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Team of the Decade: Part 7- The 2010's

Goalkeeper- Manuel Neuer- Germany

Neuer became the first choice keeper for Schalke 04 shortly after his 20th birthday and would remain between the sticks for the club for 5 seasons reaching a Champions League semi-final and winning the German Cup in his final season. That summer of 2011 he moved to Bayern Munich where he has remained ever since. Neuer became the fastest keeper to reach 100 Bundesliga cleansheets, taking just 183 games, 156 of them coming for Schalke. Neuer now holds the record for most Bundesliga cleansheets which have helped Bayern to win 11 Bundesliga titles as of writing. Neuer has also lifted the Champions League twice with Bayern, in 2013 and 2020.

As of writing Neuer has 124 Germany caps, and played a vital role in his nation lifting the 2014 World Cup with his displays earning him 3rd place for that years Balon D'or, just 0.4% behind 2nd placed Lionel Messi. Neuer is considered one of the greatest keepers of all time, who has revolutionised the position with the quality of his passing and composure in possession allowing his teams to build-up attacks with an extra man, with Neuer having the Football ability not too dissimilar from an outfield player. This has allowed Neuer to thrive as a true sweeper-keeper, regularly sprinting out of his penalty area to meet attacks before they can develop and get his team back in possession. At a stocky six feet 4, Neuer maintains a huge presence in goal, proving very difficult to bypass 1 v 1 and that combined with his excellent shot-stopping abilities make him surely the most complete goalkeeper ever.

Right-Back- Daniel Alves- Brazil

Dani Alves joined Sevilla from Bahia in 2003 and spent 5 years with the club, winning 5 trophies including the Copa Del Rey, the UEFA Super Cup & 2 UEFA Cups. From there, Alves signed for Barcelona where he would spend the next 8 years of his career winning 6 La Liga titles, 3 Champions Leagues and 3 World Club Cups amongst a whole host of other trophies.

Alves would add to his packed trophy cabinet at Juventus and PSG before returning for another short spell at Barcelona, still playing at a decent level whilst approaching his 39th birthday. 2 Copa America's, 2 Confederations Cups and an Olympic Gold from the 2020 Games with Brazil took Alves' medal count to 43, with only Leo Messi having more.

Alves is considered one of the greatest right-backs in Football history, and perhaps the full-back with the highest level of technical quality on the ball, due to the way he could combine with forwards in tight spaces and match the ability of some of Barcelona and the world's best attackers when linking with them. Alves constantly provided an option on the ball, either out wide or moving infield depending on where teammates were positioned and this helped Barcelona to sustain constant pressure in the opponents half.

Centre-Back- Sergio Ramos- Spain

Sergio Ramos came through the ranks at Sevilla and after just one season in their first team was snapped up by Real Madrid for €27M in 2005. Ramos was a mainstay in the Real Madrid XI beginning as a centre-back, then moving to right-back before returning to the centre of defence.

Ramos spent 16 seasons with Real, winning 5 La Liga titles and 4 Champions Leagues. Ramos played a vital role in securing his first Champions League title in 2014, Real's 'La Decima' as he headed home a Luka Modric corner in the 94th minute with City-rivals Atletico having one-hand on the trophy before Ramos' powerful header took the game into extra-time which Los Blancos would win 4-1. Ramos scored in a second Champions League final two years later against the same opponent, with Ramos converting his penalty in the subsequent shootout.

In total Ramos made 671 appearances for Real Madrid scoring an incredible 101 goals as a defender. For his country Ramos has won a record 180 caps and scored 23 goals, he started as a right-back in the 2008 Euros and 2010 World Cup Finals which Spain won and at centre-half in the 2012 Euros final, which a dominant Spain also won 4-0 against Italy. In those 3 successive International tournaments which Spain won, they kept 10 cleansheets in 10 consecutive knockout games.

Ramos is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of his era, renowned for his aggressive style, a commanding physical presence and tenacious leadership. As he grew older he developed a reputation as a scorer of crucial goals, stepping up on many occasions to rescue Real Madrid by coming alive in the opposition penalty area and powering home a header. Ramos holds the record for defenders for most appearances in both the FIFPro World 11 (11) and UEFA Team of the Year (9).

