Anytime that the idea of best player in the world is brought up the list starts and ends with two names - Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. When looking at 2014, picking the top player between Messi and Ronaldo seems like a futile and uninteresting task. So instead, Latin Post.com's David Salazar and Edwin Molina, as part of our Best of Soccer in 2014 feature series, are looking at players not named Ronaldo or Messi, who deserve some credit in 2014.
Everyone loves to honor the individuals. But ultimately, the collective may be even more important in some cases and nowhere is this more apparent than in soccer. As part of the Best of Soccer in 2014 feature series, writers David Salazar and Edwin Molina now highlight their team of year.
Manchester City, playing without Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany and English Premier League (EPL) leading scorer Sergio Aguero, managed to defy the odds, defeating Series A club AS Roma to advance to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Luis Suarez helped Barcelona beat PSG with an assist to Lionel Messi -- scoring his 75th career Champions League, three ahead of Cristiano Ronald on the all-time scorers list -- and scoring his first goal with the Catalan club since his transfer from Liverpool.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 23rd career European Championship goal, surpassing Denmark's Jon Dahl Tomasson on the all-time scorers list, lifting Portugal past Armenia 1-0. Also, Germany coach Joachim Low was displeased with his team despite a 4-0 win over Gibraltar while the Faroe Islands stunned Greece -- who has struggled since the World Cup.
Lionel Messi made history when he scored his 70th and 71st career UEFA Champions League goals helping Barcelona beat Ajax Amsterdam 2-0, helping the Spanish club advance into the Round of 16. Barcelona will be joined by Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, Ligue 1 champs Paris Saint-Germain and Primeira Liga club Porto in the next phase of the tournament.
Forty goals were scored on Tuesday, a record for an eight-game night of UEFA Champions League's action that saw Shakhtar Donetsk' Luiz Adriano tie Lionel Messi's record for most goals in a game while Messi got closer to Raul's Champions League career record.
