Yesterday, FIFA announced their World XI Team. Aside from the fact that the immortal Pascal Cygan wasn’t mentioned, it is surprising that the list omitted several players with stellar performances last season.
According to FIFA (actually according to the players – since they voted), the World XI Team of 2009 is as follows:
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Dani Alves (Barcelona), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Xavi (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
In my opinion, many of the players listed here are no brainers. However, I think several players benefited from their reputations as opposed to their performances. In constructing my team, I would have made the following changes:
* Julio Cesar (Inter Milan) for Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
* Maicon Douglas Sisenando (Inter Milan) for Dani Alves (Barcelona)
* Michael Essien (Chelsea) for Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Who do you think was excluded?
