Every four years there´s a group of players that nobody wants to miss out on their performance and this world cup is no exception. The world cup is the best place to showcase a player´s abilities, whether it is with the intention of becoming famous, to get a better contract with their current team, to catch the headhunters attention or just to rise their price in the market, but this event is definitely the best chance for a player to stand out among the crowd.

Fuente

One thing is to be the best player in a National league where there´s more than 30 games a year to get in shape, find your best level, understand your teammates and grasp completely the team gameplay. It´s another thing, absolutely different to play a tournament where you only have 3 games to do your best, finf your mojo and give everything striving to reach the next round, where having one single bad day could mean having to go back home rather than advancing to the knockout stage.

In a world cup, the players face the hardest exam of their lives, where the all their talents and skills are put to the test but, what really differentiates a good player from a great player is the mentality and attitude towards the games, towards certain situations, when facing a negative score... In a world cup the mind is as important as the body, which is why we decided to bring you a list of the players we consider have both, body and mind, which will allow them to lead their teams to victory. Their teammates are counting on them, the team´s performance vastly depends on these players´s performance..

5- ISCO:

Francisco Alarcon "Isco", a player who came straight from Malaga FC directly to Real Madrid FC. This skilled player has struggled week after week to secure a spot in Zinedine Zidane´s 11, but not because he is not good enough, but because we all know the quality every Real Madrid player counts with. During the qualifier matches, Isco proved to be the man to follow in Spain´s National team, being the pilar of the offense by scoring goals and assisting his teammates. Despite not being Spain´s main forward, he is definitely the man to follow in Spain, not only because of his skills and abilities but because of the maturity with which he arrives to the tournament.

Source

4- ANTOINE GRIEZMAN:

Atletico de Madrid´s and France´s Top scorer, a goal man if you may, arrives to this Cup in a formidable moment and the situation couldn´t be better due to the rumours of his possible transfer to FC Barcelona, a transfer that would definitely cause him to break the bond he has with the Atletico´s fandom.
Antoine has always been a lethal forward when it comes to scoring, from his days with Real Sociedad a few years ago where he and mexican Carlos Vela lead their team to a UEFA Champions League, he was already considered one of the best players of the league.

Despite suffering some painful defeats such as the Champions league final match against Real Madrid and the semifinal against Cristiano Ronaldo´s Portugal, this summer comes bearing the sign of redemption and Griezman knows this. This is Franca´s and his chance to prove everyone - and themselves - that they are one of the best National team France has had in the modern era and they are a serious contender to bring the cup home.

Source

3- NEYMAR

Whoever says they didn´t think Neymar´s price transfer from Santos to Barcelona was a dumb move from the Spanish team is lying, and this is because at that time Neymar´s playing style was just a big question mark for everyone, generating a lot of doubts and lack of trust; nobody believed he would adapt so good to the European playing style and yet, a few years later nobody can´t argue he is a Top 3 best player in the world.

Neymar´s versatility and adaptability is out of this world. Just as he can dribble from the side to the center, he can take charge of every free kick plus he can score with the head and with both feet. He still needs to prove his individual quiality by winning a Champions League without a player like Messi by his side and he still has to give Brazil a big title or cup... well now its the best time to achieve that and who knows, perhaps a world cup for Brazil will mean a Ballon d´Or (best player of the world) for him.

Unlike last world cup, this time Neymar is accompanied by a solid Brazil selecao and, we believe everyone can agree on this one: Brazil and Neymar being World Champions doesn´t sound so crazy for Russia 2018.

Source

2- CRISTIANO RONALDO

A player that need no introduction. After achieving the impossible with Real Madrid, right after winning 3 times in a row the UEFA Champions League, the only thing left for him to conquer is the FIFA World Cup. It´s worth noting that Cristiano lead Portugal to achieve the unimaginable by winning the Euro 2016 beating one of the most powerful France in the last years and, despite him not being in the field that day, we know that Ronaldo will embrace every chance he gets to help his team win every single match they play during this world cup.

Cristiano shows up to this Cup with a big question mark in his future club-wise. It appears that his days with Real MAdrid might be over due to his age, an age where its very unlikely for him to clinch a contract for the amount of money he is asking, even though we believe that winning three Champions league in a row gives him the right to ask for whatever and however he wants it.

Cristiano wasn´t at his best level during the Euro 2016 and yet, his team won the tournament... imagine if during this world cup Ronaldo actually finds his mojo and he plays at his best level. Portugal being world champion maybe?

Source

1- LIONEL MESSI

If there is a player who deserves to win a world cup is la pulga. Don´t get us wrong, if the world cup took into consideration previous achievements, then the results would be very different; its just that, unlike Maradona, Lionel Messi doesn´t have a top team by his side to help him when its time to face the important games, which gives him more credit for reaching the 2014 world cup final against Germany.

Today, its very unlikely that the Argentinian team can actually achieve something big, because its Messi + 10, but if Lionel has proved something, it is that he can easily put the team in his shoulders and win a game by himself, but it all depends on which foot he woke up with.

Messi has been involved in controversy by missing some penalty kicks in important matches or for disappearing in the field when he was most needed, but we have to remember this is a team sport and you can´t blame someone specific for an Argentinian defeat, unless of course, that someone is Higuain.

One thing is clear, Messi must know this is probably the last world cup he will play on his physical peak where he can explode his techinque and abilities to his fullest. Messi has evolved his gamestyle from dribbler to creator, yet he remains lethal in front of the three posts and there is still to be born a defensive tactic that can render him invisible without opening spaces to other Argentinian players... its vital that Argentina plays as a team and take advantage of this spaces if they want to go far on this Cup.

Source

---

---

---

We are organizing a Contest with a 2,000 SBD prize pool. If you want to join this contest, click here.

---

This is a @blocktrades sponsored contest, if you like what he is doing, vote for @blocktrades as witness here

This is an @acidyo & @anomadsoul organized contest, if you like what we are doing, vote for @ocd-witness as witness here here