It's the end of the World Cup season, the time to look back at this year’s tournament. So, here is my 2014 World Cup Team of the Tournament. I elect to go for a 3-5-2 formation, which is formation that got the results for teams like Netherlands, Mexico, and Costa Rica who did well at this year’s tournament.
GK: Manuel Neuer (Germany)
He’s definitely one of the best goalkeepers right now. A well-deserved Golden Glove award to add to his resume. Neuer has the skills and intelligence that most goalkeepers in the world doesn’t possesed. The awareness to know when to come out from his line to make those saves. The sharpness to make incredible saves and the good ball distribution technique that help facilitate the German team.
CB: Mats Hummels (Germany)
He’s definitely one of the world’s best defenders right now and the performance he put on in this World Cup certainly justified that. He is a guy that is able to able to contribute defensively and offensively for the team, scoring two headers through free kicks at this tournament. He was occasionally caught off guard by the pace of the Argentina attacking players. Nonetheless, his performance at this year’s World Cup help Germany secure their fourth world title.
CB: Stefan de Vrij (Netherlands)
Perhaps a surprise inclusion in this list. This young guy was one of the reason of the rock solid Dutch defence. At the age of 22, we can definitely expect a lot from this young guy at the next World Cup. He has also put on some impressive numbers at this year’s tournament too. He had the highest completed passes (324 completed passes) and the highest number of successful tackles (20 out of 26 tackles) for this Dutch team.
CB: Philipp Lahm (Germany)
The German captain was being dubbed by his manager Pep Guardiola as “the most intelligent player he has ever worked with”. Despite being listed as a center-back in this team, he has the skills and intelligence to play a number of roles in the pitch. His versatility and cleverness as a football player is shown when he is able to switch from the defensive midfield role he has been playing at Bayern Munich throughout the whole season to the right back position starting from the quarter finals matchup. This decision allows him to both defend and attack on the right hand side, giving the Germans an extra edge towards the end of the competition.
CM: Javier Mascherano (Argentina)
Never in a doubt he will make it to this team. He plays in his usual defensive midfield role rather than the central defender role he was forced to play while playing for Barcelona and the effect of it was absolutely great. Playing for a team like Argentina that is traditionally weak at the back, he provides the cover for the Argentina defence. He’s the player with the highest number of tackles (23 out of 30) at this year’s World Cup. His performance against Netherlands was a master-class, especially that 91st minute tackle on Robben to deny his chance of scoring the winner.
CM: Toni Kroos (Germany)
It was ultimately between him and Schweinsteiger for this position. But ultimately decides to go with him. Despite his horrific mistake in the final that nearly gave away a goal to Higuain, Kroos was the heartbeat of this German team, contributing on both ends of the field. He scored two goals and notched up three assists. He also achieved the highest amount of completed passes (544 out of 605 passes) and also a 100% tackling record (15 out of 15 tackles) at this year’s tournament.
LM: James Rodriguez (Colombia)
Rodriguez is definitely the breakout star of the tournament. Not to forget that his goal against Uruguay is in contention for the goal of the tournament, showing his great ability and talent to be able to control and shoot the ball well. Playing out left in the midfield for Colombia, he notched up 6 goals and 2 assists in 5 games played. At the age of 23, he will be the main man to spearhead Colombia’s next World Cup campaign in 4 years time.
RM: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
He might be a controversial Golden Ball winner this time around, but you can’t deny his contributions for the Argentina at this tournament. He finally proved that he is able to play with the same intensity as what he did wearing a Barcelona shirt. His individual brilliance proved decisive as Argentina manages to scrape past all their opponents making into the final.
LW: Neymar (Brazil)
Despite Brazil’s horrific ending to this tournament, he is the player (and Oscar) that carries this whole Brazil team in the attack. Being one of the future football superstars, he carries the hope and expectations of the host nation. Watching him playing on the field, you know he will give the team something special to break the deadlock. Brazil fans know their World Cup dreams was over when he was injured, but he gives Brazilians the glimmer of hope to wrest back the World Cup trophy in four years time.
ST: Thomas Mueller (Germany)
He was close to winning his second golden boot award, but came up short of just a single goal. Muller is perhaps one of the most underrated footballer right now. He spend most of his time running the flanks for this German team with his incredible pace and footwork. With 10 goals in two World Cups at the age of 24, he is all set to overtake his German counterpart, Miroslav Klose’s 16 World Cup goals record in the future.
RW: Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Despite all his diving antics, he’s the reason why the Dutch made it to the semi-finals. At the age of 30, he’s still able to dribble past defenders and create opportunities for his teammates to score. Playing at the right hand side of the Dutch attack, his signature move is to drift inside using his left-foot to score. The performance against Spain in which he scores two goals was perhaps one of the best Robben performance we’ll ever witnessed.
