FIFA Team Of The Year: 11 Overlooked Players Who Deserved Inclusion

5. Isco (Malaga, Real Madrid & Spain)

Another one of the leading lights of the current generation of German stars, Mesut Ozil, made the FIFPro reserve team and his transfer from Real Madrid to Arsenal has transformed a team that struggled for 4th place last year into the Premier League leaders. Why, then, would the Madrilenos let a player of his calibre go? The answer lies in Francisco Roman Alarcon Suarez, better known as Isco. If there is, rightly, some concern that Xavi and Iniesta may not for much longer be the unstoppable force of tiki-taka that they once were, fans of the Spanish national team can take heart in the emergence of a midfield talent of this quality. 2013 saw Isco make his debut for the national team, while at the same time being the stand-out player at the European Under-21 Championship, which Spain won and in which Isco was second top scorer with three goals from midfield. Beginning the year with Manuel Pellegrini's Malaga, Isco's skill and vision saw the club progress through the knockout stages in their first ever Champions League, with the young midfielder scoring a goal that helped eliminate Porto and put Malaga through to the Quarter-Finals. Joining Real in August, Isco marked his debut with a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win over Real Betis and has become an immediate fixture in the first team. In the first half of the season he has already played 25 games in all competitions, scoring 8 times and picking up 5 assists.