In arguably the greatest World Cup ever, the five week adventure that is the grand global tournament in Brazil has now concluded.

Now in a fitting conclusion that saw a resilient and mentally strong German side win their fourth world championship (and first as a unified national side), we’ve put together a final team of the tournament that represents the best starting XI. The best eleven includes many of those newly crowned holders of soccer’s biggest prize, but also sees deserving members from other nations that need to be remembered as the best players of this World Cup in not only the modern era, but arguably all eras.

GK: Manuel Neuer (Germany) – It would have been pure comedy if the 28-year-old Bayern Munich rising legend also was named as one of the center-backs of the tournament. Neuer arguably raised the bar of his position. He combined the usual characteristics of world class goalkeeper (no bad gaffes, amazing saves) with his exhilarating pursuit of balls outside of his box domain. He has transformed for just one of several star net-minders into the latest global goalkeeping superstar.

RB: Philip Lahm (Germany) – He may have only played in the position for the final three games, but his main rivals to the best right-back prize didn’t have extraordinary World Cups. Pablo Zabaleta came on in the last three games but had a shaky group stage, Dani Alves lost his starting job as the tournament went on, Stephen Lichtsteiner was solid but not spectacular, and Glen Johnson’s tournament was over before it even started. Juan Zuniga had some nice moments and of course is marred for knocking Neymar out of the tournament (and almost accidentally ending his career). But Zuniga was beaten a few times in the tournament, including by Ivory Coast forward Gervinho’s fine goal. All of them opened the door for Lahm to reclaim his throne as the best right back, with his usual, dangerous forays forward combined this time without getting caught out like he has in the past in big matches.

CB: Mats Hummels (Germany) – His knee problems may have caught up to him in the final as Lionel Messi got by him a couple times, but the Borussia Dortmund man certified himself as one of the best center-backs in the world. His return to the German side for the France quarterfinal was massive and brought the best out of Jerome Boateng. At only 25, Hummels may see himself on another World Cup Best XI before his career is done, and Boateng may join him there as well.

CB: Ezequiel Garay (Argentina) – The top defender of the stingiest defense in the tournament (along with the winners Germany), the former Benfica man completed his own ascent into one the premiere men in his position with outstanding positioning and tackling in front of Sergio Romero. Garay was able to do it with two different partners, holding steady with Federico Fernandez and getting the best out of Martin Demichelis. Doing the latter was probably his greatest feat of the tournament, and sees him barely beat out the incredible revelation that was Giancarlo Gonzalez of Costa Rica.

LB: Daley Blind (Netherlands) – Like Lahm, Blind saw himself in the midfield quite a lot. But he was returned to his proper home of the outside defender’s spot, and showcased why he has developed so well at Ajax. Besides his now renowned deep passing, Blind did so well to recover in numbers and be tactically astute for Louis Van Gaal’s side. Ricardo Rodriguez of Switzerland and Argentina’s Marcos Rojo showed that they are also the future of the leftback spot, while Jan Vertonghen and Benedikt Howedes were commendable in makeshift roles. Not to be forgotten, Patrice Evra exhibited why he once was atop the left back rankings with a fine display for France. In the end, the 24-year-old Dutchman made a global name for himself and won’t be turning back to relative anonymity outside of the Eredivisie anymore.

CDM: Javier Mascherano (Argentina) – Although he had the occasional venture forward to keep the opposition honest, there was no question that in pure destroying play, no one was better than the underrated Barcelona stalwart these five weeks in Brazil. Timely in his interventions whenever his country required of him (highlighted in that gamesaving tackle of Arjen Robben in the semifinals), Mascherano was deserving of any Golden Ball consideration and could certainly claim that he was the best Argentine of the tournament despite Messi being the top reason they went far.

CM: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) – Considering that his World Cup was almost in the balance with a knee injury right before the competition started, the flashy winger turned mature midfield general culminated his great growth as a player with a world title. Schweinsteiger’s all around play was only surpassed this past club season by Yaya Toure and Arturo Vidal, as some thought that age had already caught up with the German. The 29-year-old responded to that and his knee knock with his usual running going forward, while sacrificing his offensive play by being that protector of the German centerbacks that the team needed when Lahm returned to right back. And while Lahm may have the captain’s armband, ‘Schweini’ is truly the heart and soul of this champion German side.

AM: James Rodriguez (Colombia) – World Cup Golden Boot winner at age 22, scorer in his first five World Cup games and MVP of a Colombian side in their greatest World Cup ever. It truly was a breakthrough tournament for a young man who already came with a huge price tag from the summer before. With Falcao out, Rodriguez handled the expectations of being Los Cafeteros’ new talisman with the aplomb of a rising legend, creating and finishing goals for his nation to become a new global footballing icon.

AM: Lionel Messi (Argentina) – You could see the pain on his face that came with receiving the Golden Ball for the tournament, as no symbolic runner up’s gift or best XI list would replace the horror of not winning a World Cup for him. But even with his inability to produce a legendary game in the last two matches of the tournament, it was a World Cup where Messi’s play almost meant everything to his nation. In a tournament where Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain were complete shells of their top striker selves, while Angel Di Maria was done the minute he got hurt against Belgium, it was effectively Messi or bust. The plan finally did bust in the final, but even Messi’s most ardent haters would be deranged if he wasn’t at least among the best 10-12 players this tournament.

AM: Neymar (Brazil) – The man with the biggest pressure of any player for the buildup and actual existence of this World Cup performed extraordinarily well with little to no help up front. Like Messi, it was truly Neymar or bust for Felipe Scolari’s side, as the 22-year-old wonder showed the pace, the touch, and the calm with all the weight of a nation on his shoulders. Even if his displays against Chile and Colombia didn’t hit the heights of his group stage exploits, Neymar was still a threat throughout those first two knockout rounds and did not disappear. A whole world awaited breath on his gruesome back injury and highlighted how immense an earthy figure he has become in just a short time. Unlike Arjen Robben, who had his trinity trio of Robin Van Persie and Wesley Sneijder beside him, Neymar had a completely un-Brazilian forward in Fred and inconsistent displays from Hulk and Oscar to work with. He, without a doubt, warrants a Best XI spot.

AM/F: Thomas Muller (Germany) – The man who truly deserved the Golden Ball of the tournament but will feel satisfied with the prize he received at the end of the tournament. For another World Cup, Muller exhibited why his movement is for purists to cherish and novices to learn from. He was relentless when going outside, cutting inside, allowing runners from deep to have space, and working with whomever was in the box with him. His touches were sublime and his intelligence was a constant. With 10 World Cup goals at only age 24, he could very well challenge his countryman Miroslav Klose for the #1 all time goal scorer’s list in World Cup history when all is said and done with his career.

Bench –

Arjen Robben’s fantastic tournament and constant threat was blunted out by Argentina in the semifinal, but could have easily been on this list had his side been in the championship game.

Giancarlo Gonzalez will likely find it hard to be with the Columbus Crew beyond 2014.

Marcos Rojo added to a growing reputation with a solid tournament that could see him be the next class fullback for Argentina in years to come.

Gio Vasquez and Hector Herrera were simply outstanding for Mexico in a World Cup that saw El Tri at least win back the respect of their fans.

Despite his struggles in the final, Toni Kroos showed why he is arguably the most technically sound midfielder in soccer at the moment with many fine displays.

Karim Benzema did all he could to lead a Franck Ribery-less France side as far as they could go.

Despite his silly yellow card in the quarterfinals that proved fatal and a clear red card that wasn’t against Arjen Robben in the third place game, Thiago Silva’s importance to Brazil could not be overstated enough.

Mathieu Debuchy was mistake free in his play from Les Blues from the outside.

Juan Cuadrado showed his electrifying abilities and was Colombia’s second best player.

Keylor Navas continued his wonderful ascent to being one of the best keepers in the world.

And despite seeing the disappointment of Mario Gotze finish past him, Sergio Romero had himself a remarkable World Cup for a man who was mostly on the bench for Monaco this season.

Bench: Navas (Costa Rica), Romero (Argentina); Rojo (Argentina), Silva (Brazil), Gonzalez (Costa Rica), Debuchy (France); Vasquez (Mexico), Herrera (Mexico), Kroos (Germany); Robben (Netherlands), Cuadrado (Colombia), Benzema (France).

Honorable mention: Tim Howard (USA)

Gary Neville’s famous description of David Luiz being so poor that it was as if the Brazilian was being controlled by a 10-year old playing PlayStation came to roost Tuesday night in Belo Horizonte.

Luiz pointed to the sky after the game in full prayer, looking for any direction from God in how to handle what was to come for him afterwards.

Luiz exhibited once more throughout the tournament that he carries his faith everywhere he goes, especially on the field. Win or lose, it’s the main thing that gives him the guidance required for how he deals with the world.  But for two hours on Tuesday, with wearing the captain’s armband for his nation, we saw the world’s most expensive defender regress to the risky, calamitous player we know him as. Maybe Jose Mourinho was wise in selling him to Paris Saint-Germain for £50million.