GK: Manuel Neuer (Germany)
He’s definitely one of the best goalkeepers right now. A well-deserved Golden Glove award to add to his resume. Neuer has the skills and intelligence that most goalkeepers in the world doesn’t possesed. The awareness to know when to come out from his line to make those saves. The sharpness to make incredible saves and the good ball distribution technique that help facilitate the German team.
CB: Mats Hummels (Germany)
He’s definitely one of the world’s best defenders right now and the performance he put on in this World Cup certainly justified that. He is a guy that is able to able to contribute defensively and offensively for the team, scoring two headers through free kicks at this tournament. He was occasionally caught off guard by the pace of the Argentina attacking players. Nonetheless, his performance at this year’s World Cup help Germany secure their fourth world title.
CB: Stefan de Vrij (Netherlands)
Perhaps a surprise inclusion in this list. This young guy was one of the reason of the rock solid Dutch defence. At the age of 22, we can definitely expect a lot from this young guy at the next World Cup. He has also put on some impressive numbers at this year’s tournament too. He had the highest completed passes (324 completed passes) and the highest number of successful tackles (20 out of 26 tackles) for this Dutch team.
CB: Philipp Lahm (Germany)
The German captain was being dubbed by his manager Pep Guardiola as “the most intelligent player he has ever worked with”. Despite being listed as a center-back in this team, he has the skills and intelligence to play a number of roles in the pitch. His versatility and cleverness as a football player is shown when he is able to switch from the defensive midfield role he has been playing at Bayern Munich throughout the whole season to the right back position starting from the quarter finals matchup. This decision allows him to both defend and attack on the right hand side, giving the Germans an extra edge towards the end of the competition.
CM: Javier Mascherano (Argentina)
Never in a doubt he will make it to this team. He plays in his usual defensive midfield role rather than the central defender role he was forced to play while playing for Barcelona and the effect of it was absolutely great. Playing for a team like Argentina that is traditionally weak at the back, he provides the cover for the Argentina defence. He’s the player with the highest number of tackles (23 out of 30) at this year’s World Cup. His performance against Netherlands was a master-class, especially that 91st minute tackle on Robben to deny his chance of scoring the winner.
CM: Toni Kroos (Germany)
It was ultimately between him and Schweinsteiger for this position. But ultimately decides to go with him. Despite his horrific mistake in the final that nearly gave away a goal to Higuain, Kroos was the heartbeat of this German team, contributing on both ends of the field. He scored two goals and notched up three assists. He also achieved the highest amount of completed passes (544 out of 605 passes) and also a 100% tackling record (15 out of 15 tackles) at this year’s tournament.
LM: James Rodriguez (Colombia)
Rodriguez is definitely the breakout star of the tournament. Not to forget that his goal against Uruguay is in contention for the goal of the tournament, showing his great ability and talent to be able to control and shoot the ball well. Playing out left in the midfield for Colombia, he notched up 6 goals and 2 assists in 5 games played. At the age of 23, he will be the main man to spearhead Colombia’s next World Cup campaign in 4 years time.
RM: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
He might be a controversial Golden Ball winner this time around, but you can’t deny his contributions for the Argentina at this tournament. He finally proved that he is able to play with the same intensity as what he did wearing a Barcelona shirt. His individual brilliance proved decisive as Argentina manages to scrape past all their opponents making into the final.
LW: Neymar (Brazil)
Despite Brazil’s horrific ending to this tournament, he is the player (and Oscar) that carries this whole Brazil team in the attack. Being one of the future football superstars, he carries the hope and expectations of the host nation. Watching him playing on the field, you know he will give the team something special to break the deadlock. Brazil fans know their World Cup dreams was over when he was injured, but he gives Brazilians the glimmer of hope to wrest back the World Cup trophy in four years time.
ST: Thomas Mueller (Germany)
He was close to winning his second golden boot award, but came up short of just a single goal. Muller is perhaps one of the most underrated footballer right now. He spend most of his time running the flanks for this German team with his incredible pace and footwork. With 10 goals in two World Cups at the age of 24, he is all set to overtake his German counterpart, Miroslav Klose’s 16 World Cup goals record in the future.
RW: Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Despite all his diving antics, he’s the reason why the Dutch made it to the semi-finals. At the age of 30, he’s still able to dribble past defenders and create opportunities for his teammates to score. Playing at the right hand side of the Dutch attack, his signature move is to drift inside using his left-foot to score. The performance against Spain in which he scores two goals was perhaps one of the best Robben performance we’ll ever witnessed.
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