Centre-Back- Gerard Pique- Spain

Gerard Pique moved from Barcelona's La Masia academy to Manchester United as a 17-year old, but failed to dislodge United's ever-present pairing of Ferdinand and Vidic. After 4 years he returned to Barcelona and quickly established himself as a starter, helping Barca to win the treble in his first season with the club, including a Champions League win over his former club United. Later that year Pique would win the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup & the World Club Cup meaning Barcelona held all six available trophies.

Pique would go onto win a further 2 Champions Leagues, including another victory over United in 2011 and Juventus in 2015. In total he would also win 9 La Liga titles and 7 Copa Del Reys. He made 616 appearances for Barca and scored 52 goals. With the Spanish national side Pique won 102 caps, winning the 2008 Euros and 2010 World Cup.

At a stocky 6 feet 4 inches, Pique was a powerful and commanding centre-back, but despite being excellent defensively he was renowned more for his ball-playing capabilities than his physicality. Pique was a defender who best exemplified modern football, due to his composure and passing quality on the ball. His technical quality with the ball at his feet meant that he would often join the attack late in games as an auxiliary forward, either in a move of desperation with Barca trailing or else because the game was already secured and Barca could afford to risk having an extra player upfront.

Left-Back- Marcelo- Brazil

Marcelo joined Real Madrid from Fluminense whilst still a teenager for a sum of €8M. Over the next 15 years Marcelo would prove himself one of the greatest bargains in the clubs illustrious history. Joining mid-way from the 06/07 season, Marcelo would pick up a league winners medal that year and go on to win 6 in total. Marcelo would also win 5 Champions League titles, his first coming in 2014 where he came off the bench to score against Atletico Madrid.

Between 2016 and 2018 Real Madrid would dominate European and World Football winning 3 consecutive Champions League and World Club Cup titles. Marcelo would depart the club after winning a 5th Champions League title in 2022, having been an unused substitute for the final. Marcelo made 546 appearances for Real and scored 38 goals. He won 58 caps for Brazil, appearing at the 2014 and 2018 World Cup and winning an Olympic silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2013 Confederations Cup.

Marcelo is regarded as one of the most skilful defenders ever, a classic Brazilian defender in the mould of Roberto Carlos, with Carlos even commenting "Marcelo possesses a better technical ability than me." Marcelo was a key player during Madrid's run of three-peating the Champions League with his pace and trickery allowing him to offer himself as a sort of second winger down Madrid's left, and aswell his passing quality enabling him to create chances as a secondary playmaker.

Defensive Midfield- Sergio Busquets- Spain

After 2 seasons with the B team Sergio Busquets was promoted to the Barcelona first team for the 08/09 winning the treble in his first season. Busquets would spend 15 years in the Barca first team, winning 9 league titles, 7 Copa Del Reys and 3 Champions Leagues. Busquets would make 722 appearances with Barcelona and score 18 goals. He won 143 caps for the Spanish national team, winning the 2010 World Cup where he was named in the team of the tournament and the 2012 Euros.

Busquets is considered one of the greatest defensive midfielders of all time and one of the most press-resistant midfielders ever. Due to his incredible awareness and composure, Busquets could evade midfielders sprinting at him, by subtly turning away from them with just a few touches and moving out of any perceived danger into space. So rarely did pressing him lead to him turning possession over, many midfielders would give up on the idea of pressing him due to it being a waste of energy.

Busquets ability to receive the ball under pressure meant he could drop in between the centre-backs to receive the ball deep to help Barca build from the back, or else receive the ball in the midfield and build attacks from there. His absolute mastery over the defensive midfield role led to one of the all-time great Football quotes being said about him by his former Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque: ""If you watch the whole game, you won't see Busquets—but watch Busquets, and you will see the whole game."

Centre-Midfield- Luka Modric- Croatia

After joining Tottenham from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008, Modric spent 4 seasons in the Premier League before earning a move to Real Madrid. Joining the club with his 27th Birthday approaching, noone could have anticipated that 12 years later he'd still be representing Madrid with distinction in the final year of his 30's.

