Fan Voted UEFA Team of the Year Announced

By: chris | January 22nd, 2009

Surely millions of fanboys and fangirls couldn’t have shown half a noggin? Surely not. Surely there was lots of bickering between who has the better hair, sweeter smile and sexier thigh before clicking on whichever stars happens to kiss the badge of their favorite team this week. Or whose name is spelled with their initials.

There’s no way this may fans could’ve selected a halfway decent team of the year? Right? Wrong.

Ladies and gents, your Sexy XI of 2008:

GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF & Spain)
RB: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid CF & Spain)
CB: John Terry (Chelsea FC & England)
CB: Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona & Spain)
LB: Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München & Germany)
RW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United FC & Portugal)
CM: Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona & Spain),
CM: Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal FC & Spain)
LW: Franck Ribéry (FC Bayern München & France)
FW: Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
FW: Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC & Spain)

Gaffer: Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United FC).

Or:

Casillas
Sergio Ramos, Terry, Puyol, Lahm
Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Cesc, Ribery
Messi, Torres

Or:

This team has all sorts of balance issues (and they’ll need at least 4-5 balls), but not too shabby.

The majority of wiggle room is in the back where John Terry could probably find a capable replacement (well when you’ve had a summer off…). Dani Alves probably deserves a shout – or several hundred thousand – but that Spanish back line was truly something special this summer and it’s impossible to fault the selection of any Spanish defenders after their Swissaustrian masterclass – this is a UEFA list, after all, and Brazil ain’t in Europe (fyi). Lahm? Biggest game of the year aside…

Midfield the only true argument is against Cesc, but he was so undeniably brilliant for Arsenal in the EPL last year it’s hard to fault his selection. Plus, you know, he’s Spanish: +10%.

The rest? Gold. There may be better across the board, but only marginally so – and even that’s still up to debate. Pretty much the theme with any selection here: there aren’t any real enormous snubs nor are there and mind-boggling inclusions. A solid year end team, which is probably the best we can ask for.