As I have previously written, I was a child who was obsessed with soccer. I can't even begin to calculate the hours that I have spent devoted to some form of enjoyment of the sport. I played it, watched it live, watched it on TV, and lived it virtually through many different editions of FIFA. When I was I entered junior high school, my love for the game was at an all time high. I was playing on a travel team, watching my brothers play for the high school, and U.S. sports networks were finally giving soccer the slightest bit of air time. For most of my younger years, we never had premium cable, so when there were games on TV (usually Champion's League games) I would get a ride over to my Mimi and Papa's house to watch the games with them! (I haven't had a chance to write about what remarkable people they are, but will certainly dive into that soon.) However, due to my busy schedule, I wasn't always able to make it over there to watch the games. Fortunately for me, someone who helped feed my addiction to soccer fell into my life: his name was Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones was my math teacher (which I wasn't very good at) as well as the high school soccer coach. He coached my older brothers and was keenly aware of how much I loved the game (he was the one who asked if I wanted to be a ball boy). He loved the game of soccer and frequently taped the latest games so that he could study them to learn more to contribute to his professional development as a coach. Knowing how much I loved soccer, he would often bring in stacks of tapes for me to bring home so that I could watch as much as possible! I would often bring the tapes back to him, but I definitely still have some of them hanging around my house in Waterville. I began to watch all the time, whether it was at home after school or in our van (see road trip blog) on the way to soccer games. Through watching the games, I was able to be exposed to so many different styles of play and use them to help make me see the field differently. I have since continued to watch soccer on TV whenever possible (which is much more frequently thanks to growing popularity!). In this time, these are my favorite players that I have watched (bear in mind they may not be the best players ever, but some arguably are).
1. Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane is without a doubt my all time favorite player (and arguably one of the best ever). My first memories of Zidane came in the '98 World Cup finals when he scored two beautiful goals to lead France to a 3-0 victory over Brazil in front of their home crowd. I was struck by the fluidity in which he played. He was always in control and never seemed to lose possession. He also had a knack for scoring massive goals at critical moments in big games. Although he is most famous for his two goals in the '98 World cup, my favorite of his goals came in the 2002 Champion's league final, when he did this:
I remember seeing this live and going absolutely crazy. For those of you that play soccer, you know how hard it is to time up a volley as it floats toward you. Usually, my eyes widen at the chance and I kick it 20 yards over the net. Not Zidane though, he took a deep breath, and with his weaker foot, fired a bullet right into the back to the net it was incredible. However, he didn't stop there. Although he was growing older, he made one more run at the World Cup in 2006, where he nearly willed his team to victory. As one of the older players in the Cup, he was still one of the best players on the field, constantly making world-class players look silly. He scored France's only goal in the World Cup final by fooling one of the world's best goalkeepers, Gigi Buffon, by chipping his penalty kick perfectly off the crossbar and in (just barely). He may be the only player ever to have the courage to take a shot like that anywhere other than the practice field, let alone the biggest stage in all of sports! Unfortunately, most people will remember him in this game for the infamous headbutt that flattened Materazzi during extra time (not the first time Zidane headbutted someone) and forget that he nearly scored the go ahead goal for France just minutes before. Although he may have had some fiery moments in his career, he was and will likely always be my favorite player ever!
2. Ruud Van Nistelrooy
Great Jersey too!
The Dutch have famously produced outstanding goal scorers (see Cruyff, Van Basten, Bergkamp, Van Persie, and Robben), but of these, Van Nistelrooy has always been my favorite. I would probably attribute this to my dominance with him on FIFA '04, but he was without a doubt a fantastic player in real life too! In the mid-2000's Manchester United was one of the few teams that could regularly be seen on American television, therefore, there was a lot of exposure to van Nistelrooy in my youth. The thing that I have always admired about great scorers is their ability to seemingly always be in the right place at the right time. Part of being a world class striker is to clean up the trash, but in order to do that players have to have the presence of mind to put themselves in the proper position to do so. In this sense, Van Nistelrooy was one of the best in the early-2000's. He always appeared in that space that no one else filled, knowing exactly where the ball was going, and burying it. During his time on Manchester United, he was constantly near the top of the league in scoring, winning the Golden Boot once. I always admired his abilities and tried to mirror the way that he finished near the goal. He was also in some fantastic commericals, which of course always helps: (note young Tim Howard)
3. Phillipp Lahm
Lahm is a defender by trade, and as such does not get nearly as much press as he deserves. Before he retired from international play after he led the Germans to their World Cup victory in 2015, he had been their captain 5 years (replacing the legendary Michael Ballack). This in itself is quite remarkable, considering the level of talent on that particular team. Whichever team Lahm has played for, he has made an incredible impact, whether it is winning the Bundesliga, Champion's League, or the World Cup, he has done it all. It is amazing to watch him, because he is so smart and steady and is really a master at his craft. He is only 5'7", hardly the typical build for a defender (especially a German one), but uses his brains and speed to keep himself in the right positions around the field. Few players in the world in the past 10 years have made as large of an impact on their teams as Philipp Lahm does (and even fewer receive as little attention). I vividly remember the first time I ever heard of Lahm was in the 2006 World Cup, where he wasted very little time getting his name on the map with this strike:
Even though his goals are few and far between, this one cemented my fandom. Through three World Cups (06, 10, and 14) he played nearly every minute for the Germans, who made it to at least the Semi-Finals in each of those tournaments. Although fans will always celebrate the goalscorers more, I will always have a soft spot for the players (like Lahm) who make a profound impact on games without reaping the glory associated with scoring.
