Ten Best Players of the World Cup at Halftime

Fired up over the hat trick

Yes, you read it correctly.

After the conclusion of the Spain-Honduras match, we are now more than halfway through South Africa 2010, and just 32 matches remain before we turn out the lights on what has been a very unpredictable tournament so far.

Unfortunately for the power poll, most of the players who excelled in their first game didn’t do much in their second (here’s looking at you, Mesut Ozil).

There were plenty of sterling performances in the second round of matches, though, and since our memory gets hazy after about a week they are weighted fairly heavily.

As a remainder, this poll is meant to reflect UF’s choice for the Golden Ball award given to the best player in the World Cup (you know, if we were invited to cast a vote).

1) Gonzalo Higuain, FW – Argentina/Real Madrid - Higuain delivered the first hat-trick of the tournament in a thrilling performance against South Korea. Of course, its a classic example of being in the right place in the right time as he didn’t have to do much for his threesome. Still, given the abject finishing we have seen so far from the likes of van Persie and Fernando Torres, putting away your chances impresses our committee (size=1).

2) Diego Forlan, FW – Uruguay/Atletico Madrid – Well, I tipped him for big things in South Africa, so I’m glad he delivered against South Africa. In addition to his brace, he was dangerous all over the attacking third of the field, and frequently created chances for his teammates.

3) Lionel Messi, FW/AM – Argentina/Barcelona - Through two games, Messi has still not found the back of the net, but only idiots (or American journalists) could accuse him of poor play. Playing more centrally than he does for Barcelona, Messi has been drawing defenders to him and leaving other players open (like Higuain). He is also running back and getting into the play in the midfield, showing a bit of two-way ability. Oh, and his assists against South Korea showed that for all talk about tactics, there’s no gameplan that can completely contain such preternatural talent.

4) Antolin Alcaraz, CB – Paraguay/Wigan Athletic – Roberto Martinez has to like what he has seen so far from Alcaraz. The Paraguayan defender has been a big part of two straight clean sheets, even scoring a goal against Italy. Thanks to his performances in particular, this team has a real chance to make the Quarterfinals at the very least.

5) Maicon, RB/RWB – Brazil/Inter Milan – Maicon was once again terrifying down the right side of Brazil’s attack against the Ivory Coast. Dunga has the Selecao playing a style that is reliant on attacking from his fullbacks, and Maicon has filled his role impeccably. Having watched his goal against North Korea 1,253,241 times, I still think it was intentional. Ridiculous skill.

6) Wesley Sneijder, CAM – Netherlands/Inter Milan – The Oranje have stuttered in both matches, and nothing they have done so far resembles what you would expect from the masters of technical, attacking football. Still, 6 points is a damn sight better than what some of the other big names have produced (here’s looking at you, Les Miserables). Wesley Sneijder has been a potent force in attack, and scored a cracker against Japan.

7) Tiago, MF – Portugal/Juventus – The former Chelsea man was inserted in the lineup after current Spartak London midfieler Deco’s listless performance in the first match. He responded with two goals, a sublime assist for Raul Meireles’ opener, and generally bossed the midfield all day long. Deco may get some splinters from the bench if Tiago keeps it up.

8) David Villa, FW – Spain/Barcelona – Xavi probably deserves this spot, as Spain looked disorganized once he was subbed off in the second half against Switzerland, but today we pay tribute to Villa’s ridiculous strike rate with the national team. After today’s brace Villa now has 40 goals in 60 appearances for the national team. Who cares if he can’t hit a penalty in national team colors?

9) Kaka, MF – Brazil/Real Madrid – Kaka set up two goals against the Ivory Coast, becoming the first player to notch two assists in this tournament (thanks to OptaJoe on Twitter for that) after a mostly indifferent performance against North Korea. The way Brazil is playing, he could feature in some epic fixtures down the line. His second yellow was a disgraceful dive by Keita, so we won’t hold that against him.

10) Marcelo Isla, RB/RM – Chile/Udinese – Isla continues to thrive as the right sided defender/midfielder in Bielsa’s mad 3-3-1-3 setup. Not quite as sound defensively against the Swiss as he was against Honduras, Isla still completed almost twice as many passes as any Swiss player. He is mostly on this list as a result of our admiration of his gaffer’s tactics.

Notables (those on the outside looking in; The underperformers list is so long that it is going to get its own post)

Landon Donovan scored a crucial goal to ignite the comeback against Slovenia. Rafa Marquez has been excellent in the hybrid CB/CDM role he is playing for El Tri while wearing the captain’s armband. Johnny Two Saints has also looked very good for Mexico. Dennis Rommedahl single-handedly put Cameroon’s round of 16 hopes in major jeopardy. Elano played well up front for Brazil (he actually made the most tackles on Sunday, more than any Brazilian World Cup player since 1994). Alexis Sanchez has been Chile’s best attacking player. All of the German players mostly bombed against Serbia, although we still have hope for Mesut Ozil. Xavi, as mentioned above, looked very good for La Furia Roja. Mark Van Bommel is a big reason why the Dutch are sitting on six points. Cristiano Ronaldo finally broke his scoring duck for Portugal as captain and was accurate in his passing against the woeful North Koreans. Madjid Bougherra completely shut down the inept Three Lions attack.