Marco Reus

Marco Reus is a German footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for the German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the German national team. Reus is known for his versatility, speed and technique.

Reus spent his youth career at Borussia Dortmund, prior to leaving for Rot Weiss Ahlen. He has played for three clubs in his senior career, most notably, and with most influence, in Borussia Mönchengladbach of the German Bundesliga. Reus primary plays as a left attacker for Dortmund; however, he is capable of playing on the right also and through the middle, due to his ability to control the ball with both feet and brilliant close control. 2012 was his most successful season when, scoring 18 and assisting 8, he helped Borussia Mönchengladbach secure a place in the following season's UEFA Champions League. Reus agreed a move to his home club Borussia Dortmund at the end of that season. Reus wears number 11, previously worn by Mario Götze, who left the shirt for Reus when he joined. Franz Beckenbauer spoke about Reus.

Radamel Falcao

Radamel Falcao García Zárate (10 February 1986), commonly known simply as Radamel Falcao or Falcao García in Latin America, is a Colombian football striker, who currently plays for AS Monaco in the French Ligue 1 and represents the Colombia national football team. He is sometimes nicknamed as El Tigre (Spanish for The Tiger) and King of the Europa League.

Falcao is considered by many experts to be the 'deadliest' striker in the world and among the best, having surpassed Jürgen Klinsmann's record of 15 goals in a single annual international club football European competition UEFA Champions League/UEFA Europa League campaign. He also played a key role in guiding F.C. Porto to a second UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League title, as well as finishing undefeated in the 2010–11 Primeira Liga season. In July 2011, Falcao was regarded as the fifth best player in Europe during the 2010–11 season through balloting by 53 sportswriters of the UEFA member associations. Falcao had also received the Portuguese Golden Ball award in 2011, becoming the first Colombian to do so. Falcao had won both the GQ Spain award for sportsman of the year and the Globe Best Footballer in 2012. In 2012, Falcao was listed 6th in The 100 best footballers in the world by The Guardian. Falcao was listed into the FIFA XI for 2012.

In just his first three seasons in European football, Falcao scored over 100 goals. Falcao had played a key role in Atlético Madrid's 12 match winning streak in a single Europa League season, making it the first team to do so.[19] He also became the top goal scorer in both tournaments. Falcao had another historical achievement winning his first UEFA Super Cup in 2012, becoming the first player in history to score a hat trick in the contest since its reform in 1998. Falcao's most noticeable trait aside from his ability to play well with both feet and a strong header despite his size would be his impressive goal ratio and goal by minutes ratio that even exceeds world top players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. On 9 December 2012, Falcao became one of the few players in La Liga history to score five goals in one game after accomplishing this in a 6–0 home victory against Deportivo de La Coruña. In the 2013 Copa del Rey Final, Falcao played a very crucial part in Atlético Madrid's victory over Real Madrid, ending the 14 year unbeaten streak which Real Madrid had held in matches against Atlético prior to the final.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, (born 5 February 1985), commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and who serves as captain of the Portuguese national team. He became the most expensive footballer in history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth £80 million (€93.9 million/$131.6 million). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is paid €12 million per year, makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world,[4] and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion as per his contract.

Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup.

Ronaldo was the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or. He placed second in the Ballon d'Or in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. He was awarded the European Golden Shoe in both 2008 and 2011. In 2008, he won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies and was named the FIFPro Player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year, Onze d'Or, and the FIFA World Player of the Year. In 2007 and 2008, Ronaldo was named FWA Footballer of the Year. Ronaldo was the inaugural winner of the FIFA Puskás Award in 2009.

Ronaldo is considered as one of the best footballers in the world and as one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He holds numerous former and current scoring records, including records for most goals scored in a season for Real Madrid, most goals scored per minute in La Liga, first top European league player to reach 40 goals in a single season in two consecutive years, fastest Real Madrid player to reach one hundred league goals, and the first player ever to score against every team in a single season in La Liga. In January 2013, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 300th club goal.

Ronaldo is a Portuguese international and made his debut against Kazakhstan in August 2003. He has since participated in five major tournaments; UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. He scored his first international goal in the opening game of the Euro 2004 against Greece, in addition to helping Portugal reach the final. He took over the captaincy of the side in July 2008 and went on to captain Portugal to the semi finals at the Euro 2012 and finished the competition as the joint best scorer with three goals. On 16 October 2012, Ronaldo won his 100th cap against Northern Ireland, making him the third highest capped player for Portugal and became the third youngest European to reach a century of international appearances.

Neymar

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior born 5 February 1992), commonly known as Neymar, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club FC Barcelona and the Brazilian national team, mainly as a forward.

