I'd like to make a few defenses of my own.
Ronaldo (the Brazilian one) is a fantastic player. Sure, he's won awards on the back of past acheivements, but some of the very people who defend Del Piero on the basis of his injuries seem to forget that Ronaldo has suffered injuries that might have ended the career of a lesser player. He's a star for Madrid and a star for Brazil, and even though we'll never know where his potential might have taken him, he's still a world class striker who deserves credit.
Figo is getting on a bit, but he's a great player. He was well worth the money Madrid paid for him, because he was Barca's greatest player, and he's amoung Portugal's finest ever players. It's rare to see a winger who can influence a game like he can.
C.Ronaldo is an 18-year-old kid who has truely amazing technique. He's a Man Utd squad player though, FFS. Give him a break.
Rio Ferdinand is one of the most consistantly underacheiving defenders I've ever seen. Naturally gifted defenders are rare in England, so I hate to see him waste his talent. He could be a legend for club and country, but instead he's arsing around moaning about a drugs ban.
Owen is a limited player, in that he's over-dependant on his pace, but his scoring rate when he's not injured is phenominal. He might not be the greatest striker on earth, but he's not deserving of the over-rated tag.
Raul is Spain's highest ever international goalscorer. Still in his mid-twenties, he's in the top five Liga scorers of all time, and he broke records for the youth teams he was in too. He's maintained a goals to game ratio of 1:2 over his whole career, even in the CL. He's a great player, and if anything, he's totally underrated outside Spain.
Adu is 14 years old. Give me a ****ing break.
Roy Keane was for years Man Utd's and Ireland's best player, and while he is fading badly now, he's a great player. I've never had the oppertunity to watch a player who could dominate central midfield so single-handedly. With him as the star player, Ireland knocked the Dutch out of the WC qualifiers, winning 1-0 a man down.
Lampard is a fantastic player, who's just emerging.
Ballack is Germany's best player, and led them to the WC final, and Leverkusen to the CL Final. He's a superb player.
O.Kahn was the world's best keeper for a time.
Ruud van Nistelrooy has possibly the single highest scoring rate in the CL ever, and he's overrated? We're talking about a guy who 2 1/2 years into his Man Utd career has over 100 goals for them, and who's broken club goalscoring records. How do you overrate him?
Who overrates Mutu? He's been excellent for Chelsea, and is seen as one of their best performers, but no one's called for him to be World Player of the Year or anything.
Duff has been amazing for club and country for over 2 years now. He's the best left winger in the EPL, imho, even allowing for Kewell (who still hasn't matured into the player he threatens to be) and Giggs, who isn't quite the player he was.
Henrik Larsson is a consistant, determined player who stars for a mediocre club side, and a smallish country. No one's overrating him.