The World Game

Petr Cech
(GK-Chelsea/Czech Republic)
Viewers caught a glimpse of Cech’s ability when the Czech Republic dazzled at last year’s European Championship. But few could’ve predicted the monumental success he enjoyed in his first season in the English Premier League. At only 23, the lanky stopper has more than a decade to further solidify his reputation as the world’s best goalkeeper.

Carles Puyol
(D-Barcelona/Spain)
The consummate captain, the Catalans’ rock in central defense helped shore up a unit that, for years, had a comical reputation. Barcelona’s championship form depended on his stability at the back; and with the young and ludicrously talented team they’ve assembled – and the ambition to sustain it – Barça’s championship caliber does not look like it’ll be firing any blanks any time soon.

John Terry
(D-Chelsea/England)
It’s safe to say that John Terry has emerged from behind the shadow of Marcel Desailly (who?), his former mentor at Chelsea. If club owner Roman Abramovich ever gets bored and decides to sell his plaything, Terry would undoubtedly shatter the current transfer fee record for a defender, when Manchester United paid Leeds United £30 million for Rio Ferdinand.

Jamie Carragher
(D-Liverpool/England)
Many Liverpool supporters point to Jamie Carragher’s form when waxing nostalgic over their team’s improbable triumph in the Champions League final. The Merseyside-born defender has installed himself among Liverpool’s home-grown legends.

Kakà
(MF-AC Milan/Brazil)
This uncannily gifted 23-year-old midfielder has perhaps the brightest future of any player on this or any other list. His dazzling creativity was not enough to help Milan withstand Liverpool’s comeback, despite threading numerous through balls and creating bucket-loads of chances for the Rossoneri in the first half of the Champions League final. It’s the sort of playmaking that regular Serie A viewers have grown accustomed to ever since the quiet Brazilian exploded on the international scene in the 2003-2004 season.

Arjen Robben
(MF-Chelsea/Holland)
Despite enduring injuries throughout the season, Arjen Robben has emerged as perhaps the single most influential wide player in the world game. Chelsea’s performances without the 21-year-old Dutchman paled beside their with-Robben performances. His blinding pace and instinct to run at defenders often made seasoned defenders look like shell-shocked schoolboys. If he can remain relatively injury-free next season, he will give the likes of team mate Frank Lampard and Arsenal’s Thierry Henry a run for their money for Premier League Player of the Year.

Emerson
(MF-Juventus/Brazil)
 When coach Fabio Capello left the sinking ship of AS Roma after the 2003-04 season, his first order of business was to ensure that Emerson came with him.  In just one season, Capello & Co. have restored excellence to "La Vecchia Signora," the Old lady of Italian football.  Juventus owes much of its scudetto-winning season -- the club's 28th Serie A championship -- to "El Puma," the club's midfield bedrock.  Emerson combines graceful efficiency with uncompromising -- and often bone-crunching -- pragmatism in midfield.  He's a ball winner and a creator, providing the best of both worlds in the middle of the park.

Frank Lampard
(MF-Chelsea/England)
When Chelsea sold fan favorite Gus Poyet for £1.5 million and went straight out and bought potential-rich but results-thin Frank Lampard from West Ham for £11 million, it caused some head scratching (seemingly the inverse of the shrewd economics that Chelsea employed when they sold the hapless Michael Duberry to Leeds for £8 million and promptly spent half that amount for the classy Marcel Desailly). There isn’t a person on the planet denying the wisdom of that decision now. Lampard has emerged as the most solid midfielder in England and even led champions Chelsea in goals, despite not playing up front. Sven Goran Eriksson has in Lampard a possible alternative to David Beckham’s England captaincy.

Ronaldinho
(MF-Barcelona/Brazil)
The reigning FIFA World Player of the Year continues to astonish with his routine and effortless display of skill. What must PSG be thinking for deciding to sell him? Moreover, what must Real Madrid be thinking for passing on him, opting instead for David Beckham? Apparently Madrid’s hierarchy, who have spent the past couple of seasons carefully crafting preposterous decisions, determined that Ronaldinho is in fact too “ugly” to ever play for the club. Has Real Madrid president Florentino Perez already forgotten how beautiful success is?

Samuel Eto’o
(F-Barcelona/Cameroon)
And speaking of Real Madrid, what will perhaps one day be considered their greatest blunder in this era (which is saying a lot, considering [a] the sacking of the most successful manager of his time, Vicente Del Bosque; [b] the decision to jettison Claude Makelele – a player Perez infamously decried for being unable to pass the ball more than six yards; and a player who has since enjoyed his typical success at the heart of Chelsea’s midfield; and [c] choosing David Beckham over Ronaldinho in the transfer market), Madrid’s decision to sell their 50% stake in Eto’o to, of all clubs, Barcelona, reeks of incompetence. His 24 league goals was more than Raúl and Michael Owen combined. So perhaps he can be forgiven for chanting in celebration after clinching the title, “Madrid, you tw@ts, salute the Champions!”

Thierry Henry
(F-Arsenal/France)
Sigh, Thierry Henry’s dominance of Premier League defenses is becoming as redundant as Michael Jordan’s reign in the NBA. In terms of strikers in England, Henry is without peer.

FirstTouch is published weekly by David Witchard
©2004, David Witchard/FirstTouch Online

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