It was a World Cup where it appeared that Luiz was ready to be a world-class centerback. A defender that could lead his team with pure emotion, great intensity, and the tactical awareness to make timely interventions and have shrewd positioning sense. Combine that with his great midfield offensive abilities, his opening header vs Chile and his amazing free kick goal from distance against Colombia, and it seemed like he may have been on the verge of becoming the behemoth in the position that many thought he could be.

Those key characteristics were in play for David Luiz in the first five games of Brazil’s quest for a sixth World Cup, one on home soil.

But what was also beside Luiz that allowed those invaluable traits to appear for him was one man: Thiago Silva, the actual team captain.

Silva was the lug-nuts to Luiz’s wheel, and the legs to Luiz’s table. And on Tuesday afternoon in Belo Horizonte, four days after Silva’s ridiculous second yellow card against Colombia ruled him out for the semifinals, his partner in defense and crucial support that Luiz needed wasn’t there.

Luiz, along with Julio Cesar, held up Neymar’s jersey during the national anthem but he might as well have been better off holding Silva’s as well. Gone was the reliable force of the first five games and in came the center back who both Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho concluded wasn’t a centerback. In came the center back who likely made Mourinho laugh somewhere in private a few times as PSG thought that Luiz was a $75 million enforcer at the heart of the back line. Lord knows how much Fabio Cannavaro would be worth nowadays.

The moment he got picked off on Thomas Muller’s movement for the first goal in the 13th minute set the stage for the shambolic day.

The second goal is where Luiz was a spectator outside of the box, as Fernandinho’s risky and unsuccessful interception attempt eventually led to Miroslav Klose becoming the World Cup’s all time leading goal scorer.

It was now a firm test of Luiz’s transient captain credentials. Would he gather the whole side in front of their countrymen and women and demand an urgent response, to avoid a result that would rival the infamous one in 1950? Or would he be too shellshocked and flabbergasted for answers, lost in the sea of insecurity and declivity?

It would painfully turn out to be the later for the 27-year-old, as there was no group huddle of vociferation, but continued devastation. Just under 60 seconds later, Luiz saw his backline let Philipp Lahm’s ball go right through the box to Toni Kroos. Luiz couldn’t react fast enough to get to Cesar’s near post. 3-0.

Just two minutes later, he was caught absence from the box again after Fernandinho’s latest poor moment, leading to Kroos’ simple second. 4-0.

And when it came time for him to display centerback play at its most careless, Luiz fulfilled that duty by transforming into his holding destroyer midfield mentality instead of a last resort at the back. He barreled forward right at counterpart Mats Hummels’ step up and failed to win the ball, leaving Dante exposed once more and a five goal tally for Germany not even a half-hour in.

All Luiz could do is hold his hands to the side and ponder what was the reason for all of this?

Ninety minutes later, the final whistle had blown. The scoreboard flashed the 1-7 tally as the man who wore the armband for the Selecao emulated the pain of his supporters in the stands. He finished his prayer up above, staying true to his faith in the biggest adversity of his career while being consoled by the safety net that wasn’t there for him in Silva.

“I’m sorry to all Brazilians,” Luiz said with full tears in his eyes. “I just wanted to see them smile, everyone knows how important it was. It’s a very sad but it’s also a day from which to learn.”

He can’t take all of the blame for this epic nightmare of course, as every player under Luis Felipe Scolari shouldered responsibility for the worst night in their football lives. The central midfield, which again seems to be the proper spot for Luiz whenever Silva is not around, occupied by Fernandinho and Luis Gustavo, were flogged repeatedly by the terrific trifecta of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, and the resurgent Sami Khedira. Those four goals in six minutes were absolutely shocking. And the front four of Oscar, Hulk, Bernard and the booed Fred failed to press back or pressure Germany’s back line.

But this is where a strong defender and a stable leader comes and says through words and actions, “Enough and enough.”

For five games into the tournament, David Luiz appeared to finally be that defender. For the sixth game, one that will forever rank at the top of the modern football memory, he could only point to the sky and accept that he just isn’t that by himself.

Four tightly contested quarterfinals have passed us by with diligent displays and standout sensations rewarded in this Best XI of the second knockout round.

Here is the team:

Goalkeeper

GK- Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)

In case most thought that Tim Howard was the undisputed best goalkeeper of the tournament, the soon to be ex-Levante netminder proved once again that his credentials for that honor are even better than the American stalwart. Navas (along with his valiant back line) prevented the formidable Dutch attack from scoring to ensure that Los Ticos would not suffer a single defeat in regulation in Brazil. His 7-save display was the final chapter in an amazing story that likely will see him move to Atletico Madrid in a few weeks time.  The 27-year-old could not pick a better place to continue his amazing rise in the last 12 months.

Defense: 

LB: Jose Maria Basanta (Argentina)

With the suspension of Marcos Rojo, all eyes fail on the unheralded 30-year-old figure, who is the last member of a Liga MX side in the tournament. In what could have been a major weakness for Alejandro Sabella’s side against the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin Mirallas, Kevin De Bruyne, and Dries Mertens, Basanta was rarely exposed or challenge in his best performance for his nation. Considering that it was the Monterrey’s man biggest match of his career and only his 13th cap for his nation, Basanta’s unexpected great display could be one of many omens that this could be the year of Argentina’s third world championship.

CB: Thiago Silva (Brazil)

He may have picked up the most ridiculous yellow card of the tournament, but that unfortunate moment could not overshadow another great display in defending by the Brazilian captain. His sneaky run past a pedestrian Carlos Sanchez for his goal provided the host nation with the start they were looking for against dangerous Colombia. Silva made sure that Teo Gutierrez didn’t have any real chance in the match and continued his resolute marking when Adrian Ramos came in. While David Luiz’s free kick wonder winner garnered the most praise, Silva demonstrated that even with his silly challenge on David Ospina how great at his position he really is.

CB: Mats Hummels (Germany)

The Borussia Dortmund star provided the latest example of how a world class player can really make a difference for any country. Hummels was simply everything for Jogi Low’s men against France, not only out strengthening Raphael Varane for the winner but being ubiquitous when a Les Blues attack was eminent. Timely blocks throughout on Karim Benzema, as well as not allowing Germany to be terribly exposed to long balls like they were against Algeria in his absence, gave Die Mannschaft the type of defending they will need to win a fourth world championship.

RB: Maicon (Brazil) 

Twelve months ago, the thought of the former Inter Milan superstar starting in a 2014 World Cup, let alone a quarterfinal, would have sent the nation into pure uproar. But the amazing resurgence of the now Roma right back has continued with a solid display in helping contain the lethal Colombia attack. It helped that Jose Pekerman chose to go with Victor Ibarbo as his left attacking midfielder, but Maicon’s play limited the ventures forward for Pablo Armero and even contained James Rodriguez whenever he shifted to the outside. Suffice to say, Dani Alves will be fighting for his starting sport in the final two games for Luis Scolari.

Midfield 

DM: Lucas Biglia (Argentina)

Another one of many unsung heroes for La Albiceleste in their long awaited return to the semifinals of the global tournament was the Lazio’s holding midfielder. In comparison to the man he placed, Fernando Gago, Biglia had a fine understanding with Javier Mascherano and even provided more offensive drive in the midfield than the creative Boca Juniors defender. De Bruyne ran by him one time in the midfield, but otherwise had a relatively stress free day to warrant his place in the semifinals against the Netherlands.

CM: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)

Although he will never be an intimidating tackler in the middle of the field, and will not be taking on defenders with gallant runs into the heart of a defense, you can still count on a few moments of brilliance from the creative Dutch #10. That class right foot of Sneijder’s provided two more great strikes that both hit the woodwork in a display that seemed like everything would go against Louis Van gal’s side in the end.  Just like the Mexico game, it was another display where Sneijder and the rest of his squad took a backseat to Arjen Robben being the clear standout. But those two moments of quality exhibited once again how his world class credentials always are ready to explode. And Sneijder kept the strong mentality exhibited by his side in the deciding penalties by clinically finishing the third spot kick.

LAM: James Rodriguez (Colombia)

He was frustrated and heavily pursued by Fernandinho for a majority of the 90 minutes, but the threat that is the Monaco playmaker was always going to be in existence until the final whistle for Brazil. While Juan Cuadrado was mostly marked out of the game. Rodriguez still provided a glimmer of hope here and there for Los Cafeteros. That “glimmer” turned into a full spotlight with his calm penalty past Julio Cesar gave his spirited nation hope of a famous comeback. The equalizer never came for Jose Pekerman’s side, but Rodriguez’s 6th goal in the tournament see him now as the favorite to take the Golden Ball prize and cap off an amazing four weeks in Brazil.

