UNB, London :
Barcelona and Luis Suarez returned to the top of the Associated Press Global Football 10 on Tuesday after winning the Club World Cup.
Suarez scored five goals in two matches to propel Barcelona to the trophy in Japan at the weekend.
“Luis Suarez scored two goals in the final that put Barcelona at the top of the world,” Aurelio Capaldi of RAI Sport in Italy said. “He had also scored three in the semifinal and has 24 in 24 games this season. It is hard to find a better striker than him at the moment.”
He edged Gareth Bale in the player vote after the Wales forward scored four goals in Real Madrid’s emphatic 10-2 victory over Rayo Vallecano at the weekend.
“It’s unusual to see Real Madrid thrash the opponent and Cristiano Ronaldo not be man of the match,” Ubiratan Leal of trivlea.com in Brazil said. “Gareth Bale scored four times, twice as much as Ronaldo, and was the biggest star in the 10-2 win.”
Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain is third, after scoring twice to lead his side to a 3-1 win at Atalanta in Serie A.
Riyad Mahrez takes fourth after converting two penalties in Leicester’s 3-2 win against Everton in the Premier League.
Angel di Maria enters this week’s vote in fifth after his double in Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-0 win against Caen in France.
Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil, Lionel Messi, Antonio Candreva and Odion Ighalo round out the top 10 players.
In the team vote, Madrid is runner-up to Barcelona after its resounding victory in the Spanish league, while Arsenal polls third for beating Manchester City 2-1 in the Premier League on Monday.
Leicester is fourth after its win against Everton kept it at the summit of the Premier League, while PSG is fifth.
“Paris Saint-Germain finished their Laurent Blanc’s domestic duties men have now set a new benchmark high of 51 points at the midway point of a Ligue 1 season and the 28-match unbeaten run is also a club record,” Jonathan Johnson of beIN Sports USA in France said.
Lazio, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Norwich and Napoli complete the top 10 teams.
