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EuroFootball.com visitors have chosen the best game organizer of the moment, the so-called 10th number. Due to the impressive form demonstrated recently, eye-catching football and numerous victories, more than half of the visitors sympathized with the Brazilian Ronaldinho. But first of all: what is that tenth number?
Defensive midfielders, or penalty area wizards, may disagree, but in football, the game of the tenth number is perhaps the most important. The 10th number is the person with the magician's wand who can work wonders on the field.
Pele, Maradona, Platini... they fit the traditional model of the tenth number. In England, such players could not shine for a long time. Why? Because they often did not score goals. It is precisely for this reason that they were even famous as "luxury players".
However, with football modernizing and speeding up, the image of the tenth number has also changed. Michel Platini can be compared to his successor in the French national team, Zinedine Zidane. Although they both play in the same position, Zidane is taller and more powerfully built than the elegant Platini. Since Maradona's times, strength and energy have become perhaps the most important characteristics of the tenth number.
Actually, tenth numbers do not necessarily have to wear jerseys marked with that number. Among the players listed in the survey, Kaka, Diego, Poborsky, Aimar, and Zidane play in jerseys marked with a different number. However, each of them has the qualities that make them the best tenth numbers in the World.
1st place in the survey (54% of the votes).
Ronaldinho performed such wonders at the "Nou Camp" stadium that, last summer, after Roman Abramovich, the owner of "Chelsea," took an interest in him, the Catalan superclub increased the buyout clause of the Brazilian to 150 million euros.
The tenth number of the "Blaugranas" won one of the best 10th number titles in the world in his first season in Spain, scoring 22 goals per season and helping "Barca" return to the UEFA Champions League. When Barcelona president Joan Laporta promised during Ronaldinho's presentation that "the Brazilian will start a new era at the club," everyone thought it was just empty words, but now nobody thinks so.
"Usually, I make more productive passes, and this season I made several of them, but I score much more than before," said the 24-year-old Brazilian. "I thought everything would change slowly, step by step, but it happened the opposite way."
"He knows what he will do with the ball before he even receives it," said the tenth number legend Maradona. "Watching him play is a pleasure. Players like Ronaldinho are one in a million; he is simply on a different level than his opponents. He expresses his love for the game with every move; he wants to infiltrate the hearts of the spectators, enchant them, and inspire them."
As Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard says, Ronaldinho is a genius in ball control technique. Captivated by his unique ball control technique, penalty kick arsenal, and incredible intuition about what will happen next, he has become a true artist of "La Liga," of course, in the best sense. "When he touches the ball, something special happens," says Rijkaard.
He may look thin, but consistent work with the upper part of the body only complicates the task of taking the ball away from him for his opponents. Ronaldinho himself says that Spanish football is a great canvas for him: "Before coming here to play, I used to watch 'La Liga' matches on TV. They play like Brazilians. And the climate, culture, and language are very similar. All of this helped me sign a contract with Barcelona."
"When I was younger, I watched stars like Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo play on TV, and now I hope to become a star at the 'Nou Camp,'" said Ronaldinho.
Like all the best tenth numbers in the world, Ronaldinho has an aura that can inspire his teammates. He hugs them before almost every match, and his countryman Gilberto Silva says that before international matches, he organizes samba singing in the locker room.
Although he has already become a World Champion and has raised the "Copa America" trophy during his short career, Ronaldinho says that the best is yet to come: "I have not peaked yet. It's good to be a good player, but I still have a long way to go to reach the level of Maradona, Zidane, or Van Basten."
2nd place in the survey (17% of the votes).
Although Michel Platini may not have wanted another worthy Frenchman to appear after him, a new star - Zinedine Zidane - shone in French football a good decade after the end of his career. It seems unfair that "Les Bleus" have had two such great tenth numbers in such a short time.
Although his national team career could have ended better than it did at the 2004 European Championship in Portugal, and Real Madrid could have not been eliminated from the Champions League as early as the quarterfinals, Zidane's place among the best game organizers is guaranteed. Even despite Real coach Jose Camacho's remarks about his "fancy but futile passes," which may have contributed to the Spaniard's dismissal shortly thereafter.
"I remember a rock star once said that no one can understand if Zinedine is an angel or a demon because he smiles like Mother Teresa, but grimaces like a serial killer," said his former teammate Steve McManaman. There are few defenders who want to cover Zidane. Perhaps this is because of his embarrassing 360° pirouettes, which force the defender to awkwardly chase the technical Frenchman. His physical strength only helps Zidane to successfully hold the piano strings of the game in the middle of the field and deliver a decisive pass to his teammate with precision.
It is no secret that sometimes Zidane plays a game blankly, but in the remaining matches, led by some inner anger, he successfully silences critics.
Although the Frenchman will turn 33 this summer, he still appears in training 45 minutes earlier and pours sweat with dedication, keeping up with the younger players of the team.
3rd place in the survey (8% of the votes).
Kaka's importance in AC Milan's future plans is even more emphasized by the fact that the Milan club has signed a contract with the young Brazilian until 2009.
Since he took over the position of the tenth number for "Milan" after Portuguese Rui Costa, the Brazilian, who will soon celebrate his 23rd birthday, has demonstrated a very mature game, unlike players his age. Playing in a favorite position, behind the striker, alongside Jon-Dahl Tomasson and the star of Milan, Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka demonstrates impressive ball control technique, speed, and penetrations into the penalty area, which helped the Milan club win the 17th "Scudetto" in 2004. Ten goals scored by him also did not hurt the path of the Milan club to success.
One of the player's fans is Dutch national team and Manchester United star Ruud van Nistelrooy, who one day told the Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera" that he would like to find himself at the receiving end of Kaka's passes. "Everyone sees that he enjoys playing and feels great pleasure from it," said Manchester United striker. "Kaka is still young, so he can learn a lot more." Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti compared Kaka to one of the legends of Serie A: "He scores a lot and reminds me of Michel Platini. It's hard to stop him because he knows exactly where he should be on the field every moment."
Kaka named Real's striker, his compatriot Ronaldo, as his ideal: "He is the best player in the world, truly remarkable player, a teammate who impressed me a lot."
Like Ronaldinho, Kaka promises to continue improving: "I will mature, adapt better to Italian football. I am trying to train more on my weaknesses. Currently, these are long passes and head play."
Kaka's success story is not a typical Brazilian fairy tale. Unlike most of today's Brazilian stars, Kaka did not kick a stuffed sock in his childhood. Milan noticed the teenager Kaka at the "Sao Paulo" club, and had to overcome competition from Chelsea and Inter because of him.
"He declined a lot of money to play in Milan," said Galliani. "Our agent in Brazil sent us a video that immediately showed how talented 18-year-old Kaka is. Now I can say that Kaka will become the best tenth number in the world."
Author of one of the most impressive goals of the last season against Deportivo La Coruna, Kaka does not hide his desire to win everything: "When I came to Milan, my goal was to show that I could play in Italy. I have proven that, and now I want to win everything possible with Milan."
