FIFA 14 Prediction: The Invincible XI

CF: Lionel Messi (94 Overall)

Probably the most gifted player to ever grace a football pitch €“ and certainly one of the best magicians to use in any football video game. Despite his dominance in real-life, the unparalleled quality of Lionel Messi is difficult to harness in a virtual context purely because his brain is wired differently to 99% of all human beings to ever exist. The little Argentine views the game like no other, and this is the secret to both his success and downfall (in FIFA, at least).

Key Stats

Dribbling: 97

The sight of a player weaving through hordes of defenders with 'the ball glued to his feet' is one of notably (perhaps even frighteningly) regular occurrence in the case of Messi. Any defender who's fallen victim to the four-time FIFA Ballon d'Or winner will tell you there's simply no margin for error against a man so punishing. You might not enjoy as much success skipping past opponents with the Barça man on FIFA as he does in real-life, but his close to perfect dribbling stat grants you a decent shot at worst.

Finishing: 97

356 senior goals between club and country and he's only just on the verge of entering his physical peak. Messi's virtual counterpart has earned near-perfect shooting accuracy before his 27th birthday, an age where most players are still fine-tuning one or two areas of their game. It's already hard to miss a clear cut chance with his wondrous left foot €“ and he can only improve.

Balance: 95

The most remarkably disguised advantage of the 26-year-old is harboured within his stature. No 5'7" player can hold off giant centre backs like Giorgio Chiellini or Nemanja Vidic without the most effective alternative to brute strength: balance. His low centre of gravity makes it extremely difficult to shunt him off the ball €“ so if defenders can't capitalise on his one weakness, what hope do they have of containing his greatest strengths?