After the 72 games of the inflated group stage of the World Cup, columnists from Sheet were invited to form their ideal team, in addition to choosing the coach.
Some positions made it clear that there is no clear favorite, with many players mentioned, others came close to unanimous. With everyone looking for a certain diversity in voting, the fantasy team was left with athletes from nine different teams, with Brazil and France as the only ones to field two players.
The 11 ideals were as follows: Vozinha (Cape Verde); Hakimi (Morocco), Sánchez (Colombia), Van Dijk (Netherlands) and Nuno Mendes (Portugal); Olise (France), Messi (Argentina) and Bruno Guimarães; Vinicius Junior (Brazil), Haaland (Norway) and Mbappé (France). The coach is Argentine Lionel Scaloni.
Interestingly, the defenses of Mexico and Spain, the only undefeated teams in the World Cup, did not feature any player at the end of the voting, even though they were mentioned here and there.
For the goal, he was chosen, Vozinha, one of the most hyped players at the World Cup, including the group on the line. The Cape Verdean impressed the world with his seven saves that helped guarantee the 0-0 against the powerful Spain — he was the third goalkeeper with the most saves in the first round.
At the end of the group stage, the friendly goalkeeper finished with ten saves and outside the top 10 in this category. He conceded two goals, both in the 2-2 against Uruguay.
Besides Vozinha, the only goalkeeper to receive more than one vote was Emiliano Martínez, from Argentina, considered the best in the position in 2022 and with a goal conceded in Group J, in the current champions’ 3-1 victory against Jordan.
Moroccan right-back Hakimi continues to have prestige. Known for his offensive strength, he already has one goal in the World Cup, scored against Haiti, enough to receive five votes.
On the left side, the preference was for the Portuguese Nuno Mendes, who also scored a goal, from a free kick, in the Portuguese rout against Uzbekistan. Coincidentally, or not, Hakimi and Mendes are starters for the two-time Champions League champion club, PSG.
In defense, the duo is formed by the experienced Van Dijk (the most voted in the position, with six) and Davinson Sánchez, whose defense conceded just one goal. The Dutchman scored a goal, the Colombian almost. Sánchez even scored against Portugal, but the goal was disallowed due to a millimeter offside.
The columnists’ midfield is very offensive, with Argentine Messi (ten votes) forming a trio with Frenchman Olise and Brazilian Bruno Guimarães. Messi, in fact, received votes in the middle and attack.
Olise and Bruno are among the leaders in assists in the World Cup, with three each — the third in this category is the Swede Isak.
The Argentine number 10, top scorer in the World Cup with 6 goals, will face in the next round precisely the goalkeeper of the ideal team. “I think playing against Argentina will be very good, as it is a dream for any player to face Lionel Messi’s team”, declared Vozinha.
Total strength in attack, with Mbappé (France), Haaland (Norway) and Vinicius Junior (Brazil). The trio shares the second place in the World Cup, with 4 goals each.
It’s difficult to know who would play for who if the attack really worked together. Mbappé, like Messi, won the vote, falling in favor of 10 of the 11 columnists. Vini Jr. comes a little behind, with nine.
Haaland, who played two of Norway’s three matches, received five votes.
Four coaches were remembered in the vote, with Argentine Lionel Scaloni considered the best among five columnists. Mauricio Pochettino (United States), Hajime Moriyasu (Japan) and Pedro Leitão Brito, Bubista (Cape Verde), received two votes each. Nobody voted for Carlo Ancelotti.
Columnists Daniel Mariani, Fábio Takahashi, Hanuska Bertoia, Idelber Avelar, Luís Curro, Márcio Macedo, Maurício Stycer, Paulo Vieira, PVC, Sandro Macedo and Sebastián Fest participated in the vote.
