As we move into the penultimate month of the decade, I thought it would be interesting to look at the various sports and come up with my Teams of the Decade. The only criteria I will apply are that ideally I am looking to pick players who have performed for as much of the decade as possible, not just touched it briefly. So while some of the best players in the world currently may not get chosen, that is because they have only been in the spotlight for one or two years, whereas others have performed at the highest level for a longer period of time.

And having said that, the fulcrum of my side, did span two decades. However, he dominated both decades and is one of football's all-time greats. Surely, noone can deny Zinedine Zidane the title of Footballer of the Decade. He became only the second player to win three FIFA World Player of the Year Awards, collecting his second and third awards in 2000 an 2003. He was also awarded the Ballon D'Or as player of the tournament in the 2006 World Cup, despite his sending off in the final. He also won La Liga and the Champions League with Real Madrid, before retiring after the 2006 World Cup. Unfortunately he never played in England, although Kenny Dalglish did try to sign him for Blackburn in 1994, only to be told by his chairman, Jack Walker "Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?". Who said chairmen knew nothing about football?

The other player to have won three FIFA Player of the Year Awards, Ronaldo, only makes the bench, as most of his success was in the 90s, despite his third award on the back of a return to form in the 2002 World Cup and over 80 goals in 4 seasons with Real Madrid. His Portuguese namesake, Cristiano, also only makes the bench, only just missing out on the back of three consecutively strong seasons of performances for Manchester United, but it is third 'Ronald', Ronaldinho, who provides the link to my striker. Coming to world prominence in Brazil's 2002 World Cup win, his 35 yard free kick over Seaman was discussed as a fluke at the time, but having seen his skills since, that view has changed to believing it was intended, and he delighted the world with those skills when he moved to Barcelona in 2003. He was instrumental in the Catalans' two La Liga titles and their Champions League win in 2006, and while his form has dropped since his move to Milan in 2008, those five seasons of brilliance in Spain are enough for him to get in my side.

Ronaldinho will find himself playing just behind a player he linked up with in his last season at Barcelona, Thierry Henry. Picking a striker from the last decade is obviously a difficult choice, with the aforementioned Ronaldo, Shevchenko's achievements at AC Milan, Eto'o also at Barcelona, Rauls' continued knack of scoring, and the more recent talents of Drogba and Torres. But Henry has performed for every season of this decade, with 157 goals in 223 games over seven seasons at Arsenal, winning the Premier League twice and being the league's top scorer four times. Many viewed his move to Barcelona as a retirement trade - taking the money for an easy last few seasons. However, he has scored 32 goals in 63 games and played his fair share in Barcelona's sweep of domestic and European trophies last season.

Supporting Zidane in midfield would be Kaka, whose career spans the decade, making his debut for Sao Paulo in 2001. Milan signed him for €8.5m in 2003 and in his first season helped the club win Serie A and the UEFA Super Cup, and had one of the best debut seasons ever seen. Supplying Shevchenko, they pushed Milan to the Champions League final, and gained revenge on Liverpool for that defeat when they won it in 2007. He was voted Player of the Tournament in 2005 and UEFA and World Player of the Year in 2007. Then last summer Milan decided to take a €60m profit on their man, and he moved to try to resurrect Real Madrid. A devout Christian, he has one World Cup and two Confederations Cup under his belt, and who would bet against him starring in South Africa next year.

