Ballon D'Eurosport and Team D'Or

Eurosport - Sun, 28 Dec 08:47:00 2008

It takes a fair bit to impress our team of jaded hacks here at Eurosport, but when it came to our top football award there was only one choice: Cristiano Ronaldo is eurosport.yahoo.com's player of the year, and winner of the highly prestigious - albeit imaginary - Ballon D'Eurosport.

FOOTBALL Cristiano Ronaldo - 0

A few weeks ago we put our editorial team to the task of selecting their own, personal first XIs of the year with a view to deciding on both the best player - who wins the Ballon D'Eurosport - and the best overall XI, our Team D'Or.

Weeks of frenzied debate and beard-stroking deliberation followed, at the end of which we've come up with our definitive list. And the winner is...

Ballon D'Eurosport winner: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Honourable mention: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

It was as predictable as it was unanimous: Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo is our player of the year.

He might be more arrogant than a French sommelier and as slippery as a banana on ice skates, but there's no denying that he's very, very good indeed at football. Notching up 42 goals in a season is a quite incredible achievement, and the Portuguese superstar is a worthy winner.

But it wasn't quite as clear-cut as you might have thought: Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas was just behind, having played a major part in Real Madrid's title-winning season before going on to captain his national side to victory in the European Championship. Casillas got the nod from all but one of our editorial team..

Coming in third was Barcelona playmaker Lionel Messi, who was the top-rated striker just ahead of Livepool's Fernando Torres.

Manchester United's rock-solid defence provided both centre backs, with Jose Bosingwa and Yuri Zhirkov on either side. Zhirkov is an interesting one: he plays on the wing for CSKA Moscow, but his work at left-back for Russia won him a spot in defence. Go figure.

In central midfield it was another Barca man, Xavi, who was the highest-rated player, while Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas did just enough to get in alongside him.

The full line-up is as follows, and constitutes our 2008 Eurosport Team D'Or:

Team D'Or

GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid - eight votes out of nine)

RB: Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea - four votes)

CB: Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United - four votes)

CB: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United - four votes)

LB: Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow - three votes)

RM: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United - nine votes)

CM: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal - three votes)

CM: Xavi (Barcelona - six votes)

LM: Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich - four votes)

FW: Fernando Torres (Liverpool - six votes)

FW: Lionel Messi (Barcelona - seven votes)

Best of the rest

Just missing out on the team were the likes of the England captain John Terry, the rock-solid Sergio Ramos, the brilliantly-consistent Patrice Evra and the brilliant but inconsistent Andre Arshavin.

Some, like Evra, missed out since they had the misfortune to be playing in parts of the field dominated by even greater players.

Others, however, failed to convince widely enough to force their way in. "Sergio Ramos might have been in two teams that won things," one person said of the Real Madrid and Spain right-back, "but he was by far the worst player in both those teams."

Also interesting were the quirky picks and off-beat choices made by some of our writers. Mohamed Aboutrika - henceforth to be known as the Egyptian Pele - got a mention after inspiring his team to African Nations Cup glory, as did the better-than-ever Jimmy Bullard and star-in-the-making Sergio Aguero.

But by far the most sentimental votes were for Juventus's Alessandro Del Piero. Two of our misty-eyed writers plumped for the evergreen striker, who finally won the Serie A Capocannonieri award (for the league's top scorer) some 15 years after first playing in Italy's top division

Want to know how we voted? Our teams of the year are as follows. Let us know what you think...

Mike Hytner (4-3-3): Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Patrice Evra (Manchester United); Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Xavi (Barcelona), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Reda Maher (4-4-2): Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal); Mohamed Aboutrika (Al-Ahly), Xavi (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United); Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Alex Chick (4-4-2): Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Wesley Brown (Manchester United), Martin Laursen (Aston Villa), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow); Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Jimmy Bullard (Fulham), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich); Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Tony Mabert (4-4-2): Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Joan Capdevila (Villareal); Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Xavi (Barcelona), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), David Villa (Valencia)

Will Tidey (4-3-3): Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus); Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich); Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Xavi (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Francesco Totti (Roma), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Alex Sharratt (4-4-2): Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus); Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Xavi (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg)

Jonathan Symcox (3-4-3): Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United); Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Robinho (Manchester City); Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Sean Fay (4-4-2): Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow); Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Xavi (Barcelona), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Toby Keel (3-4-3): Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Maxwell (Internazionale); Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid)

