Top 10 Soccer Goals of 2011

Every year deserves to end with "Best of" lists, 2011 being no exception.

Here is a compilation of 10 of the best goals from the past year in soccer.

While many worthy candidates had to be left off this collection of goals, I've tried to include team and individual brilliance, skill and power or speed and precision as the main criteria for selection.

Not surprisingly, the brightest young players and strongest teams from Europe, North America and South America have all made their way onto these highlight reels.

Thierry Henry (NY Red Bulls V. Chicago Fire, Aug. 13)

Thierry Henry isn't one of the more prolific strikers of the last 15 years for nothing.

He's going to finish a well put together sequence with a signature strike that curves inside the post.

Yes it's MLS, and yes he's older, but it's still a great goal from a superb star of the game.

Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan vs. Schalke 04, Apr. 5)

Dejan Stankovic has an important message for all you up-and coming-goalkeepers...stay close to your net. And if you want to be the cool guy and head one away, fully laying out, well then he may make you pay with a roped volley from midfield directly back into your open goal.

Robin van Persie (Arsenal vs. Everton, Dec.10)

Not too many can pick a lofted pass from nearly midfield straight out of midair, and fewer still can redirect it with unstoppable velocity toward the far post, and only a handful can make it look all so effortless.

The peerless Robin van Persie.

Kevin-Prince Boateng (AC Milan vs. Barcelona, Nov. 23)

There are no answers, no explanation, nothing can be drawn or planned for.

Simply, skills. Simply, talent. 

Lionel Messi (Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Apr. 27)

How can you pick a spectacular play from amongst the hundreds from a playmaker who's redefining the parameters of greatness?

My answer is you can't. But you can enjoy one example of all the threats he packs into such a small frame: Speed, control and determination.

They're a virtual bag full of daggers employed indiscriminately against any and all opponents.

Claudio Marchisio (Juventus V. Bologna, Dec. 8)

How do the best differentiate themselves from the pack of the mere good?

With flashes of brilliance at moments of crucial importance.

Claudio Marchisio is a rising star for Italy and Juventus, and this is no more apparent than when creates and finishes with style in a space the size of a Manhattan studio, simultaneously, when he strikes at the death to eliminate a gritty foe in a cup match. 

He sparks a fire in fans throughout a stadium, a city and a nation. 

Giovanni Dos Santos (Mexico vs. United States, Jun. 25)

So you've got Tim Howard crawling around on the grass looking all a fool. So you toy with two U.S. defenders because you've got the ball on a string. So you tease a third defender into thinking he can save your perfectly placed touch off the line. So this was all in the Gold Cup final, in a sold out Rose Bowl versus your biggest rival.

What's the big deal Gio? 

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United vs. Manchester City, Feb. 12)

He did what? A bicycle kick? It went upper 90, too? In a derby game?

Uh huh, that's Wayne Rooney for you, always doing the unexpected when you most expect him to.

Neymar (Santos vs. Flamengo, Jul. 27)

It's entirely unfair to the rest of the world that Brazil monopolizes one-name soccer phenom production.

Here's Neymar, the latest talent out of the factory, basically speeding through a driver's ed. course.

It takes a few viewings to truly appreciate the deftness and control he displays with the ball while sprinting through the Flamengo defense. Can't wait to see him in action in 2014.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid vs. Ajax Amsterdam, Sept. 27)

Seven passes, six of them of the one-touch variety.

The movement up the field as an offensive unit is fluid and fast, players intuitively overlapping each other.

The finish is clinical.

A team goal of the highest caliber. If you want to know why they call it the beautiful game, watch this video.