FOOTBALL -09/07/2009
Top 50 players: 40-31
31 - Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal / Spain)
Fabregas would be ranked higher but for a turbulent and injury-disrupted 2008/09 season with Arsenal, while the embarrassment of midfield riches at Vicente Del Bosque's disposal make him a less-than-automatic choice at international level. Nonetheless, Fabregas is a brilliant player and still only 22. A brilliant passer with quick feet and a quicker brain, Fabregas has all the technical tools for greatness. The remaining question is whether he can cope with the mental demands of captaining Arsenal at such a young age. The Gunners face a tough battle to keep him at the Emirates Stadium in light of interest from his former club Barcelona.
32 - Edin Dzeko (Wolfburg / Bosnia and Herzegovina)
The hottest striker in European football. Dzeko scored 21 goals in 15 games over the second half of the season as Wolfsburg won their first Bundesliga title. Between them, he and his strike partner Grafite scored 54 league goals, as Germany's defences had no answer to the deadly duo. Still 23, Dzeko might just be the next Didier Drogba, as he boasts a similar range of skills to the Ivorian. Tall (6'4"), powerful and selfless, but also a ruthless finisher, Dzeko insists he is staying put despite attracting Milan's attention. He is also the second-highest scorer in European World Cup qualifying.
33 - Esteban Cambiasso (Internazionale / Argentina)
There is nothing glamorous about the bald Argentine, but he is the heartbeat of the Inter side that have become the dominant force in Italian football. Just the kind of determined, hard-running midfielder Jose Mourinho loves, Cambiasso has flourished and recently signed a new five-year contract. Originally a destroyer, the 29-year-old has become increasingly adventurous and weighs in with six to eight goals per season. Not an automatic choice for Argentina, what with Javier Mascherano's status as captain, but he scored one of the great World Cup goals in 2006, finishing a 24-pass move with a deft finish against Serbia.
34 - Robin van Persie (Arsenal / Netherlands)
Injuries have prevented the Dutchman from fulfilling his true potential, but he is nonetheless quite a player. Despite having a reputation - acquired early in his career - for being a difficult character, Van Persie is a thoughtful and versatile forward. In an Arsenal side lacking spark during Cesc Fabregas's injury-enforced absence last season, he often made telling contributions, particularly in the Champions League. And you have to like a man who produces quotes like this: "No one would have said a few years ago that a black man could be US President. No one thinks that Arsenal, with our budget, can win trophies."
35 - Alexandre Pato (Milan / Brazil)
Pato is easily the best teenage footballer in the world and his presence at Milan partly explains why the Rossoneri were willing to let Kaka leave. Like his countryman, Pato generates tremendous power and pace from a slight frame, complementing his natural skill and poise. Pato plays like a second striker but has the scoring record of an out-and-out goalscorer, with 24 Serie A goals during the season-and-a-half he has been eligible to play for them. Milan have called the 19-year-old 'untransferable', but Chelsea are making a concerted effort to make him Carlo Ancelotti's main summer signing.
36 - Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal / Italy)
Might Alex Ferguson view the New Jersey-born Italian as the superstar he let slip between his fingers? Manchester United decided there was no room for Rossi in summer 2007 after they signed Carlos Tevez on loan, selling him to Villarreal. But would United rather have Rossi or Michael Owen? Since leaving Old Trafford, Rossi has matured into one of La Liga's best strikers, combining a natural eye for goal with selfless team play. He has made himself an indispensable part of Marcello Lippi's Italy side, too, and scored twice against the country of his birth in the Confederations Cup.
37 - Shay Given (Manchester City / Republic of Ireland)
If Shay Given played for England, he would be talked about in the same breath as Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon, but for some reason he is strangely overlooked. Had it not been for him, Newcastle United might have been relegated by the time he left for Eastlands in mid-season. Given's supreme reflexes and athleticism have made him one of the Premier League's most important players, and was a bargain when normally free-spending City bought him for a mere £6 million. Still only 33, Given has some of his best years ahead of him and is closing on 100 caps for the Republic of Ireland.
