International Football: All-Decade Team, 2000-2009

With the ending of the first decade of the 21^st century we have seen countless lists and reviews assessing the sports and entertainment industries during the past 10 years.  For international soccer, numerous commentators and writers from important media outlets have offered their “best of” or “most important” lists, most of them focusing on the “ideal” starting 11 of the past decade.  ESPN Soccernet, Sports Illustrated, and Goal.com all offered their all-star team of the decade with no doubt some controversial decisions.  Other news and blog sites (BBC, Associated Content, The Spoiler, The Sun) also weighed in on their teams while other internet writers (ESPN Soccernet again, Bleacher Report, Yardbarker, Whoateallthepies) offered other types of lists to assess the decade, such as the Yahoo! Sports and The Guardian, which offered their 6 best players of the decade.

Picking an all-decade team is particular difficult in any sport because of the arbitrarily created cut-off dates, which ignore player performance right before and after the 10 year period. 

International soccer is particularly difficult to assess as the top players often have shorter window of peak performance as compared to sports like professional basketball and baseball, where the careers of star players are generally longer. 

Further making player evaluation more difficult is the fact that soccer tends to rely heavily on subjective appraisals (“beautiful game”, “technically brilliant”, “great leadership”) as well as titles won.  While championship totals are important in assessing players in other major team sports, individual statistics play a greater role and help fans separate the superstars from the mere stars. 

Lastly, elite international soccer comprises various top notch club leagues and only occasional international tournaments.  In contrast, the best in sports like American football, hockey, basketball, and baseball usually play in one top league and, hence, they can be more easily compared with their contemporaries.

All of this leads to some rather divided opinions on who were the footballers of the past decade.  Sure, there are some rather consensus choices, but debates rage about most of the ideal 11.

With these analytical difficulties in mind, I have decided to approach the best of the past decade in a different manner.  In short, my goal is to try to identify 5-6 year periods of player peak performance and group players accordingly.  Through this technique, I am able to divide the decade into three parts – First Half, Middle Years (generally between 2002 and 2007), and Second Half – and devise three elite teams of players. 

Such a method is particularly appropriate and useful if we consider that superstar players like Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi essentially played half of a decade.  Further, it offers a more realistic categorization of players like Ronaldinho who had a short 4-5 year period of brilliance in the middle of the decade before a dramatic decline in playing level later on. 

More importantly, I would argue that while most great players have more noteworthy years in their careers, they – especially the non-defensive players – only sustain 5 or 6 years windows of absolute greatness.  Playing time (both at club and international levels), club transfers, injuries, physical demands of the sport, and team composition (quality of your teammates) all play an important role in determining individual success and, in many cases, in preventing a player’s long-term, high level performance.

Beyond identifying the best players in the defined periods of the past decade, my method also helps underscore certain trends within international soccer at both the club and national team levels.  I will discuss these trends within each team section.

Of course, there are players who will defy this categorization as they have played at an elite level for more than 6-7 years.  We will leave this element for later consideration as I shape my final 11 best at the end of this article.

Another problem is that, even with the division of the decade into 3 distinct teams, we are forced to keep some note-worthy players off the list.  I will get to these key names as I analyze each section or team. 

For now, though, let us consider the 3 squads of the past decade.

First Half Team: 4-4-2 formation

While many might bemoan the omissions of such greats as Raul and David Beckham from the First Half Team, I was particularly troubled by having to leave off Lilian Thuram, an absolute defensive force for the French national teams and two Italian clubs, particularly during the first 6 years of the decade.  His versatility in playing both right-back and center-back defender positions made him an outstanding candidate, but I had to give the nod to Roberto Ayala, who was just as tough as Thuram and, arguably, did not have the stellar defensive supporting cast in Valencia and Argentina that Thuram had on both the French national and Juventus teams.  Cafu on the right wing seemed more appropriate given not only his accomplishments in Serie A and for the 2002 World Cup Champion team, but for the type of attacking wing fullback trend that Cafu helped make so prominent on many elite international teams now.

Other important omissions include Javier Zanetti, an unsung and tireless defensive presence who is still going strong, but was probably at his best during the first 5-6 years of the past decade.