Modric is the oldest player in Madrid's history and has won more honours for the club than any other player. He has lifted an incredible 27 trophies for the club including a joint-record 6 Champions Leagues, with Modric being one of Real's best performers in most of them. For Croatia, Modric has won 182 caps and appears to be far from done, if the level of his performances tell us anything. He has represented his country at 3 World Cups and in 2018, on top of winning another Champions League with Madrid, Modric helped Croatia to reach the World Cup final for the first time ever. His performances won him the Golden Ball for player of the tournament and later that year the Balon D'or, with Modric becoming the first player outside of Messi or Ronaldo to win the award since back in 2007.

Despite being a diminutive midfielder with great technique, ball-carrying and passing ability, Modric's immense stamina and workrate off the ball means he also makes big contributions out of possession. This has made him an extremely well-rounded midfielder who excels in all areas of the game. From a deep role, he can help to set the tempo with composed volume passing, he can playmake from the centre of the pitch with penetrating, creative passes which catch the opponent out and he can cover ground reliably and relentlessly. Modric is one of the very few players in history who has arguably been better in his 30's than he was in his 20's, ageing like fine wine and consistently dazzling with his class in his advanced years as a pro.

Centre-Midfield- Andres Iniesta- Spain

Iniesta made his Barcelona debut in 2002, becoming a first team regular in 04/05, the season he picked up his first La Liga title. Another would arrive the following season, with Iniesta also lifting the Champions League. Brought on at half-time in the final with Barca trailing to Arsenal, Iniesta was instrumental in turning the game in Barca's favour. Iniesta's importance at Barcelona continued to grow and helped him to force his way into the Spain team, where in 2008 he won the Euros, Spain's first major trophy since 1964.

In 2009 Iniesta won a 2nd Champions League title as part of Barcelona's sextuple, but the following year was to be a tough one on a personal level with injuries & the passing of a close childhood friend pushing Andres into a depression. Battling through his injury struggles in time to make the 2010 World Cup, Iniesta scored the winning goal in the final he was man of the match in, as he won Spain their first ever World Cup. A 3rd Champions League triumph would arrive the following year and the year after that, he and Spain retained the Euros to win a 3rd successive title and cement themselves as perhaps the greatest International side ever. In the end Iniesta made 674 appearances for Barca winning 9 La Liga's, 4 Champions League's and 30 trophies in total. He won 131 caps for Spain, and retired from Football aged 40 after spells in Japan and Qatar saw him reach a total of over 1,000 games in his professional career.

Iniesta was blessed with an incredible football brain from a young age and due to this intelligence aswell as exceptional on the ball ability, he could thrive in every midfield position from sitting deep at the base of a midfield as he did in his early years, to even playing as a left-winger as he did later in his career. Iniesta's football IQ was his superpower and he looked after the ball like a prized possession, rarely losing it by either a misplaced pass or by being tackled. His exquisite close control in tight spaces enabled him to evade the challenges of one or more defenders and his execution of pass was rarely anything other than perfect. Iniesta is remembered as one of Football's greatest ever midfielders whose contribution to the game went far beyond what can be measured in just goals and assists alone and he is currently the only player to have won Man of the Match Awards in Champions League, World Cup and Euros finals.

Right forward- Lionel Messi- Argentina

Messi was brought over to Barcelona as a 13-year old from Argentina as his precocious talent was nurtured with him making his debut for the senior team at the end of the 04/05 season. Messi won a La Liga medal in his first 2 seasons with Barca, and won a Champions League medal in 2006, despite missing out on the latter stages due to injury. It was in the 06/07 where he fully announced himself to the world with a hattrick in El Clasico as a 19 year old. That season Messi also scored 'the Goal of the Century' a goal extraordinary similar to Maradona's solo goal against England at the 1986 World Cup. Demonstrating astonishing speed and control as he weaved past one Getafe player after another, far from an anomaly in the career of Lionel Messi, such death-defying acts would soon become the norm.

