I don't understand how Rooney is #3 but Tevez is so much further down the list. I understand Rooney's current form partly justifies a high ranking for him, but hasn't Tevez been almost as good for City, especially when it counted most?

If it's based on talent/skill, there is no way in hell Rooney should be 21 spots ahead of Tevez, and 4 spots ahead of Drogba for that matter.

Putting him at #3 is pure overreaction to a big-name player having a great season for a powerhouse team. You can't be serious putting him ahead of every single person on Spain's team.

And ESPN had to sneak Landon Donovan in at #50. How shocking that the token American makes the list? Are you telling me that you can honestly say that Donovan is a better player than Ronaldinho even in his current decline? Soccer heads sound off.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE/FULL TOP 50 RANKINGS:
Lionel Messi or Wayne Rooney? Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaka? Iker Casillas or Gianluigi Buffon?

Whatever your choices, we can all agree that the world's biggest sporting event can't arrive soon enough.

South Africa and Mexico kick off the World Cup on June 11, but until then we can only count down the days until the tournament begins. We're going to do that with 101 different stories running over 101 days -- call it World Cup 101.

We begin with the top 50 players of the World Cup, a consensus ranking as determined by a panel of 23 contributors to ESPN's soccer coverage. Disagree with our list? Click here to vote for your own.