Football is decidedly a team game: unlike, for instance, cricket, it gives short shrift to individual brilliance within a collection of mediocrities. But our choice of the top ten players was on the basis of club performances over recent seasons in Europe where the leagues attract the very best from all continents. Thus top players from Africa and Asia, who have been part of great European clubs, come into our reckoning.
We limited our choice to one player per country, which means a fair spread among the teams assembled in South Africa for World Cup 2010. We made room not only for the talismans, such as Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney, but also for players who are key to the success of their coaches' tactics, such as Maicon and Wesley Sneijder.
All the players in the list are part of teams in contention for the trophy.
Lionel Messi (Argentina): Forty seven goals for Barcelona in all competitions in the 2009-10 season have put Lionel Messi in pole position to win the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards for the second year running.
The little Argentinean has looked like a player from another dimension in his club colours, collecting hat tricks in successive league games, and putting four past a bewildered Arsenal in the Champions League. Messi is yet to replicate that sort of form for Argentina — and therein lies the great challenge and opportunity for him this time.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal): Four years ago, Cristiano Ronaldo was something of an uncut diamond. The tricks were there, as were the pace and power. But he dazzled only sporadically at the 2006 World Cup, often looking like a player out of sync with the rest of his team.
Now Ronaldo is a complete attacker who can play anywhere along the front line. He comes into the World Cup after a fruitful debut season for Real Madrid that yielded him 33 goals in 35 appearances. How far can the Portugal skipper take his team, which has been placed in probably the toughest of the eight groups?
David Villa (Spain): Over the last few seasons, David Villa has easily been the world's most prolific international goalscorer. Small, skillful and deadly in one-on-ones, Villa has broken record after record in Spain's red shirt. His 12 international goals in 2008 were the highest tally by any Spanish striker in a single year. Those goals included four in Spain's triumphant Euro 2008 campaign.
Since then, he has steadily closed in on Raul's record career tally of 44 goals. While Raul took 102 international appearances to score that many, Villa has 37 from just 56 games, and could go past the Real Madrid striker in South Africa, were Spain to justify its status as pre-tournament favourite. The glare of media interest in Villa will be at an all-time peak, following his transfer from Valencia to Barcelona.
Wayne Rooney (England): In 2006, a callow, half-fit Wayne Rooney walked out of the World Cup in an angry haze, sent off for stamping Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho in the quarterfinals. Since then, the England striker has matured and become one of the most rounded players in the game.
His most recent season for Manchester United saw him find the net 34 times, a large chunk of his goals going in off his previously unproductive head. Fabio Capello's England had an easy ride through qualifying, but will begin the tournament in South Africa filled with uncertainty, with many of its players coming out of injury or below-par domestic campaigns. Rooney, however, can spark jaded teams to life with his energy and invention.
Wesley Sneijder (Holland): Of all the players who contributed to Inter Milan's Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League treble in the 2009-10 season, Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder was perhaps the most important. The diminutive Sneijder possesses quick feet and the vision to pick out unpredictable passes from an advanced midfield position.
In Euro 2008, Sneijder was the fulcrum of the Dutch attacking quartet in an exciting 4-2-3-1 formation, and contributed two goals, including a thunderous volley against Italy. Much of Holland's progress in South Africa will depend on Sneijder's supply to forwards Robben, van Persie, and Huntelaar.
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast): On paper, to the follower of European football, Ivory Coast looks the strongest of the African squads at the World Cup. It resonates with names like Didier Zokora, Emmanuel Eboue, Salomon Kalou, and the Toure brothers. But above all, it is skipper and star striker Didier Drogba who holds the key to the Ivorians' progress in South Africa.
In 2006, Ivory Coast was unlucky to start in a group containing Argentina and the Netherlands. Its fortunes haven't changed this time, with Brazil, Portugal and a potential banana-peel in North Korea waiting to send Drogba's men out of the tournament at the first hurdle. The 32-year-old Drogba will need to carry into the World Cup the form that saw him score 37 goals in 44 Chelsea appearances last season if he is to leave an impact on what could be his last international tournament.
Maicon (Brazil): In recent times, Brazil has relied almost exclusively on its fullbacks for width. Neither Cafu and Roberto Carlos, who bombed up and down the wings in tandem from 1998 to 2006, will play a part in South Africa. While Brazil is yet to unearth a left back to take Carlos' mantle, it has, in Inter Milan's Maicon and Barcelona's Dani Alves, the two best right backs in the world. Dunga has preferred to start with Maicon right through his tenure as Brazil coach, probably because the Inter man is the more complete player — as good as Alves going forward but better defensively.
Maicon has pace, stamina to cover the entire right flank, and a ferocious right foot, with which he unleashed a 25-yard volley against Juventus in April after juggling the ball over a defender.
Daniele De Rossi (Italy): Midfielder Daniele De Rossi's 2006 World Cup ended with a red card against the United States in Italy's second group game. The Azzuri carried on without him to its fourth World Cup title, with Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso forming the perfect silk-and-steel combination in the centre of midfield.
Now, at 25, De Rossi goes into his second World Cup as the Italian Footballer of the Year, and a man considered by many to be Fabio Cannavaro's natural successor as the Azzuri skipper. The Roma vice-captain's energy and box-to-box running will be vital to the balance of Lippi's midfield alongside an older, slower Pirlo. Besides his defensive attributes, De Rossi is an unfussy, efficient passer and possesses a fierce shot from distance.
Florent Malouda (France): Florent Malouda was an impressive performer in the 2006 World Cup. He memorably won the penalty that Zinedine Zidane took to put France ahead early in the final.
Since then, he has gone somewhat under the radar, after a couple of quiet seasons at Chelsea. However, the 29-year-old winger (who turns 30 two days after France's opening game in South Africa) will start the 2010 World Cup as one of France's few in-form players, after a season in which he was one of Chelsea's leading lights with 15 goals and 15 assists in all competitions.
Malouda sparkles going forward with his pace and dribbling, and also puts in his share of tracking back from the left wing.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany): In the absence of the injured Michael Ballack, and coach Joachim Low's non-selection of regulars like Torsten Frings and Thomas Hitzlsperger, Germany's midfield wears an untested look. Much of Germany's hopes will rest on the shoulders of Bastian Schweinsteiger, who was recently made vice-captain.
In 2006, a youthful Schweinsteiger sparkled on the left wing as Germany reached the semifinals.
Last season, Schweinsteiger moved into the centre of midfield for Bayern Munich, and was instrumental in the club's run to the Champions League final. Blessed with technique and composure on the ball, the 25-year-old will hope he can wear Ballack's midfield mantle lightly. Photos: AP/AFP
Correction
Daniele de Rossi was banned only for four matches in the 2006 World Cup. He played as a substitute in the final and had a part in Italy's triumph as he converted his spot-kick in the shootout. The above report said that “Midfielder Daniele De Rossi's 2006 World Cup ended with a red card against the United States in Italy's second group game.”
