Golden Ball. Who would you have voted for?

Brussels Sprout

So we learned tonight that Lionel Messi won the FIFA player of the tournament award as vote for by the FIFA technical committee (whoever they are). Given that he was possibly not even the best player in his own team this tournament it was a surprising result. Who from the 10 nominees would you have voted for?

(Technically you should disregard the final since the vote was taken before that was played.)

DebDynamite

Mats Hummels

Robben

Scorpion Sting

Neymar

James Rodriguez

Sandraevra

Messi

The Dagda

Schweinsteiger.

Macavity.

Neymar

James Rodriguez for me, he really lit up the whole tournament.

darced

Mats Hummels

This post has been deleted.

Turtwig

I think we're harsh on messi.
He still did things in that tournament that no player could do. Hummels was made look silly at times. German players surrounded him and even then he was threatening. He may not have influenced matches as much as we come to expect but he was still magnificent all world cup.

That said, Mascherano or Lahm would have been my choices.

Honorable mentions to Garay, Robben, Rodriguez and Vlaar.

enfant terrible

Is Neuer not eligible?

Turtwig

enfant terrible wrote: »

Is Neuer not eligible?

What did he do to deserve it? Romero, Colombia's goalie, Mexico's (Oochoa?), Howard, And of course Navas all have a strong claim if Neuer has. Frankly think Neuer performed weaker than those. Actually, I think Navas was best keeper at the tournament

Panthro

Tim Howard!

TimeToShine

Lionel Messi

Are we forgetting that it was pretty much 2 last minute goals in two separate matches that got Argentina out of the group?

It's debatable alright but no other player in the world could have done what he did against Iran. He got them out of the group, led them when they needed leading and then they grew into the tournament to get to the final.

enfant terrible

Turtwig wrote: »

What did he do to deserve it? Romero, Colombia's goalie, Mexico's (Oochoa?), Howard, And of course Navas all have a strong claim if Neuer has. Frankly think Neuer performed weaker than those. Actually, I think Navas was best keeper at the tournament

Really, I would have Neuer as the best player in the tournament nevermind the best keeper.

He's like having an extra sweeper in defence.

roanoke

Lionel Messi

TimeToShine wrote: »

Are we forgetting that it was pretty much 2 last minute goals in two separate matches that got Argentina out of the group?

It's debatable alright but no other player in the world could have done what he did against Iran. He got them out of the group, led them when they needed leading and then they grew into the tournament to get to the final.

The goal against Bosnia was after 65 mins.

Plus Argentina would arguably have still won the group even if Messi hadn't scored either of those two aforementioned goals. 1 win and 2 draws would have seen them top F anyway.

don ramo

Neymar

id vote on how excited i am about a player and Rodriguez would be my choice, maybe its just that i watched messi more than any other player on the shortlist that im oblivious to his class by now, but i dont think he lit up the world cup at all, mascherano i think performed better than him in the latter stages of the tournament, yet didnt even make the shortlist,

Rodriguez lit up the world cup for me, he was all action all the time when i seen columbia play, granted i didnt see all their games, just as i didnt all of any teams games, but he a player that genuinely excites me and one that im really looking forward to seeing what hes gonna do between now and the next world cup,

schweinsteiger would be my second option, followed by robben, who even though he annoys the **** out of me at times hes just a great all round player in my eyes, he just never stops,

simongurnick

Jimmy Rodriguez all day

redzerdrog

Lionel Messi

Mascharano

Giggsy11

Mats Hummels

Robben or James Rodriguez.

Iused2likebusts

Robben

auldgranny

Mats Hummels

Robben

LiamoSail

If a lesser known player had performed as Messi had at the World Cup, I don't think there'd be many calls for him to win the award.

I think Robben deserved it. Perhaps had Columbia advanced, Rodriguez would have been a real contender

Iused2likebusts

LiamoSail wrote: »

If a lesser known player had performed as Messi had at the World Cup, I don't think there'd be many calls for him to win the award.

I think Robben deserved it. Perhaps had Columbia advanced, Rodriguez would have been a real contender

I actually think the opposite if a lesser know player had done what messi did prior to the semi finals people would be saying he had a great tournament. People know what messi can do so expect so much.

Knex*

Neymar

"Jimmy Rodriguez. He's 22 years old, and already a World Class fucking mad dog."

http://instagram.com/p/p04qbZoild/

bucketybuck

Mats Hummels

Robben for me, he was one of the few high profile players who actually turned up at this world cup, a constant danger for a limited Dutch team and with Van Persie so out of sorts the only outlet they really had.

Ferris_Bueller

Rodriguez was looking good to win it but he went out in the quarter finals, I think everyone knew before the tournament began that you would need to reach the semi finals at the very least to have a chance of winning this, possibly even reach the final. After Rodriguez I don't think there was much between Messi, Robben and Muller, I'm not too surprised Messi won it probably would have given it to him myself but there wasn't really a standout candidate.

smileyj1987

Lionel Messi

I thought javier Mascherano deserved to win it . He was one of the reasons that Argentina got to the final .