Another point of contention might revolve around player peak longevity.  Both Henry and Makelele played well into the 2006 and 2007 seasons.  Still, I consider their emergence and importance as key players in the decade to have occurred in the first half, starting as far back as 2000 or 2001.  We will also see how elite players like Alessandro Nesta and Pavel Nedved could have very well made this list, but were pushed to the middle of the decade list mainly because they achieved more team or club success during the middle portion of the decade.

From a more global perspective, this first team offers a general reflection of top level international soccer of the period, at least up to 2004.  Looking at national team competition, the French players were key parts of the Euro 2000 championship, Figo played a star role in getting Portugal to the Euro 2000 semis and the Euro 2004 final, Oliver Kahn was the standout player of the 2002 World Cup, and the three Brazilian players were instrumental in their nation’s World Cup victory. 

At the club level, Real Madrid were an top European team during the first 4 years of the past decade and featured R. Carlos, Zidane, Makelele, Figo, and Ronaldo.  Thierry Henry and Vieira were instrumental in Arsenal’s success in the Premier League and Roberto Ayala was a key figure for Valencia, which won 2 La Liga titles and a UEFA cup and came running up in the Champions League.  Maldini had less domestic league titles than his cohorts on this list, but did get a Champions League trophy during the first 5 years.

Middle Years Team: 4-2-3-1

This team list was probably the most difficult to compose as many of the players encompass a period of excellence that goes beyond the middle section of the decade.  Besides the already mentioned Nedved and Nesta, Andrea Pirlo comes to mind as he is still an extremely talented and important player for Milan and Italy.  Still, I find the classification sound as I am looking at peak performance in terms of both individual ability and contributions to team success (i.e. titles).  It is no surprise, then, that 4 important players on the 2006 World Cup champion team feature on this list – 2 of which had a key role in AC Milan’s middle of the decade club success. 

Pavel Nedved makes this list despite his high level of play dating back to the end of the 1990s because of his extremely influential contributions to Juventus during their 2002-2006 run of success and his role in the Czech Republic’s strong showing in the Euro 2004 tournament.

The most awkward choice involved the defense once again.  Not only did I have to leave off Ricardo Carvalho, who was a key stopper for the Champions League winners Porto, for an elite Chelsea team, and for the Euro 2004 runners up, but I had to place Fabio Cannavaro on the right wing, a position he played in his earlier days before settling in at the center-back position for Juventus and Italy during their middle of the decade title runs.

Another point of consternation was the positioning of players.  While the back line is defensively solid, the rest of the team is rather offensive minded and features several players who play similar positions.  Of course, Deco and Lampard have played on the pitch together for Chelsea, but they have a more defensive minded mid-fielder behind them than Pirlo, a player that is not unaccustomed to the central mid-fielder position, but is usually surrounded by strong tackling players such as Gennaro Gattuso on the same line.  In fact, Gattuso would have been a strong choice here, but just missed in my book for his somewhat overly aggressive play and the fact that he was surrounded by outstanding teammates both at Milan and for the Italian squad while someone like Deco stood out more as a decisive game-changing player for his respective teams, two of which won Champions League titles.

Van Nistelrooy over Henry at the pure striker position during this period might be a point of contention.  Further, one could argue that the Dutchman was stellar in the Premier League from the beginning of the decade.  I like Ruud here, however, because of his prolific goal scoring for Man U and his successful, although somewhat injury plagued, transition to La Liga for Real Madrid, a period in which he was the top goal scorer one year and formed part of two league titles.

Notable absences on this list include Clarence Seedorf, who, like a fine wine, has gotten better with age, and the aforementioned Gennaro Gattuso.  I would also mention Michael Ballack, who was the essential the lone standout field player for Germany and Bayern Munich during this period.  However, I chose Deco over him given the Portuguese’s amazing run from 2004-2006.

Second Half Team: 4-3-3

This team was fairly easy to create and, other than one or two positions, evoked relatively few controversies, at least in my mind.  Most of the chosen players had something in common as they really emerged as elite players around 2005 and 2006.  Even Casillas, Puyol, and Terry, who played important roles on their club teams well before 2005, did not emerge as elite players at their position – at least in terms of individual awards such as those given by UEFA and FIFA – until later.