CAM: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

He’s drawing closer and closer to a world title that would surely vanquish the rest of his critics, if they aren’t anymore in the first place. Axel Witsel (and others) couldn’t contain him in the midfield for Belgium, as the talismanic captain for Argentina showed that usual dribble burst and terrific control synonymous in his time at Barcelona on Marc Wilmots’ upstarts. His desire to always track back unlike most superstar attackers paid off, as his strip of Vincent Kompany in the midfield eventually led to Gonzalo Higuain’s fine match winner.  Even with the sudden absence of Angel Di Maria, the 5’7″ giant was undeterred and almost completed his day with a fitting goal, only to be denied by Thibaut Courtois once more this year.

RAM: Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

Even in a match where he didn’t score, draw a penalty, or be at the center of another dive, the winger exhibited once again his phenomenal pace and dribble against a Costa Rican side who had never seen that type of combination before in the tournament. With Van Persie struggling to find the back of the net and Wesley Sneijder still well outside of the opponent’s box for most of the game, Robben continues to be the consistent creative force for Louis Van Gaal’s side. Given freedom to move over to the left as well, Robben will certainly have to do some track back play against Argentina’s forward driven full backs in Pablo Zabaleta and Marcos Rojo. But his world class ability could be the difference in seeing the Dutch reach a second straight World Cup final.

Forwards 

F: Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina)

Just when the Messi-dependence were reaching a boiling point for Sabella’s squad, the 26-year-old followed in the footsteps of Angel Di Maria with a return to his best form. His superb snap strike off the Di Maria defected pass is the type of finish that only the best strikers can produce, and Higuain is among that exclusive list whenever he comes alive. That certainly had not been the case in Brazil 2014 before the quarterfinal, as it appeared the Napoli man was worn down by the long European club season. He (along with Sergio Aguero) just didn’t feature the energy or cutting edge that Messi and Di Maria have given their side. That surely changed on Saturday, as the individual brilliance that has made him one of game’s most feared forwards for the last five years . His hold up play and 1-on-1 dribbling (he was a bit unlucky to get a second as his fine run past Kompany in midfield resulted in that shot going off the crossbar) is the stuff that will lighten the load on Messi to produce, especially with Di Maria ruled out for at least the semifinals.

Substitute bench: Manuel Neuer (Germany); Patrice Evra (France), David Luiz (Brazil), Johnny Acosta (Costa Rica), Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands); Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Fernandinho (Brazil), Thomas Muller (Germany).

The tightest Round of 16 stage at a World Cup Finals brought us five extra time match ups and no true blowouts. Each match, even Colombia’s decisive 2-0 win over Uruguay, was hotly contested as expected in the stage that separates the pretenders from the real contenders. But no one could predict, as with many other aspects of this global tournament, how close and dramatic this first knockout round would be.

So here is a closely analyzed and studied team of the Round of 16 games.

(It includes a regular 23 man World Cup roster, with 3 goalkeepers).

Goalkeeper

GK: Tim Howard (USA) – It seemed for certain that Keylor Navas would get the honor by being the man who lead his nation to their first ever quarterfinals. Then out of nowhere, Algeria’s Rais M’Bolhi made his claim to almost being the protagonist of an all time upset of Germany. But in the final Round of 16 game, it was the American keeper that became a global social media sensation. Despite Navas and M’Bolhi terrific performances (as well as deserved praise for Chile’s Claudio Bravo, Colombia’s David Ospina, Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa and Germany’s Manuel Neuer), it could only be Howard after his staggering 16 save performance against eventual winners Belgium. Howard’s tremendous denials almost spurred on his nation to an amazing comeback, making photo memes and other internet elements created of him only fitting. It truly was a great period for the goalkeeping union in the first knockout stage.

Defense

LB: Jan Vertonghen (Belgium) – For a man who loathes playing on the outside, the Tottenham figure has showcased why he is one of the world’s top back line talents. Despite not one to always go forward thanks to his primary center back ways, Vertonghen was a constant threat whenever he ventured into the US’s half of the field and produced one ball that should have been tapped in for a goal. His play will give Marc Wilmots more assurance that he can get dynamic play from his fullbacks.

CB: Johan Djourou (Switzerland) – For a player who seemingly has been on the demise of his career with each passing year, the former Arsenal man has revived his reputation a bit with three very good displays. His last one unfortunately means that the Swiss are out of the tournament, but Djourou was simply terrific with Fabian Schar and almost shut out a vaunted Argentine attack. While Schar made the one notable mistake by not winning the tackle to stop Messi’s assist on Di Maria’s winner, both he and the Hamburg man were great in their positioning. Gonzalo Higuain and Ezequiel Lavezzi’s days were made very difficult because of the surprising elite play from the much maligned Djourou.

CB: Gary Medel (Chile) – Exhibiting once more, the great competitor that he is, the man at the heart of the diminutive Chilean backline offered up another valiant effort for his nation by preventing many chances for Brazilian forwards Fred and Jo, along with surviving forays into the box from Neymar and Hulk. It was the typical dogged display from “the pit bull” that could easily see him not stuck in the Championship with Cardiff next year, and almost was at the center of the greatest day in Chilean football history. Despite a strong effort from Mario Yepes, the Colombian captain didn’t have to deal with Luis Suarez, while Vincent Kompany’s fine day still saw the US with a some clear cut chances.

RB: Efe Ambrose (Nigeria) – Although he was helped out by Didier Deschamps’ mistake of playing Karim Benzema with Oliver Giroud, the 25-year-old Celtic center back had his best game at rightback ever. His dribbling and journeys forward were so sensational, and he also provided several decent crosses that almost lead to major problems at the back for France. And though Antonine Grizemann’s inclusion did make his second half a bit harder, Ambrose wasn’t at fault for the goals and displayed the fine potential to be a stable force for country and maybe a bigger club than Celtic in the future.

Midfield

DM: Mehdi Mostefa (Algeria) – He may have been apart of the worst team in Ligue 1 this past season, but the 30-year-old defensive midfielder from Ajaccio put on the performance of his life in Algeria’s near upset of title contenders Germany. Mostefa frustrated Toni Kroos and Philip Lahm all night, reading their moves solidly and delivering any tackle when necessary for manager Valid Halilhodzic. A shame his great performance has not and will not be ever acknowledge by most.

LAM: Angel Di Maria (Argentina) – For most of their Round of 16 match, Xherdan Shaqiri was the better player than the Real Madrid star. The Swiss talent, with his dazzling array of dribbling and movement, would had been on this team had it not been for Di Maria coming up his huge. The placidity exhibited on his finish from Lionel Messi’s pass was something that many players would have botched in that moment. Instead, the versatile winger is coming closer to a sweet Champions League-World Cup title double.

CAM: James Rodriguez (Colombia) – The top star of the round of 16, the Monaco playmaking and now play finishing star continues to become a global household name with his CONMEBOL counterparts Messi and Neymar. With Uruguay stiffing the Colombian attack better than anyone of their group stage opponents, a breakthrough for Jose Pekerman’s side was only going to come through from a moment of sheer technique brilliance. And it came emphatic from King James, whose solo volley turn effort ranks as one of the Top 3 goals of the tournament. Adding a second goal to seal the victory and lead the golden boot race with 5 goals (and 2 assists) makes him the in-form player of them all this Cup.

RAM: Andre Schurrle (Germany) – Angel Di Maria’s late heroics almost got him a nod for this place, but the Chelsea man made the full difference in getting Germany through a major scare. Without his injection of pace and drive against a terrific Algerian defense and keeper, Schurrle’s spark was enough to save Joachim Low’s job and continue Deutschland’s dream of another world championship. His back heel goal clearly ranks as the most underrated finish of the tournament and will most certainly see him take a place in the lineup against France on Friday.

Forwards

F: Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Netherlands) – Louis van Gaal made a gutsy decision by taking off an ineffective Robin van Persie for the Schalke box finisher with his team down 1-0 to Mexico. It proved to be the right call as Huntelaar’s stronger presence in the air allowed for the set up header for Wesley Snejider smash to equalize. The 30-year-old then displayed nerves cooler than a day in Antarctica with the clinical penalty past the formidable Memo Ochoa to send the Dutch into a second straight quarterfinal

F: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) – Along with Schurrle and Huntelaar, the physical specimen that is the Chelsea striker provided the difference off the bench to allow his side to progress to the last 8. Coming in for the effective Divock Origi, Lukaku looked like the man who terrorized defenders the past two seasons in England and not the one who seemed to still being dealing with a late Achilles injury before the tournament. His strength and speed were too much for a tired US center back trio, as he basically did most of the work for Kevin De Bruyne’s finish and score the match winner with a clinical finish near post past Howard. It was the type of display that could be the difference in not only getting the 21-year-old back to his best, but also transforming Belgium from talented upstarts to real title contenders.

