(Lucas Lewit-Mendes is a 13-year-old supporter of Melbourne Victory and Manchester United)

In compiling a list of my best 100 soccer players in the world this year, I based my selections mainly on stats, but also on overall quality ... and personal opinion.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were the two best players of 2011, in my opinion, and very hard to split. Ronaldo scored an amazing 40 goals in 2010-11 to Messi's 31. However, Messi almost doubled his assist tally. This season, they have been very similar in both categories. Messi's La Liga trophy, Champions League goals and success put him ahead of Ronaldo.

It was also difficult to separate Xavi and Iniesta. Those midfield maestros are the centre of every Barcelona attack. Xavi passes to Iniesta, Iniesta to Xavi, Xavi to Iniesta, Iniesta to Xavi, Xavi to Messi, GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!! Villa changed his game to complement Messi and he's been superb. Pique was instrumental in denying opposition goals.

Mario Gomez scored a huge number of goals after a poor 2010. Robin van Persie has had an amazing season at Arsenal but still had niggling injuries in 2010-11. Gomez was just ahead of him for his goals in the Champions League. I put Sergio Aguero ahead of Wayne Rooney because he's had a more consistent year.

Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria both had superb seasons and were two of the top assist getters in 2011. Having Rafael Van Der Vaart and Thomas Mueller ahead of Cesc Fabregas is probably a big surprise, but the stats show they had much better seasons. Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben were low after being among the best players last year.

Antonio Di Natale is a much underrated player. He has been a prolific goalscorer for the past few seasons. I put him ahead of Edison Cavani who has had injury troubles in 2011 - 12. Iker Casillas is ahead of Manuel Neuer as the premier goalkeeper. I feel Ashley Cole is overrated and I put him lower than Philipp Lahm and Dani Alves, the other top full backs.

Javier Pastore is a top young player and he has been on fire for PSG after a superb season in Italy. He was higher than Gareth Bale who has been inconsistent. Sanchez, Hazard, Gotze, Hamsik and Kagawa followed as developing youngsters. Sanchez moved to Barca but has struggled for game time. Hazard is possibly the best, but is playing in the French league which is not as good as the German, Italian, English or Spanish leagues.

Didier Drogba, Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez and Fernando Torres are all strikers that have struggled to find the net in 2011. Drogba has been slightly more consistent than the others, but has had lots of injuries. Berbatov and Tevez were great in 2010 - 11, but have barely played in 2011 - 12. Torres has been awful, but the goals should come soon. Kaka has also hardly played because of the emergence from Ozil and Di Maria.

Javier Hernandez was great in 2010-11 but hasn't played much in 2011-12. Giuseppe Rossi and Hulk have been more consistent over the two seasons. Charlie Adam and Luka Modric are both important for their respective clubs without grabbing the headlines. Diego Forlan had an amazing World Cup in 2010 but the goals have really dried up in 2011. Alexandre Pato was the most promising young striker a few years ago but hasn't really broken through because of injuries.

Jack Wilshere and Neymar are two of the best young players in the world, but are low for different reasons. Wilshere hasn't played at all for Arsenal this season and is still only 19. Neymar has been scoring goals for fun, but only in Brazil. He needs to play in Europe to prove himself. Dries Mertens, Christian Eriksen and Seydou Doumbia all have superb stats but play in the weaker leagues of Europe.

Anyway, here it is: my list of the top 100 players this year.