At the age of 19, Neymar won the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year award, after coming third in 2010. He followed this up by winning it again in 2012. In 2011 Neymar received nominations for the FIFA Ballon d'Or, where he came 10th, and the FIFA Puskás Award, which he won. He is known for his acceleration, speed, dribbling and finishing. His playing style has earned him critical acclaim, with fans, media and former players drawing comparisons to Argentine forward Lionel Messi and former Brazil player Pelé, who has called Neymar "an excellent player".

Neymar joined Santos in 2003 and, after rising through the ranks, was promoted to their first team squad. He made his debut for Santos in 2009, and was voted the Best Young Player of the 2009 Campeonato Paulista. Further honours followed, with Neymar being voted best player as Santos won the 2010 Campeonato Paulista, and also being top scorer in the 2010 Copa do Brasil with 11 goals. He finished the 2010 season with 42 goals in 60 games as his club achieved the Double. Neymar was again voted best player of the year in 2011 as his side retained the state title and Santos also winning the 2011 Copa Libertadores in which Neymar scored 6 goals in 13 appearances. He also played a key role in securing a Continental Double for his team, Santos' first since 1963. He received the Bronze Ball in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, with Santos making it to the final, where they were defeated by Barcelona, 4–0.

Neymar is a Brazilian international, having represented Brazil at Under-17, Under-20 and senior levels. On 10 August 2010, at the age of 18, he made his debut for the Seleção in a friendly match against the United States; he scored from a header in the 28th minute, contributing to Brazil's 2–0 win. He was the top scorer of the 2011 South American Youth Championship with nine goals, including two in the final, in the 6–0 win against Uruguay, helping Brazil to win their 11th title in the competition.

Best Players Football 2013

This is a list that seeks to predict who the best soccer players of 2013 will be by the end of the year. Some of these top athletes in soccer, like Cristiano Ronaldo, are already listed among the best athletes of all time and the best soccer players ever, so it's not a stretch that they would end up as some of the top soccer players of 2013.

Football History

Various forms of football can be identified in history, often as popular peasant games. Contemporary codes of football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The influence and power of the British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread to areas of British influence outside of the directly controlled Empire, though by the end of the nineteenth century, distinct regional codes were already developing: Gaelic Football, for example, deliberately incorporated the rules of local traditional football games in order to maintain their heritage. In 1888, The Football League was founded in England, becoming the first of many professional football competitions. During the twentieth century, the various codes of football became among the most popular team sports in the world.

Football refers to a number of sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer". Unqualified, the word football applies to whichever form of football is the most popular in the regional context in which the word appears, including association football, as well as American football, Australian rules football, Canadian football, Gaelic football, rugby league, rugby union, and other related games. These variations of football are known as football codes.

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, can be traced to as far back as the Medieval period in Britain (the patriots). The modern game of association football originates from the formation of The Football Association in London, England in 1863 based on multiple efforts to standardize the varying forms of the game. This allowed clubs to play each other without dispute and which specifically banned handling of the ball during open field play and hacking after the fifth meeting of the association (hence the division between association football and rugby football). At the time, football clubs had played by their own, individual codes and game-day rules had usually to be agreed upon before a match could commence. For example, the Sheffield Rules that applied to most matches played in the Sheffield area were a different code.

Football (as well as rugby and soccer) are believed to have descended from the ancient Greek game of harpaston.   Harpaston is mentioned frequently in classical literature, where it is often referred to as a “very rough and brutal game“.  The rules of this ancient sport were quite simple:  Points were awarded when a player would cross a goal line by either kicking the ball, running with it across the goal line, or throwing it across the line to another player. The other team’s objective was simply to stop them by any means possible.  There was no specific field length, no side line boundaries, no specified number of players per team, only a glaring lack of rules.

Brazil Football History

Pelé, arguably the greatest footballer ever, led Brazil to three of those championships and is the top scorer of all time in the sport. All of the leading players in the national teams are prominent in the football world, including Garrincha, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Romário, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaká in the men's game, and Marta in the women's game. Some of these players can be considered super stars, achieving celebrity status internationally and signing sports contracts, as well as advertisement and endorsement contracts, in the value of millions of euros.

Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. The Brazilian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament a record five times, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002, and is the only team to succeed in qualifying for every World Cup competition ever held. It is among the favourites to win the trophy every time the competition is scheduled. After Brazil won its 3rd World Cup in 1970, they were awarded the Jules Rimet Trophy permanently. But 365 days before World Cup 2014 begin, Brazil rank dropped to 22nd as all-time-low position ever.