It was in the 08-09 season, Messi's first under Guardiola where he would become a great goalscorer as he netted 38 goals including 1 in the Champions League final against Manchester United, a rather rare header from the 5 feet 7 forward. 2 years later and Messi would score in another Champions League final against Manchester United, aged just 23, his performance considered perhaps the greatest ever in a Champions League earned him plaudits with many already considering him among the best footballers ever. Messi would keep adding to that argument, scoring a scarcely believable 73 goals the following season, including 50 in La Liga alone. The following season he netted 60 goals in 50 games, taking his Barcelona total across two seasons to 133 goals in 110 games and 96 La Liga goals in 69 games.

Messi would go on to score a total of 672 goals in 778 games for Barcelona, which is the most anyone has scored for a single club, surpassing Pele's record at Santos. He scored 474 goals in 520 La Liga games which is a record for the competition and 120 in 149 in the Champions League. With the club he lifted 34 trophies, including 10 La Ligas, 4 Champions Leagues, 7 Copa Del Reys and 3 Club World Cups. After leaving Barca, Messi went to PSG where he won another 2 league titles, scoring 32 goals in 75 games before moving on to Inter Miami, the MLS part-owned by David Beckham. His hunger and talent for the game remains firmly intact aged 37, with 34 goals in 39 games for Miami helping the club to win the first 2 honours in its short history.

Whilst aside from his first season at PSG, Messi's club career has been a consistent tale of success both individually and collectively, Messi's time with the national team of Argentina has been more turbulent. A promising beginning saw him score just minutes into his World Cup debut, reach the Copa America with Messi netting in the Quarters and semis before a 3-0 final defeat to Brazil and win an Olympic Gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2010. However, Messi failed to reproduce his Barcelona goalscoring at the 2010 World Cup or 2011 Copa America which Argentina hosted, and despite performing well the luck seemed against him. This feeling of bad luck would persist as between 2014 and 2016, Messi's brilliance helped Argentina to reach 3 successive major finals, only to lose them all. First at the 2014 World Cup and then in back-to-back Copa America's, with both losses coming on penalties against Chile.

After missing his kick in the 2016 final, Messi briefly retired from International Football, but it looked as though his best chance of success with the national team had already been and gone as a poor Argentina team exited the World Cup at the round of 16 stage in 2018, before losing a Copa America semi-final in 2019, in a tournament Messi did not produce his best. However 2 years at the 2021 edition, Messi was very much at his best being involved in 9 of Argentina's 12 goals as either the scorer or assister as at the 6th time of asking, Messi finally ended 28-years of hurt for Argentina. Better was yet to come as the following year at his 5th World Cup, Messi finally put it all together at the game's biggest event, aided by the most balanced supporting cast he'd had to date. Messi scored 2 in the final, and converted from the penalty spot as after losing finals in 2015 and 2016, this time luck was on his side from 12 yards as he emulated Diego Maradona by leading his nation to the ultimate glory.

Messi is considered by many the greatest footballer in history, due to his incredible ability, consistency & end product. With 850 goals and approaching 400 assists, Messi has either scored or assisted every 72 minutes on average throughout his entire career. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalscorers, dribblers and passers in history. The combination of these attributes make him the most complete forward ever, and his consistency and incredibly high ceiling meant he rarely produced a truly bad performance in well over a decade for Barcelona. With the national team he has scored 112 goals in 190 caps, which is the 2nd most in International Football and he holds the record for most goals at the Copa America. By inspiring his nation to lift the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, many feel that was the final box he had left to tick to cement himself as the greatest of all time.

Messi has won a record 8 Balon D'ors, which is 3 more than the next best Cristiano Ronaldo, he won the award for four successive years between 2009 and 2012, which is a record. On 6 occasions, he won the Golden Shoe for Europe's top scorer. He won the Golden Ball award for best player at both the 2014 & 2022 World Cup's and aswell won the Golden Ball twice at the 2015 & 2021 editions of the Copa America.

Left forward- Cristiano Ronaldo- Portugal

A friendly match in the summer of 2003 reportedly convinced Sir Alex Ferguson to sign a teenage Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon, after his performance received rave reviews with United's defence which had been tormented by the winger's lightning quick feet and flashy tricks. However, as he continued to grow and improve at United he would transition from a dazzlingly quick but at times flamboyant showpony, into one of the most devastating and unstoppable goalscoring wingers in English Football history. The transformation really came about in the 06/07 season where Ronaldo led United to their first Premier League in 4 years, as he won the PFA Player of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year & FWA Footballer of the year awards. The following season Ronaldo retained the two main individual awards whilst winning another Premier League and his first Champions League title, scoring against Chelsea in the final to take his tally across all competitions to 42 in 49 games.