Substitutes 

Keylor Navas added to his global reputation be being the man to lead Costa Rica into places their nation has never been before. A goalkeeper who already has that renown praise around the world is Manuel Neuer, whose centerback like clearances against Algeria added to his already formidable aura.

Argentina left back Marcos Rojo had arguably his strongest game ever for the Albicelestes with fine two way play, while Juan Zuniga continued a good World Cup for him by making sure that his dangerous jaunts from the backline didn’t take him away from his primary responsibility of defending.

Vincent Kompany offered up his great abilities against the US, including almost finishing off a 60 yard run with a goal that started with a fine ball interception. Mario Yepes showed against a Suarez-less Uruguay that his finest moment of his career could come at its tail end.

Hector Herrera may have been apart of a Mexico team that endured the collapse of the tournament, but enhanced his resume with another strong midfield outing. The man at the hands of that defeat, Arjen Robben, continued to show that his speed, control and flopping ability is second to none in this tournament.

“Mini-Robben” Xherdan Shaqiri was captivating throughout in almost leading Switzerland to a famous victory, while Kevin De Bruyne got a needed goal and solid display to help his shaky confidence.

Finally, Barcelona star men duo Lionel Messi and Neymar came up massive for their nations when the pressure was again at a massive high for them.

It’s been a captivating group stage at this year’s World Cup, with a Best XI of the first 48 matches required.

While some names on this team were expected, others of course have been pleasant surprises to what has been an enthralling competition so far. Here’s my best eleven:

Goalkeeper

Keylor Navas (Costa Rica): While Thibaut Courtois got all of the deserved praise and awards in La Liga this season, it could be argued by a good bit that the Levante keeper was truly the best in his position in the Spanish top flight. The 27-year-old has simply continued his great season with club to lead his country to a remarkable tournament already. Navas was barely beaten by Edison Cavani’s penalty against Uruguay and hasn’t come close to conceding since.

Defense

RB- Paul Aguilar (Mexico): The 28-year-old has showcased why he has been one of the standout fullbacks in Liga MX for almost a decade now. A threat going forward each match in Group A, the Club America man is in his best form of his career and has outperformed much more glamorous names in his position

CB- Giancarlo Gonzalez (Costa Rica): The surprise of the entire tournament, the new Columbus Crew defender could see his stay in MLS not last long after a highly composed group stage effort for Los Ticos. The 26-year-old Gonzalez has been so discipline and solid in containing Edison Cavani and frustrating Mario Balotelli with timely tackles and synchronized coordination with his backline members in playing a risky but effective high line.

CB- Hector Moreno (Mexico): While the extraordinary revival of Rafa Marquez has garnered the most attention, the steady play of the always dependable Espanyol centerback has been maybe the real key to Miguel Herrera’s remarkable backline play so far. The 26-year-old seems to always place himself in key positions were a special team move is the only thing that will leave him as a pedestrian.

LB- Daley Blind (Netherlands): Considering the weakness that was the Dutch backline coming into this tournament, the 24-year-old in-demand Ajax man has been the expected standout force for Louis van Gaal. His deep long ball passing was evidenced in the famous 5-1 win that included two great assists, including the one to Robin Van Persie’s Superman effort. More impressive has been his usual display of versatility thus far, with his third match against Chile seeing him a left centerback in the five man Dutch defense. It was a fine display for a player who looks to not play in Amsterdam come August.

Midfield

DM/HM – Hector Herrera (Mexico): Although scoring attackers will get the most of the Golden Boot campaign support, it could be a case made that the best player in these World Cup Finals games so far has been the 24-year-old former Pachuca standout. Resembling the bright prospect he was in Mexico’s 2012 Olympic championship run, the now Porto product has simply been a two way force. What’s been surprisingly is that Herrera, more comfortable as a “destroying” holding midfielder, has been give more freedom to go into Mexico’s opponents half of the field. His passing exemplary and his long range shooting also at its pinnacle (as evidenced by his shot that turned around the Croatia game), it has been a resume building first three matches for him.

DM/HM – Juan Jose Vasquez (Mexico): Herrera’s freedom to go forward more has been allowed by the great energy displayed by Vasquez, who along with Gonzalez have been the surprise packages of the tournament. Considering that Vasquez was the replacement for Luis Montes in the center of the midfield for El Tri makes his displays all the more impressive. His tackling has been wonderful so far and has formed a great bond with Herrera and Andres Guardado . It is a shame though that he will be out of their Round of 16 against Netherlands.

CM- James Rodriguez (Colombia): While prominent clubs will be firmly rejected by Monaco for his services after the tournament, the Colombian playmaker will forever be in their minds and hearts after the displays he put on for Los Cafeteros in the group stage. Creating and scoring the goals in a variety of ways, Rodriguez just edges out Juan Cuadrado on the list thanks to his second half cameo outting against Japan. Whether it’s a clever dummy, a great snapping header or a terrific weighted pass, Rodriguez has done it all this Cup.

Forwards/Wingers

Right Forward- Arjen Robben (Netherlands): It seems the 30-year-old Dutchman is one of the rare players who gets better with age. No longer suffering nagging hamstring and other injuries, the Bayern Munich superstar has been simply breath taking thus far. He’s been a prime reason for his nation’s resurgence after an awful Euro 2012 and has laid some claims to being the best player in Brazil. Even if you try to use common sense and not allow him to cut on his left foot, Robben still has that amazing pace to get behind any defense and cause havoc no matter who stands in front of him.

Left Forward- Neymar (Brazil): What more can be said about the face of this World Cup? With all the pressure on him to perform, he has produced just that and thensome. Almost like Messi’s presence for Argentina, he was instrumental in getting Brazil out of trouble in Group A. A remarkable performance by Guillermo Ochoa has prevented him from being the top goal scorer by himself in this tournament.

Center Forward- Lionel Messi (Argentina): The man next to having the most pressure outside of Neymar has been his Barcelona teammate, and just like the 22-year-old rising force, the Argentine legend has come up massive for his nation. Messi has silenced any critics still remaining of his international exploits, scoring either the opening goal or match winning tally in all three of the Albiceleste’s wins. Suffice to say, especially with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez’s participation in this tournament being over, Messi wants to be in pole position for another Ballon D’Or. Most importantly, however, is getting his first World Cup and third for his nation.

With over 100 goals scored already in this tournament, the 2014 World Cup has not been an exhibition for great centerback play. With the game quicker, fitter, more athletic and open than it has ever been before, gone are the days where your central defenders can sit ensconced in front of their goalkeeper and worry about maintaining sound positioning.

It’s like the game of basketball has fully been implemented into soccer, as the back and forth nature of the orange ball sport seem to have unintentionally brought its characteristics of full two way play stretch beyond just box to box midfielders.

While the movement of attacking players has become faster and more sophisticated, the challenges for the modern day centerback have become quite daunting, especially with full backs becoming the new wide players with the job of providing width for their team as important as their original primary tasks of defending.

The current alterations of offensive ingenuity in the game have to make viewers, most importantly those who savor cagey tactical defensive battles, to accept the fact that even a decent offense will get at least one or two chances in a match no matter how “elite” a centerback is. That has been in full evidence in this tournament so far and make the “world class centerback” almost as extinct as a flat midfield four or a Madonna hit song.

A long European campaign further exposed Sergio Ramos and Gerald Pique’s partnership in a forgettable early egress for the world champions Spain. Gary Cahill, coming off a fine season at Chelsea, was culprit of leaving Mario Balotelli open for Italy’s second goal against England and allowed Luis Suarez to get behind him on what proved to be the goal that ended the Three Lions’ tournament.

Italy’s Georgio Chiellini has had the misfortunate of playing on the outside in the first match and then fell asleep on Bryan Ruiz’s game winner for Costa Rica’s famous win. And even the likes of Vincent Kompany and Thiago Silva have been exposed to some unflattering moments in the tournament, with the Belgian captain absent on Aleksandr Kokorin’s blown header for Russia on Sunday while the PSG force failed to clear Eyong Enoh short pass to Joel Matip for Cameroon’s only goal in Brazil.

The quest to locate the next great centerback who can overcome the modern struggles of the game may not even be located by clicking on Google search. But this World Cup has featured three young central defenders who have the growing pedigree to maybe showcase that elite centerback can still be an actual thing in the 21st century.

Raphael Varane, Kenneth Omeruo, and Jose Gimenez are so young that they could compete back in Brazil if they wanted to in 2016 when the Summer Olympic football tournament takes place. And all three of them have become integral parts in their country’s participation this June.

The more well known and oldest of the three, Varane’s role with France this Cup look set to be the #3 centerback behind Laurent Koscielny and Mamadou Sakho, similar to how he was the understudy this season at Madrid to Ramos and Pepe. But Didier Deschamps has thought differently and has chosen Varane to be his right footed central defender instead of having two left footers in front of Hugo Lloris. Most were certainly surprised that Deschamps had chosen Varane over Koscielny after the terrific season the Arsenal man had.

