With very little time left until the announcement of the winner of the Golden Ball and the official symbolic team of the year, the portal Goal.com conducted a survey among visitors and compiled its best eleven.
In the goalkeeper position, Manuel Neuer unexpectedly won the elections among the three final contenders to win the "Ballon d'Or" award. The German national team and Bayern Munich player played superbly in 2014 and managed to triumph in the Bundesliga and the World Cup in Brazil. However, the German surpassed Manchester United's David De Gea by a small margin in the survey (36.6% to 28.9%).
Leading the defensive line is Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos. This year, the Spaniard won the UEFA Champions League, the King's Cup, and the Club World Cup. In addition, the center-back stood out in the Champions League final, extending the match in the final moments. He managed to gather 43.3% of the votes among defenders.
Alongside him is Javier Mascherano, who also performed excellently. The Argentine established himself in the starting lineup of Barcelona, but showed even better performance at the World Cup, where he was one of the leaders of the national team that reached the final.
Among the best defenders is also Atletico Madrid captain Diego Godin. He was one of the main pillars of Diego Simeone's solid defense, and his goal against Barcelona secured the team the country's champion title. In addition, the Uruguayan was the only scorer for his team in the Champions League final.
Another defender in this lineup is Germany's national team captain Philipp Lahm. Playing as a defensive midfielder and right-back throughout the year, he deserves a place among the best for helping Bayern win the Bundesliga trophy and leading his compatriots to World Cup gold.
Most votes in the midfield went to Angel Di Maria, who arrived at Manchester United in the summer. The Argentine was one of the key players who led Real to their tenth Champions League victory, and Di Maria along with Lionel Messi and Mascherano drove the national team forward in the World Cup.
Another player who received recognition is Yacine Brahimi, voted the best African footballer. At the beginning of 2014, the Algerian helped Granada avoid relegation to a lower Spanish league and then led the national team to the World Cup quarter-finals. In the new season, Brahimi demonstrates solid performance after moving to Porto.
Completing the defensive line is another World Cup champion, Toni Kroos. This player also triumphed with Bayern in the German championship. However, it was his performance in Brazil that earned him a place among the most capable footballers in the world. Although the official award went to Messi, the experts in various statistics ranked the German as the best player of the tournament.
Despite a disappointing performance representing the national team in the World Cup, more than half of the votes in the forward list went to Real star Cristiano Ronaldo. It is not worth repeating his club achievements, but it should be noted that the Portuguese continues to score a lot of goals this year. In the 2014-15 season alone, the forward already has 32 accurate shots.
For Lionel Messi, possibly Cristiano Ronaldo's main competitor for individual awards, this was one of the rare years when the Argentine did not win anything with his club. However, 2014 can be considered successful for achieving records in the Champions League and the Spanish championship, as well as reaching the final in Brazil.
Leading the attack is Luis Suarez, who joined Barcelona in the summer. The excellent sniper's game almost led Liverpool to the Premier League title, and he also had a good start to the World Cup. However, Suarez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini at that time, earning himself a four-month suspension.
