Lennon’s World Cup starting eleven.
There have been so many outstanding performances at the World Cup it should be tough trying to name a team of the tournament.
But it’s actually been fairly easy to pick my team down to how wonderfully well these 11 individuals performed in Brazil.
Perhaps the one position I had to give a bit more thought to than the other areas of the team was the goalkeeper.
Germany’s Manuel Neuer is possibly the best keeper in world football and has enjoyed a great competition but Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa gets the nod ahead of him because he was superb in all their matches.
At right-back I would have to go for Germany’s captain Philipp Lahm as he is just a quality footballer.
My main man at the heart of the defence is Thiago Silva. I selected him in my tournament team prior to a ball being kicked and he has more than justified his selection.
Next to him I’m going for Argentina Ezequiel Garay who has been solid and is a no-nonsense stopper.
At left-back I’m going for Holland’s Daley Blind. He’s comfortable on the ball and happy to get forward and involve himself in his team’s attacking play.
My midfield four is a decent mixture of attacking flair but with players who put in a shift for their team.
The holding midfielder would be Argentina’s Javier Mascherano my player of the tournament.
Next to him in the middle is Germany’s Toni Kroos. A great passer of the ball, someone who can get around the park and the fact he has an eye for a killer pass or a goal makes him the complete modern-day midfielder.
In the wide areas I’m going for Colombia’s James Rodriguez and Holland’s Arjen Robben.
Rodriguez comes close to being my player of the tournament and it wouldn’t surprise me if in a few years’ time we are describing him as the best player in the world.
Robben’s pace is impossible for just about every defender in the game to deal with and he is such a threat. He forces opposing teams to defend deep which gets his team-mates up the park.
In the hole would be Argentina playmaker Lionel Messi and up front I’d have to go for Germany’s Thomas Muller. The two of them are just class footballers and it will be great to see which one of them comes out on top today.
The dream team
Goal-keeper: Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico)
Defenders: Philipp Lahm (Germany); Thiago Silva (Brazil); Ezequiel Garay (Argentina); Daley Blind (Holland)
Midfielders: James Rodriguez (Colombia); Javier Mascherano (Argentina); Toni Kroos (Germany); Arjen Robben (Holland)
Strikers: Lionel Messi (Argentina); Thomas Muller (Germany)
Player of the tournament: Javier Mascherano
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