 |
|
Ronaldinho - Barcelona
$29.5 million, £16 million, €23.5 million The
impish Barcelona play-maker is not enjoying the best
of seasons by his own standards. Like many of the stars
of the last World Cup, a long club and international
season has taken its physical toll. But he has leapfrogged
David Beckham to become soccer's top-earning player
thanks to endorsement deals with Nike and the likes
of consumer electronics giant Sony.
|
| |
|
| David Beckham - DC United
$29.1 million, £15.8 million, €23.2 million
No one can shift soccer merchandise like Beckham. He
did it for Manchester United during his pomp and for
Real Madrid over the past four years, where he won over
the fans if not the critics. Now coming to America on
the back of a potential $250 million marketing and playing
deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy, he has proved he has
the marketing savvy to put him in the elite of sports
commercial superstars who outlast their playing days.
|
| |
|
Ronaldo - AC Milan
$23.4 million, £12.7 million, €18.6 million
Injury has reduced the buck-toothed Brazilian striker
to a super-sized shadow of the player who is one of
only two people to be named FIFA's World Footballer
of the Year three times. Offloaded by Real Madrid in
a clear-out of its galacticos to AC Milan, Ronaldo seems
destined for America, where his playboy lifestyle will
sustain marketing appeal that is going nowhere in Europe.
|
| |
|
Wayne Rooney - Manchester United
$17.2 million, £9.3 million, €13.7 million
The epitome of the sports star who wears his brains
in his boots, Rooney's on-field goal-scoring partnership
this season with Cristiano Ronaldo, cemented by Paul
Scholes' Indian summer, has made Manchester United the
English Premiership's unexpected top dogs. The barely
20-something's commercial challenge is to turn raw soccer
talent into polished marketing power.
|
| |
|
Michael Ballack - Chelsea
$16.8 million, £9.1 million, €13.4 million
The switch from being Bayern Munich's superstar to
just another highly paid midfielder in Chelsea's glittering
firmament of world-class stars has proved a challenge
for the German on the pitch. But not when it comes to
his bank account. Chelsea is reported to pay him a base
salary of $240,000 (£121,000) a week, which would make
him--for now--the top-paid player in the game.
|
| |
|
Thierry Henry - Arsenal
$15.8 million, £8.6 million, €12.6 million
One of Europe's most feared strikers has suffered more
than most in 2006-2007 from a punishing 2005-2006 season
that culminated in France's defeat in the World Cup
Final. But the Arsenal captain's elegance and glamour
on and off the pitch--he is married to model Nicole
Merry--keeps him a marketeers' favorite--while his Arselal
contract of $220,000 (£112,000) a week keeps his bank
manager merry, too.
|
| |
|
Zinedine Zidane - Real Madrid
$15.6 million, £8.5 million, €12.4 million
An inglorious end to a glorious career--that head butt
in the 2006 World Cup Final--has not diminished the
Frenchman's cult status at home now that he is retired.
Famously shy for a superstar, he always made more from
his playing than his pitching abilities. His earnings
power is eroding now that his feet no longer do his
talking.
|
| |
|
Fabio Cannavaro - Real Madrid
$14.6 million, £7.9 million, €11.6 million
Leading Italy to the 2006 World Cup catapulted this
Italian defender into the ranks of soccer's best paid
thanks to a move to Real Madrid from scandal- tainted
Juventus. In Spain, he is not quite the consistent force
he was in Italy, but the 32-year-old is still in fine
enough form to strip down to his underwear for Dolce
& Gabbana ads.
|
| |
|
John Terry - Chelsea
$14.3 million, £7.7 million, €11.4 million
A hard-driving muscular center half for club and country,
Chelsea's iconic captain makes our list thanks to billionaire
owner Ramon Abramovich's largesse and a lucrative endorsement
deal with kit maker Umbro, even though he is no clothes-hanger.
Terry is likely to move up the earnings league next
year as his contract is up for renewal.
|
| |
|
Steven Gerrard - Liverpool
$14.2 million, £7.7 million, €11.3 million
Liverpool's heart and soul, local boy Gerrard provides
box-to-box English drive to a midfield of European flair.
He's inspirational on the field, and handsomely paid
by Liverpool for being so, but has yet to break through
to the highest level of marketing superstardom.
|
| |
|
| Year |
Host
Nation |
Finalist |
World
Cup Winner |
| 1930 |
Uruguay |
Uruguay - Argentina |
Uruguay |
|
|
|
|
|
|
