WC Starting XI

 ----------Casillas----------
Maicon - Juan - Coentrao
----Xavi---Schweinsteiger-
Mueller - Sneijder - Iniesta
-----Forlan---Villa------

Casillas - Kept a clean sheet in all 4 group games when he had to be perfect.

Maicon - Perfect blend of speed, power and defensive smarts.  Unforgettable strike vs N Korea as well.  Narrowly edged out Ramos for me.

Juan - Juan was even more effective than Lucio in the heart of Dunga's D.  No one in the WC had more tackles than he did (11) and he only played 6 matches.

Coentrao - 9 clearances, 7 tackles, Fabio was key to Portugal's superb defense.  He was also a terror going forward.

Xavi - The key to Spain's offense, he completed 544 passes, 54 more than 2nd place.  Xavi also covered more ground than anyone in the tournament at 80.20 km.

Schweinsteiger - He emerged as a deep lying playmaker this WC driving Germany's potent attack.  He was 2nd in distance covered with 79.80 km.

Mueller - Golden Boot winner for his 5 goals and 3 assists.

Sneijder - Possibly the best playmaker in the world, he carried the Netherlands to the Final with his 5 goals.

Iniesta - Most dangerous player in the 2nd half of the Final.  Calmly drilled home the biggest goal in Spain's history in extra time.

Villa - 5 beautiful goals for a team that only scored 8 all tournament.

Forlan - My MVP of the tournament.  5 goals, 3 of which were outside the penalty area.  No one did more to carry his team - and he got them to the 3rd place game.  I actually saw him score a great goal in an exhibition vs Club America back in the summer of 2003 when he was with Man U.  Yeah, of course I knew he would put his stamp on the biggest stage.