Down the flanks, would be Ronaldinho's one time apprentice and now ringmaster at the Nou Camp, Lionel Messi, and another former Barcelona darling, but now hate figure after his move to Real Madrid, Luis Figo. Messi made his debut for Barcelona in 2004, aged 17, and soon became the youngest ever player to score for the club. In 2005-6 he provided an irresistible link with Ronaldinho and with his hat-trick against Real in 2006-7 he cemented his place in Barca folklore, soon followed by his Maradona-esque goal versus Espanyol. With the emergence of Messi, Barca were happy to let Ronaldinho go and the Argentine scored 38 goals in 51 games last season, leading the club to La Liga and the Champions League. Still only 22, he could be the Zidane of the next decade. Zidane's Real teammate Figo, won 127 caps for Portugal, making the All-Star Team in both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and having won honours with Barca in the 90s, upset the Catalans by making the move noone makes to the Bernabeu in 2000. With the Galacticos he won La Liga twice, and the Champions League, and would provide guile and skill on the right wing. For the record, David Beckham and Pavel Nedved won make the bench.

The defence required a solidity to match the attacking prowess of those ahead of them, and for that I look to Italy, and the lynchpin of Fabio Cannavaro. He captained his national side to World Cup victory in 2006, playing every minute of every game, and in a defence which only conceded two goals in nine games, he emerged without a single yellow card. And one of those two goals was a penalty. He was second to Zidane as player of that tournament, a vote that may have been skewed by Zidane's retirement some may suggest, as he was then voted World Player of the Year. His signing solidified Madrid's defence and was the basis for their La Liga wins in 2007 and 2008, and he will lead Italy in South Africa next year. Had Alessandro Nesta not missed that World Cup due to injury, he may well have been picked to partner Cannavaro in this side, but instead I've turned to Paolo Maldini. Maldini made his debut for Milan in 1984, and was a rare one club man, making over 1,000 senior appearances for Milan and Italy before retiring in 2009. He was a sublime defender, and despite being 41 when he retired, lifted the Champions League trophy in 2003 and 2007, and was named man of the match in the 2003 final. He could have played at left back, allowing Nesta to slot in alongside Cannavaro, but there is a special talent at left back.

Roberto Carlos may be more of a wing back than an out and out full back, but with that trademark smile that betrayed his deadly left foot, he was someone all fans enjoyed watching. Current Fulham coach signed him for Inter Milan as a left winger, but Carlos wanted to play left back, so in 1996 he moved to Real Madrid. He spent 11 seasons at the Bernabeu, winning the Champions League in 2002, and La Liga in 2001, 2003 and in his last game for the club in 2007. He was another member of Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning team, and fired in a free kick against China. On the other wing is my choice of contention (I couldn't get through an article without some, could I?). Hong Myung-Bo will be a little known name in Europe, but is probably the best footballer yet to emerge from Asia. In 2002 he played in his fourth consecutive World Cup for South Korea, captaining them to the semi-finals and was named third in the Player of the Tournament poll, and also named as one of the top 100 living footballers in a FIFA poll in 2004. He is currently coaching the Korean Under-20 side, and the smart money is on him one day leading the full national side at a World Cup.

And finally to the custodian. The last decade hasn't been overly bountiful for glovemen. Iker Casillas won consideration for his 10 years between the posts for Real Madrid and Spain, as does the man who has done similar for Juventus and Italy, Gianluigi Buffon - both coincidentally having made 100 appearances for their countries. But it is to that other bastion of organised football that I go - Germany and Oliver Kahn. He may not be the best looking player in the side, but he's effective. In 14 seasons for Bayern Munich the won 8 Bundesliga titles, the UEFA Cup , and won the Champions League in 2001 with a Man of the Match Performance, and has the all-time record number of clean sheets in the Bundesliga with 2009. He captained his country from 2000 to 2004, and his shot-stopping helped Germany make a surprise appearance in the 2002 World Cup final, and Kahn was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.

So I look forward to your comments, and in summary the Team of the Decade is:

Oliver Khan
Hong Myung-Bo
Fabio Cannavaro
Paolo Maldini
Roberto Carlos
Lionel Messi
Kaka
Zinedine Zidane
Luis Figo
Ronaldinho
Thierry Henry

Subs: Buffon, Nesta, Beckham, Nedved, C Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Shevchenko
Squad Members : Casillas, Ayala, Gerrard, Rivaldo, Eto'o