Varane has so far been okay at centerback in his first two matches, but that came against a listless (and eventually 10 men) Honduras side and a shell shocked Switzerland team that played uncharacteristically like an inexperienced minnow. It speaks, however, to the immense talent that the 6’3″ 21-year-old is to be trusted with a big nod over the accomplished Koscielny. And if France do continued the good times they’ve had in the first two matches deep into the tournament, Varane will certainly have a full star making performances.

While Varane has the much bigger global reputation, making bigger headlines so far this tournament is Nigeria’s Kenneth Omeruo, the Chelsea owned property who gained valuable playing time at Middlesbrough this season and has showcased why he could be one of Africa’s legendary defenders. The 20-year-old didn’t have to do much against a defensive Iran side in his team’s opening match, but opened global eyes with his active display against Eden Dzeko’s potent Bosnia & Herzegovina.

The Manchester City forward got the better of Omeruo and his backline at the beginning of the match with the Europeans being unlucky to have a Dzeko goal disallowed because of a wrong offsides call. But as the match continued, Omeruo’s reading of Dzeko’s movement dramatically improved and contained the star striker like he was familiar playing against him in massive Premier League matches. His 13 balls won and two timely blocks gave every reason to believe that Jose Mourinho will ponder allowing those Dzeko-Omeruo battles to actually occur at club level this season.

Solving Dzeko and his formidable cohorts is one difficult change, but dealing with the prospect of facing Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, and Gonzalo Higuain will prove to be the stiffest test in the young 6’1″ defender’s career. Make no mistake, however, Stephen Keshi’s knows his prodigy will not be intimidated by the prospect as a draw at least would send Nigeria finally through to a Round of 16 for the first time since 1998.

Speaking of not being overawed by explosive attacks is Uruguayan 19-year-old wunderkid Jose Gimenez, who may have become his country’s new Diego Lugano after a terrific debut win over England. If you have taken off the names and numbers off of Oscar Tabarez’s jerseys, you would have thought that Gimenez was the much more experienced and top class defender than his mentor and Atletico Madrid teammate Godin. While Godin should have been sent off with two yellow cards in the first half , Gimenez maintained a precocious behavior that assisted in at least containing Liverpool threat Daniel Sturridge.

The adolescent was a breath of fresh air and energy that Uruguay’s backline desperately required, as Lugano is on his last legs while Godin is battling the effects of the longest club season he has ever had. Gimenez’s performance still won’t be the prime reason on whether Uruguay comes even close to the unlikelihood of emulating their magical 2010 run, but he certainly will begin a potential legendary career if he can maintain his level from the England contest.

Still, all three of these uber talented central defenders will have their growing pains to endure, with Varane hoping that his time at Madrid (and the prospects of France being a real contender now) will prevent hard learning lessons in the next few weeks. Their more experienced partners (and in the case of Omeruo with Joseph Yobo and Gimenez with Godin, much more experienced) will have to be firm in their judgements to make these exciting youngsters not awed by the occasion.

The centerback spot, always a vital position, has become the hardest position to play in high level football today. But Varane, Omeruo, and Gimenez would have long tried to move to other spots if they didn’t believe they could be up for the challenge.
And with the way they are going, they could be the three cornerstones who lead a firm revival in a position crying out to be saved.

A spirited Japanese effort to save their World Cup tournament was duly bunted by a high flying Colombian team led by James Rodriguez and Jackson Martinez, as the playmaker’s latest brilliance with the Porto man led his side to a 4-1 victory and a 100% record in the group stages.

Alberto Zaccheroni’s side had the better play in the beginning of the match, as the inclusion of Toshihiro Aoyama in the lineup and finally moving Mainz 05 star Shinji Okazaki up front seemed to indicate that they would score the first goal. But a silly challenge by center-back Yasuyuki Konno on Adrian Ramos in the box lead to Juan Cuadrado scoring the penalty in the 17th minute to give his side another lead this World Cup.

Requiring nothing less than a victory to advance, Japan came back with Okazaki heading in just before halftime from a good Keisuke Honda cross to make it 1-1. But the hopes for Japan to secure a memorable result went quickly away, as Jose Pekerman brought on Rodriguez at the start of the second half for Juan Quintero. And when the Monaco attacking midfielder came on the field, the whole dynamic of the match changed.

Rodriguez set up his former club teammate for the second goal, as Martinez ended his infamous scoring drought for country in the 55th minute. The physical but smooth striker recorded a brace by calmly finishing past Eiji Kawashima again in the 82nd minute.

But the 22-year-old sensation stole the headlines in the 90th minute with the individual dribble goal of the tournament, cleverly weaving past a dejected Japanese defense and chipping over a hapless Kawashima to emphatically complete a terrific group stage for Los Cafeteros.

For a nation that has not been to a World Cup in 18 years and still without their biggest star in Radamel Falcao, Colombia are looking more and more as genuine contenders for the title. And with a Uruguay team that may not have the services of Luis Suarez in the Round of 16, those possible title prospects will continue to go up and up.

Watch the match highlights of Colombia 4-1 Japan here:

Both Russia and South Korea have waited the longest to play their first match of all the 32 teams, as they will finally take the field after the second set of matches actually begin.

For Russia, the return to World Cup play after 12 long years of absence will finally be over as Fabio Capello has led his new side in overcoming the massive disappointment of missing South Africa in 2010. An organized campaign that saw them win a tough group over Portugal was buoyed by a stout defense led by a long time partnership.

Sergei Ignashevich and team captain Vasili Berezutski (he became Capello’s skipper after the injury to Roman Shirkov) have shared a decade-long synergy that has been for both club (CSKA Moscow) and country and will be counted on by Capello to continue their qualifying form that saw the Russians only concede five goals. Likely joining them in the back four is Spartak Moscow leftback Dmitri Kombarov and rising right back Georgi Schennikov, Berezutski and Ignashevich’s teammate at CSKA.

With the loss of Shirkov, more expectations will be placed on the shoulders of Dynamo’s Igor Denisov in the two man holding midfield role, with Viktor Fayzulin of Zenit looking set to start with him there. The front four will feature former Chelsea electric leftback Yuri Zhrikov at left midfield, with the impressive 23-year-old talent Oleg Shatov lining up on the right. The front two for Capello should be another impressive 23-year-old in Aleksandr Kokorin, with top striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov up front trying to add to his 25-goal tally for his nation.

While Russia have waited 12 long years to return to the global stage, the Korea Republic are an ever present figure representing the AFC region. The Taegeuk Warriors will look to improve after their tight lost to Uruguay in the Round of 16 in 2010 and will hope legendary defender turned manager Hong Myung-Bo has the answers.

Bo’s valuable days on the field will hopefully solve the current problems his backline is having at the moment, as Augsburg centerback Hong Jeong-Ho will hope to have a strong unity and barrier with fellow 24-year-old Kim Young-Gown. Outside of them are talented fullbacks Yun Suk-Young (another 24 year old at QPR) playing on the left and solid Mainz 05 performer Park Joo-Ho on the right.

A vibrant, energetic midfield will have to be that to protect the much maligned defense, as Bo will see holding midfielders Koo Ja-Cheoi, Park’s teammate with the 7th place Bundesliga club, and the effective Swansea owned passer Ki Song-Yueng wisely split their offensive and centerback protecting responsibilities. If they are able to do that, it could see the outside freedom dynamic left winger Lee Chung-Yong and the diligent Kim Bo-Kyung look to exhibit in order to focus on helping a talented front two.

Although Park Chu-Yong can barely find club playing time, he certainly brings his best for his nation and will look to be a firm force with the always explosive Son-Heung Min, the 21-year-old who has already lit up the German top flight for the past four seasons.

It should be a fascinating encounter to end Day 6 play and the first round of games in the group stages.

Kickoff is at 6pm ET/3pm PT.

The saying “When it rains, it pours” must be reverberating in the mind of Australian manager, Ange Postecoglou, at the moment. Already beset with the worst draw imaginable in Group B, the 48-year-old manager has witnessed the loss of two young 21-year-olds talents to a side that displayed some promise in a 4-3 lost to Ecuador in March.

Postecoglou hoped Newcastle centerback Curtis Good and Celtic winger Tom Rogic would recover in time from their respective hip and groin ailments, but that is not the case for either player. Add Good and Rogic’s absence to the devastating news of Bayer Leverkusen forward Robbie Kruse’s ACL injury long ruling him out and Australia may already be packing their bags with Chile being the first to help them on Friday.

Jorge Sampaoli isn’t without his own injury headaches, as the day to day observation on when superstar midfield Arturo Vidal continues to factor in his lineup choice for the opener. If the Juventus force is healthy, expect him to line up with fellow headliner Alexis Sanchez just behind the clinical Eduardo Vargas. But if Vidal is rested for the massive battles against the South Africa 2010 finalists, Fabian Orellana will be more than ready to fill in after a fine campaign with Celta Vigo in La liege this past season. Playmaking extraordinaire Jorge Valdivia looks to line up behind that front three, with Basel holding midfield Marcelo Diaz playing behind him.