The 08/09 season was his last in Manchester and he won the Premier League for a third successive year before departing United for Real Madrid for a world record sum of £80M. Ronaldo netted 118 goals in 292 games for the Red Devils. In Madrid, he would hit new heights altogether. After an impressive first season, Ronaldo's end product kicked into overdrive as he scored 86 La Liga goals in 72 games across the next 2 campaigns, the 11/12 season his goals helped Madrid to win La Liga with 100 points. Ronaldo's next big prize came in the form of the 13/14 Champions League, where he netted 17 goals in 11 games to help Madrid end their 12-year wait for 'La Decima'.

Ronaldo would go onto win a total of 4 Champions League titles with Real, including a threepeat between 15/16-17/18. In the end he scored 105 goals in 101 Champions League games for Madrid, hitting double figures in the competition in 7 consecutive seasons. In La Liga Ronaldo scored 311 goals in 292 games and in total scored a ridiculous 450 goals in 438 games for Real Madrid in his 9 seasons with the club, scoring atleast 50 goals in 6 consecutive seasons. Cristiano then moved to Juventus where he netted 101 goals in 138 games in his 3 seasons with the Italian Club, before returning to Manchester United to score a further 27 goals. Nearing his 40th birthday, Ronaldo is still playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi pro league, as he edges nearer to the incredible number of 1,000 goals in senior football.

Cristiano holds the International record for both appearances with 217 Portugal caps and goals with an absurd 135. He is the record scorer in the history of the Euros, with 3 of his goals coming at the 2016 Euros where he helped his nation to lift the first trophy in their history, despite losing Ronaldo to injury early in the first half. He has played at a record 6 European Championships, scoring in a record 5 editions and has also represented his nation at 5 World Cups to date, scoring at all of them which is a record. He is expected to feature at the 2026 World Cup, where he will look to extend that record.

In his time at Manchester United, Ronaldo was a world class winger with great dribbling ability due to his speed, technical feet whilst running and power. Towards the end of his time at the club and especially after joining Real Madrid he became renowned for his deadly finishing which enabled him to become one of the most prolific goalscorers in Football history. His timing and impressive leap made him one of the best ever goalscorers with his head, and the power he could generate when striking the ball made him a danger when shooting from outside the box, including from free-kick situations. His movement and IQ of which positions to take up have seen him be always in the right position to get on the end of a chance, and when that chance arrived his powerful and accurate finishing made him deadly. Ronaldo's often single-minded mentality, makes him absolutely determined to score every time he takes the field, with his pursuit for goals never fully satisfied for long. This mindset has helped him to score 910 goals to date, with his eyes firmly set on reaching 1,000.

Ronaldo is considered one of the greatest players in history, having won 5 Balon D'ors which is the second most in history, with him winning the award in back-to-back years twice. He won the European Golden Shoe on 4 occasions and was the top scorer in a Champions League season on a record 7 occasions. He is the record goalscorer in the history of Real Madrid, the Champions League, the Euros and International Football as a whole.

Striker- Luis Suarez- Uruguay

Suarez moved to Europe after just one season with his native Uruguayan side Nacional. After one season with Dutch outfit Groningen, he was on the move again to Dutch giants Ajax, where he scored 111 goals in 159 games, including a 49 goals in 48 games season. This earned him a move to Liverpool where he had 2 30 goal seasons, and fell just short of winning the Premier League in 13-14. That summer Suarez joined Barcelona, where he would establish himself as the best striker in the world.

In his first season in Spain, Suarez helped Barcelona to win the treble, scoring in the Champions League final, a 3-1 victory over Juventus. The following season Suarez scored an absurd 59 goals in 53 games, including 40 league goals in 35 La Liga games. This made him the only player outside of Messi and Ronaldo to win the Pichichi Trophy between the seasons 09-10 & 20-21. Suarez would eventually take his Barca tally to 198 goals in 283 games, winning 13 trophies in his six seasons with the club, including 4 La Liga's and 4 Copa Del Rey's.

