Confederations Cup 2013: Top 5 stars for Golden Ball Award

By Samrin Hasib, June 27 2013, 0 Comments

Many players performed excellently in the Confederations Cup group stages. We take a look at some of the nominees for the Golden Ball Award.

Fernando Torres

The much maligned Fernando Torres struck four in a wonderful predatory showing against Tahiti. Despite missing a penalty against Tahiti, Torres picked up five goals in the group stages. Spain dominated the group and Torres was definitely amongst their best players. Torres has a knack of picking up the awards in the big tournaments and this might turn out to be the case once again provided Spain finds themselves in the final.

Fernando Muslera

Muslera made many expert saves throughout the tournament for Uruguay. He showed exactly why he has been the constant first choice for his country in recent years. Muslera’s saves helped Uruguay through the group stages and brought them through to the second round. Uruguay could have head to the final had Diego Forlan not missed an early penalty as Muslera performed wonderfully again.

Neymar

Neymar has perhaps been the best player in the tournament so far. He has made key contributions in each match. He struck wonderful goals in each match in the group stages. He played some exquisite passes including the one which saw Brazil open the scoring through Fred against Uruguay. Neymar has left Barcelona fans salivating. He has lived up to the hype surrounding him undoubtedly.

Fred

When Luiz Felipe Scolari picked Fred in his Confederations Cup squad, he did not satisfy too many Brazilians. In fact when he started playing Fred, many thought he would be in for more criticism. However, he participated in all four of Brazil’s matches and struck three goals. His best match perhaps came against Italy in the group stages. He struck the first goal against Uruguay for the Brazilians too. His three goals came from only five shots on target too.

Andrea Pirlo

Behind Italy’s brilliance in the first two matches was the masterful midfielder. His exclusion against Brazil due to a supposed injury in the final round of the group stages showed exactly how much Italy depends on him. They suffered endlessly and lost control of the match at the beginning. It took them until the second half to gain a foothold in the game. Pirlo will be key to Italy’s hopes of winning the tournament.

Finally, who is your best player of the tournament so far? Let us know your thoughts! -------------- Live Soccer TV