in 2010 scoring 34 golas
I agree about Rooney. He needs to get his act together fast or all the past would be just a fluke. The highest paid players should be consistency/ brain players like Zidane, Lampard, Gerrard and the list goes on.
Best Player: Leo Messi's 58 goals in a single year for Barca (27 this Fall & 31 from the Spring) should put him above anyone else. If not, we're not even halfway through it and he already has 4 more assists than anyone else in La Liga this season, including 4 more than Xavi and Iniesta COMBINED. He was 2nd in assists last season.
Best Moment: This is a no brainer. Andres Iniesta scoring the WINNING GOAL IN OVERTIME OF THE WORLD CUP FINAL
(^ it's difficult to consider a player the most overrated if they are not even selected to represent their country^)
to me, this article represents the shortsightedness of english football and it's fans. to say rooney, a starter for the top team in england, is overrated, even the most overrated, is staggering. each player on each team serves a different role. when rooney was younger he was the goal scorer. now, with experience and vision, he has taken on a new position for united – the same with giggs. each time each of these players receives the ball the field seems to stop (and not in an mls way).
italy was not rated high going into the world cup. they struggled to form a team. france, on the other hand, was.
man city is second in the table. they have come from nowhere in the last few years. after reading this article i am now second guessing where you are living, or whether you follow the sport.
i will remember that game as well as milito. i almost expected to see him perform in the world cup after that.
best team: the team that won everything.
best manager: the manager who won everything.
i'm also surprised no one mentioned anything about tevez (of any substance) the man has an incredible goal tally this season, but he might tear them apart very soon.
btw balotelli had a hat trick tonight. did wilshire?
"james walker," forgive pedro, that's the only style of "attack" the british know.
I think that the most overrated player is Cecs Fabregas! Look at his talent and contribution to Arsenal. It wouldn't comparative enough!
Most overrated team is ENGLAND!
@Chicabarca
Best player Wesley Sneijder? Seriously, he's a crying baby with no huge talent... And about Brazil being overrated, could u tell me just one team that has achieved more than Brazil? Learn your lessons please.
Most Overrated Team ; England
Most Overrated Player; Ruin-ny.
Best Actor .................. ; Nani
Best Moment............. ; Qatar Hosting WC (Sic)
. ....ENJOY AND HAVE FUN.....
In 2010 football was speaking only Spanish
Best team club: FC Barcelona
Best Coach: Guardiola,Del Bosque
Best Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas
Best Game: Spain-Germany
Bet moment: Iniesta´s goal in the WC final
Best players: Messi and Xavi
and then FC.Inter,Sneidjer,Forlán,Müller......most overrated team: France(not won a match in the WC).
CAMPEONES DEL MUNDO
I would like to know which player on EARTH has won more trophies within 2 Years more than Samuel Eto please.His 2009 and 2010 eleven trophies 4 with Barcelona and he played all the matches and 5 with Inter Mailand plus African player of the year and Toyota best player in World Club Championship.Together 11 trophies Whao!.Messi can only play well if he got good players surrounding him.We saw it with Argentina National team.Can Messi or xavi or iniesta help or played the role of defense as Eto did with Inter?Offcourse no because they dont have this Energy.Eto used to do it in Barcelona.
I almost agree with you with everything except manager. As long as you talk about 2010 there is a very little difference between what Barça and Inter managed to do last year. They booth won their own leagues and cups and the only difference is that when played one against the other, Inter put 10 guys inside their goal and good really lucky not to be scored (that without talking about refferies not giving two legal goals to Barça one in San Siro and one in Nou Camp).
So you could say Mourinho had a little bit of an advantage in front of Guardiola if you don't count on how well Barça plays.
But then you have a third match. Guardiola's Barça against Mourinho's Madrid. The last the most expensive team ever. And what happens? Guardiola's team wins 5-0 but it could EASILY have been 8-0. So Mourinho's little advantage dissapears.
That without talking about what a manager is good for. If it is only results that count, well Mourinho almost equals Guardiola. But if you think a Manager is the guy that tells and teaches its team how to play, then even Pellegrini made better football than Mourinho.
@eduard stop being Jealous of Jose Mourinho go get a life for urself. what is it that pep Guardiola did that Big Sam wont do if he was given such talented players?
Agree with most of this but City are not to be underestimated. To win titles you have to build from the back and although they are not always engaging to watch they are getting the results to stay near the top. I think we will see a better City by the end of February achieving a lot more consistency with more entertaining football. You can't have the players they do and not progress even though managing them must be a nightmare. They have the capacity I think with the current squad at least and will do well even though I don't want them to!
Just one change for me (and yes, I am completely guilty of being biased):
Best Moment – Landon Donovan scoring against Algeria to send the USA to the second round.
I agree with almost everything said. there are a few close calls, such as Messi for best player. But the best moment has to be Iniesta's goal winner. This one man, engraved his name, and his country in the history of Football, nationally and internationally. generations of future spaniards will talk about this, and hell be remembered forever all over the world for at least a decade! Its also a classy goal which required true skill.
Germany. That says it all. Most heart, most talent and most style. The other teams only have 'most luck'. Period.
yes i really think Rooney was overrated. as a manU fan, i truly believe Berbatov should have the upper hand, not to mention rooney being petulant and all... Berbatov-Hernandez is the tandem to go Sir Alex!!! how can you not see it?
Am not sure the writer of the piece is competent enough to make some pronouncements. Rooney is not the best player in the world (even Rooney knows that) but he is a damn good attacking player. How many goals did Xavi Score ? Yet he is your best player because he affects the team positively. Same way Man u Plays when Rooney is okay. look at the stats, most of the team goals are down to his link up play.
Manchester City the most over rated team?????
Actually, that should go to liverpool. They were once in top 4. now they are like falling giants (remember leeds united).
Harmless and innocent looking Diego Milito can be very effective. He has done the unthinkable a number of times. Senhor Jose Mourinho has achieved a lot with his charismatic style of functioning.
RONALDINHO10 IS BACK! It sure took long for Mano 2 realise he needs players like Marcelo,Hulk,etc. Now Kaká jst needs 2 find his A.C Milan form. Bt anyway,da squad looks fantastic. LETS GET READY 2 SAMBA!!!
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