As with the other discussed periods, this second half group features players that underline certain trends in international soccer.  The 5 Barcelona players highlight the success of their club from 2005 until now.  Two of the Barça players along with Casillas were key factors in Spain’s Euro 2008 success and Dani Alves, yet another Barça standout, first emerged as a star with Seville during their consecutive year UEFA Cup triumphs.  Lastly, Samuel Eto’o highlighted a period in which many African players played influential roles in the success of their elite European team.  Didier Drogba, certainly a contender for the best striker of the second half of the past decade, is another example.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrice Evra symbolize the success of Manchester United during this period and John Terry and Steven Gerrard were leaders who brought their teams high profile recognition and helped make the Premier League the best club league in the world.  For becoming the key figure in Milan and their Champions League successes, Kaká also shines brightly.

The toughest omission was probably Nemanja Vidić, yet another defensive standout.  As Evra was probably the weakest fullback choice, I could have played Puyol on the left to include the Serbian.  However, Evra’s more natural talents on the wing and Puyol’s experience at the highest levels of competition and his passing skills pushed me to choose the defensive line as I did.  Other possible inclusions were Fernando Torres, the aforementioned Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Michael Essien, and Sergio Ramos, but their absence does not seem so controversial considering the greatness of those chosen.

As with the Middle Year Team, this team lacks some defensive presence in the midfield with Gerrard as the only one with some experience in that area.   Also, the back line is probably more vulnerable than those listed in the previous lists. 

Conclusions and All-Decade Team

In terms of both overall talent and tactical and positional balance, the team of the First Half stands out as the best.  The presence of defensive midfielders and attacking wing fullbacks give the team an array of weapons to compliment the already stellar attack orchestrated by Zidane and spearheaded by Figo, Ronaldo, and Henry.

That being said, I see the Second Half Team being slightly more explosive on the offensive end, which would help overcome its potential defensive shortcomings with numerous goals.  The Middle Years Team is nothing to laugh at, but I would worry more about balance and weaker defensive presence in the midfield.

Beyond an assessment of the distinct teams and its component player, the question now becomes if this exercise in any way helps us to determine a definitive 11 player squad for the whole decade.

In short, I think it does.  Clearly, there are some players whose excellence goes beyond their designated time periods, or those 5-6 year spans which I theorized as being more or less an elite soccer player’s top years.  Players like Claude Makelele, Giunliugi Buffon, Thierry Henry, and several of the defenders mentioned come immediately to mind.  Because of longevity of their peak performance during the decade, I would argue that they deserve special attention.  This also means that players like Figo and Paolo Maldini, who were already stars in the 90s run the risk of be excluded from the final selection.

Then, what about someone like Ronaldinho, who was arguably the best player of the decade when he was at his best, but who had a dramatic fall from elite status after a 4-5 peak period?  Quite frankly, I think it would be fair to consider him a borderline case, even despite his numerous individual awards including 2 FIFA World Player distinctions.  In other words, if he is on par with another great from the decade, years of greatness is a reasonable deciding factor.

So, individual recognition via prestigious footballer awards should be another important criterion in helping decide the final team, but should be considered in the context of overall consistency at being recognized as one of the game’s bests.

As we have seen in our team list sections, the players chosen for each group represent certain currents in world soccer, namely titles won by clubs and nations.  As greatness in this sport is often correlated with titles won, or vice versa, I think it is fair to give certain preference to players who have achieved great things on a team level - even losses in championship matches of tournaments – and who have played instrumental parts in their team’s success.

With these reflections in mind, I submit my ideal team in a 4-2-3-1 format followed by some brief explanations of each choice.  Buffon; Cafu, Puyol, Terry, R. Carlos; Makelele, Xavi Hernandez; Messi, Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo; Henry.

Gianluigi Buffon – Quite simply, the most consistent top tier keeper of the decade (Kahn, for instance, had more ups and downs)  and someone who has been continually singled out by critics and fans as the best in the game for many years throughout the decade.

Cafu – The model attacking fullback of recent times, Cafu’s constant runs up and down the right side of the pitch spelled success for his Italian clubs and the Brazilian national side for many years.  Dani Alves, perhaps the best today at the same position, certainly owes much to his Brazilian predecessor.

