Monday, August 4, 2014

top 100 i have seen - part i

in the 41 matches i have been lucky enough to see so far, there are 196 i consider to be stars. some are national or future international stars, others are international stars, and others even bigger.

i am starting a quick series of the 100 best footballers i have seen play myself, based on their careers (and not on the matches i have seen them play). there will be six posts, 5 of them dedicated to the top 100.

this first post will simpy mention the names that didn't quite make the cut. the ones with a * next to them have not reached their peak yet, in my opinion.

in alphabetic order (first name), with the year(s) i have seen them, teams and number of matches (if more than one). in brackets, their current team and national team, if current.

aaron hunt (vfl wolfsburg): 2010-14 werder bremen (15 times), 2014 vfl wolfsburg
adrian ramos (borussia dortmund & colombia): 2011 werder bremen
alou diarra (without club): 2012 france
anatoliy tymoschuchuk (zenit st. petersburg & ukraine): 2010, 2011 bayern münchen (twice)
andres d'allessandro (internacional rs): 2011 internacional 
antonio cassano (fc parma & italy): 2010 sampdoria, 2011 milan
antonio valencia (manchester united & colombia): 2006 ecuador
benedikt höwedes (schalke 04 & germany): 2012 & 2014 germany
bryan ruiz (fulham & costa rica): 2010 twente enschede
cacau (vfb stuttgart): 2012 germany, 2012 vfb stuttgart
carlos gamarra (retired): 2005 palmeiras
cesar azpilicueta* (chelsea fc & spain): 2014 chelsea
christian abbiati (ac milan): 2011 milan
christoph kramer* (borussia mönchengladbach & germany): 2014 germany
claudio pizarro (bayern münchen): 2010-12 werder (7 times), 2014 bayern
dario srna (shakhtar donetsk & croatia): 2006 croatia
diego benaglio (vfl wolfsburg & switzerland): 2014 vfl wolfsburg
diego lugano (without club & uruguay): 2005 são paulo fc
elano (flamengo): 2008 brazil
eljero elia (werder bremen): 2012-14 werder bremen (9 times)
eric abidal (olympiacos piraeus): 2006, 2012 france
florent malouda (trabzonspor): 2012 france
gary cahill (chelsea fc & england): 2014 chelsea
gilberto silva (retired): 2008 brazil
giovanni van bronckhorst (retired): 2006 netherlands
goran pandev (ssc napoli & macedonia): 2010 internazionale
grafite (al-ahli): 2004 são paulo fc
hakan calhanoglu* (bayer leverkusen & turkey): 2014 hamburger sv
hernanes (internazionale & brazil): 2005, 2009 são paulo fc
hugo lloris (tottenham hotspur & france): 2012 france
isco* (real madrid & spain): 2013 cf malaga
ivan cordoba (retired): 2010 internazionale
ivan perisic* (vfl wolfsburg & croatia): 2014 wolfsburg (twice)
ivica olic (vfl wolfsburg & croatia): 2006 croatia, 2010 & 2011 bayern, 2014 wolfsburg
jakub "kuba" blaszczykowski (borussia dortmund & poland): 2013 dortmund (twice)
javi martinez* (bayern münchen & spain): 2014 bayern (twice)
jeremy toulalan (as monaco): 2013 malaga cf
joaquin (fiorentina): 2013 malaga cf
juan arango (tijuana & venezuela): 2012 borussia mönchengladbach (twice)
jean bernat* (bayern): 2014 bayern
julian draxler* (schalke 04 & germany): 2014 germany
julio baptista (cruzeiro): 2013 malaga cf
juninho paulista (retired): 2005 palmeiras
kevin de bruyne* (vfl wolfsburg & belgium): 2012-13 werder (4 times)
kevin grosskreutz (borussia dortmund & germany): 2013 dortmund
landon donovan (la galaxy): 2009 bayern
lars bender* (bayer leverkusen & germany): 2012 germany
leandro damiao (santos): 2011 internacional
louis saha (retired): 2012 france
maniche (retired): 2008 portugal
marc-andre ter stegen* (fc barcelona & germany): 2012 mönchengladbach (twice), 2014 germany
marcelinho carioca (retired): 2009 santo andré
marcell jansen (hamburger sv): 2013 & 2014 hamburger sv
marcelo (real madrid & brazil): 2008 brazil
marcio amoroso (retired): 2005 são paulo fc
mario yepes (atalanta bergamo & colombia): 2011 milan
marko marin (chelsea fc): 2010-12 werder bremen (6 times)
matthias ginter* (borussia dortmund & germany): 2014 germany
matthieu valbuena (dinamo moscow & france): 2012 france
maximilian arnold* (vfl wolfsburg): 2014 wolfsburg (twice)
mikael silvestre (retired): 2010 & 2011 werder bremen (3 times)
naldo (vfl wolfsburg): 2011 & 2012 werder, 2014 wolfsburg (twice)
nani (manchester united & portugal): 2008 portugal
nemanja matic (chelsea fc & serbia): 2014 chelsea fc
nicolai müller (fsv mainz 05): 2013 mainz
niko kovac (retired): 2006 croatia
nuri sahin (borussia dortmund & turkey): 2013 dortmund (twice)
olivier giroud (arsenal fc & france): 2012 france
owen hargreaves (retired): 2006 england
pepe (real madrid): 2008 portugal
philippe mexes (as monaco): 2012 france
rene adler (hamburger sv): 2011 leverkusen, 2013 & 2014 hamburger sv
ricardo rodriguez (vfl wolfsburg & switzerland): 2014 wolfsburg (twice)
rogerio ceni (são paulo fc): 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2009 são paulo fc
roman weidenfeller (borussia dortmund & germany): 2013 dortmund (twice)
ron-robert zieler (hannover 96 & germany): 2011 & 2013 hannover, 2014 germany
roque santa cruz (cf malaga & paraguay): 2013 malaga
samir nasri (manchester city): 2012 france
sebastian kehl (borussia dortmund): 2013 bvb
sebastian rode* (bayern münchen): 2013 eintracht frankfurt, 2014 bayern
shinji okazaki (fsv mainz 05 & japan): 2011 vfb stuttgart, 2013 mainz
shkodran mustafi* (sampdoria genova & germany): 2014 germany
sidney sam (schalke 04): 2009 1.fc kaiserslautern, 2011 leverkusen
simon rolfes (bayer leverkusen): 2011 leverkusen
sokratis (borussia dortmund & greece): 2012 & 2013 werder bremen (5 times)
son heung-min* (bayer leverkusen & korea republic): 2013 hamburger sv
stefan kiessling (bayer leverkusen): 2011 leverkusen
sulley muntari (ac milan & ghana): 2010 inter milan
sven bender* (borussia dortmund & germany): 2013 dortmund (twice)
thiago alcântara** (bayern münchen & spain): 2011 barcelona, 2014 bayern
tim cahill (new york red bulls & australia): 2006 australia
torsten frings (retired): 2010 & 2011 werder bremen (4 times)
ulf kirsten (retired): 1999 bayer leverkusen
victor valdes (searching for club): 2011 fc barcelona
willy sagnol (retired): 2006 france
xherdan shaqiri* (bayern münchen & switzerland): 2010 fc basel, 2014 bayern


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