This is my opinion. After nearly four months of something approaching total immersion in international soccer, by the NOW cable network in Hong Kong.

I’m not saying these are the best clubs in the world, in terms of playing ability.

I’m saying these four have more people the casual soccer fan has heard of (and I’m thinking of fans in North America and Asia, in particular).

The Big Four:

4. Bayern Munich. I didn’t realize any of the German teams had Just Plain Famous People. I thought the Bundesliga was about very good, very solid soccer with a lot of second-tier names. But then I saw Bayern play, and I kept saying, “He plays for them? And so does he?” To wit: Franck Ribery (yeah, the stunningly ugly French guy with the hideous scar), Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ze Roberto, Philipp Lahm and this new little right-side midfielder, name of Landon Donovan — only the best American ever.

3. Barcelona. Maybe the best team in the world, at the moment, and famous, too. Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o get your attention. But then they throw midfield master Xavi Hernandez at you, and Carles Puyol, Yaya Toure and Daniel Alves out there … and yeah, you don’t have to be a futbol aficianado to recognize these guys.

2. Manchester United. ManU has it both ways. Good young players. Good old players. These are guys who sell a lot of jerseys, even in Hong Kong. (And ManU is, arguably, “Asia’s team.”) Anyway,  Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez up top; Cristiano Ronaldo (pretty much everyone’s 2008 player of the year), Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick in midfield; Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand in the back, with Edwin Van der Saar in goal. Remember when Real Madrid claimed to be the “galacticos” a few years back? ManU can make that claim now, in terms of the depth of their renown.

1. AC Milan. Not even leading their league, but this crew has some guys who are global icons of the sort LeBron James aspires to be. Guys who just stop traffic all over the world.  David Beckham, Kaka, Ronaldinho. Only Kaka is really playing well, but we’re talking about fame here, not current form.

The second tier isn’t exactly unknowns either: Andrei Shevchenko, Pato (arguably the best teenager on the planet, and Milan’s best player right this minute), Clarence Seedorf, Paolo Maldini and Gianluca Zambrotta. AC Milan doesn’t have the depth of “names” that ManU does, but that first three — Becks, even if he’s over the hill, Kaka and Ronaldinho … that’s serious.

All four of these teams are still alive in the champions league, so one of them might get a chance to demonstrate it’s the best team — as well as the best-known.