In terms of football, the 21st century has been magnificent. The game has continued to grow, and the battle for its top prizes seems to get more and more competitive by the year. Over the last 14 years, we have witnessed Barcelona become arguably the greatest club side ever, Arsenal and Juventus go entire domestic seasons unbeaten, Manchester United dominate much of the English game and Brazil, Italy, Spain and Germany win the World Cup. During that same time frame there have been some truly astounding players to grace the game. Goalkeepers and defenders like Manuel Neuer, Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Cafu and Philipp Lahm have shown their consistent brilliance, English stars like Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney have been world-class for long periods and supreme strikers like Raul, Andriy Shevchenko and Luis Suarez have wowed audiences week in, week out with their talent. None of the aforementioned players make this list, however. This takes a look at the 10 players out in front, who have been awe-inspiring to watch at times since the turn of the century. There are no keepers or defender on the list- despite their obvious influence, midfielders and attacking players are still more pivotal and match-winning- and when you see the stars that make up the list, it's easy to see why.
