5 most trending footballers of 2014

Internet giant Google has come out with the list of those who were searched the most in the year 2014. Among the searches, the World Cup was found to be in the second position while among the athletes 5 out of the 10 most searched were found to be footballers. The other athletes in the list include Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, Multiple Olympic Gold medalist Michael Phelps, NFL players Ray Rice and Richard Sherman and Italian F1 driver Jules Bianchi.Here’s the list of the 5 footballers who were named in the most searched list.

#5 Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaa

The 27-year-old Mexican goalkeeper made his World cup debut earlier this year and made an immediate impression in the game against Brazil, where he made four very good saves and helped his country achieve a stalemate against the hosts. He was named the player of the match for his performance that drew praises from several quarters, including Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

He conceded a goal in Mexico’s 3-1 win over Croatia and despite his country bowing out of the tournament after losing 2-1 in the knock-out game against the Netherlands, his performance in the game was praised and he received his second player of the match award.

After his wonderful performances in the World Cup, Memo, as he is fondly known, was bought by Spanish side Malaga but he did not a game until this month when he played in the 1-1 draw against Deportivo La Coruna.

#4 Mario Gotze

Mario Gotze will forever be remembered as the man who scored the defining goal in the final of the 2014 World cup against Argentina that helped his country lift the coveted trophy after a gap of 24 years. The 22-year-old scored the winning goal in Germany’s 2-2 draw against Ghana and played only 14 minutes in his country’s 1-0 win over the United States and was on the field for only 7 minutes during Germany’s quarter-final win over France.

Gotze didn't play until the dying minutes of his country’s 7-1 mauling of Brazil in the semi-final. But he rose to fame on the biggest night of all, scoring the solitary goal in extra time that helped his country win the World Cup.

However, Gotze had a mixed debut season for Bayern Munich, scoring 15 goals in 44 games across all competitions and he will be hoping to do much better in the upcoming season.

#3 Neymar

The 22-year-old Brazilian scored 41 goals for his club Barcelona in 15 matches across all competitions in the 2013-14 season and was one of Brazil’s star attractions when they hosted the FIFA World Cup earlier this year. He scored a brace in his country’s opening match against Croatia and scored yet another brace in Brazil’s 4-1 win over Cameroon in the group stage of the tournament.

However, he wasn’t part of the team that was thrashed by Germany 7-1 in the semi-finals due to an injury that he suffered during his country’s quarter-final win over Colombia and had to remain content with the Bronze Boot for scoring the third most number of goals in the tournament. He was, however, named in the World Cup All Star XI and was also among the 10-nominees for FIFA Golden Ball award for the best player in the tournament.

#2 Luis Suarez

The Uruguay forward had a very good 2013-14 season for his former club Liverpool, whom he almost single-handedly took to the second position in the Premier League Table by scoring a total of 31 goals in 33 appearances. It also ensured that the Reds qualified for the Champions League after four seasons. Considering his excellent form, expectations from him at the World Cup were high and he was billed as one of the key men if his country had to make significant progress in the tournament.

However, Suarez would forever be remembered for all the wrong reasons when one talks about his exploits at the 2014 World Cup after replays caught him biting defender Giorgio Chiellini in Uruguay’s final group game against Italy. Two days after the incident, the 27-year-old was banned for nine matches by FIFA’s disciplinary committee and it was longest ever ban imposed on any player.

in July, Suarez made a move to Barcelona from Liverpool for an estimated fee of €94 million on a five-year contract deal. However, due to the ban, Suarez couldn’t play the initial few games for his new club and made his debut in the Clasico fixture in October, which his side lost 3-1. He has played 10 games for the Catalan giants across all competitions and has scored 2 goals so far.

#1 James Rodriguez

The 23-year-old Colombian was positioned at number one in the list of athletes that trended in 2014. He had a very good World cup in Brazil earlier this year where he scored 6 goals and made 2 assists in five matches. He scored a terrific volleying goal in his country’s 2-0 win over Uruguay in the round of 16 stage of the tournament that was rated as "one of the greatest goals the World Cup has ever seen" by opposition manager Oscar Tabarez.

That strike would later go on to be voted as the goal of the tournament by more than 4 million people on FIFA’s website. He was awarded the Golden Boot for scoring the most number of goals in the tournament and many, including Argentian great Diego Maradona, felt that Rodriguez was unlucky to have not got the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament.

Following the World Cup, Rodriguez made a switch from Monaco to Real Madrid for reportedly a sum of €80 million on a six-year contract deal. He has scored a total of 9 goals for Los Blancos in the 24 appearances that he has made for them so far across all competitions and will be looking to win his side many more matches in the future.