Who is the World's Best? Candidate 4

Javier Mascherano: Maradona recently said 'Mascherano is the only indispensable player Argentina has right now and not Messi nor Riquelme'. A tireless worker who makes his presence felt all over the pitch by his hard tackling, Mascherano is the best defensive midfielder in the world, although his work often goes unnoticed. Once he does hunt down his opponents, he offers his team neat passing, so his team not only wins the ball but also keeps it. Not physically intimidating, Mascherano is merely 5'9'', but is often described as a predator hunting prey when he chases players down to take the ball. A frequent yellow and red card receiver, Masche, as he is known in England and his native Argentina, can also be seen making darting runs up from his defensive position in the 90th minute and every game. Mascherano or "The Little Boss" is a remarkable talent that is clearly indispensable for both Argentina and Liverpool. Masche played for the full national team before he played for his club team, River Plate, something truly remarkable due to the talent of Argentina's squad especially in the midfield and because you don't hear many players given a chance on the national team before they play for their club.

Mascherano, arguably the most underrated player in the world, will probably never get the full recognition he deserves because he is not flashy or offensively gifted as the likes of Robinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, etc., even though his distribution in long and short ranged passes is extremely accurate. He resembles Makelele, Marcos Senna, and Gattuso, and like other defensive midfielders who pride themselves on hard work and unnoticed responsibilities, Mascherano offers a different class of player who is highly unlikely to win any individual awards, but he is more than worthy of receiving praise for doing the job nobody likes to do so well.