38 - Karim Benzema (Lyon / France)
The fact that Real Madrid and Manchester United are battling it out to sign the France striker for £25 million should tell you a thing or two about how good he is. The 21-year-old shares Zinedine Zidane's Algerian heritage but plays more like a pre-injury Ronaldo, combining pace, physicality and unerring finishing off both feet. Benzema has scored 54 goals in two seasons for Lyon although he is not yet a regular in the France team, faced with competition from Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka. Has the potential to crack the top 10 of this list given a couple of seasons at Real or United.
39 - Mohamed Aboutrika (Al-Ahly / Egypt)
Despite their mystifying inability to qualify for World Cups, Egypt are a powerhouse of African football and have won the last two continental championships. Their playmaker Aboutrika has been the catalyst for their recent success, earning second place in the 2008 African Footballer of the Year award. Aboutrika is known as 'The smiling assassin' although of he ever came to the Premier League his place of birth would guarantee he was called 'The Geezer from Giza'. He is probably the best player at an African club, and has helped Al-Ahly to three African Champions League triumphs and five straight Egyptian titles.
40 - Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea / France)
Having pouted his way through the first half of his career, Anelka has finally settled down and developed into the superb player he always promised to become. He may have had a few clubs, but there is a reason the Frenchman has accumulated £85 million in transfer fees throughout his career. He is pacy, skilful and a superb finisher. Despite the occasional grumble, he adapted well to life on the wing extremely well when exiled from his favoured central role, and still managed to claim the Premier League's golden boot award with 19 goals. Has even returned to favour in the French national team.
HOW IT WORKS
We have selected the best current players in the world and will be counting down from 50 to one throughout the summer. Every day until Friday, August 7 we will reveal the next player on the list, along with the reasons why we rate him.
HOW WE MADE THE LIST
The list, obviously, is subjective. All the number-crunching in the world will not tell you whether Gianluigi Buffon is better than Samuel Eto'o. Their functions are so different it is like trying to decide whether you prefer an orange or a tin opener.
We basically picked the team using the playground system. If all the players in the world were lined up and you had to pick them to play a match, in what order would a 'team captain' select them?
Our fictional playground captains are not trying to build an actual team, they are just picking the best player available. So there is no effort to balance players from every position.
In our estimation, good attackers win more matches than good defenders. They are the ones who command the big transfer fees, they are the ones who people pay to watch, and they are the ones who win the individual awards.
So we make no apology that the list is weighted in favour of attacking midfielders and strikers. No matter how much you admire Jamie Carragher's contribution to Liverpool, you would never say he was a better or more important player than Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres. The list reflects this.
Form is crucial. There are players who missed out on a top-50 place who might have been in the top 10 last year, but have seen their stock fall either through injury or poor form. There is no doubt Ronaldinho is a stunningly talented player, but we could not say - on current form - he is one of the 50 best in the world.
Age is irrelevant. Players are judged entirely on their current ability, not their potential. A 35-year-old is not marked down because he is at the end of his career, and an 18-year-old does not get extra credit because of the player he is expected to become. Only one thing matters - how good is the player now?
THE PLAYERS WHO MISSED OUT
Whittling the world's best players down to a final list of 50 required us to make some tough decisions. All of the following players came close to making the cut but, for one reason or another, were discarded:
Emmanuel Adebayor, David Beckham, Dimitar Berbatov, Antonio Cassano, Gael Clichy, Ashley Cole, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs, Gonzalo Higuain, Vedad Ibisevic, Philipp Lahm, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Lucio, Diego Milito, Joao Moutinho, Andrea Pirlo, Sergio Ramos, Ronaldinho, Marcos Senna, Wesley Sneijder, Dejan Stankovic, John Terry, Carlos Tevez, Francesco Totti, Rafael van der Vaart, Ruud van Nistelrooy.