Rank - Player - Position(s) - Club - Country

1. Lionel Messi - Striker or right wing - F.C. Barcelona - Argentina

2. Cristiano Ronaldo - Striker, right or left wing - Real Madrid C.F. - Portugal

3. Xavi - Central midfield - F.C. Barcelona - Spain

4. Andres Iniesta - Central midfield - F.C. Barcelona - Spain

5. David Villa - Striker or left wing - F.C. Barcelona - Spain

6. Mario Gomez - Striker - F.C. Bayern Munich - Germany

7. Gerard Pique - Centre back - F.C. Barcelona - Spain

8. Robin Van Persie - Striker - Arsenal F.C. - Netherlands

9. Sergio Aguero - Striker or second striker - Manchester City F.C. - Argentina

10. Wayne Rooney - Striker or second striker - Manchester United F.C. - England

11. Frank Ribery - Right or left wing - F.C. Bayern Munich - France

12. Nemanja Vidic - Centre back - Manchester United F.C. - Serbia

13. Mesut Ozil - Attacking midfield - Real Madrid C.F. - Germany

14. Angel Di Maria - Left or right wing - Real Madrid C.F. - Argentina

15. Bastian Schweinsteiger - Defensive or central midfield - F.C. Bayern Munich - Germany

16. Samuel Eto'o - Striker - F.C. Anzhi Makhachkala - Cameroon

17. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Striker - A.C. Milan - Sweden

