Forlan and Muller: Golden Boys of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
The dust has settled. The final match has been decided. Spain has finally lifted the World Cup trophy for the first time in their history. But that’s not all that is golden—because Diego Forlan of Uruguay and Thomas Muller of Germany put in golden performances, worthy of being celebrated by everyone.
Adidas Golden Ball Goes to Diego Forlan
The Uruguay striker gets top marks for the 2010 FIFA World Cup according to the prestigious poll headed by accredited media representatives. Forlan finds himself at the top spot, ahead of Netherlands' hit man Wesley Sneijder and Spanish sniper David Villa.
Forlan fiercely fought for his native country, firing five goals to lift his team to the Last Four for the first time in 40 years. His performance underlined his reputation as the undisputed leader of his team. Throughout the 90 minutes, Forlan became the fulcrum of the team’s attack, and the Uruguayan rarely disappointed.
Ppposing defenders had a very hard time in marking the mercurial player. He is not a pure striker, yet he is not a midfielder—Forlan is somewhere in between, making it very hard to judge what he the Uruguayan is going to do next.
Despite finally falling to the Dutch via a 3-2 score line, the South Americans made a good account of themselves. They were not exactly considered as tournament favourites, but they sure showed the world how to play team football, especially in the case of Forlan.
Now, with Forlan at the helm, the future is certainly looking bright for Uruguay.
Thomas Muller Gets the Adidas Golden Boot
Germany played beautiful football up until the semi final match against Spain. This brand new incarnation of Die Mannschaft surprised many by junking their traditional result-oriented play and instead took on the Joga Bonito mantra that left the footballing world breathless.
They were young, they were hungry, but their inexperience proved to be there downfall as they were one-upped by Spain, particularly Carles Puyol’s incredible header in the second half.
One of their bright young upstarts is Thomas Muller, who opened the scoring for Germany against Uruguay in the battle for third place. Despite this being his first foray in the World Cup, Muller finished with five goals and three assists. His efforts in South Africa proved to be a notch better than David Villa and Wes Sneijder. The Spaniard and the Dutch finished with five goals and one assist apiece, thus, Muller wins the prestigious award courtesy of his 3 assists.
The 20-year-old’s performance also garnered him the Hyundai Best Young Player Award, with the only blemish on Muller's record at the finals being his yellow card in Germany’s meeting with Argentina. Muller was forced to miss the match against Spain, which, in hindsight, probably happened because Germany missed out on his creativity and control in the middle. Prior to this edition of the World Cup, fellow German Lukas Podolski won this award, which certainly says something about the excellent job being done by the German FA (DFB) in terms of youth development programs.
Muller was the biggest revelation in the World Cup and his value with his club career will surely see some appraisal. After just one season with Bayern Munich, he has become Germany’s favourite son. And perhaps, the darling of the footballing world.
After 4 years of waiting, we finally have new world champions in Spain. But Forlan and Muller, the Golden Boys of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, have set a gold standard for others to emulate.
We’re sensing a changing of the guard, with the younger players finally making their mark in the world stage. And that’s definitely good as gold!
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