Here is the Sportsbbq All-World Cup team, using a 3-5-2 formation.

Starting Line-up

	Goalkeeper - Gianluigi Buffon, Italy - Easily the stand-out goalkeeper in the entire tournament. Produced beautiful saves against Australia when Italy were down to 10 men. In the semi-final against Germany, he has a clean-sheet against the most potent attacking pair in the tournament, Klose and Podolski. To top that off, he made the save of the tournament in denying Zinedine Zidane’s header in the final moments of the first extra time, a save that a lot of other goalies would not have prevented.
	Defender - Philipp Lahm, Germany - Scored the first goal of the tournament, in the sixth minute of the first game. Lahm looked dangerous every time he moved forward in attack from the defensive line, but his defence was stellar too.
	Defender - Fabio Cannavaro, Italy - Runner up to Zidane for the Golden Ball, Cannavaro was the anchor for the best defensive line in the World Cup, and easily the best defender in the tournament.
	Defender - Lucas Neill, Australia - Australia’s best player was brilliant in all four games that the Australians played. Will be remembered as the player that Italy’s Fabio Grosso ‘fell’ over to concede the penalty that put Italy through to the quarter-finals. Solid defender, who will be the anchor of the Socceroos defence for many years to come.
	Midfielder - Maniche, Portugal - One of Portugal’s outstanding players in the tournament, scored the match winning goal in their match against the Netherlands. Was always dangerous with the ball at his feet. Wins the place on this team, over his teammated Ronaldo, because he was just as effective, but without the diving and theatrics.
	Midfielder - Zinedine Zidane, France (c) - The best player in the tournament. Had his tournament cut short following his headbutt on Materazzi, but his inspirational effort to get the aging French team in to the final of the tournament, defeating Spain, Brazil, and Portugal, cements his place on the team.
	Midfielder - Juan Riquelme, Argentina - When Argentina were at their best, it was because of this midfield magician. Riquelme was spectacular in the group matches for Argentina, with his incredible play resulting in a number of goals for Argentina. If Argentina had progressed past Germany, Riquelme would have been a front runner for the golden ball award.
	Midfielder - Maxi Rodriguez, Argentina Scored one of the goals of the tournament in extra time against Mexico after he chested a ball and shot the volley in the top corner of the net. Also scored two goals in the 6-0 drubbing of Serbia and Montenegro. Look for Rodriguez and Riquelme to be dangerous for Argentina in 2010.
	Midfielder - Franck Ribery, France - Probably the breakthrough player of the tournament. Scored the important equalising goal against Spain in their round of 16 match. Was electrifying for France throughout the second round of the competition and never stopped running.
	Forward - Miroslav Klose, Germany - The winner of the Golden Boot with 5 goals. Klose was deadly for Germany. Klose will be 32 at the next World Cup, but if he can be there to partner Podolski, Germany once again will be dangerous.
	Forward - Thierry Henry, France - Broke France’s 4 game streak without a goal in the 6th minute against South Korea. Was on the end of a Zidane freekick to score the winning goal against Brazil. In the final, Henry was magnificent, taking the ball into the Italian penalty box numerous times. The final was easily his best game of the tournament.

Substitutions

	Midfielder - Patrick Vieira, France - Vieira scored two important goals for France and was tireless in defence. It was unfortunate that he left in the early stages of the second half of the final with an injury. A sad end to a brilliant tournament.
	Midfielder - Andrea Pirlo, Italy - Pirlo was magnificent for Italy throughout the tournament and was the key to their offensive success, assisiting 3 goals and scoring another. Finished third in the Golden Ball voting.
	Midfielder - Michael Essien, Ghana - Ghana’s best player was unfortunatley missing from their round of 16 match against Brazil. If not for that, Ghana might possibly have pulled off a huge upset. Despite their 3-0 loss, Ghana played extremely well and were unlucky to have not scored. During Ghana’s important group match against the Czech Republic, Essien was brilliant in defence and equally effective in attack, producing a lot of Ghana’s best attacking movements.
	Forward - Lukas Podolski, Germany - Partnered with Klose to form the best attacking tandom in the tournament. Scored 3 great goals and was named the best young player in the tournament.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 10th, 2006 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Soccer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.