Heroes

This world cup needed a hero; every team that participated needed a hero or heroes. They needed that one person or group of individuals that took it upon themselves to ensure that their team’s world cup dream was kept alive. Since Uruguay in 1930 each team that participated in the world cup had heroes these men are the likes of Diego Maradona, Eusebio, Gerd Muller, Mario Cempes, Roger Milla and many more. Fifa have released a shortlist of ten men who they believe have been the heroes that have kept their dreams alive although some didn’t make it to the finals they brought hope to many and made them believe.

This list of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil, Diego Forlan, Asamoah Gyan and Lionel Messi is the list of men who are in contention for the coveted Ballon d’or. All of these men have been a delight to watch and made us all believe in their dreams as they were the driving force behind their team’s successes.

We all know how brilliant the Spanish trio of Iniesta, Xavi and villa are and it was expected of them. Lord Andres has this uncanny ability of unlocking hard defences and supplying David villa with amazing balls. Xavi has come to South Africa and continued to show us all how to play soccer and made it look easy. He has touched the ball the most time at the world cup as he has made the most passes out of everyone. David Villa is the most prolific strike with a 70% conversion rate for Spain which is bettered by only a few. This world cup he has been at his absolute best.

No one expected the Oranje to make it this far since the mercurial Brazil would be in their way. However all were shocked when they stunned the five-time champions in Port Elizabeth. The difference between the two sides on that day were the two Dutch players that made it on the shortlist Sneijder and Robben stole the world cup from the Brazilians. The Oranje army has been pushed by sneijder who has been on a roll especially after his champions league victory. He has made an ordinary Dutch team look like world beaters and is a shoe-in for the world player of the year. Arjen Robben is the best weapon the Dutch have, his pace and attacking prowess has really important and to think that he could have missed the Finals through injury and one wonders how the Dutch would have fed without Robben.

When the mannschaft arrived in South Africa with their youngsters, many wondered if they were going to be like the great German teams of 54’, 74’ and 90’ without Ballack and other key players who were injured. Honestly Germany was the best team of the world cup they played with a certain fearlessness and massive amounts of heart and pride for Deutschland. Their transition play was second to none and that was evident in their 4 goal drubbings of Australia, England and Argentina. They were able to be amazing due to their two players on the shortlist. Mesut Ozil has been a revelation, I’ve always thought he was a good footballer but in this tournament he showed he was amazing, he is truly an intelligent player. The second Bastian Schweinsteiger has grown up as a soccer player. His new position in the middle of the German midfield has given the mannschaft as stable spine. He has not had a bad game in the tournament and has adjusted admirably to whichever situation the German team found themselves in.

The other names have been great in this tournament and instrumental in their respective team’s successes at the 19th world cup. Lionel Messi the world player of the year 2009 was Argentina’s commander as he pretty much created nearly all of their goals. He has given defences many problems and even though he did not score he showed many as to why he was the best. The most unlikely two names on this list are Asamoah Gyan and Diego Forlan. Gyan who was the pride of Africa was a man, who wasn’t well known, but fought to keep that black star flying. If he scored that penalty to take Ghana to the semis he would have been a strong contender for the ballo d’or. Diego Forlan may be disliked by many South Africans but this man made Uruguay, a team that no one gave a slight chance, famous. He was the major influence that took the last team to qualify to the 2010 showpiece to the top four in the world cup.

This list of ten is not the only list of heroes and there are those who fought with all they had. They may not have been prominent but deserve a mention. Philip Lahm was inspirational as the German captain, a solid defender and Germany have a lot to thank you. Nigel de jong and Mark van Bommel have been silent but effective and key to the Oranje’s march to glory. On the African’s front Anthony Annan and Richard Kingson were great in keeping the Ghanaian dream alive. Other names like Jorge Valdivia of Chile, Lazlo vittek of Slovakia , Enrique Vera of Paraguay, Landon Donovan of the USA, Diego Lugano the captain of Uruguay, Park ji Sung of South Korea, Keisuke Endo of Japan. These are only a few names and were many more.
Along with these heroes there were young players who were also instrumental in their countries campaigns. They are Thomas Muller, Andre (dede) Ayew and Giovanni dos Santos. These three have just been out of this world and have played with the maturity levels of the more experienced teammates. Other young players to watch for the future are Christian Eriksen from Denmark who I wished got more game time to show his talents, Dominick Adiyiah of Ghana, Pedro of Spain.

Heroes are what make tournaments and these men have made the 2010 FIFA world cup a pleasure to watch. What made these men better than the rest is the fact that they believed in their team’s dreams of world cup glory and they will always be remembered in the memories of fans and some in Football History.