Ranking The Top 5 World Cup MVP Candidates
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At the end of every World Cup, FIFA officials recognize the best player in the tournament with an award. It's essentially the most valuable player award, but they don't call it that. They call it the Golden Ball award -- not be confused with the Golden Boot award, which goes to the player who scores the most goals.
Weird, right?
The concept is cool, and so is the trophy, but I just can't bring myself to declare that a man deserves golden balls. That right is reserved for Midas and Sam Cassell. They're the only ones allowed to have golden balls.
So if it's alright with you I'm going to stick with the term "MVP."
Here are the top five contenders for 2010 World Cup MVP:
1. David Villa (Spain)
Resume: 5 games, 5 goals, 22 shots, 1 assist
Spain without David Villa is unthinkable. He isn't just the best offensive player on their team; he is their offense. He's scored five of their six goals in the World Cup, including game-winners against Honduras, Portugal and Paraguay. The one game he didn't score, Spain's opener against Switzerland, was Spain's only loss. Tells you something, right?
More than that, Villa is the most dangerous offensive player in the world right now. Forget Kobe. Villa is the real Black Mamba. Every touch of the ball is filled with guile, every shot tinged with venom. And he can strike from anywhere. Just when you think he's dormant, there he is in the penalty box, uncoiling himself at just the right time, putting the ball in the back of the net -- witness the game-winning goal he scored against Paraguay...he came out of nowhere!
Right now, Villa's better than good. He's in soccer nirvana. If you don't believe me, watch this highlight and name another player in the World Cup who could do what he did. Simple answer: There isn't one. He's on a level by himself.
Villa has the stats, flair and importance to his team to make him the unanimous MVP choice if Spain makes the final.
It's going to take a Herculean effort from the German defense to keep him out of the net in Wednesday's semifinal.
2. Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Resume: 5 games, 3 goals, 19 shots, 1 assist
Other players in the World Cup have more goals than Diego Forlan does, but few can match what he means to his team. To say that Forlan is the heart of Team Uruguay would be an understatement. He's the heart, soul, lungs, liver, pancreas, muscles, the hair...everything. He's that meaningful.
When Uruguay is in trouble, they rely on Forlan to bring them back from the brink of death. Witness the semifinal game against Ghana: With his team down a goal in the second half and the Ghanaian defense tightening, Forlan was given a free kick from distance. Few players had been able to keep the Jabulani ball down in similar situations, but Forlan did. He aced the shot, putting it past the helpless keeper to tie the game 1-1.
Later, Forlan set the stage for his team's penalty kick victory by calmly putting Uruguay's first attempt past Richard Kingson, proving again that's he as clutch as they come.
In addition to his steely nature on set plays, Forlan is a terrific drop-back striker. He's the Ray Allen of international soccer. He slips into open space better than anyone in the tournament, moving effortlessly between midfield and the front line while panting defenders try to keep pace.
Uruguay's midfield players are relatively average in terms of skill, but Forlan's ability to drop back and facilitate the offense disguises this reality. He makes everyone better. Isn't that the test of a true MVP?
David Villa plays with more flair and tallies better results, but Forlan deserves consideration for MVP on the strength of his value to Uruguay, a team that has blown expectations out of the water.
3. Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Resume: 5 games, 4 goals, 19 shots, 1 assist
There are many talented offensive players on the Dutch side (Arjen Robben and Rob van Persie come to mind), but midfielder Wesley Sneijder is the one who wears the "10" jersey -- the number most often identified with a team's top player -- for the Netherlands.
There's a reason for that.
Sneijder may not be the team's biggest player -- he's a modest 5-foot-7, 150 pounds -- but he plays with a level of tenacity and intelligence that few can match.
If Wayne Rooney is the bulldog of international soccer, Sneijder is the Jack Russell terrier. He's not as big or as strong as the bulldog, but he matches its ferocity bite for bite. And he's achieved better results, too -- both in this World Cup and in Champions League competition. He's proof that size isn't everything in soccer.
