The World's Finest

After four weeks of witnessing the good, the bad and the ugly of what the footballing world had to offer to the global audience, the World Cup has come to the very conclusion that one would have expected at the outset, and that had been predicted by the mollusk that beat Michael Jackson at his peak in global popularity ratings. Now that the dust has settled (maybe not in Spain, where a large percentage of the population is probably having a hangover; nor in France, Italy and England, where it never will), I am going to pick out the team of the tournament. Here goes…

Centre Forward: Diego Forlan

Despite the fact that he reveled in a deeper, playmaker’s, in the ‘hole’ role behind the strikers at the Cup, he remains a natural forward and that’s why he will assume that position in this XI. To all those people who think he did not deserve the Golden Ball, and who want a reason why I haven’t picked one from either Klose, Robben, Higuain or Fabiano, I give you four –

1. Forlan played for a far less talented side and has consequently had to shoulder far more responsibility

2. He’s been a better runner on the ball than Klose, Higuain and Fabiano, if not Robben. Klose and Higuain seem to be more of the opportunist types who know precisely where to stay positioned to make the best of the feed from the midfield.

3. His long-range abilities are the best of the 5, both in open play and in freekicks.

4. He's simply scored more goals!

Left Wing: David Villa
A no-brainer, really, and like Forlan, excelled in a position that he is not naturally accustomed to. Yet, he was phenomenal cutting in from the left, and when put back at centre forward following Torres’ exclusion from the starting lineup for the last 2 games, surprisingly seemed to be less effective.

Right Wing: Thomas Müller
Undoubtedly the find of the tournament. A meteoric rise over the past year saw the precocious 20-yearold win the Golden Shoe by virtue of his assists following the four-way tie at 5 goals between Villa, Forlan, Sneider and himself, as well as the Best Young Player award. He could easily play 3 more World Cups given his age, and if he can do so much at 20, is he on the way to emulate the greatness of his namesake Gerd Müller?

Attacking Midfielder: Wesley Sneider
Another fairly obvious selection, which means all the 4 top-scorers are in. He, along with Forlan, is the only No.10 across all teams to really shine at the World Cup, even as more glamorous counterparts like Kaka, Rooney and Messi flopped miserably.

Central Midfielder: Andres Iniesta

The man who will forever be remembered for the winning goal close to the end of extra time in the final, he is half of the midfield ‘carousel’, as Sir Alex Ferguson puts it, of Spain and Barcelona, along with Xavi. Once touted the best player in the world by Wayne Rooney, his darting runs into the penalty area were unfortunate not to have culminated in a few more goals for the side over the 4-week period.

Holding Midfielder: Bastian Schweinstieger
After playing most of his career as an attacking midfielder, it was indeed a revelation to see how well he curbed his attacking instincts and anchored the youthful, yet talented German midfield. That’s not to say he didn’t pose problems for opposition defences, and the highlight of his campaign is his weaving run that cut throught the heart of the Argentine defence and set up the shot for Arne Friedrich. The image of him, bare-chested and disconsolate, with Iniesta’s shirt wrapped around his neck, sadly trudging off the pitch like a boxer who’d fought and lost his last fight, after the semifinal loss to Spain said a million words of how much the defeat meant to him.

Fullbacks: Philipp Lahm & Sergio Ramos
The two best fullbacks of the competition both played on the right for their respective countries, so I do not know which of them will adapt to playing the left flank better.

Phillip Lahm was solid as ever in both defence as well as offense, and surprisingly at home with the captaincy in the absence of Michael Ballack. That’s why he’ll be captain of this side as well.

Sergio Ramos’ contribution to the Spanish campaign has been underrated. Much has been written about the two Ps, Puyol and Pique in defence, the brilliant midfield as well as David Villa, but the value of Ramos’ untiring efforts cannot be stated enough. He is the one Spanish player who doesn’t much like to sit on the ball for an hour and prefers to gallop down the touchline. He created a million chances but sadly his efforts went unrewarded. If there was one player, apart from Lionel Messi, who truly deserved to find the net in the tournament, it was this man.

Centrebacks: Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique
If Iniesta and Xavi was the partnership in midfield that won it for the champions, in defence it was this duo. Just 2 goals conceded in an entire campaign makes for fantastic reading and has to be a record, and even those 2 were in the group stage. Puyol and Pique, along with Casillas, combined to record four consecutive clean sheets in the knockout stage, that too against sides like Portugal, Paraguay, Germany and Netherlands, another feat that has to be unprecedented in the history of World Cup football.