Agent Coulson

Lionel Messi

Mascherano

Washington Irving

Mats Hummels

Robben edges it ahead of Rodriguez and Mascherano for me. Glad Hames got the Golden Boot.

uch

Lionel Messi

Javier Mascherano for me

andyman

Manuel Neuer

Fescue

Neuer was the standout player on the team that won the competition. He gets my vote.

Corholio

Rodriguez, Robben and even Vlaar had better tournaments over 90 minutes, over the tournament than Messi.

No huge standout player really, but still a ridiculous decision. Should be renamed the 'Ryan Giggs' award.

Rayne Wooney

Van Robben

Although Neuer's performance as a fly goalie was second to none

JerCotter7

I wouldn't even half Messi in the top 5 of the tournament. I'd probably have to give it to Robben though.

EuropeanSon

At half time in the final (when the voting happened) I'd have gone for James Rodriguez, with Messi, Muller, Robben and Neuer close behind.

derm0j073

Thomas Muller

Lahm for me , tought he had a great WC and played out of position for most of it .

Zico

None of them from the Premier League.

The big PL stars were generally mediocre or poor while guys like Ron Vlaar and Gary Medel looked unrecognisable.

Fudge You

Thomas Muller

derm0j073 wrote: »

Lahm for me , tought he had a great WC and played out of position for most of it .

Agreed. In the final, and in the France match, he was class. Obviously he was great in the semis, but all the germans were in that game.

Larry Wildman

Neuer...

Mascherano was pretty incredible.

Rodriguez also brilliant

NoviGlitzko

Mats Hummels

For me, Robben. Van Gaal's tactics were to create everything through him and even with that pressure he always delivered.

JR close second.

carraig2

Mats Hummels

Robben for me too.
JR was good but Robben's work rate was phenomenal.

shamrock55

Lionel Messi

I voted mascherano, i thought he was excellant throughout

fryup

Mats Hummels

Robben, although his diving was getting a bit tiresome to watch

bucketybuck

Mats Hummels

fryup wrote: »

Robben, although his diving was getting a bit tiresome to watch

I can't blame Robben to be honest. There was an incident where he was clearly fouled but didn't go to ground, and he got nothing at all from it.

Its become increasingly clear that if a player doesn't go down he doesn't get a free kick or penalty, so what are the players going to do?

SM01

Lionel Messi

Mascherano was monstrous. I wouldn't have issues with Robben or Muller getting it either.

corny

I'd vote for the players who stood up as the tournament progressed. As such no way would i pick Messi or Rodriguez. Rodriguez lost the plot against Brazil. Tough for him with the attention he got but still he let it affect him. Messi did very little in the final two games. He walked around a lot while his team mates worked hard to get the ball back and on the ball he actually gave it away quite a lot. Super player but really didn't deserve the kind of praise he got at the tournament.

Robben, Mascherano, Vlaar, Garay, Zabaleta and Schweinsteiger.

Mascherano was heroic but doesn't do much on the ball so I'd probably give it to Schweinsteiger. Wasn't fit and lacked game time early in the tournament but was brilliant by the end.

eagle eye

Mats Hummels

Robben for me, I thought he was fantastic as usual.

Where is this Mascherano stuff coming from? He was pretty mediocre for most of the tournament, its like people just watched one or two games and decided because he played well that they have to vote for him.

My top five would have been

Robben
Rodriguez
Schweinsteiger
Messi
Muller

Reekwind

Mats Hummels

roanoke wrote: »

The goal against Bosnia was after 65 mins.

Plus Argentina would arguably have still won the group even if Messi hadn't scored either of those two aforementioned goals. 1 win and 2 draws would have seen them top F anyway.

Why stop there? Why arbitrarily wipe out two goals and let his other two stand?

The reality is that Argentina would not have gotten out of the group if it weren't for Messi. He carried them through those games, plus the knockout round against the Swiss. Even beyond that, as defences got tighter and space less available, Argentina were able to defend so comfortably because the opposition were terrified of leaving space at the back for Messi to exploit. [Edit: I mean, come on, he was man of the match four times in seven games.]

Now I would have given the Golden Ball to someone else but this backlash against Messi is ridiculous. If he had a poor tournament then it was solely by his own high standards - anyone else would be delighted with his return.

roanoke

Lionel Messi

Reekwind wrote: »

Why stop there? Why arbitrarily wipe out two goals and let his other two stand?

I don't know. Maybe you could ask the other poster. He initially credited Messi with 'pretty much 2 last minute goals in two separate matches that got Argentina out of the group'. Apparently those two particular goals were the difference, at least as far as I interpret his post.

Corholio

eagle eye wrote: »

Robben for me, I thought he was fantastic as usual.

Where is this Mascherano stuff coming from? He was pretty mediocre for most of the tournament, its like people just watched one or two games and decided because he played well that they have to vote for him.

My top five would have been

Robben
Rodriguez
Schweinsteiger
Messi
Muller

In fairness you could say the same about Schweinsteiger, he had a fantastic final but against Ghana he struggled to influence the game, Kroos was more influential against France and the whole midfield were off form against Algeria.