The Chilean manager’s formation could be their unique 3-4-3 or a 5-4-1, but either way will see Mauricio Isla and Jean Bausejour will likely be the two men providing the width. SkyBet Championship based players Gary Medal and Gonzalo Jara are guarantees to start, but the third central defender for Sampaoli’s back three could be Osasuna midfielder Francisco Silva or even Atlanta’s Carlos Carmona. Barring something miraculous, 31-year-old Claudio Bravo is set to get his 80th cap for his country.

On the other end of the spectrum, Belgium League goalkeeper of the season Mathew Ryan will get just his 8th cap for the Socceroos. Heracles left back Jason Davidson also will reach that short milestone, with Ivan Franjic getting his 10th at right back. The likely centerback pairing of Matthew Spiranovic and Alex Wilkinson aren’t that much more experienced either and will likely be swarmed from the first second on against the vaunted CONMEBOL side’s attack.

Crystal Palace solid figure and Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak represents the heart and soul of Postecoglou 4-3-3 formation, with A-League star Mark Milligan hoping to not make a mulligan on Jedinak’s right and Sion regular Dario Vidosic being the most creative of the middle three. With Rogic’s injury, Utrecht winger Tommy Oar will have to shoulder more of the creative burden with Bundesliga 2. based Mathew Leckie in order to get record goal scorer Tim Cahill the service he requires.

With Spain and Holland going toe-to-toe with each other, Chile will look at this being a chance to get the early advantage on goal difference that will be vital in this difficult group. Australia meanwhile will just look to not be the Tahiti of 2014.

Australia projected lineup:

Chile projected lineup:

Cristiano Ronaldo continues to give many of his remaining critics, including Sepp Blatter, plenty of proof of his brilliance that could finally capitulate him to his legendary status as the world’s best footballer.

This past Saturday, Ronaldo recorded another hat trick, this time at the expense of a disappointing display by the Real Sociedad defense. Madrid 5-1 victory over last season’s 4th place finishers in La Liga has given the superstar winger a staggering 24 goals already this season. With 16 goals in the Primera Division and eight goals in the Champions League, Ronaldo is hell bent on taking the prize of single season record for most goals scored from his eternal rival Lionel Messi in both competitions (50 in La Liga and 14 in the Champions League).

Ronaldo has already broken one of Messi’s records, the most goals scored in the Champions League for a single year, by recording his 14th goal in UEFA’s premier competition this year, passing the Catalan playmaker’s 13 in 2012.

In fact, combining goals for both Real Madrid and Portugal could have Ronaldo on pace to set a single season record for most goals scored for both club and country, especially with the injury troubles that seem to be a constant with the Argentine luminary this year.

The comedy fest gone wrong from Blatter a few weeks ago has further motivated CR7, even more so than Jose Mourinho stating who was the ‘real Ronaldo’ this past summer and just wanting to prove that he is indeed better than Messi.

He is hell bent on finally capturing his second FIFA Ballon D’or. But there is a major conundrum for Ronaldo’s campaign to recapture football’s top individual honor.

It’s more than the greatness of Messi or the continued growing campaign for Franck Ribery to be a wonderful alternative for people sick of the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly. It’s even more of a problem than any conspiracy Ronaldo and his agent may think about FIFA in regards to how they feel about his Argentina adversary and himself.

If Portugal fail to Sweden in the World Cup Playoffs and fail to make it to Brazil 2014, that devastating blow may be the thing that costs Cristiano the most to get back his former crown.

Ronaldo’s second half hat trick against Northern Ireland in Belfast saved his country from possibly not even making the playoffs in September, especially considering the embarrassing draw suffered at home to a resilient Israel side. But those three goals were the only tallies for Ronaldo this year in qualifiers for A Seleccao, as Ronaldo didn’t score in the two matches against Israel that resulted in two costly draws for Paulo Bento’s side.

Fortunately for Portugal and Ronaldo, Israel couldn’t muster any points off of Russia to make them truly sweat for second place in Group F. But their poor performance throughout the campaign, outside of their 1-0 victory at home to Russia way back in October 2012, have placed them in as rough of a tie as they could have imagined against Zlatan Ibrahimovoic and the solid Swedes.

One of these two colossal footballers will miss the World Cup Finals next summer, and that staggering fact was made even more telling when Ibrahimovic later in the day recorded his own half trick for PSG against Nice. It highlighted how titanic that clash will be of the gripping playoff stage of the World Cup, and how Ronaldo’s campaign for the Ballon D’Or could be all for naught if he can’t lead his side to Brazil 2014.

While other attacking options for Portugal have stepped up a bit lately, the fact of the matter remains that Portugal still are in what seems to be an endless eternal search for a main forward to help Ronaldo. Ever since the retirement of Pedro Pauleta, it’s been an almost 8 year search for Portugal to replace the former PSG star as a front man, a role Ronaldo has never wanted to play throughout his career and has never been comfortable playing.

Youngsters Nelson Olivera and Eder seem to be the better choices at the moment than retread veterans Hugo Almeida and Helder Postiga, who have been given ample opportunities throughout the years, only to prove constantly they aren’t the answer. Those young forwards may decide the fate of whether Ronaldo takes home to prize and stares at Blatter in January.

But if Portugal fail to qualify for the World Cup Finals, should that be held against Ronaldo taking home the Ballon D’or, especially when Ribery faces that very possibly himself with France being in their own playoff tie with Ukraine?

I fear that it will be held against him, especially if he fails to score in either of the legs. It would be a real shame if that was the final determination in giving it to Ribery over him, since Messi’s latest injury that ends his play in 2013 looks to rule him out while his main two competitors for his fifth Ballon D’Or continue to pile on their stats.

But his critics will find another reason to pour cold water on what has been another phenomenal period for a global superstar still holding personal vendetta tours to those who chose to belittle him. It will only serve to motivate his desire for ultimate greatness further.

Editor’s note: Read the latest La Liga news, opinions and analysis on our La Liga page.

Sir Alex Ferguson, we know you’re arguably the greatest coach in club soccer history.

We are fully cognizant of your greatness, where even begrudging Liverpool or Manchester City fans, or still bitter Bayern Munich or Chelsea supporters from those devastating European Cup finals nights where your team denied them the ultimate prize, can respect the resume you have built.

You are a global icon whose accomplishments, stature, and image will never be forgotten. Your daily presence at Old Trafford has been missed since you announced your retirement five months ago.

Even those who are casual soccer fans in America know your aura. Even those who barely are soccer fans in general, like Charlie Rose, aren’t ignorant to your amazing credentials especially after he had you on his show.

Now Sir Alex, please do us the favor and let others do the talking.

For a man who is retired from football management, you Sir Alex surely have not retired that mouth of yours.

You can’t go one hour in the footballing community on Twitter without having to see Sir Alex’s name there. In fact, it’s still capable of being a global trending topic on Twitter like it was on Tuesday. You can’t go one minute without seeing a soccer news site have an article about his words or him in general. Hell, you can’t even watch recent clips of Charlie Rose without running into the Glaswegian.

Now with his autobiography in book stores, Sir Alex really has not only become quite unbearable, but he’s also shown himself to truly be a controlling egomaniac and tyrant who has burned his bridges with a lot of people over the years.

When you make Roy Keane, of all people, a sympathetic figure, that is when you have truly become world class annoying.

His comments on Rafa Benitez are quite hypocritical, considering that the adjectives “unimaginative” and “dull” he mentioned to describe the Spaniard’s teams while he was a manager at Liverpool can easily be applied to his good friend Jose Mourinho’s first tenure at Chelsea. You don’t see Sir Alex giving The Special One that same public condemnation he gave Benitez now, do you?

And if anyone needed more evidence of Ferguson being as much of a prima donna as he accuses David Beckham of being once again, look no further to the following sentence about how his relationship with the globally renowned right midfielder deteriorated.

“Beckham thought he was bigger than me.”

With all of that, that makes me fully exonerate all of the times Wayne Rooney pathetically flirted with leaving United for good, including this summer after Ferguson decided that Moyes would be almost like him in making sure the club manager be the main star instead of the players.

With how Ferguson has acted like he is entitled to whatever he says or does and thinks no one will challenge him for it, you wouldn’t be out of your mind to think that he’s acting like he closed his career out by winning the treble last season.

But it wasn’t Ferguson who closed out a great managerial career by winning three titles in May. It was Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes, but you don’t see the German going on Charlie Rose and everywhere else spreading negativity the way Ferguson has done.

Normally only one man can outshine the constellation that is Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi has been able to do that remarkable feat for the past four years, but no other player has been able to eclipse the excellence of the Portuguese sensation.

