Top Soccer Stars Named

In the world of soccer, there are a few who compete with the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., and Eden Hazard. These players are playing for some of the best teams in the world, including Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Lionel Messi has been dominating the soccer world for the past couple years, along with his arch-rival, Cristiano Ronaldo. These two have quite the history: playing with rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, playing for rival brands Adidas and Nike, and fighting for the Ballon D’or each of the past seven years.

“The Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry is the best in the world, and it’s amazing to watch,” sophomore Kale Follweiler said.

In 2008, Cristiano Ronaldo won his first Ballon D’or when he was with English club Manchester United. The next four years after that were all Messi, winning four in a row until–guess who?–Cristiano Ronaldo came back and won two more in the two years following Messi’s four-year reign.

The Ballon D’or is the most prestigious individual award in the soccer world. It awards the best player in the world with a prize voted on by journalists, national team coaches, and national team captains. There is a lot of controversy over whether or not it is just a popularity contest, but it is always taken very seriously every year.

Neymar recently joined Barcelona two years ago and is most likely going to be the best player in the world in a few years. He is an incredible talent that already, at the age of 23, has 43 goals for the Brazilian national team. He had a tough first year at Barcelona trying to adapt, but he is surely a proven star this season.

“Bale had a better first season, but Neymar is outdoing him this season for sure,” junior Greg Kambakis said.

The player for team Real Madrid who is said to be Neymar’s “Rival” is Welsh winger Gareth Bale. Bale holds the world record after signing two seasons ago; he had a fantastic first year for Los Blancos, scoring the winner in the Copa Del Rey final and in Real Madrid’s tenth Champion’s league triumph. It has been a bit of a different story this season as he is struggling to score goals and even struggling with his assist total. Real Madrid fans are surely hoping he will turn this form around sooner rather than later.

Switching to England, Eden Hazard has been giving premier league defenders many problems for the past couple years. Even though his goals statistic is not as high as it should be, he has created many chances for his team and is one of the top dribblers in the world. When it comes to dribbling, he rivals players like Messi and Neymar. Messi is no doubt the best, but Hazard is in the conversation.

“Hazard is a fantastic talent, and I think he has a great future,” junior Hunter Zagorski said.

Suarez completes Barcelona’s fantastic top three, containing Messi, Suarez, and Neymar, thereby labeled “MSN.” Just like Real Madrid’s “BBC,” standing for Bale, Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo, these two trios are the best in the world. Last season, “BBC” was better, but this season “MSN” is proving its worth. Suarez only joined Barcelona this year, and he is proving to have a positive impact on the Catalan club.

“They’re the best trios in the world, and they’ve definitely proved that in the past two years,” sophomore Jeff Heffner said.

There are many more fantastic players in the world, but those are just some of the top who have definitely been dominating the game in recent years.