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Shortly after Germany beat Argentina 1-0 to win their fourth world championship, FIFA announced the winners of their tournament awards. Bayern Munich players were up for three of the four awards.
Golden Ball
Winner: Lionel Messi
Silver Ball: Thomas Müller
Bronze Ball: Arjen Robben
Full 10 Man Shortlist
Mats Hummels | Germany |
Toni Kroos | Germany |
Philipp Lahm | Germany |
Angel di Maria | Argentina |
Javier Mascherano | Argentina |
Lionel Messi | Argentina |
Thomas Müller | Germany |
Neymar | Brazil |
Arjen Robben | Netherlands |
James Rodriguez | Colombia |
There will be a lot consternation at the fact that Messi was awarded the Golden Ball. No, Messi was not the best player at this World Cup. I personally believe that the Golden Ball should've been awarded to Philipp Lahm. Some of the criticism that Messi will receive following the tournament will be unwarranted. He rarely received any help from the rest of the forwards on that team, and it seemed that he carried that team at times. I was concerned that there would be some fishy business putting Neymar in for the Bronze Ball and robbing Arjen Robben of the glory that he earned in this competition. The Dutch team wasn't expected to get out of the group, and they nearly made the final. Robben was sensational.
Golden Boot
Rank | Player | Goals | Assists |
1 | James Rodriguez - Colombia | 6 | 2 |
2 | Thomas Müller - Germany | 5 | 3 |
3 | Neymar - Brazil | 4 | 1 |
4 | Lionel Messi - Argentina | 4 | 1 |
5 | Robin van Persie - Netherlands | 4 | 0 |
6 | Karim Benzema - France | 3 | 2 |
7 | Arjen Robben - Netherlands | 3 | 1 |
8 | Andre Schürrle - Germany | 3 | 0 |
9 | Enner Valencia - Ecuador | 3 | 0 |
10 | Xherdan Shaqiri - Switzerland | 3 | 0 |
Unfortunately, Thomas Müller failed to score in the Champions League Final, so James Rodriguez took home the Golden Boot award. Müller has now played in two World Cups and has ten goals. Might we be talking about Müller breaking Miroslav Klose's record in a few years?
Robben and Shaqiri round out this list for Bayern players. The two of them carried their countries in this tournament.
Golden Glove
Winner: Manuel Neuer - Germany
The talk for a majority of this tournament was about how Neuer was revolutionizing the goalkeeper position. There was zero question in my mind that he was going to win this award. Neuer is the world's best.
Also Nominated: Keylor Navas - Costa Rica, Sergio Romero - Argentina
Best Young Player
Winner: Paul Pogba - France
I don't necessarily think that Pogba had the best tournament. In fact, I'd say he was kind of disappointing on the whole.
Also Nominated: Memphis Depay - Netherlands, Raphaël Varane - France
Fair Play Award
Winner: Colombia