No man other than Messi has come close to surpassing Ronaldo. But on the first night of the last international break, a September 6 Friday evening, it seemed no one would be able to top Cristiano’s latest hat trick performance in a vital win for Portugal over Northern Ireland in World Cup Qualifying.

But there was one man in Bern, Switzerland who achieved the remarkable feat of  outshining the Real Madrid talisman. And he wasn’t related to Messi either.

On that same September night, Johann Berg Gudmundsson announced his name to the soccer world as only the second man on the planet who could make Cristiano Ronaldo look second best on an evening.

Gudmundsson’s incredible performance was the needed kick start to Iceland’s improbable World Cup hope. Tipped by many to finish at least under Scandinavian rival Norway and Slovenia, behind Switzerland in Group E of European qualifying for Brazil 2014, Iceland have out of nowhere passed those teams and gone into the key second place playoff spot with just two matches left for all teams.

The sudden rise has been generated by a terrific young, attacking core of players emerging. It’s what made Aron Johannsson’s decision to play for the United States so huge and drew the ire of Icelandic fans, because the small nation has developed several other notable attacking talents blessing the Eredivisie at the moment.

Iceland’s current stars are captain Aron Gunnarsson of Cardiff City, and the always slick Tottenham midfield ace Gylfi Sigurdsson. But it’s the precocious forward Icelandic men in Holland’s top flight that have brought their growing reputations and form into focus, giving their country a chance of  getting to the World Cup for the first time in its nation’s history.

Kolbeinn Sigporsson is a clear first choice #9 for Ajax, who has proven his class the past few seasons with the Amsterdam giants, and scored the winning goal for Iceland in their crucial 2-1 home victory over Albania to go to second in the group with 13 points. But out performing him (5 goals in league play) (and the now American Johannsson with 6 goals) is the play of Heerenveen’s Alfred Finnbogason, who has already hit the double digit mark of 10 goals to be at the top of the Dutch league scoring charts. He has an amazing goal scoring record so far of 34 goals in 38 matches for the Friesland club, but isn’t even good enough to start regularly for Iceland since the great Eidur Gudjohnsen still is a vital member of his country’s team at age 35.

They all, like Ronaldo, took a backseat though to Gudmundsson’s performance in that epic 4-4 comeback tie against the Swiss. With the Icelandic defense in shambles, a special effort was required from someone in those colors on the other end of the field. And the AZ Alkmaar winger produced just that with three goals that weren’t simple headers or a tap in like Ronaldo did against Northern Ireland.

Gudmundsson scored the game’s opener with a superb finish from a nice Sigurdsson pass before Switzerland put on a massive ambush at home to go up 4-1 and seemingly leave Iceland’s Brazil 2014 hopes for dead.

But Gudmundsson had headlines and articles to make that evening, and he just put his country on his back all the way. After Sigporsson’s relentless determination powered past Fabian Schaer to get his brace and make it 4-2 Switzerland, Gudmundsson got his brace with another beautiful left footed finish (from another class pass from Sigurdsson) to make it 4-3. And he completed his legendary night for both himself and his country by saving the best for a last, a Robben-esque, left-footed, gorgeous curler in the dying seconds of the match to give Iceland an improbable draw. It was the first time in 13 years that any player had scored a hat trick for Iceland and sealed the greatest comeback in the proud Scandinavian’s history.

Gudmundsson displayed the talent of why Chelsea (and Fulham) thought he was going to be the next Gudjohnsen when he was just a teenager. But with the usual story of a young player being homesick, Gudmundsson returned to his boyhood club Breioablik in the town of Kopavogur and revitalized his young career. Ready to move away from home unlike the first time, Gudmundsson set his sights on Holland and AZ Alkmaar’s great youth development over the last few years. He signed a five year contact with AZ at just age 17 in 2008.

Now the 22-year-old has blossomed into an automatic choice on the right wing for both club and country, and his exceptional performance against Switzerland was the final sign of an emerging star.

Only Lionel Messi can outclass Cristiano Ronaldo these days. But on just one night, in Bern, Switzerland, there was another man who accomplished quite the feat. Although Ronaldo shouldn’t have to worry about Gudmundsson surpassing him like the Argentine has, both Cyprus and Norway had better prepared again for Gudmundsson to try his hardest to emulate his September 6 display.

Editor’s note: Iceland are currently battling with Slovenia, Norway and Albania to secure a playoff spot for World Cup 2014. Iceland’s match today against Cyprus is being shown live on ESPN3.com in the United States beginning at 2:45pm ET. 

Two weeks ago, it was one of the few scoreless draws in this season’s Europa League round of opening 24 games — a contest between Moldavian minnow Sheriff and Anzhi Makhachkala of Russia.

Anzhi Makhachkala were the heavy favorite and appeared the likeliest to score a goal throughout the opening hour, but they were unable to break down the plucky side from Tiraspol. Their inability to carve open the hosts weakened Anzhi, as Sheriff came the closest to recording a shock win at home. Such was the result for Anzhi that it continued a streak that is currently one of the worst in all of Europe, twelve matches without a single win to start their 2013-14 season in all competitions.

Anzhi Makhachkala’s place is rooted at the bottom of the Russian Premier League. Dead last place. Better than no one, not even ultra minnow Terk Grozny.

It is a set of fragility that would frustrate any club, no matter their stature. But for Anzhi of the Dagestan Republic captain Makhachkala, it is a run of form at the beginning of a season that the players, supporters, and owner should have expected. A run of form that is totally in the opposite direction of what the club aspired to be less than 32 months ago.

Russian billionaire investor Suleyman Kerimov wanted to make his modest hometown team not just as big as the Moscow giants of CSKA, Spartak, and Lokomotiv or Zenit St. Petersburg in Russia, but to be as luminous as western Europe’s elite clubs. And with those high ambitions, Kerimov bought the club in January 2011, with it being later revealed that the President of Dagestan, Magomedsalam Magomedov, gave him 100% stake of the club.

“The football team is just a part of a bigger project,” said Anzhi chief executive German Chistyakov. “There will be new stadia, new infrastructure for the club, a new training ground, an academy for the kids. It will be a social lift for Dagestan. All these projects will change the lives of people in this region.”

At the forefont of changing people’s lives in Dagestan though would be a team stacked full of stars that would rival the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Manchester United. And Kerimov was determined to do that.

Almost a month taking over the club, Kermiov convinced the legendary Roberto Carlos to end his days with Anzhi instead of back home in the Brasileiro with Corinthians. The big checks from the billionaire continued with another Brazilian Juicei, followed by Anderlecht’s Moroccan playmaker Mbark Boussoufa. For a first transfer window as the owner, Kerimov made his intent be known, and surely displayed signs of more to come. And indeed, a blockbuster was afoot.

The summer lead to the signings of the once popular Chelsea left back Yuri Zhrikov for a very cheap fee of £13.2 million, in comparison to Hungarian talented winger Balazs Dzsudzsak arriving from PSV for £14 million. Then, the biggest splash was to be made, when Kermiov somehow became the only person on the planet who thought a still quality but aging Samuel Eto’o was worth more than Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and everybody else in the history of club football, in terms of salary.

Kermiov kindly filled Inter Milan’s pockets for £28million to get the services of Eto’o, and then convinced him of the wise move of leaving a Serie A giant to an emerging Russian club by giving the Cameroon legend £20.5 million a year in wages.

The money Kerimov spent on a player in decline like Eto’o was the first ominous signs of Anzhi’s rapid decline. But for Kerimov, it drove the thirst for more big names, especially after the sacking of Gadzhi Gadzhiyev, which resulted in the wild scene of Roberto Carlos becoming a caretaker manager.

Guus Hiddink needed something to return him back to the level of elite coaches after his massive disappointment in failing to lead Russia to the 2010 World Cup and a pedestrian at best tenure with Turkey. He accepted the offer to replace Carlos, who went on to retire into the Anzhi’s backroom staff, for this new developing project in February 2012. Hiddink saw the alacrity that Kerimov had that would make his time at Anzhi hopefully a fulfilling one. His arrival lead to a youth academy being developed for the club and the potential to not only rely on just big foreign names to build the foundation of Anzhi.

But Kerimov was still driven to bring in more notable veterans. Hiddink’s leadership helped Anzhi to a 3rd place finish in the league and a trip into the Europa League for the club’s first continental games ever. And that gave Kerimov the desire to sway the likes of Christopher Samba, Lacina Traore, and Lassana Diarra either before the start of the 2012-13 season or in the early stages of it. Kerimov was so ambitious that there was talks that Carlos, who he named the club’s director of football in March 2012, had went to Madrid to try and convince the “new” Ronaldo to move to Anzhi.

