While the Ballon D’or for 2013′s best player will be
awarded on January 13, fanatix has run down the
ten players in world football we think were better
than anyone else last calendar year.
It’s difficult to compare individual brilliance to how
effective a player has been for their team – but
we’ve used personal statistics, title wins, and
individual awards to comprise our impressive list.
Three current Premier League players make our top
10, which also features three representatives from
La Liga, three from the Bundesliga, and one from
Ligue 1.
10) Mesut Ozil – Arsenal
Arsenal won more points in 2013 than any other
Premier League club, but unfortunately, that
doesn’t win you anything in football. During the
summer though, they smashed their transfer record
to bring in £42m German playmaker Mesut Ozil,
who has been at his brilliant creative best from the
outset. Already this term with the Gunners, Ozil’s
created nine and scored four, following on from his
most productive season in Madrid, where he
assisted 17 and scored ten. His wonderful vision
and outstanding technical ability make him
arguably the world’s finest no.10, and Premier
League football fans will no doubt have the
pleasure of watching him work his magic for
seasons to come.
9) Robert Lewandowski – Borussia Dortmund
The rangy Polish striker will not be at Dortmund
beyond the end of this season, as he is choosing
to let his contract run out. Whether the Bundesliga
club can maintain their level without him is
questionable, as he’s been simply outstanding in
2013. He fired Dortmund to a Champions League
final, notably scoring four goals in one match
against Real Madrid in the semis, before finishing
last season with a fantastic 36 goals. This term,
despite the uncertainty surrounding his future, the
25-year-old has still found the net 16 times
already.
8) Robin Van Persie – Manchester United
Because of his recent injury problems, it’s easy to
forget that ‘RVP’ virtually fired United to the
Premier League title on his own last season. With
26 in the league, the Dutchman won his second
consecutive Golden Boot, and his first domestic
title. He also became Holland’s leading ever
goalscorer, on his way to securing them a spot at
next summer’s World Cup.
7) Neymar – Barcelona
The prodigal Brazilian attacker joined La Liga
champions Barcelona in 2013 for a whopping
£50m, after being voted Player of the Tournament
at the Confederations Cup over the summer. In the
tournament that’s essentially a dry run for next
summer’s World Cup, Neymar completely stole the
show, and alerted the world to his quite
phenomenal talent – scoring wondergoals and
earning Brazil the trophy. In the first half of this
term, he’s scored nine and assisted ten, meaning
he’s on track for a ’20/20′ season, which is
practically unheard of.
6) Arjen Robben – Bayern Munich
The brilliant Dutch winger had about as good a
2013 as anyone. Not only did he score the winner
in the Champions League final, earning the Man of
the Match award in the process, but he was an
integral part of a Bayern side that swept all before
them – winning an historic treble and a Club World
Cup. Rarely ever before has a completely one-
footed player been so unnervingly effective.
5) Luis Suarez – Liverpool
In the first half of this season alone, Suarez has
arguably been the best player in the world. He’s
scored 20 goals in just 15 games for the Reds, who
currently sit in an unexpected fourth place in the
Premier League table. His goals have been
spectacular too, and have earned him a bumper
new deal at Anfield which makes him the country’s
highest paid player. If Liverpool don’t qualify for
the Champions League though, Suarez will no
doubt be leaving the club to join an elite European
superpower in the summer. He really is that good.
4) Zlatan Ibrahimovic – PSG
The sulky but genius Swede is now 32-years-old,
but seems to be getting better and better every
year. His 30 goal Ligue 1 haul last term secured
the Parisians the title, and he’s started this
season where he left the last, bagging 21 so far in
all competitions. This is all the more impressive
when you recognise that he’s now playing a more
withdrawn creative role alongside £57m signing
Edinson Cavani.
3) Lionel Messi – Barcelona
It’s been a while since the little Argentine wasn’t
at the top of one of these lists, but injury has
unfortunately curtailed the second half of his
calendar year. In the first six months though Messi
was at his ludicrous best, and finished last term
with yet another La Liga trophy and the Golden
Boot award for his 36 league strikes. He started
this season in ominous form, bagging a hat-trick
on the opening day of the season, before his injury
saw him sidelined for most of the term. Despite
this, he’s still in the running for the Ballon D’or
award which will be announced on January 13.
2) Franck Ribery – Bayern Munich
The French winger doesn’t have the same
goalscoring stats as Messi or Ronaldo, but during
2013, many believe he’s been the world’s most
effective player. He dominates Bundesliga
opposition week in week out, and was Bayern’s
best performer last season as they picked up a
treble under Jupp Heynckes. Now managed by Pep
Guardiola, Bayern have somehow reached yet
another level, and are undefeated in domestic
competition this season. If Ribery will ever win a
Ballon D’or award, it’ll be this season.
1) Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid
For us, Ronaldo has been head and shoulders
above anyone else on an individual basis in 2013.
For club and country, he scored 66 goals, which is
two more than Ribery and Messi combined. This
season alone, he’s scored 32 for club and country,
including a brilliant hat-trick in the World Cup
Play-Off against a Sweden side led by Ibrahimovic.
In 2013, he’s also created chances for his
teammates – assisting 16 goals in all, meaning
he’s been directly involved in 82 goals overall. If
he doesn’t win the Ballon D’or this term, it’ll be a
travesty.
No comments:
Post a Comment