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World Sport XI Brazil, Real Madrid dominate list of season's top playersPosted: Thursday August 29, 2002 4:40 PMUpdated: Wednesday September 04, 2002 7:50 PM
World Cup champion Brazil provided four players and European champion Real Madrid three for the World Sport XI, which was determined through voting at CNN World Sport and CNNSI.com. Bayern Munich's Kahn hangs on to the No. 1 jersey despite a domestic season in which his club came up empty. Instead, his World Cup performance won him the day. The German captain conceded just three goals in seven games as Germany finished as runner-up, and he became the first goalkeeper to be named the World Cup's most valuable player. Roberto Carlos, who was on the Brazilian team that beat Kahn's Germany in the Cup final, wins one of the fullback spots. The attacking Brazilian defender appeared in six of Brazil's seven World Cup matches, before which he helped Real Madrid of Spain win the Champions League for the ninth time. Sharing the defensive duties with Carlos, as he does for Brazil, is Lucio. The 24-year-old -- one of Bayer Leverkusen's "Nearly Men" who finished as runners-up in the Bundesliga, German Cup and the Champions League -- ended the season as a winner, playing in every one of Brazil's games in his first World Cup. World Cup success also paves the way for England center back Rio Ferdinand to make his debut in our team. England may have only made the quarterfinals, but Ferdinand struck gold when he left Premiership challenger Leeds United for the richest club in the world -- Manchester United. The fee -- US$47-million -- is a world record for a defender. Completing the defensive lineup is another Brazilian in Cafu, who followed up a season in which his club AS Roma finished as runner-up in Italy's Serie A by playing every minute of Brazil's World Cup campaign and becoming the first man to play in three straight World Cup title matches. Michael Ballack, an offseason transfer to Germany's Bayern Munich, didn't play in the final against Brazil due to suspension. He played a starring role in the German's route to the final, though. The 25-year-old midfielder, who scored 17 goals for Bayer Leverkusen last season, contributed three goals and four assists to Germany's run, which helped book his berth on our team by unanimous vote. Zinedine Zidane had a World Cup to forget, of course. A last-minute injury to the former two-time world footballer of the year essentially destroyed France's hopes of retaining the title, but didn't stop him from returning to our squad. His stunning goal in the Champions League final that won the cup for Spain's Real Madrid was one of soccer's magnificent moments last season. Freddie Ljungberg didn't score in the World Cup finals for Sweden, where injury cut his tournament short, but his eye for goal for English double winner Arsenal last season was undoubted. The flame-haired Swede's 17 goals, including a superb strike in the English FA Cup final, proved more than enough to book his berth in the World Sport XI midfield. England captain David Beckham of Manchester United completes the team's engine room, despite a broken foot having limited his late season impact for both club and country. At least two memorable moments do stand out though -- the stunning last-minute free kick in a 2-2 draw with Greece that put England into the World Cup finals, and the penalty that helped knock England's old enemy Argentina out of the tournament's group phase. When it comes to scoring goals, Raul of Real Madrid is a master, hitting the back of the net 14 times for the Spaniards last season, as well as scoring six in their triumphant Champions League campaign. Spain's captain just edged out Manchester United's Dutch striker Ruud van Nistlerooy in the World Sport XI voting. Ronaldo's luck has been up and down in his storied career. But after a spell in which successive knee surgeries restricted him to just a handful of games for Inter Milan, he came back with a bang for Brazil, scoring a World Cup-best eight goals, including two in the final against Kahn's Germany. Since then, speculation about a transfer to Spain has tarnished his image, but one thing is certain -- any team featuring the world's best has to include Ronaldo. In addition to Ballack, the unanimous selections among voters were Kahn and Roberto Carlos. After Brazil's four stars, Germany and England shared honors with two players each on the team. And after Madrid's trio, there were two players each from Man Utd and Bayern Munich. In addition to van Nistlerooy and Lizarazu, other high-profile players who failed to make the list included: defenders Fernando Hierro, Sol Campbell and Lilian Thuram; midfielders Robert Pires, Luis Figo, Ivan Helguera and Hasan Sas; and forwards Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Thierry Henry.
Also left off was last year's top vote-getter, Brazilian forward Romario.
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