In 2020, Lionel Messi will be 33 and Ronaldo will be past 35 and the youngsters of today will take centre-stage.
You batted an eyelid and it was already 2017, wasn’t it? Well, not literally but metaphorically. And what do you know? Nothing has changed. Lionel Messi and the Cristiano Ronaldo are still ruling world football.
However, by 2020, Lionel Messi will be 33 years old and Cristiano Ronaldo will be 35 years old. While they still might be world-class footballers, the chances of them dominating world football are unlikely. And not only Messi and Ronaldo, most of the stars of today’s football will be past their prime with the current youngsters taking their places.
Around the world, there are many young footballers who are on the brink of greatness. These footballers are full of potential and while it’s difficult to fathom the future we have attempted to list 11 players who could be in the World XI line-up in 2020.
#1Goalkeeper – David De Gea
When David De Gea first arrived in England, everyone wondered if he was physically strong enough to survive in the much more rigorous Premier League. However, it was just a matter of time and garnering enough experience until he showed his true capabilities.
Another aspect on which he has worked a lot is his ball distribution. De Gea is adept at picking out the big men in his team and starting off counter-attacks. He is not afraid to put his body in between and has pulled off several stunning saves with both his legs and arms.
He has been United’s most consistent player over the last few years, winning the club’s player of the season trophy three consecutive times. The 26-year-old is already considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and if that save against Liverpool off Phillippe Coutinho’s venomous shot was anything to go by then, in three years he will be the greatest.
#2 Goalkeeper – Thibaut Courtois
Belgium needed a goal to take the game into the extra-time against Argentina and pushed every single player higher up the pitch. But a few nervous moments later Lionel Messi found some space and ran all the way towards the Belgium goal. Between him and the goal stood a 2m high figure, who held his hand out and denied the four-time Ballon d’Or winner. He was calm, composed and showed the world that he was highly dependable on one-on-one situations.
#Right winger – Neymar
Neymar, the guy who carried the hopes of an entire nation on his shoulder when Brazil hosted the World Cup last summer, has been considered as the next big thing in football. Neymar had to fight off the pressure from the media and get adjusted to the Catalan club’s philosophy. In the first season at Barcelona, Neymar played 1753 minutes in La Liga. This season he has played 27 more minutes and has scored 17 goals – trivially his scoring and assisting records in the Liga combined to form 17 goals.
# Central Midfielder – Paul Pogba
One of the biggest blunders of Sir Alex Ferguson was not giving a young Frenchman a first-team chance he so deserved and wished for. Famous for bringing a group of talented youngsters from the youth squad – The Class of 92 – to ameliorate the main squad, Ferguson failed to spot the talent in Paul Pogba. Pogba soon left Manchester United and signed for Juventus FC.
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