Suarez was allowed to leave Barca in 2020 and he instantly made them rue the decision, as he helped lead Atletico Madrid to the La Liga title, scoring 21 goals in 32 league games. Suarez has since moved for spells in Uruguay, Brazil and USA, currently playing alongside Messi at Inter Miami. With over 500 club goals, Suarez continues to net goals at a superb rate. Suarez was also a master marksman for Uruguay, representing his country for 18 years, winning 143 caps and scoring 69 goals, more than any other player. He scored in the 2011 Copa America final which Uruguay won 3-0 against Paraguay, and aswell scored at the 2010 World Cup helping his nation reach the Semi-Finals.

Suarez is regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time. Due to his ingenuity Suarez could turn an unthreatening situation into a goal in the blink of an eye, proving himself to be a constant menace to opposition defences. His technical ability was matched by his speed of thought, his daring and cunning meant defenders up against him were always at risk of humiliation. Despite his ruthless nature infront of goal, Suarez was so much more than just a finisher, he was also an unselfish player with a tireless workrate. Unlike other supremely talented forwards who may have deemed the dogged side of the game beneath them, Suarez would do the running of two players, tirelessly breathing down the necks of defenders, waiting to pounce on a mistake. He also developed exceptional understanding with teammates, non greater than with Lionel Messi and the two of them were just as happy setting up the other to score, as they were when scoring themselves.

Subs:

Xavi Hernandez- Spain

Xavi made his Barcelona debut back in the 98/99 season, with the Catalan giants winning the title in his first season. From there though the club would endure a turbulent few years on and off the pitch, whilst Xavi continued to improve and grow as a young footballer. His second La Liga title would not arrive until 6 years later in 2005 under Frank Rijkaard, but from that point on Xavi's career would feature almost non-stop success.

The following season was an injury plagued one for Xavi however, as he missed out on much of the season which saw Barca retain the league and win the Champions League final against Arsenal, with Xavi unavailable. 2 trophyless seasons followed but in the summer of 2008, Xavi truly announced himself to the world. At Euro 2008, Xavi was the tournament's best player, scoring in the semi-final and assisting Torres' winner in the final against Germany, as Spain won a major trophy for the first time since 1964.

In the 08-09 season, Guardiola's first as Barca manager, Xavi provided an incredible 29 assists from midfield, as Barcelona's new 'tiki taka' style won them the sextuple in 2009. At the 2010 World Cup, Xavi was again immaculate, helping his country to win the World Cup for the very first time. The following year another Champions League title arrived and then in 2012, Spain became the first team to retain the Euros, demonstrating their superiority by destroying Italy 4-0 in the final. Alongside Busquets & Iniesta, Xavi had been a part of one of, if not the greatest midfield of all time at both club and international level. He left Spain for Qatar in 2015, after winning another Champions League title as part of a treble.

Xavi is here a victim of playing his best football in between two decades, as if this was a Team of the Decade for the years 2005-2015, he would be one of the very first names in the starting XI. However, he did not emerge as one of the game's best players until towards the end of the 2000's and retired from European Football in 2015, which was not quite enough time to justify him making the starting XI. However in those 5 years, he achieved so much that he still demanded to be named amongst the 14.

Xavi is considered one of the best midfielders of all time, for Barca he played 767 matches and for the national team he won 133 caps. He is considered one of the most reliable passers ever, registering a 91% pass completion rate through the 2010 World Cup. Xavi was incredibly difficult to dispossess of the ball his speed of thought and understanding of space nearly always allowing him to retain possession. As a deep-lying playmaker, Xavi was a lot more than just a 5-yard sideways passer, his penetrating passes allowed him to notch a high number of assists and 'pre-assists' with his passes often opening the opposition up and unlocking a deep defensive block. Xavi's style earned him the nickname "The Puppet Master" with former Real Madrid player and manager Jorge Valdano saying about him: "If football was a science, Xavi would have discovered the formula. With a ball at his feet, no one else has ever communicated so intelligently with every player on the pitch."

