2014 was the year of the team. Germany became world-beaters with a goal created by one substitute and finished by another. Lionel Messi, the great player who was pitted against the great team, was left to scratch his head at the end of the World Cup final as he collected the player of the tournament award and the Germany team huddled together for photos with Angela Merkel. Messi flickered into life occasionally at the World Cup, but if football’s greatest tournament proved anything, it is that teams win trophies.
So, where do we go with our annual list of the 100 best footballers in the world? We could put 11 Germans at the top and be done with it, but part of football’s appeal is its ability to remain both perfectly simple and deliciously debatable. Honouring the World Cup winners would do a great disservice to some of the greatest players to have kicked a ball, so we have assembled a cast of 73 experts from 28 nationalities to choose our third annual list of the world’s top 100 footballers.
This year’s panel of judges is larger than ever, with Hernan Crespo, Gilberto Silva, Slaven Bilic and Dietmar Hamann leading the voting. The full list of 100 players will be revealed over the next few days, with No 100-71 coming on Sunday, No 70-41 on Monday and Nos 40-11 following on Tuesday, before the top 10 is announced on Christmas Eve.
One of the big challenges for the judges this year is to work out how many World Cup stars deserve a place on the list. Should James Rodríguez be the highest new entry? Do Tim Howard, Daley Blind, Guillermo Ochoa and Keylor Navas warrant inclusion? Should any England players make the top 100? And how should the Costa Rica, Colombia and USA players who produced such united team performances be honoured?
If the World Cup was a love letter to the value of teamwork, the other great event of the year, the Champions League final, showcased the power of the individual, and specifically, the individual’s individual: Cristiano Ronaldo. He was not the best performer on the night - that honour went to Angel Di María, who also played his part in the World Cup final - but, despite performing below his usual standard, Ronaldo’s naked torso became the face of the final.
Ronaldo is a great team player in the sense that he gives his team-mates a goal a game, but his mentality is always that of a man on a mission. He is not content to be on the winning side; he has to make his mark. The old college football coach Red Russell made his name with the quote “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”, but Ronaldo sees things differently. Winning isn’t enough for Ronaldo; he needs to contribute and dominate.
While his team-mates were celebrating the goals that won Real Madrid’s tenth European Cup, Ronaldo made his way back to the halfway line and waited impatiently for the game to resume. If anything, their goals were inconvenient; rather than having the ball at his feet in the opposition’s box he was forced to retreat to the centre-circle for kick-off. He was playing in his city, in his final, and he needed to score his 17th goal in a 13-game competition to make the occasion his own. The night was not to be over until the finely chiseled man had flung off his shirt and flexed for the cameras.
That ruthless and relentless desire to score goals and stamp his authority on every occasion is the source of his greatness. He wasn’t happy that Real Madrid had conquered La Decima until he had scored his goal. Those are the standards he sets for himself.
The chapter in Alex Ferguson’s autobiography entitled “Cristiano Ronaldo” begins with the sentence: “Cristiano Ronaldo was the most gifted player I managed.” But, as his former manager understands well, Ronaldo is not made great by his talent. He has made his talent great by working incessantly to improve. When asked what aspect of Ronaldo’s game he would include in the perfect footballer, Rio Ferdinand said he would choose his mentality. His brain. His drive. His desire to win a European Cup, captain his country at a World Cup and then return to his club and score 32 goals before Christmas.
The Guardian published a story about Ronaldo’s goalscoring exploits a few months ago. We have tried to update the page every time he breaks one of his own records, but it’s a fool’s errand; he will only break them again and render the words outdated. We have revised the story in September, October, November and December but if you look at it now it’s a few goals short. We are dealing with a special player here and we are not the only ones who cannot keep up with him.
Ronaldo’s performances this year have defied all common sense but he is not the only record-breaker in our midst. Lionel Messi became the most prolific goalscorer in the history of La Liga and the Champions League in the same week last month. The same week. It’s just ridiculous.
Messi has topped our list for the last two years but has he done enough to hold off Ronaldo’s charge? Could Ronaldo overtake Messi but miss out to one of the German World Cup winners? We will find out what our experts think on Christmas Eve, but in the meantime, we want to know who they should have picked. Please, be our guests.
Who are the world’s top 100 footballers in 2014?
