Diego Forlan Wins Golden Ball As Germany's Thomas Mueller Takes Young Player Award & Golden Boot
Following Spain's 2010 World Cup final triumph over the Netherlands, Uruguay striker Diego Forlan picked up the Golden Ball award while young Germany forward Thomas Mueller took the Best Young Player accolade as well as the Golden Boot.
Atletico Madrid striker Forlan proved to be one of the star performers in South Africa, beating off competition from the likes of Wesley Sneijder and Spain hitman David Villa to be crowned the tournament's best player - as voted for by the media.
Mueller also claimed the Best Young Player gong for his impressive performances in South Africa, beating both Ghana's Andre Ayew and Mexico's Giovanni Dos Santos to claim the prize.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who made a string of impressive saves in Spain's final triumph over the Netherlands, claimed the Golden Glove while Vicente del Bosque's side were also recognised with the Fair Play Award.
Internationsl Friendlies on Wednes day
Wednesday 3 March will see the vast majority of the 32 teams participating in the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in friendly action across the globe, and you can follow all the action on FIFA.com’s LIVE EMIRATES MatchCast.
Follow your favourite teams with minute-by-minute descriptions, statistics, photos and updates from each game as it happens across the globe. FIFA.com’s FanChat application also allows you to have your say on your favourite games as they happen from the comfort of your own desktop.
Some of the marquis match-ups to be covered LIVE on FIFA.com this Wednesday include the clash between England and African champions Egypt from London’s fabled Wembley Stadium, as manager Fabio Capello looks to firm up his England squad, ranked among the favourites for the title in South Africa by a fair few pundits.
France – who only just edged out Republic of Ireland for a place in this June’s world finals will be in action against European champions and high-flyers Spain, tipped by many to shrug off past failures on the world’s biggest stage and challenge for a first crown later this year on African soil.
Diego Maradona’s Argentina will travel to Munich to take on a Germany side hoping to follow up their third-place finish in 2006 as hosts with a run to the final at this year’s tournament. USA, and their injury-plagued coach Bob Bradley, head to Amsterdam to test their mettle against the Dutch, who are among the fancied few tipped for big things this summer.
You can follow 19 matches in all this Wednesday, with the action starting at 10:00 (CET) with Australia taking on Indonesia from Brisbane. Be sure to make FIFA.com and the EMIRATES MatchCast your destination for LIVE, up-to-the-minute coverage of all the international friendlies as the road to South Africa winds into the final stretch.
