The Offside 100: 2000-09, THE RESULTS!

By: Rob | November 7th, 2009

Last week, I asked you to vote for you favourite 20 players of the decade, here in this very post, are the Top 100 players of the last 10 years, voted for by you, the readers and bloggers of the offside.

First thing I want to say is thank you, everyone for the absolutely amazing response to this. It’s been absolutely overwhelming. Over 50 votes in the thread and then probably double that sent to my inbox. The response has been brilliant.

And, I’ve enjoyed very much the reminders of the great players across the decade, the outrage at the forgotten, and the insight into what you guys think makes a great player. It has been an absolute pleasure to compile.

A final thank you to the players themselves, it has been a wonderful decade for football, and this my celebration of you.

On with the list then, and after the jump you get the full 100, in reverse order. Not a huge surprise about the winner, but some nice quirks and things elsewhere.

100 Anelka
99 Forlan
98 Ayala
97 Gattuso
96 Zambrotta
95 Desailly
94 Given
93 Senna
92 Chiesa
91 Jääskeläinen
90 Overmars
89 Stoichkov
88 Gourcuff
87 Sneijder
86 Deschamps
85 Giuly
84 Stam
83 Julio Cesar
82 Ceni
81 Riquelme
80 Carvalho
79 Batistuta
78 Zaki
77 Okocha
76 Xabi Alonso
75 Kanu
74 Owen
73 Litmanen
72 Mido
71 Pires
70 Hazam Emam
69 Zola
68 Mutu
67 Klose
66 Drogba
65 Vieri
64 Ljungburg
63 Romario
62 Vidic
61 Robben
60 Ribery
59 Peter Schmeichel
58 Trezeguet
57 Marta
56 Weah
55 Van der Saar
54 Terry
53 Juninho
52 Rio Ferdinand
51 Henrik Larsson
50 Shearer
49 Thuram
48 Roberto Baggio
47 Hidetoshi Nakata
46 Fabregas
45 Deco
44 Puyol
43 Inzaghi
42 David Villa
41 Scholes
40 Ballack
39 Seedorf
38 Fernando Torres
37 Iniesta
36 Cafu
35 Rooney
34 Roy Keane
33 Ibrahimovic
32 Nesta
31 Casillas
30 Nedved
29 Kahn
28 Del PIero
27 Beckham
26 Lampard
25 Eto’o
24 Pirlo
23 Rivaldo
22 Bergkamp
21 Van Nistolrooy

20 Makélélé
19 Giggs
18 Viera
17 Xavi
16 Shevchenko
15 Roberto Carlos
14 Totti
13 Raul
12 Cannavaro
11 Gerrard
10 Figo
09 Buffon
08 Maldini
07 Kaká
06 Messi
05 Cristiano Ronaldo
04 Ronaldo
03 Ronaldinho
02 Henry

01 Zidane

Woo. So there you have it!

The dream XI of the decade then, taking the best ranking player in each position would be

——Buffon——–
Cafu–Nesta–Cannavaro–Maldini
C-Ron—Zidane–Ronaldinho—Messi
——Henry—-Ronaldo

Not bad, huh?

So thoughts on the list? Who didn’t make it? Who is too high, or too low?

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have.

Some Related Stories:

Category: World Football

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chen

http://www.marca.com/debate/20...
http://www.marca.com/2009/09/0...
125040 votes(Marca.com),50% choose ronaldo was best ever
chen

That is a a joke,oh my god.Henry and Ronaldinho better than ronaldo?I can tell you on behalf of his client 1.3 billion Chinese people:ronaldo is greatest soccer ever,only pele as same as him,ronaldo in his prime was far better than maradona ,zico ,in 2000-09,only zidane can as good as ronaldo
Professional career totals
Teams Appearances Goals Goals per game
Clubs 481 339 0.704
National Team 097 062 0.639
U-23 National Team 08 06 0.750
Total 586 407 0.694

