Flying Dutchmen—Sneijder Should Be Player of The Year, Robben Close Second

The Netherlands have long produced some of the world's greatest players. However, through the country's rich footballing history, only two players have even placed in the top three of voting for the prestigious FIFA World Player of the Year award. Dennis Bergkamp twice placed third in 1993 and 1997 while Marco van Basten has been the only Dutchmen to win the award, playing for a Milan squad which included Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard.

Clarence Seedorf is the only man to win the Champions League with three different clubs but has never been considered for this award. Much has alluded the Dutch in recent years: the last Dutch team to win the Champions League was Ajax in 1994. Ajax was also part of an incredible decade in Dutch football, arguably its greatest, when Dutch clubs won the Champions League every season from 1970 to 1973, with Feyenoord winning the first and then Ajax with three in a row. Following those triumphs was two trips to the World Cup Final for the Netherlands.

Once again, the Dutch are in the World Cup Final, as they prepare to take on Spain on Sunday. No matter the outcome, two Dutchmen, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, have proven themselves this season, for club and country, to be the two most valuable players on the field.

We can't deny it, we all thought this was the year of Messi, Ronaldo, and Rooney. We thought it would be one of them. Performances do not lie though. On the club level, only Messi's Barcelona reached the semifinals of the Champions League (where they lost to Sneijder's Inter Milan). Messi was also the only of the three to win a domestic league.

Barcelona won the Spanish Liga while Ronaldo and Real Madrid finished behind them in second and only made the last 16 of the Champions League. Wayne Rooney and Manchester United reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League and came in second behind Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League.

At the World Cup, Rooney and England had a miserable time. After finishing second in Group C behind the United States, they were blown away 4-0 by semifinalists Germany in the last 16.

Ronaldo and Portugal also finished second in their group, though behind Brazil, and lost in the last 16 to finalists Spain. Messi and Argentina took all nine points in their group, but were also met with a 4-0 exit to Germany in the quarterfinals. On top of that, Argentina's modern-day Maradona(?) failed to score at all!

Robben and Sneijder had slightly better seasons. While they may not be the goal scorers Ronaldo, Messi, and Rooney are, they were much more valuable to their teams. Robben's goal at Fiorentina, one of his 16, in a whirlwind second-leg quarterfinal put Bayern Munich into the semifinals, through which they advanced to face Sneijder and Inter Milan.

Inter Milan went on to win the final, one of their three trophies this season, along with the Italian Serie A title and the Coppa Italia. Bayern were double winners winning both the German Bundesliga and the German Cup. Now both have been pivotal in the Netherlands reaching the final.

Their performances all season and into the World Cup make it hard for me to not argue that Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben are the two most valuable players in football this year. That is really what this award boils down to, who is most valuable to his club. Looking back over the past couple years, the winners of the Player of the Year award since 2006: Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo, and Messi, have come from the Champions League winner, giving the edge to Sneijder.

He may have only scored four goals to Robben's sixteen, but no player was more important to his club's performance than Wesley Sneijder. I watched Inter several times this season and have no doubt that Sneijder was the important link between the back and Diego Milito, the club's top goalscorer, another player who should be in this talk for a runner up position.

Sneijder is a playmaker and a game changer. We saw him lead the charge against Brazil in the quarterfinals, down a goal with a half hour to play.

When December comes, make no mistake, win or lose on Sunday, the Dutch have turned the tide of football, as a country and as individuals. If FIFA is to present this award to the most deserving player, then Wesley Sneijder shall be on that podium as the second Dutchman to win football's top individual prize.