Carles Puyol – Choosing the curly-maned Catalan over legends like Cannavaro and Nesta is no doubt controversial to many, but I think his leadership and tenacity for successful Barcelona and Spanish national teams put him at par with the Italian duo.  Giving him a slight edge is his defensive influence in highly technical and offensive team environments, where backline passing skills and field awareness are essential and where defenders can be left relatively vulnerable in other squads’ periodic counter-attacks.  The Italians, in contrast, benefitted from more defensive-minded tactical support and midfielders from their Italian teams and, in the case of Cannavaro, the World Cup MVP and FIFA World Player struggled a bit his first year (2006-2007) in La Liga with Real Madrid’s more offensive minded play.  Nesta’s injuries throughout the decade and in some important national team competitions hurt his value a bit.  Puyol’s numerous individual awards also put him easily at par or better than his peers.

John Terry – The defensive leader for a extremely tough and successful Chelsea squad that continued finished at or near the top of the Premier League and that competed meritoriously in the Champions League, even throwing a solid defensive wall against the high potent Barcelona offense on several occasions. 

Roberto Carlos – Like Cafu on the right flank, R. Carlos was the tireless force on the right side of the Real Madrid and Brazilian defences.  A bit lax in defending at time, he was strong and accurate on tackles and recovered nicely from his often devastating left side runs and crosses.

Claude Makelele – It’s hard to argue with Claude as he not only defined the defensive midfielder position during the decade, but left Real Madrid’s defensive tactical positioning in shambles when he left for Chelsea, a club that he helped become defensive force at the European club level.

Xavi Hernandez – A unsung hero of the Barcelona and Spanish national teams, Xavi is the model of consistency in that he rarely loses the ball, makes intelligent and deft passes, and rarely misses matches due to injury.  In sum, he is an essential organizing element in the midfield and perfect complement next to any defensive midfielder.

Zinedine Zidane – Despite missing most the second half of the decade and even being in slightly inconsistent form in his final two years with Real Madrid, Zidane’s poetic skills and leadership abilities in the midfield at the highest international levels make him someone almost impossible to leave off this final 11.  Notice France’s success in Euro 2000 and the 2006 World Cup with Zidane and the country’s poor performance in the 2002 Cup without him.

Cristiano Ronaldo – He has achieved as much or more than Ronaldinho during the decade and had a more consistent run, even showing that he should be a premier player in the world going into this next decade.

Lionel Messi – The same argument could be made for Messi in justifying his presence over Ronaldinho.  He has also been more explosive and influential at the club level than, say, Figo, who started the decade off with a bang, but seemed a bit inconsistent with Real Madrid’s “galacticos” period from 2003 onward.  Messi has finished the decade with several years of prestigious international awards and has easily formed part of the debates revolving the best player in the world for several years now.

Thierry Henry – The most consistent elite striker of the decade and a key reason for Arsenal’s early success in the Premier League during the decade.  His comeback for Barcelona last year helps put him above his rivals while other chief rivals like Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, or even Shevchenko were too inconsistent or injury plagued to make the final cut.

One more personal note to Luis Figo supporters:  Despite his notable national team success in Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, he seemed to be part of some unsportsmanlike behavior as Portugal exited in a controversial lost to France in 2000 and when he questioned Deco’s inclusion on the national team (Deco was born in Brazil and later nationalized Portuguese) and left the pitch in a bit of a fit in a game in which his substitute (Postiga) eventually scored the goal that sent the game into extra time against England in the Euro 2004 tournament. 

My substitutes for the All-Decade team would be headed by Ronaldinho, who could have just as easily been included for his absolute brilliance from 2002 to 2007 or so.  Ultimately, his precipitous drop off in play and his somewhat acrimonious exit at Barcelona gave the edge to other brilliant attacking midfielders of the decade.  In addition to Dinho, the bench would feature Iker Casillas for his excellence and athleticism in the goal for Real Madrid, Fabio Cannavaro for his versality and defensive positioning, Steven Gerard for his fight and strength, and Ronaldo of Brazil for his electrifying striking ability and amazing strength on ball.