L’Equipe of France released its annual selection of the team of the year for 2008. It picked most players from the Manchester United and Spain who won the Champions League and Euro 2008 respectively. It picked 4 players from Manchester United, 3 players from Barcelona, 2 players from Liverpool while Inter Milan and Real Madrid have one player each. Can winning a trophy alone determine a player’s calibre? Franck Ribery got most votes from fans even though France fails to win Euro 2008. Iker Casillas emerged as the best wicket keeper in the world. Ibrahimovic is the sole representative from Italian Series A.  There is no competition for the slots of Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Dani Alves, Rio Ferdinand and Xavi. David Villa will compete with Torres and Ibrahimovic for forward slot. Frank Ribery will compete  for midfield slot while Sagna, Lahm, Maicon and Ramos will vie for Defender slots. It is pity to see only 2 players from South America (Dani Alves of Brazil and Lionel Messi of Barcelona) and no player from Italy and Germany. What happened to these nations? L’Equipe Journalists’ team of the year: Wicket Keeper: Iker Casillas Defenders: Dani Alves, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra. Midfielders: Lionel Messi, Xavi, Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo Forwards: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fernando Torres. L’Equipe fan’s team of the year: Wicket Keeper: Iker Casillas (17, 963 votes) Defenders: Sergio Ramos (17, 828), John Terry (16, 953), Rio Ferdinand (15, 148), Philipp Lahm (19, 526), Dani Alves (12, 953) Mid-fielders: Steven Gerrard (28, 418), Kaka (12, 876), Franck Ribery (29, 601) Forwards: Lionel Messi (25, 073), Cristiano Ronaldo (26, 728). Please share your views on Football team of the year for 2008. Soccer statistics: Brazil sold 1,176 footballers in 2008. 209 Brazilian footballers are trading their skills in Portugal alone. Unbelievable!  … [Read more...]