18. Thomas Mueller - Second striker, Attacking midfield, right or left wing - F.C. Bayern Munich - Germany

19. Rafael Van der Vaart - Attacking midfield - Tottenham Hotspur F.C. - Netherlands

20. Cesc Fabregas - Attacking or central midfield - F.C. Barcelona - Spain

21. Dani Alves - Right back - F.C. Barcelona - Brazil

22. Arjen Robben - Right or left wing - F.C. Bayern Munich - Netherlands

23. Nani - Right or left wing - Manchester United F.C. - Portugal

24. Frank Lampard - Attacking or central midfield - Chelsea F.C. - England

25. Karim Benzema - Striker - Real Madrid C.F. - France

26. Gonzalo Higuain - Striker - Real Madrid C.F. - Argentina

27. Steven Gerrard - Attacking or central midfield - Liverpool F.C. - England

28. Wesley Sneijder - Attacking midfield - F.C. Internazionale Milano - Netherlands

29. Antonio Di Natale - Striker - Udinese Calcio - Italy

30. David Silva - Attacking midfield, left or right wing - Manchester City F.C. - Spain

31. Samir Nasri - Attacking midfield, left or right wing - Manchester City F.C. - France

32. Luis Suarez - Striker or Left wing - Liverpool F.C. - Uruguay

33. Philipp Lahm - Right or left back - F.C. Bayern Munich - Germany

34. Pedro - Striker, right or left wing - F.C. Barcelona - Spain

35. Iker Casillas - Goalkeeper - Real Madrid C.F. - Spain

36. Edison Cavani - Striker - S.S.C. Napoli - Uruguay

37. Ashley Cole - Left back - Chelsea F.C. - England

38. Javier Pastore - Attacking midfield - Paris Saint-Germain F.C. - Argentina

39. Gareth Bale - Left wing - Tottenham Hotspur F.C. - Wales

40. Manuel Neuer - Goalkeeper - F.C. Bayern Munich - Germany

41. Juan Mata - Attacking midfield, left or right wing - Valencia C.F. - Spain

42. Robert Soldado - Striker - Valencia C.F. - Spain

43. Thiago Silva - Centre back - A.C. Milan - Brazil

44. Xabi Alonso - Defensive or central midfield - Real Madrid C.F. - Spain

45. Sergio Busquets - Defensive midfield - F.C. Barcelona - Spain

46. Nuri Sahin - Attacking, defensive or central midfield - Real Madrid C.F. - Turkey

47. Ashley Young - Right or left wing - Manchester United F.C. - England

48. Alexis Sanchez - Right or left wing - F.C. Barcelona - Chile

49. Vincent Kompany - Centre back - Manchester City F.C. - Belgium

50. Yaya Toure - Attacking, defensive or central midfield - Manchester City F.C. - Ivory Coast

51. Falcao - Striker - Atletico Madrid - Colombia

52. Gervinho - Striker, right or left wing - Arsenal F.C. - Ivory Coast

53. Patrice Evra - Left back - Manchester United F.C. - France

54. Eden Hazard - Attacking midfield,right wing or left wing - Lille O.S.C. - Belgium

55. Joe Hart - Goalkeeper - Manchester City F.C. - England

56. Fernando Llorente - Striker - Athletic Bilbao - Spain

57. Edin Dzeko - Striker - Mancester City F.C. - Bosnia and Herzegovina

58. Mats Hummles - Centre back - Borussia Dortmund - Germany

59. Hulk - Striker - F.C. Porto - Brazil

60. Giuseppe Rossi - Striker - Villareal C.F. - Italy

61. Javier Hernandez - Striker - Manchester United F.C. - Mexico

62. Charlie Adam - Central midfield - Liverpool F.C. - Scotland

63. Luka Modric - Central Midfield - Tottenham Hotspur F.C. - Croatia

64. Sergio Ramos - Right back - Real Madrid C.F. - Spain

65. Mario Gotze - Attacking midfield or right wing - Borussia Dortmund - Germany

66. Marek Hamsik - Attacking midfield - S.S.C. Napoli - Slovakia

67. Shinji Kagawa - Attacking midfield - Borussia Dortmund - Japan

68. Papiss Cisse - Striker - S.C. Freiburg - Senegal

69. Darren Bent - Striker - Aston Villa F.C. - England

70. Alvaro Negredo - Striker - Sevilla F.C. - Spain

71. Roman Weidenfeller - Goalkeeper - Borussia Dortmund - Germany

72. Pepe Reina - Goalkeeper - Liverpool F.C. - Spain

73. Santi Cazorla - Right or left wing - Malaga F.C. - Spain

74. Andrei Arshavin - Left or right wing - Arsenal F.C. - Russia

75. Neven Subotic - Centre back - Borussia Dortmund - Serbia

76. Didier Drogba - Striker - Chelsea F.C. - Ivory Coast

77. Pepe - Centre back - Real Madrid C.F. - Portugal

78. John Terry - Centre back - Chelsea F.C. - England

79. Ricky Van Wolfswinkel - Striker - Sporting C.P. - Netherlands

80. Carlos Tevez - Striker - Manchester City F.C. - Argentina

81. Dimitar Berbatov - Striker - Manchester United F.C. - Bulgaria

82. Daniele De Rossi - Defensive midfield - A.S. Roma - Italy

83. Kaka - Attacking midfield - Real Madrid C.F. - Brazil

84. Fernando Torres - Striker - Chelsea F.C. - Spain

85. Petr Cech - Goalkeeper - Chelsea F.C. - Czech Republic

86. Dirk Kuyt - Striker, right or left wing - Liverpool F.C. - Netherlands

87. Bacary Sagna - Right back - Arsenal F.C. - France

88. Jack Wilshere - Central Midfield - Arsenal F.C. - England

89. Dries Mertens - Left or right wing - P.S.V. Eidenhoven - Belgium

90. Giampaolo Pazzini - Striker - F.C. Internazionale Milano - Italy

91. Alexandre Pato - Striker - A.C. Milan - Brazil

92. Diego Forlan - Striker - F.C. Internazionale Milano - Uruguay

93. Mario Balotelli - Striker - Manchester City F.C. - Italy

94. Florent Malouda - Left wing - Chelsea F.C. - France

95. Neymar - Striker or second striker - Santos F.C. - Brazil

96. Fabio Conterao - Left back - Real Madrid C.F. - Portugal

97. Eric Abidal - Left back or centre back - F.C. Barcelona - France

98. Christian Eriksen - Attacking midfield - A.F.C. Ajax - Denmark

99. Eziquiel Lavezzi - Striker, right or left wing - S.S.C. Napoli - Argentina

100. Seydou Doumbia - Striker - P.F.C. CSKA Moscow - Ivory Coast

Which club has the most players?

1. Real Madrid C.F.12

2. F.C. Barcelona 11

3. Manchester City F.C. 8

= 4. F.C. Bayern Munich 7

= 4. Chelsea F.C. 7

= 4. Manchester United F.C. 7

Which country has the most players?

1. Spain 18

= 2. England 9

= 2. Germany 9

= 4. Argentina 7

= 4. France

* All stats from league only unless noted

* All stats as of 6/11/2011