Goalkeeper:
Manuel Neuer - Germany. Great with his feet, so valuable coming off his line so Germany can press high, great in the air, very good shot stopper as well. Timmy Howard would be here if USA had squeaked through.
Defenders:
David Luiz - Brazil CB. Great tackler, very smart picking off passes and tracking runners, a confident distributor, can dribble like a midfielder, great in the air and a master with set pieces from distance. Can play holding CM if needed, but I don't think we'll see that as Tiago Silva is out vs. Germany and I predict Germany 3-1 Brazil in the Semis.
Patrice Evra - France RB. Invaluable as a 1v1 defender, great distributor, his experience is huge for any world cup team. In my opinion he's a very underrated player in the EPL as well.
Pablo Zabaleta - Argentina Wing back. Remember I said favorite, not best. Perhaps the most dynamic defender out of the last 8. He gets caught too high and lost defensively a bit, but a hard-nosed workhorse, fantastic going forward and a menace to any Argentinian opponent's left side.
Midfielders:
Paul Pogba - France DCM. Possibly my favorite player in the cup. A young star that ran the field while France was still in it. Fantastic possessing on the ball, great distributor, great break-up player as a lone DCM in France's 4-3-3.
James Rodriguez - Columbia ACM. An absolute firecracker that can score from anywhere. Scored 6 goals before he lost just a few minutes ago. Turns 23 next Saturday, and will likely be pushing for Miroslav Klose's 15 World Cup career goals record.
Nigel De Jong - Netherlands DCM. Invaluable to Netherlands, and it showed vs. Mexico once he went out early in the game. His positioning is second to nobody(less maybe Pirlo). I love his physical defensive style of play. He's great in possession and competent on the ball - he might not beat many people 1v1, but he doesn't need to, just break pressure and possess.
Neymar - Brazil ACM. Best I've ever seen running with the ball(sprinting with the ball, really). His skill and versatility speaks for itself, and he's excelled in the spotlight of the host fans with the highest expectations.
Forwards:
Arjen Robben - Netherlands. Love him or hate him for his embellishment, the guy can play. He can absolutely take over a game, like he did vs. Mexico and Spain. Speed, ball control, unpredictable, great distributor in the final third, and a fantastic finisher.
Joel Campbell - Costa Rica. Can play out wide or up top as an out-and-out striker. The Arsenal man(loaned to Olympiacos) is fantastic holding the ball up, fast, skilled, and powerful. The young stud will be a forced difficult to contain in the next couple years. It will be very interesting seeing him vs. Netherlands tomorrow.
Thomas Muller - 4 goals in the tournament thus far, but wasn't very impressive vs. Algeria. Muller is a typical german Goal Scorer. Fast, powerful, but most importantly is smart in front of the goal and can finish in dangerous spots. He's a player that not only will score himself, but get assists and create goal scoring chances for his teammates.
Honorable mentions:
-Hugo Lloris - France Goalkeeper. All-around quality goalkeeper. I don't like him cause he's a Spur, so I couldn't possibly put him in the top.
-Phillip Lahm - Germany Defender. Can play left or right, and also played great vs. Algeria as a holding midfielder. The German captain's leadership, experience, services into the box, 1v1 defending and versatility is unmatched. He should take Zabaleta's place, honestly, but I'll stick to it for no good reason.
-Angel Di Maria - Argentina Winger(not sure to put him with mids or forwards). The man can play. He can play left or right, but mainly will play on the left. Fast, great crosser, great finisher. Cuts inside well.
-Fernandinho - Brazil Holding Midfielder. Had to win the starting role from a disappointing Paulinho, but after he did has never looked back. Very good on the ball, works his tail off for 90 minutes, great distributor and great at breaking up plays in the midfield on a underwhelming Brazilian side.
-Rafael Varane - France Center Back. the 20-year old is a regular starter at Real Madrid, as well as the #1 choice CB for France. Wise well beyond his years and will be one of the all-time greats if he keeps it up.
-Javier Mascherano - Argentina Holding CM. The Barcelona CB has shown his versatility playing as a lone CM in Argentina's 3-5-2 with wing-backs. He has a ton of space to manage and is the only player on the Argentine 23 that can do that job.
