It was a tough battle for the German stopper, who just edged Turkish goalkeeper Rustu Recber for the number one shirt by a single vote. However, Kahn deserves the accolade for his consistent performances throughout the tournament, and it is clear that Germany would not have got as far as they did without the Bayern Munich man between the sticks.

The clear winner on the right side of defence was Brazilian speedster Cafu. Always willing to get forward and support his strikers, his decision to retire at the end of the finals is a real sad point for the Samba Kings. There were question marks over his defending, but his performances during the knockout stages allayed many of these fears.

Providing an all-Brazilian wing-back corps is the flying Real Madrid man, who again highlighted the exciting nature of his game at these finals. Showed why he is such a danger at free-kicks, and like Cafu, demonstrated that he still knows how to defend - only just, mind you.

Awarded with the captaincy in the Sportinglife.com team, having been selected in the team of every single voter. Foolishly omitted in favour of Sol Campbell by FIFA, he was a true rock throughout the finals and made the step up from a good player to a world-class one in the Far East. He would need to do so if playing alongside his attack-minded full-back colleagues, though.

It's fair to say that the Korean defender is the real shock inclusion in the team, but his performances for the co-hosts warranted his selection. At 33, he is approaching the latter stages of his career, but 'the Korean Beckenbauer' still showed his legs still have plenty of mileage left in them.

FIFA named one English player in their all-star side, but we were unanimous in making the Manchester United midfielder the second in our team. Even Pele rated him as one of the stars of the tournament. But, high praise aside, it was his combative performances against Argentina and Denmark which highlighted the talent that threatened to burst out in the other group games.

The other cert in our midfield is the new Bayern Munich man, who showed why he is the biggest talent in German football with a series of performances that led Rudi Voller's side to the World Cup final. It was cruel on the game that he wasn't able to grace the final due to suspension, but the goalscoring midfielder still fully-deserved his place in the team.

Another of the surprise packages of the finals, this huge Senegal star made an initial impact with the winning goal against France in the opening match, before starring in the Lions' midfield thereafter. Like Ballack, he showed his prowess in front of goal and his ability on the ball, but unlike the German, he displayed a much more physical side that shows why many people compare him to Patrick Vieira.

Like Ferdinand, the Brazilian hitman was selected by every voter, but the captaincy was given to the England man for his leadership qualities. Having spent almost four years in the footballing wilderness, he showed that he was almost back to his best with a dazzling series of performances, and the rediscovery of his killer instinct in front of goal.

Another popular selection for our second striker, the versatile star makes it four Brazilians in our starting 11. His versatility was singled out as a key reason for including him in the team, whilst his outrageous ability with the ball and in front of goal did him no harm either. He obviously lost many fans with his disgraceful theatrics, but our coach would quickly drill it out of him!

There was much debate whether or not to include a third striker, and even though this Turkish talent can play in attack, he is still a versatile player who can drop back to a wide position and help out in midfield. This tipped the scales into his favour and in all truth, he fully-deserves his place. A cool head in front of goal, he also provides excellent pace to link up the midfield and forward line.

Regarding our substitutes bench, we decided to follow FIFA's lead and have five replacements, much as would be seen in the Premiership.

So, the next five players with the highest number of votes were:

As mentioned, unlucky just to miss out on the starting spot in our team, but he can console himself with the fact that most of Europe's leading clubs are now queuing for his signature.

Magical or lucky against England, it doesn't really matter. He still showed why he is the most exciting young talent in the Brazilian squad with some impressive performances.

He may have failed to score a goal in the finals, but Liverpool fans will still be excited by what they have seen from the skilful Senegal man ahead of his move to Anfield.

An unsung hero in the Spanish team and he was very unlucky to be on a side that failed to reach the semi-finals. A handy replacement for Cafu anyway.

Only just pipped for a spot in our starting line-up, the South Korean defender was on top form as his country were inspired to reach the last four.

What do you think of our team?

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