A first time European group fixture list with Liverpool, Udinese, and Young Boys of Switzerland awaited the growing formidable men of Anchi, and they would show their new class by qualifying for the knockout stages of the tournament in second place behind Liverpool. Kerimov was delighted enough to then make his largest transfer ever, more expensive than the 21 others he made before including Eto’o. The exciting Willian was brought from Shakhtar Donetsk for a club-record £35million, and was set to collaborate with Eto’o and Traore to form Europe’s new dangerous trio.

Then suddenly, the Anzhi dam broke.

Desperate for those vital top 2 spots for the lucrative Champions League, Anzhi were unable to top both traditional powers CSKA Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg throughout the domestic premier league. They finished the dreaded place outside the Champions League spots for any club with ambitions of being in the premiere club competition in third place, a clear nine points behind Zenit for second.

It was a blow for Hiddink, but an even larger one for Kerimov, who started to realize that owning a club wasn’t as rosy on the pockets for a wealthy man like Roman Abramovich or the sheik at Manchester City. Devastated at his club not being in the Champions League going into his third year and second full year with the club, Kerimov realized that he lost the spark to be a high level football owner. It wasn’t worth the negative press and results in a life of a successful billionaire.

Hiddink had sensed Kerimov’s uncertainty and left the club before the mass exodus. Despite leading them to their longest journey in Europe, Hiddink reneged on extending his contract with Anzhi for one more year and quit the club altogether a month later in July 2013. The famed Dutch manager said that he left the club because he completed his mission to give Anzhi a foundation to build on. But considering what Kerimov was going to do next, Hiddink may have saw that foundation he was supposedly built about to be shattered.

With no Champions League money and prestige arriving to Anzhi-Arena, Kerimov decided to dramatically scale down the club’s annual budget by virtually a third, from $180 million in 2012-13 to an austerity-like reduction of $50-$70 million. And with that reduction came the inevitable fire sell, proposed by club President Konstantin Remchukov.

Goodbye Eto’o, goodbye Zhirov, goodbye Diarra, goodbye Samba, goodbye Boussoufa, goodbye Dzsudzsak, and last but certainly not cheap, goodbye Willian. We barely got to know you. Or rather, all of you to be honest.

Out of the 22 players brought in under Kerimov’s tenure, only eight have remained with Anzhi. And that could all be dramatically reduced to one or zero altogether if Anzhi remains in the relegation zone in the Russian Premier League all season long. And as Tottenham will likely make it 13 winless games to start their season on Thursday, on current form, Anzhi have a lesser chance to win the Europa League than Championship side Wigan.

That’s not the sentence that Suleyman Kerimov and Anzhi fans wanted as the end result of his takeover in January 2011, to be down with the relegated Wigan’s of the world instead of rubbing with the game’s elite like CSKA and Zenit do regularly each year.

With the way things are going for Anzhi at the moment, the only teams that billionaire Kerimov’s side will be rubbing elbows with, instead, will be those in the Russian First Division for a long while.

But hey, he can try and make Emmanuel Adebayor the richest player on Earth if he wants to.

There has been much ballyhoo throughout the entire soccer world about England having trouble developing its talent, especially compared to rivals Spain and Germany at the moment.

Many have snickered at the Three Lions’ international performances throughout the last several years, since they were blitzed by Germany in that 2010 World Cup round of 16 match. And this past summer, the criticism inside and outside the country further intensified after the dreadful performances by both the Under-21s in Israel and the U-20 World Cup side in Turkey.

But England have done something that no other country in the world have been able to do at the moment, an under the radar achievement that definitely deserves its recognition. It’s something that surely could benefit them next summer in Brazil and for many years to come, and abate a few of the stories that the country who created the game is having trouble inventing significant talent in the modern age.

England have the best group of left backs in the world. Better than Spain, better than Germany, better than Brazil. Better than everyone else.

For how countries can go many years without having even a solid class left back, let alone a world class one, England have been blessed with having at least four top left backs, with two certainly having the right to say they have the label of being world class.

Those obviously two world class players are the moment are standouts Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines, who are still embroiled in that great battle to be the starting left back. Considering the incredible emergence of Baines over the last few seasons from solid Premier League player to a true star, the 100th plus capped Cole has done remarkably well to still hold a spot he has held for over 11 years — especially when Baines seems to score free kick goals for fun.

Cole has been one of the few bright spots in the rocky return for Jose Mourinho to Chelsea, but knows that he has no margin for error with both club (more on that later) and country with Baines forever nipping at his heels.

But what makes England’s depth remarkable at left back is not just Baines being able to replace Cole with no problem if something were to happen to the former Arsenal man, but the depth that has emerged right behind Baines. And the next two in that order reside in North London.

Kieran Gibbs matured over the last few years into a dependable squad player for Arsene Wenger. He has now blossomed into a standout full back in England, with his excellent early start to the season. The 23-year-old Lambeth native has comprehensively swatted away challenges from Andre Santos and Nacho Monreal to become the perfect replacement at left back for the Emirates club since Gael Clichy departed to Manchester City in 2011.

He was already adept for a few years at knowing when to help Arsenal in attack, but Gibbs cemented his growth as a pure defender in winning a great youth battle against Andros Townsend in their 1-0 win over rivals Spurs a few weeks back and his great last ditch efforts to preserve their Champions League opening win against Marseille.

Gibbs’ quality is so good at the moment that he could make a case for starting for even the likes of Italy at left back, who haven’t found a left back as good as Fabio Grosso in years, let alone the legend Paolo Maldini.

But Gibbs may not even be England’s third best left back, as across town at Tottenham stands the ever emerging Danny Rose. Gibbs was witness to how Rose showed why he would be a major factor in England circles for years to come with his stunning low distance goal in his league debut against none other than Arsenal in April 2010. That special finish was nominated “Goal of the Season” by Sky Sports and propelled Tottenham to a 2-1 win over Arsenal, a victory that factored in heavily to securing a Champions League top four finish that year.

With Benoit Assou-Ekotto and possibly Kyle Naughton ahead of him at left back, Rose knew he needed permanent starting time to continue his development. After injuries saw Harry Redknapp having to bring him back from his loan spell at Bristol City early, Rose shined again for Spurs when Assou-Ekotto was unavailable with his own ailments  in the last three games of the 2010-2011 season. Still, with Assou-Ekotto, a returning Naughton for Norwich, and the incoming Jan Vertonghen, Rose knew he needed another loan move in order to permanently be Spurs’ first choice left back in the future.

A loan move to Sunderland was granted last season and Rose again impressed throughout the entire campaign, right after also gaining further plaudits for his performances with Great Britain at the London Olympics. With all of that confidence and experience of quality play gained, Rose returned to Tottenham and continued his steady rise. The inconsistent Naughton was dropped to the bench despite Andre Villas Boas liking him, and Rose has become a true force for Spurs on the left. In fact, him and Kyle Walker could give Tottenham the best full back combination in the Premier League. Yet unlike Walker, who is in his own great battle with Glen Johnson for the starting England right back position, Rose would need unfortunate injuries or an unlikely sharp dip in form from at least Cole and Baines to make it to Brazil.

Amazingly enough, England’s depth continues at that much coveted left back position with a few sensational youngsters who would be first choice for many nations.

Cole’s teammate Ryan Bertrand, if he was a different nationality, would be snapped up by the likes of the United States, Mexico, and maybe even Belgium (with no offense to the quality Vertonghen) to start in the left back position. All Bertrand did to prove his great talent was start in his first Champions League match in the final at Bayern Munich and be a pivotal reason why Roberto Di Matteo, Roman Abramovich, and Chelsea were European Champions, and why Bayern suffered the long lasting agony of losing the ultimate match at home.

But with Cole holding his Stanford Bridge left back spot with as much stinginess as his iron grip with the national team position, Bertrand may have to start thinking about his options of getting first team action if he isn’t in Mourinho’s plans. His versatile ability to play as a left winger will help, but he has found it very difficult so far to even be on the bench in the early days of The Special One’s second London era.

And yet, despite those five great talents, England still have more options at left back. Luke Shaw continues to impress under Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton and was terrific in the Saints’ 1-0 victory at Liverpool to the Reds’ premature title ambitions. The 18-year-old is incredibly still under the radar for being the latest Saints youth prodigy, with the depth ahead of him at left back in the division being a reason why.

A shout-out is also deserved for Aston Villa 22-year-old Nathan Baker, who after loan spells with Lincoln City and Millwall over the last few years, has been being a regular choice for Paul Lambert’s side. In another country, Baker would be in the starting 11. But with the competition around his age at the position, he may never get a single cap with England after doing so with the U19s, U20s, and U21s.

It’s quite an incredible achievement for England to have this much depth for one of the hardest positions in soccer to find talent. Considering how England still has to improve with their youth development compared to the current elite like Spain, Germany, and Brazil, it’s one feather in the cap that England should be proud of. Spain, Germany and Brazil would love to have the incredible depth at left back that England possesses at the moment.