Eurosport

Comment 63 - 82 of 82

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  1. Starters (subs)
    GK- Casillas (Van der Sar)
    RB-Danni­ Alves (Bosingwa or Ramos)
    FB-Vidic (Terry even though i­ hate him)
    FB-Ferdinand
    LB-Evra (Capedevila or­ Clichy)
    RW-Ronaldo
    CM-Xavi (Wesley­ Sneijder)
    CM-Fabregas (Iniesta)
    LW-Messi­ (Silva)
    F-Rooney (Benzema)
    F-Torres (Aguero)

    From Steven, on Mon 29 Dec 3:42AM

  2. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP
    ALL MATCHES ON WEB: ­ PREMIER LEAGUE, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA AND CHAMPIONS­ LEAGUE - UEFA CUP
    ALL THE HIGH-LIGHTS OF PREMIER­ LEAGUE MATCHES

    From , on Sun 28 Dec 11:14AM

  3. ........... ROONEY ................... FERNANDO TORRES­ ..................
    .............................­ FABREGAS­ .....................................
    C.RONALDO­ ........................................­ MESSI
    ............................ CARRICK­ ..............................
    EVRA­ .....................................................­ S. RAMOS
    .............. FERDINAND ........­ VIDIC....
    .........................­ CASILLAS........................................

    From Arthur, on Sun 28 Dec 10:51AM

  4. Casillas
    W. Brown Ferdinand Vidic Evra
    C.Ronaldo­ Xavi Senna Zhirkov
    Benzema Torres

    From Arma, on Sun 28 Dec 10:37AM

  5. --------------Benzema---------Torres---------------

    Ro­ naldo---------------------------------------Messi

    ----­ ---------Fabregas-----------Xavi---------------

    Clichy­ ----------------------------------------Sagna

    --------­ ------Vidic------------Calvalho------------

    ----------­ -----------Cassilas----------------------

    From ItzJustMe, on Sun 28 Dec 8:21AM

  6. Buffon

    maicon ­ vidic ­ chiellini ­ daniel alves

    messi ­ de rossi ­ gerrard ­ kaka

    ­ torres ­ ­ ibrahimovic

    sub: casillas, ramos, nesta, MALDINI,­ evra, pirlo, fabregas, del piero, lampard, villa,­ adebayor.

    From nodari_dzamukashvili, on Sun 28 Dec 8:01AM

  7. for all the noise of the EUROSPORT outfit, its all­ about the British press and their perspective. what­ else would you expect? for my money, the FIFA world­ footballer of the year 2008 plays in Spain!

    From mike onyibe, on Sun 28 Dec 5:35AM

  8. Sorry for this but u guyz at eurosport r totally­ biased...More than half of the team is from the Premier­ league...Yes the Premier league might be the best but­ where are Maicon, Arshavin, Ibra, Chiellini, Lahm,­ Villa, Ramos, Benzema n De Rossi was excellent last­ season

    From Umar, on Sun 28 Dec 5:23AM

  9. TAREQ (mess67).this is the most senible thing i have­ seen on ES(UK) in a long time. just because there­ eng.... or play in eng.... they are the best. there is­ a lot more better players out there playing in other­ leauges than most of these listed adove. italian­ football is way better than eng.... football . records­ say it all. man utd and chelsea will be out in the next­ round of the champ leauge. FORZA JUVE.

    From giovannit1980, on Sun 28 Dec 4:51AM

  10. TAREQ (mess67).this is the most senible thing i have­ seen on ES in a long time. just because there eng....­ or play in eng.... they are the best. there is a lot­ more better players out there playing in other leauges­ than most of these listed adove. italian football is­ way better than eng.... football . records say it all.­ man utd and chelsea will be out in the next round of­ the champ leauge. FORZA JUVE.