Honors and awards
Cruzeiro
Brazil Cup: 1993
PSV Eindhoven
Dutch Cup: 1996
Barcelona
Copa del Rey: 1997
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1997
Supercopa de España: 1997
Internazionale
UEFA Cup: 1998
Serie A : 1998, 2002 Runner-Up
Coppa Italia: 2000 Runner-Up
Real Madrid
La Liga: 2003
Intercontinental Cup: 2002
Supercopa de España: 2003
Corinthians
Campeonato Paulista: 2009
Brazil Cup: 2009
National team
FIFA World Cup: 1994, 2002
Copa America: 1997, 1999
FIFA Confederations Cup: 1997
1996 Summer Olympics: Bronze medal
Individual
Supercopa Libertadores Top Scorer: 1993-94
Campeonato Mineiro Top Scorer: 1993-94
Campeonato Mineiro Team of The Year: 1994
Eredivisie Top Scorer: 1994-95
La Liga Top Scorer: 1996-97
European Golden Boot: 1996-97
Don Balón Award La Liga Foreign Player of the Year: 1996-97
Copa América Final Most Valuable Player: 1997
Copa América Most Valuable Player: 1997
Confederations Cup All-Star Team: 1997
Cup Winners Cup Final Most Valuable Player: 1997
Cup Winners Cup Top Goal Scorer: 1996-1997
IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year: 1997
UEFA Most Valuable Player: 1997-98
Serie A Player of the Year: 1997-98
Serie A Foreign Player of the Year: 1997-98
UEFA Best Forward: 1997-98
Bravo Award : 1995, 1997, 1998
FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 1998
UEFA Cup Final Most Valuable Player: 1998
Copa América Top Scorer: 1999
Copa América All-Star Team: 1997, 1999
FIFA World Player of the Year: 1996, 1997, 2002
Ballon D'or: 1997, 2002
Onze d'Or: 1997, 2002
FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 2002
FIFA 100
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1998, 2002
FIFA World Cup Final Most Valuable Player: 2002
FIFA World Cup Top Scorer: 2002
Intercontinental Cup Most Valuable Player: 2002
UEFA Team of The Year: 2002
Laureus Comeback of the Year: 2002
Strogaldo De Legendary Award 2002
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality: 2002
La Liga South American Player of the Year: 1996-97, 2002-03
La Liga Top Scorer: 2003-04
Golden Foot: 2006
Brazilian National Hall of Fame inducated: Class of 2006
Serie A Player of the Decate: 1997-2007
France Football Magazine : Starting in 11 of all time: 2007
FIFA World Cup All-Time Scoring Leader
Campeonato Paulista Best Player: 2009

Some compare him to Maradona for his spectacular ability;ohters to Zico for his technique;others even to pele for his superiority on soccer field;but ultimately.there is no other like Ronaldo.He can't be compared.
http://i28.tinypic.com/161l192...

see here ,then tell me who was best soccer ever?
http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=66...
http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=66...
Sabrina

Amazing ranking!!!
So proud to be from the same country than Zidane!
Good luck to the Algerian team tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!
gokhan

where the hell is Hagi?
Gigi

Steven, remember that the list was of the decade, I also noticed that great players are missing but I think it is for the fact that only a decade was considered,
Steven

I'm just curious what the average age of the respondents was...
Gigi

GREAT TO SEE CESC HERE, IN THIS NEXT DECADE YOU WILL SEE HIM GO UP IN THOSE CHARTS :)
IMO THERE ARE SOME WHO DESERVED TO BE THERE AS MUCH AS ARSHAVIN, MAYBE CAUSE HE JUST CAME INTO RECOGNITION NOT TOO LONG AGO?
Gigi

GREAT EXCERCISE AND GREAT RESULTS CONGRATS, DARE TO START A TWO DECADES AGO LIST FOR MORE FUN LATER? :)
ZIZOU RULED THE WORLD AND ALL TIME FAVE GUNNER TITI WAS CLOSE BEHIND, EVEN PASSING OVER PLATINI AS FRANCE TOP SCORER,
I MIGHT NOT HAVE INCLUDED HIM, BUT IS KLOSE THERE? I THINK HE DESERVES TO BE AS A WC SCORER...?
june16_1904

I think Rui Costa, Michael Essien, Pablo Aimar and Aboutrika all deserve honorable mentions at least.
Gianfranco

amazing to see guys like Stoichkov and Baggio on the list whose best was past them this decade but in some strange way got notsalgia listing...good for MLS though because of all Hristo's games this decade were stateside...to bad Baggio didnt make the same move...
Shane

Rooney is at least 15 places too high. Typical overrated English player.
mike

I agree^
MoMONEY

Gerrad and CR7 over Bergkamp and Rivaldo? Crazy...
Andre

The breakdown of the top 100

EUROPE - 76

Italy - 15
France - 13
Spain - 10
England - 9
Holland - 8
Portugal - 4
Germany - 3
Sweden - 3
Ireland - 2
Finland - 2
Wales - 1
Ukraine - 1
Czech Republic - 1
Denmark - 1
Serbia - 1
Romania - 1
Bulgaria - 1

SOUTH AMERICA - 15

Brazil - 11
Argentina - 3
Uruguay - 1

AFRICA - 8

Egypt - 3
Nigeria - 2
Cameroon - 1
Liberia - 1
Cote d'Ivore - 1

ASIA - 1
Japan - 1
Andre

In the top 20:

France - 4
Brazil - 4
Italy - 4
Portugal - 2
Spain - 2
England - 1
Wales - 1
Argentina - 1
Ukraine - 1
Thomas

I challenge someone to count the number of players by nationality.
Thomas

Vive la France! That midfield would fail, because three of them play zero defense and Zidane didn't do much. I'd change "Cana" to his full name. I thought it was Lorik Cana at first as well.
wob

aaah.. got it
Cana = Cannavaro
I was wondering what the heck Lorik Cana does in that team :P
wob

What does Cana do in the Top XI?
Where's Cannavaro?
Shane

Where is Michael Essien? How can Zambrotta a World Cup winner and the best full back in the world from 2002-2006 be so low?
Dhaw

#29 - Oliver Kahn ??
Francesco

Didn't expect Enrico Chiesa to be on the list at all. That was surprising. He was a great player, but on a top 100 of the decade that was surprising.
Ranjeet

I really dont understand how Gattuso(A WC and a two time CL winner in the last decade) can be behind the likes of Zaki and Mido. Gattuso