Posts Tagged ‘Ultimate Glory’
Handing out the World Cup awards
Every player at the 2010 World Cup knows only one medal really matters. However, there are plenty of other awards on offer to compensate those who miss out on the ultimate glory.
There’s the Golden Ball (for the best player), Golden Shoe (top scorer), Yashin Award (best goalkeeper), best young player and membership of the all-star team up for grabs. There are also fair play and entertainment awards on offer to teams.
For those who like their punts to be a little out of the ordinary, I will now provide you with a betting guide on the likely winners of this year’s awards.
The collective awards are chances for less successful teams to earn some recognition - only three of the previous nine fair play winners have been victorious in the same tournament, while South Korea and Portugal won the last two awards for entertainment value.
England are the second most successful team in the history of the fair play award and are a good bet to win it again - only qualifiers for the second round are considered and the Three Lions will be looking to avoid red cards after Wayne Rooney’s costly indiscretion four years ago. Argentina are a good bet to entertain but not to win.
The 23-man all-star team in Germany was dominated by the winners. Take your pick from your chosen winners this time around - my money will be on Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Villa being among those honoured.
The winner of best young player award is hard to predict. Few top teams have established under 21-year olds, as Germany did with Lukas Podolski four years ago. However, Germany do have a good collection of youngsters and talented Bayern Munich midfielder Thomas Muller might be worth following.
Seven of the last eight Yashin award winners have featured in that year’s final, so Casillas and Brazil’s Julio Cesar are in with a chance South Africa. Gianluigi Buffon, winner in 2006, will fancy his chances of picking up back-to-back awards.
David Villa and Miroslav Klose are my tips for Golden Shoe glory, and they should be contesting favouritism in the top scorer fixed odds betting by the time summer rolls around.
The World Cup’s best player has been won someone from the losing finalists in the last three tournaments, so how about Wayne Rooney, having single-handedly dragged England to the final, gaining some individual recognition? Of course, he’ll have to shake off that injury first.
Tags: Andres Iniesta, Bayern Munich, Betting Guide, Cup Awards, Entertainment Awards, Entertainment Value, Gerard Pique, Gianluigi Buffon, Golden Shoe, Iker Casillas, Indiscretion, Red Cards, Star Team, Successful Team, Successful Teams, Thomas Muller, Three Lions, Ultimate Glory, Wayne Rooney, Xavi