ESPN released a list of the top 50 players that will be playing at the World Cup. Landon Donovan made the list at #50.

1 Lionel Messi, Argentina
2 Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
3 Wayne Rooney, England
4 Kaka, Brazil
5 Xavi, Spain
6 Didier Drogba, Ivory Coast
7 Andres Iniesta, Spain
8 Fernando Torres, Spain
9 Steven Gerrard, England
10 Michael Essien, Ghana
11 David Villa, Spain
12 Franck Ribery, France
13 Samuel Eto’o, Cameroon
14 Luis Fabiano, Brazil
15 Iker Casillas, Spain
16 Cesc Fabregas, Spain
17 Gianluigi Buffon, Italy
18 Dani Alves, Brazil
19 Nemanja Vidic, Serbia
20 Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands
21 Maicon, Brazil
22 Frank Lampard, England
23 Andrea Pirlo, Italy
24 Carlos Tevez, Argentina
25 Robin van Persie, Netherlands
26 Gonzalo Higuain, Argentina
27 Diego Forlan, Uruguay
28 Thierry Henry, France
29 Sergio Aguero, Argentina
30 Michael Ballack, Germany
31 Julio Cesar, Brazil
32 Arjen Robben, Netherlands
33 Gerard Pique, Spain
34 Miroslav Klose, Germany
35 Lucio, Brazil
36 Javier Mascherano, Argentina
37 John Terry, England
38 David Silva, Spain
39 Carles Puyol, Spain
40 Nicolas Anelka, France
41 Ashley Cole, England
42 Patrice Evra, France
43 Marek Hamsik, Slovakia
44 Karim Benzema, France
45 Yoann Gourcuff, France
46 Daniele De Rossi, Italy
47 Philipp Lahm, Germany
48 Yaya Toure, Ivory Coast
49 Giorgio Chiellini, Italy
50 Landon Donovan, United States

The top three are unquestionable at the moment but they might not shine the brightest at this coming World Cup.  I think soccer fans should pay attention to the Netherlands dynamic midfielder Wesley Sneijder, Brazil’s dominating right back Maicon, Slovakia’s young playmaker Marek Hamsik, and Argentina’s new prophet, striker Carlos “el Apache” Tevez.

I would have found a spot for American goalkeeper Tim Howard but it is tough to argue with most of these selections.  Who do you think belongs on the list?  Who do you think will shine in South Africa?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 9:23 am and is filed under 2010 World Cup, General, International Soccer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.