4. Brad Friedel
This list would be incomplete without my favorite goalie of all time. Friedel is arguably the best goalie in American history, and for a time was in the conversation as one of the best in the entire world. If there is one thing that Americans are successful when it comes to soccer, that would be producing outstanding goalies (Friedel, Keller, Howard, Guzan, etc...). Although the list is long, Friedel takes the cake for me, because of what he did in the 2002 World Cup, when he saved not one, but two penalties to ensure USA's passage into the round of 16: (Saves are 57 seconds in)
Little did we know, he would continue his world class form for the next twelve years, starting at Tottenham for much of that time (and even outplaying Hugo Lloris for one of those seasons to earn the starting spot.) Although I know that there are probably better goalies, he anchored a USA team that was right in the midst of my soccer filled childhood, and I will always respect him immensely for that! 5. Lionel Messi
What can I say about the Little Magician that hasn't already been said before? In my opinion, he is the best player in this decade by a wide margin. Standing at just 5'6", he makes impossible plays look easy on a regular basis. There is no one in the entire world that plays as fluid or intelligently as Messi does. I am going to stop writing and just put up a highlight reel, because enough words have already been published around the world:
6. Gareth Bale
Even though Messi is the best player in the world, Gareth Bale is my favorite current player (although I wish he wasn't on Real). I admittedly have a soft spot for players that are from areas that typically do not fare well in World Cup qualifying (i.e, Ryan Giggs and Dimitar Berbatov), but just because Wales probably won't qualify for a World Cup anytime soon doesn't mean that Bale is to blame. When he was at Tottenham he improved steadily, becoming one of its best players in the 2012-13 campaign and stacking up 26 goals. He was swiftly bought by the money pit Real Madrid and inserted into a key role on a team that won the Champion's League last year thanks to this goal. This year, he has received more criticism from the Spanish media, as he was put in a new role and put up less than stellar scoring numbers (he still scored 17 goals). At just 25 years old, I assume that he will continue to improve and grow as player, and saw rumours that Madrid's new coach, Benitez will be moving Bale back to his preferred position of Left wing. He is a famed free kick specialist, (as documented by this 4:00 video) a skill that I worked very hard on when I was in high school. In last year's Copa Del Rey he scored this beauty:
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Finally we come to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. For over a decade, I have had the absolute pleasure to watch Zlatan score goals. Zlatan became one of my favorites after showing off some sweet moves in this amazing Joga Bonito ad with Cristiano Ronaldo. Zlatan is famed for scoring some pretty whacky and incredible goals. Every time I look at a Sweden box score, it seems as though he scores all of their goals (which of course isn't true). Regardless, his bicycle kick goal against England is one of my all time favorite finishes:
When it came to scoring, there are few players that I tried to emulate more than Ibrahimovic (he has some obvious physical advantages). He has found success on every team that he played for, and has an absolute knack for finding the back of the net. I will leave this video of Zlatan being a savage versus Moldova:
Honorable Mention: Thierry Henry, Olivier Giroud, Samir Nasri, Patrice Evra (I guess I like the French), Gabriel Batistuta, Freddie Ljunberg, Clint Dempsey, Eden Hazard
Until Next Time!
P.S.
I am sure many of you will read this and think "WHAT, NO RONALDO (Cristiano that is)!?" I didn't include him, because he is not one of my favorites. I obviously recognize his talents, but my feelings for Cristiano Ronaldo mirror my feelings for LeBron James. I know that they are good, but everything they do feels too calculated for me (and I'm not a huge fan of whiners.)
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