Goal.com's 50 Greatest Players Of 2008

Welcome to Goal.com's greatest players of 2008 - the Goal.com 50!

A team of 25 Goal.com reporters representing leagues from: England's Premier to Spain's Liga; Italy's Series to Turkey's Super; Argentina's Apertura to Australia's A-League and beyond, all cracked our fingers, scratched our skulls, and banged our heads against brick walls devising a selection of stand-out performers deemed worthy of our votes.

Each journalist then went away and ranked the shortlist of 75 players in order of whom they believe were more deserving of the moniker: 'Greatest player of 2008'. Individual performances were noted from January to December 2008, as was team contribution, together with prizes and accolades awarded. The final lists were cut off at 50.

Once the results were in, the data was collated by adding together all of each footballer's corresponding ranks. So for example, if Ashley Young was positioned at 38 on one reporter's list, and ranked 49 on another, his total for the two would be 87.

However, if a player was completely omitted from a received shortlist, then he would be assigned penalty points. The winner, therefore, would be the player who had the lowest overall score.

Every day we will be updating this page with two new entrants, but for now:

The Results So Far...

[50 - 41]

50 - Ashley Young - Aston Villa, Premier League - Score: 1109

49 - Javier Zanetti - Internazionale, Serie A - Score: 1104

48 - Daniel Guiza - Fenerbahçe, Super Lig - Score: 1089

47 - Juninho Pernambucano - Olympique Lyonnais, Ligue 1 - Score: 1083

46 - Juan Román Riquelme - Boca Juniors, Argentine Apertura - Score: 1077

45 - Luca Toni - FC Bayern, Bundesliga - Score: 1064

44 - David Silva - Valencia, Primera Division - Score: 1060

42 (T) - Thierry Henry - Barcelona, Primera Division - Score: 1040

42 (T) - Daniel Alves - Sevilla, Primera Division / Barcelona, Primera Division - Score: 1040

41 - Antonio Cassano - Sampdoria, Serie A - Score: 1028

[40 - 31]

40 - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar - Ajax Amsterdam, Eredivisie / Real Madrid, Primera Division - Score: 1027
 
39 - Ricardo Carvalho - Chelsea, Premier Division - Score: 1025

38 - Samuel Eto'o - Barcelona, Primera Division - Score: 1017

37 - Philipp Lahm - FC Bayern, Bundesliga - Score: 1009

36 - Javier Mascherano - Liverpool, Premier League - Score: 1008

35 - Julio Cesar - Internazionale, Serie A - Score 1000

34 - Robinho - Real Madrid, Primera Division / Manchester City, Premier League - Score: 970

33 - Diego - Werder Bremen, Bundesliga - Score: 955

32 - Carles Puyol - Barcelona, Primera Division - Score: 915

31 - Wesley Sneijder - Real Madrid, Primera Division - Score: 887

[30-21]

30 - Daniele De Rossi - Roma, Serie A - Score: 878

29 - Esteban Cambiasso - Internazionale, Serie A - Score: 877

28 - Giorgio Chiellini - Juventus, Serie A - Score: 870

27 - Emmanuel Adebayor - Arsenal, Premier League - Score: 862

26 - Nemanja Vidic - Manchester United, Premier League - Score: 829

25 - Ruud van Nistelrooy - Real Madrid, Primera Division - Score: 827

24 - Sergio Ramos - Real Madrid, Primera Division - Score: 733

23 - Maicon Douglas Sisenando - Internazionale, Serie A - Score: 729

22 - Alessandro Del Piero - Juventus, Serie A - Score: 712

21 - John Terry - Chelsea - Premier League - Score: 705

[20-11]

20 - Frank Lampard - Chelsea, Premier League - Score: 668

19 - Marcos Senna - Villarreal, Primera Division - Score: 636

18 - Rio Ferdinand - Manchester United, Premier League - Score: 610

17 - Gianluigi Buffon - Juventus, Serie A - Score: 589

16 - Kaka - Milan, Serie A - Score: 587

15 - Wayne Rooney - Manchester United, Premier League - Score: 586

14 - Karim Benzema - Olympique Lyonnais, Ligue 1 - Score: 559

13 - Andres Iniesta - Barcelona, Primera Division - Score: 538

12 - Steven Gerrard - Liverpool, Premier League - Score: 537

11 - Franck Ribery - FC Bayern - Bundesliga - Score: 521

Now, the Top Ten...

10 - Sergio Agüero - Atlético Madrid, La Liga - Score: 510

9 - Andrei Arshavin - Zenit St Petersburg, Russian Premier League - Score 469

8 - Francesc Fabregas - Arsenal, Premier League - Score: 444

7 - David Villa - Valencia, La Liga - Score: 356

6 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Inter, Serie A - Score: 279

5 - Xavi Hernández - FC Barcelona, Primera División - Score: 222

4 - Iker Casillas - Real Madrid, Primera Divsion - Score: 219

3 - Fernando Torres - Liverpool, Premier League - Score: 100

2 - Lionel Messi - Barcelona, Primera Liga - Score: 98

1 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United, Premier League - Score: 32

Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo, and thanks to all our readers for joining us on this journey to the top!

What are your thoughts on those selected so far? Controversial? Let us know!!!