FIFA World Cup 2010: Top contenders for the Golden shoe
As the FIFA World Cup 2010 reaches its last two quarterfinal matches the race for the prestigious golden shoe award begins to gathers pace. The Golden shoe award is given to the highest goal scorer in the tournament. And as it happens this player’s team usually goes on to win the world cup.
Some of the most talented strikers and attacking midfielders in the world are competing for the prize which has previously belonged to greats such as Gerd Muller and Michel Platini. In the last FIFA World Cup in 2006, the golden shoe award went to Miroslav Klose. Germany hosted the World Cup and finished in as the third best team in the tournament with Klose scoring 5 goals.
This time around Miroslav Klose is in the race once again, after scoring in the first match of the German World Cup campaign against Australia in the group stages of the competition. His second goal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup came against arch rivals England as Germany defeated them by 4 goals to 1 in their round of sixteen match.
Klose is currently not only gunning for his second golden shoe in a row at the FIFA World Cup tournaments but also trying to break the Brazilian Ronaldo’s record of scoring the most number of goals in the FIFA World Cup competitions. At his current tally of 12 World Cup goals, he is only 3 goals away from the 15 goal record. He is expected to start today against Argentina in the quarterfinal clash between Germany and Argentina.
The next contender and currently the second highest goal scorer in the tournament is David Villa, the Spanish star striker has been on fire for Spain and has already scored four goals in the tournament. His first two goals came against Honduras in Spain’s second group stage match. In Spain’s third group stage match against Chile, David Villa scored his third goal of the World Cup from around half way across the line after a dreadful mistake by the Chilean goal keeper.
David Villa was again, star of the match against Spain’s round of sixteen tie against Portugal, as he scored what proved to be the only goal of the match. Eventually Spain won the match and booked themselves a quarterfinal tie against Paraguay which they look favorites to win
Wesley Sneijder, the Dutch midfielder is not a striker but usually plays high up the field for the Dutch in an attacking midfield role. This role has enabled him to get 3 goals so far in the tournament. Sneijder is renowned for his outstanding power shots and accuracy and is thus one of the forerunners for the golden shoe award as well. His first goal in the tournament came against Japan in Holland’s second group stage match.
His second goal of the tournament came against Slovakia in the round of sixteen match and the third came against the mighty Brazilians in the quarter final match at the FIFA World Cup of 2010. His header against Brazil gave the Dutch the lead and the match eventually finished 2-1 as the Dutch progressed to the semi-finals of the World Cup. His performances will be crucial for the Dutch if they hope to become the World Champions for the first time in their history.
The last contender for the golden shoe has to be Gonzalo Higuain, the Argentinean striker has been on fire so far in the tournament and is currently the joint top scorer in the World Cup along with David Villa. His first three goals came in shape of a hatrick against South Korea during the group stages of the FIFA World Cup of 2010 in South Africa.
His fourth goal of the competition came against Mexico in the round of sixteen as he took advantage of some really weak defending by the Mexicans. He is expected to feature significantly against the Germans in the quarterfinal match later on today. He is also one of the favorites to score against the relatively untested young German defense.
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