ESPNSTAR.com 2012 World Football XI
After much deliberation, many altercations and spirited discussion, we present to you our World Football XI for 2012.
We don't expect there to be any sort of consensus on the eleven players, seven substitutes and the manager that we have chosen. But that's fine - fight for your players, tell us why they should have made the cut and who your top eleven players for this year would be.
2012 in Football Part 1: Drama and dramatics
2012 in Football Part 2: Drama and dramatics
The players chosen here are obviously based on how they performed in 2012. They're also picked on how well they would fit in the formation (4-4-2) we've gone with.
Here we go!
GK: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy)
Buffon gets the nod in our World XI after turning in world class performances as captain of both his club and country.
Juventus went unbeaten en route to their first Scudetto win after the Calciopoli scandal back in 2006 and the fact that they conceded only 20 goals throughout the season tells of Buffon’s massive contribution to the triumph. Buffon has continued his fine club form into the new season, having only conceded 10 goals in 17 matches in the Serie A so far.
A far more impressive statistic that confirms his status as the top keeper in 2012 was the fact that he kept 20 clean sheets in the year, the most of any other goalkeeper in Europe.
RB: Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Bayern Munich full-back Philipp Lahm is probably the best right-back in the world and could very well lay a good claim on the left-back position too.
Needless to say, the German international is a versatile player. Lahm is everything that makes a full-back such an integral part of modern day football: He can run up and down the flanks with the ball at his feet, put in accurate crosses, score and defend.
By Bayern's own high standards, the club underachieved last year as they failed to land a major trophy. However, that is not to say that Lahm or even Bayern did not perform to a high level as they only lost out on the Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League titles by small margins. In both instances, Bayern finished runners-up and Lahm was a big reason why they were even in contention in the first place.
LB: Leighton Baines (Everton, England)
It’s surprising that Baines isn’t considered the best left back in England given that his stellar performances have been key to Everton’s recent rise in the Premier League.
He was a delight for many Fantasy Football managers, smashing in free-kicks and penalties, delivering pin-point crosses for team-mates to score - all these done while holding his own against some of the Premier League's best attacking players.
Even then, Baines’ football intelligence is still underrated as many people don’t realise that he dictates Everton’s play – whether they cut into the middle early, go all the way down the flank or take the route one up field via a high ball onto Marouane Fellaini’s well-cushioned head.
CB: Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich, Germany)
It’s not surprising that Badstuber’s recent knee injury had prompted team mate Bastian Schweinsteiger to admit that Bayern’s ambitions this season had taken a huge blow.
At the end of his first season with the Bavarians, Badstuber has already established himself as one of the best center backs in the league with an excellent partnership with Jerome Boateng in the middle of defence.
After a steady showing at Euro 2012, Badstuber continued to shine in defence for the Bayern; the German club have conceded just 7 goals in 17 games in the 2012/2013 season, which is the best rate among the top European leagues.
CB: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus, Italy)
Like Buffon, Bonucci had an excellent year for both club and country. In fact, it was the excellent understanding between Buffon, Bonucci, Chiellini and Barzagli which helped Juve and Italy impress this year.
Bonucci edges crowd favourite Chiellini in our list simply because of his position – Bonucci has been excellent marshalling both Juve and the Azzurri’s defence from the middle while Chiellini was deployed as left-back from time to time.
LM: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal)
It is often said that 'great players can play anywhere'. This is certainly true of Cristiano Ronaldo who can play as the focal point of the attack as well as on either wing. As his former Manchester United team-mate Gary Neville recently pointed out: Ronaldo is an "absolute bully" who stalks the opponent's back-four looking for a weakness.
And he had an incredible amount of success doing this in La Liga last season, scoring 46 goals (including seven hat-tricks) to guide Real Madrid to title glory. In the UEFA Champions League, Ronaldo's 10 goals in as many games were not enough as Real lost on penalties in the semi-finals of the competition. It was a similar story at Euro 2012 as Portugal also lost in the semis in a penalty shootout despite Ronaldo leading the way with three goals.
RM: Juan Mata (Chelsea, Spain)
In his first season at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata was voted the club's best player for his role in helping the Blues win the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup trophies. In the summer with Spain, he was also part of the squad which swept to the title at Euro 2012.
The new season has seen Mata carry on in the same vein, putting all the fracas surrounding Stamford Bridge to one side and keeping the Blues, sometimes single-handedly, in the running for the Premier League.
CM: Andrea Pirlo (Juventus, Italy)
Pirlo is undoubtedly the biggest surprise package to emerge in world football this year (ironic, considering that he is at the ripe old age of 33 years old).
After orchestrating Juventus’ unbeaten season en route to the Scudetto, Pirlo was key to Italy’s surprising charge to the final of Euro 2012, where he made the headlines after masterminding Germany’s defeat and reintroduced the ‘Panenka’ penalty to the world.
And he’s not done yet – his hypnotic laser-accurate passes continue to be Juve’s most lethal weapon this season and have helped the Bianconeri open up a seven-point lead in the Serie A.
CM: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, Spain)
Filling up the last midfield spot is Barcelona's Andres Iniesta - a player who is so well respected that he is often spared the torrent of abuse directed at Barca players when they travel to the Bernabeu to play bitter rivals Real Madrid.
An excellent passer of the ball, Iniesta provides the perfect link between defence and attack. His performances for Spain are also legendary - he scored the winning goal against Holland in the 2010 World Cup final - and he continues to deliver the goods in 2012. He was player of the tournament for Spain as they retained the European Championships in the summer.
ST: Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina)
Records, records, records. Do we still have any adjectives left that are not used to describe the man some claim is a divine football being manifested as a human?
ST: Falcao (Atletico Madrid, Colombia)
It’s not often that a player is compared to Ronaldo and Messi but we have seen many headlines where other managers hailed Falcao as an even more complete striker than the aforementioned duo.
His 45 goals this year fired Atletico Madrid to a UEFA Cup win and a respectable second place in La Liga so far this season. This could have been a record-setting year for Falcao if only he did not play in the same era in which Messi and Ronaldo also plied their trade.
With a huge €60 million price tagged slapped on him, Falcao is still being linked with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid, which tells you how highly rated he is.
Manager: Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid)
When Simeone took over the reins of his former club in December 2011, nobody expected Atletico to be in the position they are now, defending Europa League champions and second in La Liga, seven points ahead of city rivals Real Madrid.
The Argentine showed he had what it takes to manage at the top level – for example, the Rojiblancos failed to stop Diego from returning to Wolfsburg in the summer but Simeone developed Koke in the heart of midfield, which helped them continue their push for excellence this season.
Simeone has been continually linked with other top clubs throughout Europe but he has time and again reiterated his desire to stay at his former side in a display of loyalty – another rare trait in the mercenary world of football.
Substitutes:
GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Spain)
CB: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, Spain)
LB: Jordi Alba (Barcelona, Spain)
CM: Yaya Toure (Manchester City, Ivory Coast)
CM: Marco Reus (Borussia Monchengladbach/Borussia Dortmund, Germany)
ST: Robin van Persie (Arsenal/Manchester United, Netherlands)
ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Sweden)