-Lionel Messi. Enough said.
-Luis Suarez. Just kidding.
David Luiz - Brazil CB. Great tackler, very smart picking off passes and tracking runners, a confident distributor, can dribble like a midfielder, great in the air and a master with set pieces from distance. Can play holding CM if needed, but I don't think we'll see that as Tiago Silva is out vs. Germany and I predict Germany 3-1 Brazil in the Semis.
Patrice Evra - France RB. Invaluable as a 1v1 defender, great distributor, his experience is huge for any world cup team. In my opinion he's a very underrated player in the EPL as well.
Pablo Zabaleta - Argentina Wing back. Remember I said favorite, not best. Perhaps the most dynamic defender out of the last 8. He gets caught too high and lost defensively a bit, but a hard-nosed workhorse, fantastic going forward and a menace to any Argentinian opponent's left side.
Midfielders:
Paul Pogba - France DCM. Possibly my favorite player in the cup. A young star that ran the field while France was still in it. Fantastic possessing on the ball, great distributor, great break-up player as a lone DCM in France's 4-3-3.
James Rodriguez - Columbia ACM. An absolute firecracker that can score from anywhere. Scored 6 goals before he lost just a few minutes ago. Turns 23 next Saturday, and will likely be pushing for Miroslav Klose's 15 World Cup career goals record.
Nigel De Jong - Netherlands DCM. Invaluable to Netherlands, and it showed vs. Mexico once he went out early in the game. His positioning is second to nobody(less maybe Pirlo). I love his physical defensive style of play. He's great in possession and competent on the ball - he might not beat many people 1v1, but he doesn't need to, just break pressure and possess.
Neymar - Brazil ACM. Best I've ever seen running with the ball(sprinting with the ball, really). His skill and versatility speaks for itself, and he's excelled in the spotlight of the host fans with the highest expectations.
Forwards:
Arjen Robben - Netherlands. Love him or hate him for his embellishment, the guy can play. He can absolutely take over a game, like he did vs. Mexico and Spain. Speed, ball control, unpredictable, great distributor in the final third, and a fantastic finisher.
Joel Campbell - Costa Rica. Can play out wide or up top as an out-and-out striker. The Arsenal man(loaned to Olympiacos) is fantastic holding the ball up, fast, skilled, and powerful. The young stud will be a forced difficult to contain in the next couple years. It will be very interesting seeing him vs. Netherlands tomorrow.
Thomas Muller - 4 goals in the tournament thus far, but wasn't very impressive vs. Algeria. Muller is a typical german Goal Scorer. Fast, powerful, but most importantly is smart in front of the goal and can finish in dangerous spots. He's a player that not only will score himself, but get assists and create goal scoring chances for his teammates.
Honorable mentions:
-Hugo Lloris - France Goalkeeper. All-around quality goalkeeper. I don't like him cause he's a Spur, so I couldn't possibly put him in the top.
-Phillip Lahm - Germany Defender. Can play left or right, and also played great vs. Algeria as a holding midfielder. The German captain's leadership, experience, services into the box, 1v1 defending and versatility is unmatched. He should take Zabaleta's place, honestly, but I'll stick to it for no good reason.
-Angel Di Maria - Argentina Winger(not sure to put him with mids or forwards). The man can play. He can play left or right, but mainly will play on the left. Fast, great crosser, great finisher. Cuts inside well.
-Fernandinho - Brazil Holding Midfielder. Had to win the starting role from a disappointing Paulinho, but after he did has never looked back. Very good on the ball, works his tail off for 90 minutes, great distributor and great at breaking up plays in the midfield on a underwhelming Brazilian side.
-Rafael Varane - France Center Back. the 20-year old is a regular starter at Real Madrid, as well as the #1 choice CB for France. Wise well beyond his years and will be one of the all-time greats if he keeps it up.
-Javier Mascherano - Argentina Holding CM. The Barcelona CB has shown his versatility playing as a lone CM in Argentina's 3-5-2 with wing-backs. He has a ton of space to manage and is the only player on the Argentine 23 that can do that job.
-Lionel Messi. Enough said.
-Luis Suarez. Just kidding.
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