Wednesday 7 January 2009

Messi's team of 2008

Barcelona player Lionel Messi picked his team of last year in the uefa.com users' Team of 2008 contest.





Goalkeeper: Petr Cech (Chelsea)
"He is very good between the sticks and also when he has to go out to intercept passes. He has very safe hands."

Right-back: Maicon (Inter Milan)
"I like the style of this Brazilian right-back. He is quick, uses the ball well and makes good decisions when attacking."

Central defender: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
"He is very good in the air and very strong on his feet. He is very hard to get past."

Central defender: Carles Puyol (Barcelona)
"He is a leader, he has contagious optimism and he never loses the ball. He is a great team captain."

Left-back: Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord)
"I know him from his days at Barcelona. He is spirited, determined, a good marker and contributes a lot in attack. He has had a good season at Feyenoord."

Right midfield: Javier Zanetti (Inter)
"He is a perfect example of a professional footballer: supportive, tireless and he gives everything on the pitch."

Central midfield: Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
"I've picked my team-mate because I think the middle of the pitch is his natural habitat. He feels comfortable and dominates everything that happens in that area. He is a phenomenon."

Attacking midfield: Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
"He was my team-mate and my friend in the youth teams of Barcelona. He has grown a lot as a player and has had an excellent 2008."

Left midfield: Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
"The last year has confirmed what a great player he is. He is always in the right place to help the team when they need him."

Forward: Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid)
"I love him and not just because he's Argentinian! He plays like the gods, has extraordinary quality and a great instinct for scoring goals."

Forward: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
"I love this type of player. He has a great shot, good control of the ball, uses of his body well in the area. He is a great goalscorer."

Coach: Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)
"Sir Alex, a gentleman, with all the titles. Manchester United won everything in 2008 and that makes him the coach of the year."


You can pick your own team of the year until 12 January here.

15 comments:

kamikaze kontiki said...

love this guy, look at the no. of Barca-ex Barca players in his squad. He had the sense not pick Ronaldo and found a place Zanetti too.

Anonymous said...

That was the most Barça players he could pick by the way. The only Barcelona nominee he didn't pick was... Lionel Messi.

Ramzi said...

Now where is the rumour that will say "Messi to Man UTD to take C.Ronaldo place who will move to RM/Man city"? thats y he picked fregie right? I see it coming...

What really caught me is not that he didnt Mention C.Ronaldo (he didn't mention any of the Fifa nominees (including him and Kaka), the surprise was picking Maicon over Alves, its little sensitive issue now that the two guys are competing for the best RB rank, mainly in their national team.

But no doubt Maicon is a great!

pep said...

Alves wasn't nominated, so no problem there, Ramzi.

Anonymous said...

he should have nominated Ronaldo tbh. You can argue all you want (even hate the guy if you want) but in the end he deserves a spot on that team. Would have been a sign of great sportsmanship as well.

Not that it matters though. If he was being completely honest he would have put himself in that team as well.

kamikaze kontiki said...

Yeah, Alves wasn't there. I checked it out and not all of the nominations made sense to me. If you take a look at the managers column too you ll find there are hardly any choices. Terim, Advocaat, Fergie, i forgot the last two. None of these are brilliant tacticians nor have they produced anything ground-breaking in recent times.

Tohar Investment Limited said...

but KAMIKAZE,messi is a very sensible professional,he knew why he chooses all this players that even if we all look at what they are playing,we will see leo is right,alex ferguson as been an idol in man utd since the 80s to this time,without doubt petr cech is the best safe hand last season. so what else do u think he is supporse to choose that he didn't. OR u think he should have choosing
manager: pep guadiola
keeper: victor valdes
right f/back: dani alves(?)
center defence: carles puyol
center defence: rafael maquez
left f/back: eric abidal
def mildfield: toure yaya
center mildfield: xavi henandez
offensive mildfield: andres iniesta
left wing forward:thierry henry
center forward:samuel eto'o fils
right wing forward: LIONEL MESSI. ???????????????????????

Tohar Investment Limited said...

messi; an increadible professinal.

kamikaze kontiki said...

I wasn't talking about Messi's choices. Check out the first comment if you want to see wat i thought of Messi's choices. I was talking about wat was available among the options i.e uefa's nominations. Moron !

Anonymous said...

Kamikaze, wats wrong with you, r u out of ur mind or something, why on earth will u call a fellow Barca fan moron! Why does Pep allow pple like u to make this kind of comment and get away with it by having ur post displayed for the whole world to see. Please start showing some respect to fellow fans.

kamikaze kontiki said...

ok, that was out of place n i m sorry about it.

Harshawardhan said...

awww come on ojesgzy... kamikaze was saying it in a bantering sort of way just calling someone a moron doesnt make him lose respect for that guy.. be a little sensible
ans anyways OLELAKAN made a statement without reading properly...
i dont think its a matter so bad as Pep removing the comment and all..

kamikaze kontiki said...

Btw, another blog reported Kun's pick n he had Ronaldo in his squad n left Messi out. I think he's jealous. He picked a Portugese over an Argentinian.

Anonymous said...

I can't stand Ronaldo nor do I particularly like Man Utd but anyone who has been living on earth the last year knows that Ronaldo should be in the team of the year. I love that Messi doesn't want Ronald to think he is better than him but he need not worry. Ronaldo is not half the player he is. But in my opionion he still should have recongnised him.

Anonymous said...

I would like to nominate pornstar Jenna Jameson. She could go through all the players and make them think she is the best in the world lol.

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