Team of the Tournament

Diego Forlan

A month of football has gone by and we have witnessed some of the best and worst moments you can imagine in football. The true football romantics must feel blessed that Spain were able to win the final before the penalties, and it is no surprise that they are having a strong foothold in the team of the tournament too.

I have always got great pleasure to name my favorite starting XIs, whether they are the teams of the World Cup, best left footers XI, best foreigners in Premier League XIs or whatever you can imagine. So it is time for the team of the tournament in World Cup 2010.

The tactic will be 4-2-3-1, which was widely used in the South Africa with a great success.

Goal: Iker Casillas (Spain) It is impossible to name anybody else after the man of the match performance in the final.

Right defender: Sergio Ramos (Spain) Sergio Ramos’ displays in the tournament made Jose Mourinho to abandon all his thoughts of pricing Maicon out from Inter Milan.

Left defender: Fabio Coentrao (Portugal) A marauding left-back who Benfica will really struggle to hold on after the tournament.

Centre-half: Carles Puyol (Spain) No-nonsense defender whose combative performances gave the Spain the defensive cohesion needed to play their own game.

Centre-half: Diego Lugano (Uruguay) Elegant, composed, spirited and whole-hearted displays pushed Uruguay further than any had believed before the tournament. Was sorely missed in the semi-final against Holland.

Midfield: Xavi (Spain) Xavi is at the moment quite simply a better footballer than anybody else.

Midfield: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) Discovered his best form right from the beginning of the tournament and made the German team tick.

Right attacking midfielder: Andres Iniesta (Spain) Won the World Cup for the Spain. And even though he wasn’t on top of his game during the tournament made the Spain’s game look easy in the times when there was no space or time.

Left attacking midfielder: Thomas Muller (Germany) One of the brightest newcomers this summer. Had his breakthrough season with Bayern during the winter and rose to prominence in the national team during the tournament too.

Attacking midfielder: Wesley Sneijder (Holland) Got an average Dutch team to the World Cup final.

Forward: Diego Forlan (Uruguay) Probably the best player in the tournament, even if not quite as good footballer as Xavi.

Not too many suprises, but then again, it is the team of tournament so I don’t think any of the names should a surprise. On the bench would be sitting Samir Handanovic (Slovenia), Philip Lahm (Germany), Juan (Brazil), Anthony Annan (Ghana), Arjen Robben (Holland), David Villa (Spain)