The best parts of Sneijder's game are his poise and his ability to always be in the right place at the right time. We saw both qualities on display in the Netherlands' quarterfinal upset of Brazil, when Sneijder guided a deflected corner kick into the net to give his team a 2-1 victory. It was a fairly straightforward play (see ball, head ball), but Sneijder's composure was impressive nonetheless. That goal will forever be remembered as one of the best in Dutch history.
Sneijder has yet to match David Villa's five goals, but I'm giving him bonus points for allegedly calling Maradona and Dunga "idiots" in comparison to his coach, Bert van Marwijk.
Given its semifinal competition (a depleted Uruguay squad), the Netherlands has a better chance of getting to the final than Spain does. If that happens, Sneijder will have a chance to come away with both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards.
Not bad for a guy who wasn't even on the MVP gambling board entering the tournament.
4. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Resume: 5 games, 0 goals, 7 shots, 3 assists
Schweinsteiger doesn't have the stats of, say, David Villa or Diego Forlan -- or even teammates Thomas Muller or Miroslav Klose -- but he deserves recognition as an MVP contender anyway. He hasn't found the net yet, but that doesn't mean he's not valuable. In fact, Schweiny is invaluable. He's the motor driving the World Cup's best team.
Germany fans were worried when captain Michael Ballack went down with injury and Joachim Loew turned to the "youth movement." But it was a needless worry. Schweinsteiger inherited Michael Ballack's starting center midfield role and has filled in brilliantly, recording three assists and countless run-stopping tackles.
As vicious as he is polished, Schweinsteiger is the rare midfielder who can stop an attack on one end and create a brilliant opportunity for his teammates on the other. He may be a converted wing, but Schweiny has all of the qualities of an ideal center mid: vision, creativity, toughness, tirelessness, a soft touch on the ball, passing skills, initiative and the ability to finish. He's a prototype, both in skill and stature.
I'm surprised the Germans haven't cloned him yet.
As Deutschland storms toward its fourth World Cup title, Schweinsteiger is becoming a sexier and sexier Golden Ball candidate. (And, yes, I just used sexy and ball in the same sentence. Don't tell Tipper Gore.)
5. Thomas Muller (Germany)
Resume: 5 games, 4 goals, 10 shots, 3 assists
Muller boasts arguably the most impressive resume of anybody in the tournament (four goals, three assists), which puts him in prime position to overtake David Villa if Germany makes the finals.
Muller has two obstacles to overcome, however, when it comes to his MVP candidacy: 1) he won't be appearing in the semifinal against Spain because of a yellow card penalty, and 2) he lacks Villa's flair for the dramatic.
The first obstacle isn't particularly troublesome. If Germany knocks off Spain and holds Villa scoreless, Muller has the final game to catch up to Villa stats-wise. If Germany wins the championship and he plays a major role, he'll be a prime contender, right beside teammates Miroslav Klose and Bastian Schweinsteiger, for most valuable player honors.
The second obstacle is a bit tougher to overcome.
Villa has been a magician on the field so far. His ability to take on defenders and finish scoring opportunities has been unmatched. So too has been his ability to score goals when Spain need them most (in close games like the one against Paraguay). He trumps Muller both in terms of timeliness and degree of difficulty.
It's not that Muller's goals have been unspectacular -- like Sneijder, he's always in the right place at the right time. It's just that they have been more garden variety than Villa's: headers off free kicks, volleys at the face of the net, shots from point blank range, that kind of thing.
As Brazil has long proved, flair is the way to get recognized in the world of soccer. The world loves joga bonita, not German engineering.
As cool as Muller's storyline is (he's a 20-year-old fresh on the scene), he doesn't have the same flash that Villa has. And that hurts his chances with the judges.
If Germany beats Spain, this becomes a non-issue, of course. Winners typically triumph when it comes to international awards.
Either way, what Muller has been able to achieve at his age is very impressive. I'm looking forward to watching him on the world stage for years to come.