Puyol has proved to be the most resolute defender of the contest. When younger, faster opposition strikers tried to fly past him, he brought all his experience into play to deny them the shot on goal. And when Spain were struggling to find the net against the impressive Germans, the onus fell to the most unlikely candidate of them all, the sturdy, no-nonsense centreback, who rescued the side and put them into their first ever final with as good a header as you’ll ever see.

The majority will be surprised I have picked Gerard Pique, particularly considering the fact that he has had his moments of indiscretion, most notably the pull on the arm of Oscar Cardozo that brought the penalty against Paraguay. He has not had any memorable moments of spectacular defending, but his head and shins have denied opposition teams a million chances over the course of the tournament, particularly in corners, attempted long balls and long-range efforts, most notably against the Germans. For a centreback, he has surprising confidence in advancing with the ball as well, and is never shy of running into the opposition half in open play.

Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer
This World Cup has been a bittersweet experience for goalkeepers. There have been those, like Ghana’s Richard Kingson, who have impressed beyond the expectations, and there have been many who have failed to come to terms with the unpredictable nature in flight of the controversial Jabulani. There was the temptation to go for the winner of the Golden Glove, the winning captain, Iker Casillas, but he has had his moments with the Jabulani early on. Neuer, on the other hand, has been as safe as a house right through, and his performance is all the more commendable considering he’s had to deal with strike forces as potent as those of England, Argentina and Spain.

That concludes the starting lineup, so I’m going to pick the bench as well (which is essentially a list of the harsh choices I had to make to pick out the best XI) –

Forwards:
Miroslav Klose and Arjen Robben would be the ideal substitutes for the forwards. Similarly Lionel Messi could either come in for Thomas Müller on the right wing, as he does for Barcelona, or even for Wesley Sneider, since Maradona used him as playmaker and Messi did not look a touch out of place. In fact, I suspect (or predict, rather) that as he matures and his career develops, he might make a permanent transition from forward to just behind the strikers in the long run.

Midfield:
The choice between Andres Iniesta and Mesut Ozil troubled me to no end, and it was only after the final that Iniesta marginally edged out the young German. Ozil’s darting runs were instrumental in the slaughter of England, and he is one for the future.

It also pained me to omit Spanish playmaker Xavi Hernandez, so he definitely makes the bench and is the ideal substitute for Sneider. Similarly Mark van Bommel was a giant in the heart of the Dutch midfield and is the ideal man to play in Schweinstieger’s place. He will likely be remembered as the villain of the final for his incessant tackling, but then that was precisely the role he was meant to play.

Defence:
The choice of the centrebacks was easily the most difficult to make. This is a position where the contribution is so crucial, yet difficult to quantify. I settled on the Spanish pairing, but Netherlands captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Germany’s Arne Friedrich were equally deserving. As far as the fullbacks are concerned, I can’t think of anyone but the two picked in the starting lineup.

Golkeepers:
Iker Casillas definitely makes it here, as does Portugal custodian Eduardo, who denied the Brazilians in front of goal, and kept the Spanish at bay for quite a while.

The most impressive coach for the tournament, it must be said, was Joachim Löw. He managed to successfully foster and nurture a young talented side as diverse as having 11 players in the squad who could have represented another nation. Since this XI is of even more diverse nationality, Löw is a must.

Most of the pre-tournament buzz centred around Argentine legend Diego Maradona, and whether he would prove inspirational enough to lift the South Americans to the greatest heights of all. Unfortunately, his tactical nous fell miserably short of that of Löw, and the 4-0 drubbing stands testimony to that. Similarly, there is sufficient reason to pick Vicente Del Bosque, the former Real Madrid manager who has managed to build a winning outfit around a strong core of Madrid archrivals Barcelona. However, he has had an embarrassment of riches at his disposal, certainly a larger abundance of talent than any of the other managers have had, and it would have been a massive disappointment had he not won the trophy with this set of players.

Joachim Löw has stated that it was his endeavor to create a winning team by combining the grit of the English, the flair of the Spanish and the defence of the Italians. This is easier said than done, but Löw has come as close to the desired outcome as humanly possible. He took a few strong decisions in not taking a few senior players into the squad and gave the younger talents the opportunity to shine. His German contract was to end after the World Cup, but, needless to say, after ending as one of the successes of the tournament, it has been extended. If he stays on till Brazil 2014, one cannot help but think the Germans would be one of the frontrunning contenders to the title. Admittedly, Miroslav Klose will not be around then, but I can’t wait to see how the likes of Müller and Özil perform with 4 years of experience behind them.

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