    From giovannit1980, on Sun 28 Dec 4:50AM

  11. The best team of the calendar year 2008 taking­ everything in to account is undoubtedly:

    Selected by:­ Mr Piranditta

    Gk- Casillas
    Rb: Sagna
    Cb: Vidic
    Cb:­ Puyol
    Lb: Clichy
    RM:­ Ronaldo
    Cmf:Fabregas
    Cmf:Xavi
    Lmf:Arshavin
    Cf:­ Messi
    Cf: Torres

    Honourable mentions to Maicon, Senna,­ Evra, Ineista, Adebayor, Sergio Kun Aguero, DVilla

    From zvp1989, on Sun 28 Dec 3:54AM

  12. i think this is the best team D'Or for 2008
    line up­ is­ 4-3-3
    .................Z.IBRAHIMOVIC
    ......L.MESSI.....­ ................C.RONALDO
    F.RIBERY......LAMPARD......S.­ GERRARD........ XAVI
    P.EVRA....... N.VIDIC­ ......J.TERRY.........DANIEL ALVES­
    ....................I.CASILLAS
    SUB. Maicon,A.Del­ Piero,Robson de Souza,C.Fabregas,Kaka,P.Lahm &­ Julio César

    From ronnie, on Sun 28 Dec 1:44AM

  13. I think Del piero should be in the team d'or­ because he had a gorgeous year.. finished as a top­ scorer in italian championship and had a incredible­ second half year with fantastic goals.

    From Mr JuVe, on Sun 28 Dec 1:14AM

  14. stephen ireland has played as well as any of those­ players so far this season

    From tony0ldbury, on Sun 28 Dec 12:59AM

  15. My line up is­ 4231:

    ----------TORRES

    ROBBEN-----KAKA-----RONALDO

    -­ -MASCHERANO---M.­ DIARRA

    EVRA---TERRY---PEPE---RAMOS

    ---------CASILLAS
    ­
    THIS LINE UP WOULD DESTROY ANYONE. ;)

    From albaniansam, on Sat 27 Dec 11:24PM

  16. Eurosport, since acquired by Yahoo, turned into a­ boring chorus of people who think nobody else knows how­ to play football outside England.. England team is the­ best.. English league is the strongest.. English­ players are the role models..

    Look now at the team­ they chose!!! Typical!! Anyway, I'm tired of this­ site.. I really hate it when I enter the main page and­ find a stupid article about cricket or about a game in­ England's 8th or 9th league right at the top, while­ I have to look much deeper to find an article about an­ important game in serie A for example!

    And for the­ best part: when you try to fill in the opinion survey,­ they kick you out and tell you bluntly that they are­ not interested in yor opinion, simply because you are­ not from England!!!

    Good for you Cristiano Ronaldo..­ You have a Super Site to support now.. As if their­ biased opinion counts!!!

    From Tareq, on Sat 27 Dec 10:28PM

  17. Starters (subs)
    GK-Casillas (Cech)
    RB-Dani Alves­ (Ramos)
    FB-Vidic (Terry)
    FB-Ferdinand(Puyol)
    LB-Evra­ (Abidal)
    RW-Ronaldo (Deco)
    CM-Fabregas(Xavi)
    LW-Kaka­ (Rafael Van Der Vaart)
    CAM-Messi (Ribery)
    F-Villa­ (Benzema)
    F-Torres (Adebayor)

    From lizod88, on Sat 27 Dec 10:18PM

  18. GK:CASILLAS
    RB:DANI­ ALVES
    CB:PUYOL
    CB:CHIELLINI
    LB:ABIDAL
    RM:MESSI
    RCM:XAVI­
    LCM:GERRARD / TOURE YAYA
    LM:INIESTA
    RS:ETO'O /­ HENRY
    LS:IBRAHIMOVIC / DAVID VILLA

    From kiarash_athari, on Sat 27 Dec 10:13PM

  19. Gk – Petr Cech (Chelsea)
    RB – Dani Alves (Barcelona)
    CB­ – Nemanja Vidic Manchester United)
    CB – Rio Ferdinand­ (Manchester United)
    LB – Eric Abidal (Barcelona)
    LAM –­ Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
    LCM – Steven Gerrard­ (Liverpool)
    CM – Xavi (Barcelona)
    RCM – Frank Lampard­ (Chelsea)
    RAM – Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester­ United)
    CF – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan)

    From eamon.donnelly, on Sat 27 Dec 9:50PM

  20. GK Iker Casillas
    RB Maicon
    LB Patrice Evra
    CB Ricardo­ Carvalho
    CB Rio Ferdinand
    CM Xavi
    CM Marcos Senna
    RW­ Lionel Messi
    LW Cristiano Ronaldo
    SS Andrei Arshavin
    ST­ Fernando Torres

    From jas124, on Sat 27 Dec 9:14PM
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