So FIFA have announced the nominees for their top player awards for this summers World Cup in Brazil.

The nominees are…

The Golden ball (Player of the tournament) –

Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm, Mats Hummels (all Germany), Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria (all Argentina), Neymar (Brazil), Arjen Robben (Holland), James Rodriguez (Colombia).

Best Young Player –

Memphis Depay (Holland), Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane (both France).

Golden Glove –

Keylor Navas (Costa Rica), Sergio Romero (Argentina), Manuel Neuer (Germany).

Before the tournament kicked off I put up an article saying what players we should all lookout for, and I’m glad to see three of those players have been recognised for having great tournaments.

Now I will give you my thoughts on who should win the awards.

First up the main one, the golden ball. For me, the player who has impressed me the most has been Colombia’s James Rodriguez. The creative playmaker was in sensational form and still leads the scoring charts with his six strikes in his five outings.

Yes, I did expect the twenty-three year old to have a good World Cup but I had no idea he’d be the star that he was. Classy first touches, great awareness and he’d dictate games like a wily veteran.

His play in a yellow shirt is what the Brazilian were expecting from their own players; exciting, enthralling and effective.

The first goal he scored in the tie against Uruguay was genius. He found space, looked around him before controlling the high ball with a superb touch with his chest before turning and hitting a sweet volley beyond the keeper.

The reason I went for Monaco man James is because he was creative and ambitious. I can imagine youngsters watching their first world cups, noticing Rodriguez skill and trying to copy it the next day in the park. Unlike a lot of supposed world stars, James Rodriguez played with no fear and a lot of freedom.

He was the face of everything that was good at this World Cup.

For the young player title, I’d give it to Raphael Varane. He was composed at the back and didn’t get much wrong. Plus he’ll only get better in future World Cup’s. Give it a few years and Varane will be the best centre back in the world.

Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas is my top goalie at this summers tournament. They were always seen as the underdogs but managed to out perform Italy, Uruguay, England and Greece to get to the last eight. There they came up against the Netherlands and even the Dutch struggled to win, having to wait for penalties to decide the fate of the two nations.

In those five matches, Kaylor only conceded twice and he managed to keep cleansheets against the Dutch, Italians and the English. He also made the match winning save against Greece in yet another penalty shootout. Just a shame that the Costa Rican goalkeeper who impressed so much during this World Cup has decided to sign up for Bayern Munich and become their number two behind Manuel Neuer.

All in all it’s been a fantastic festival of football in Brazil and we’ve seen some fabulous performances from some superb players. It will live long in the memory and hopefully we’ll get an amazing final tonight!

Posted on July 13th, 2014 by scott
Filed under: Article, World Cup