World Cup 2010: Defensive Player Statistics

Here are a few defensive stats from the 2010 World Cup by players who played a minimum of 270 minutes. Rather than listing the leaders for each stat (many of the players from teams who progressed further and played more games were the leaders), I broke them down per minutes played. (example: Minutes Played divided by Tackles). The top five, with ties counting as one place, were listed for each stat.

Tackle every _____ Minutes Played

33.75 - Madjid Bougherra (Algeria)

33.75 - Stephane Grichting (Switzerland)

38.42 - Jorge Fucile (Uruguay)

40.91 - Juan (Brazil)

45.00 - Gerardo Torrado (Mexico)

45.00 - Gary Medel (Chile)

48.75 - Michael Bradley (USA)

Tackles made Gaining Possession every _____ Minutes Played

54.00 - Madjid Bougherra (Algeria)

54.00 - Stephane Grichting (Switzerland)

67.50 - Gary Medel (Chile)

72.00 - Javier Mascherano (Argentina)

76.83 - Jorge Fucile (Uruguay)

Save Made every ____ Minutes Played

12.86 - Ri Myong Guk (North Korea)

13.50 - Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria)

15.88 - Thomas Sorensen (Denmark)

15.88 - Alexandros Tzorvas (Greece)

18.95 - Eduardo (Portugal)

Clearance every ____ Minutes Played (No GK's)

22.50 - Rafik Halliche (Algeria)

24.54 - Bojan Jokic (Slovenia)

24.54 - Stephane Grichting (Switzerland)

24.54 - Danny Shittu (Nigeria)

27.00 - Marko Suler (Slovenia)

27.00 - Stephane Lichtsteiner (Switzerland)

27.69 - Cho Yong Hyung (South Korea)

30.00 - Martin Skrtel (Slovakia)

30.00 - William Gallas (France)

30.00 - Madjid Bougherra (Algeria)

Recovered Balls every ____ Minutes Played

27.00 - Madjid Bougherra (Algeria)

33.75 - Stephane Grichting (Switzerland)

38.57 - Osman Chavez (Honduras)

45.00 - Danny Shittu (Nigeria)

51.43 - Cho Yong Hyung (South Korea)

Clearances Completed every ____ Minutes Played (No GK's)

51.43 - Cho Young Hyung (South Korea)

54.00 - Madjid Bougherra (Algeria)

67.50 - Danny Shittu (Nigeria)

72.00 - Lee Young Pyo (South Korea)

90.00 - William Gallas (France)

90.00 - Stephane Grichting (Switzerland)

90.00 - Ri Kwang Chon (North Korea)

90.00 - Medhi Lacen (Algeria)

90.00 - Osman Chavez (Honduras)

90.00 - Bostjan Cesar (Slovenia)