Toni Kroos- Germany

Kroos came through the ranks at Bayern Munich and after impressing on loan with Bayer Leverkusen, he became an established starter for the Bavarian club. In 2013 he would help the club to win the treble as they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the all-German Champions League final. The following summer after making the 2014 World Cup team of the tournament and lifting the trophy following a 1-0 triumph over Argentina, Kroos joined European Champions Real Madrid.

In his second season with the club, Kroos won his second Champions League and his first with Real. Los Blancos would go on to threepeat the competition, with Kroos a crucial player in the middle of the pitch, forming an outstanding partnership with Luka Modric. Kroos would spend 10 seasons with Madrid, playing 465 games and winning a huge number of honours including 4 La Liga's, 5 Champions League's and 5 World Club Cups. His final match for the club before retirement was the 2024 Champions League final, with Kroos winning his 6th overall, against Borussia Dortmund, the same opponent from his first final 11 years earlier.

Kroos won 114 Germany caps and scored 17 goals, including 2 in the incredible 7-1 victory over Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semi-final. Kroos will be remembered for his incredibly accurate long-range passing, which allowed him to dictate games from the middle of the pitch and also his consistency, with the German rarely dipping below a 7 or 8 out of 10 over many years, making him one of the most reliable and important players for both club and country.

Neymar- Brazil

Neymar was one of the World's first "Youtube Footballers" amazing fans from all over the world with his goals and flamboyant tricks on the video platform for his native club Santos. Neymar would make 225 appearances for the Brazilian club scoring 136 goals and winning the Copa Libertadores in 2011, with Neymar scoring in the final. In 2013 it was confirmed he had signed for FC Barcelona, but before he could play his first games for the club, he had an international tournament to play with Brazil in the form of the Confederations Cup.

This tournament would excite Barca fans further as their new man lifted the trophy and won the Golden Ball for the best player at the tournament, scoring in a 3-0 final win over Spain. Neymar had a promising first season at Barcelona, but it was in his second season he truly arrived, starring as one-third of the "MSN" alongside Lionel Messi and new signing Luis Suarez. This devastating forward line would win the treble, with Neymar netting 39 goals. In total Neymar would score 105 goals in 186 games for Barca, before the transfer that shocked the world.

In 2017, Neymar joined PSG for a world-record transfer fee of €222 million. The Brazilian would perform excellently but serious injuries would plague him every season, often forcing him to miss the crucial months of the season. One year he was able to stay fit for the final stages of the Champions League was in 19/20, where he played in PSG's first and to date only Champions League final, but they were beaten by Bayern Munich. Despite scoring 118 goals in 173 games, and starring alongside Mbappe and Messi in another devastating forward line, Neymar could never make his time in France a success that got anywhere close to justifying that enormous fee. Partly due to recurring injuries and partly because after leaving one of the biggest clubs and one of the most-watched leagues in the world to play in Ligue 1 with PSG, the club and the league did not grow significantly in mass appeal.

Neymar has since moved to the Saudi Pro League, where serious injuries have mostly kept him off the field. For his nation, Neymar so far has 79 goals in 128 caps, making him the highest goalscorer in the history of the Brazil national team, surpassing Pele last year. Neymar's bad luck with injuries has also followed him to the national team. An injury against Colombia in the 2014 World Cup Quarter-Finals forced him to miss the semi-final against Germany, which in his absence the team lost 7-1. Injury also forced him to miss the 2019 Copa America in its entirety, which his nation would win. Aswell as winning the 2013 Confederations Cup and 2016 Olympic Gold, both on home soil, Neymar also reached the 2021 Copa America final which also happened to take place in Brazil. Though this time he was on the losing side to Messi's Argentina. He will hope he has one more shot at the World Cup in 2026, but currently it appears unlikely injuries will permit him.

With well over 400 goals in over 700 games, Neymar has a scoring record most out and out number 9's would be proud of. He also has over 200 assists which exemplifies his extreme creative talents and teamplay. But outside of just the numbers, it has been the flair and expression Neymar has played the game with that he will be best remembered for. One of the most skilful players ever, his creative dribbling has forced him to take a huge number of bad challenges over the years, which has sadly plagued the second half of his career with injuries that have prevented him from reaching the highest high's he was surely on course to reach at one stage.

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