By: Stephen Patterson
With the 2010 World Cup starting nearly a month ago with 32 teams, it is now down to the last four. Only Germany, Uruguay, Spain, and the Netherlands remain in the tournament. The semifinals will begin on Tuesday with Uruguay-Netherlands, and Germany-Spain on will be on Wednesday. With so many amazing plays, impressive goals, and dominant play it is hard to really decide who has put on the best performance so far, but here's the list of some of the best and you can decide:
David Villa (Spain): Scoring all but one of Spain's goals entering the semifinals of the World Cup, Villa is the best player thus far in the tournament in my opinion. He has been on fire and scored the only goal of Spain's 1-0 victory over Paraguay on Saturday. They face a very tough task ahead, however, playing against a German team that has has three four-goal games so far in the tournament. But with Villa's scoring capabilities, the Spanish team has to feel they have a good chance of making the final game.
Luis Suarez (Uruguay): Even though it is hard to say he is one of the best players in the tournament after such a clear, and shameful handball against Ghana, Suarez has been one of the most important players for his team. He has been one of the key reasons Uruguay has seen so much success in the tournament, shocking many people by making it so deep in the World Cup. But after his handball in the Ghana game, which did prevent a game-winning goal for Ghana, he will miss the team's next game against the Netherlands. While he says he doesn't regret the move, his team might feel different without one of their best offensive threats on the field.
Landon Donovan (United States): Landon Donovan single-handedly carried a nation on his shoulders and he embraced the challenge. Donovan scored three goals in the 2010 World Cup for the U.S. team, including the goal that clinched Group D in the group round. Even though the United States team was eliminated in the round of sixteen by Ghana, Donovan carried much of the offensive load for the team like stars like Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey failed to the goal as often (Dempsey did score one goal, had another clearly robbed, and had a few other good attempts, however).
Keisuke Honda (Japan): Honda was by far the most athletic and entertaining Asian player in the 2010 World Cup in my opinion. He helped carry the scoring load for a Japanese team that desperately needed it. While his team didn't make it very far into the World Cup, having been knocked out of the tournament in the round of sixteen, Honda helped them surpass many people's expectations.
Miroslav Klose (Germany): With his two goals in Germany's dominating victory over Argentina, Klose has put himself among some of the greatest company in World Cup history. With the pair of goals in yesterday's game, Klose tied for second place for most all-time World Cup goals scored (14). He only trails Brazil's Ronaldo (15) on the list, and with his team still alive, he has a decent chance of tying the mark.
If I left out one of the best in your opinion, feel free to share your player and reasoning why he should be on this list.
