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As World Cup 2006 looms, Matt Barker has rounded up two dream teams – the World v Europe – for a fantasy match
This summer’s World Cup, which kicks off on 9th June, promises to be a showcase for some of the world’s most exciting footballing talent; a month-long celebration of the Beautiful Game. We’ve cherry-picked the players to watch out for in Germany – and where you can check out their pre-tournament form.
Roberto Carlos
Club Real Madrid Country Brazil
Defending has never been top priority for Carlos, who loves nothing better than to surge up the pitch. Has found himself nudged down the pecking order when it comes to free-kick taking for his country, but is guaranteed to put in at least one cameo appearance, as the Brazilians march on towards the Olympiastadion.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid.
Samuel Kuffour
Club AS Roma Country Ghana
Having been snapped up as a promising 13-year-old player by Torino, the Ghanaian captain first came to international recognition as the first choice defender for Bayern Munich. Now settled in at the heart of Roma’s defence, despite some recent turbulent times at the club. No one underestimates the African game any more, and a strong, skilful Ghana side will be hoping to play a significant role in the tournament’s closing stages.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Stadio Olimpico, Rome.
Rafael Marquez
Club Barcelona Country Mexico
Barcelona’s defence has always been overlooked in favour of the flair and attacking prowess on show elsewhere, but Marquez, one of surprisingly few Mexicans plying his trade in Europe, is a rock in the Catalans’ crown, regularly called upon to bail out some of his more adventurous team-mates. With the national side, where he’s been a regular fixture since his teenage years, he does a similarly dependable job.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Nou Camp, Barcelona.
Dida
Club AC Milan Country Brazil
Keepers are often viewed with suspicion in Brazil (why, on earth, would you want to play in goal?), but Dida’s athleticism and grace, both for the national side and Milan, has seen a new generation of school kids in his native country donning the gloves and trying out life between the sticks. Alert, commanding and with excellent positional sense, Dida achieves what every keeper of note strives to do: make it all look easy.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Giuseppe Meazza, Milan.
Abdoulaye Meite
Club Marseille Country Ivory Coast
Still at Olympique Marseille, despite ever-increasing interest from English Premier League clubs, Meite is a tough-tackling, no-nonsense type, who also has a happy knack of cropping up with vital goals for both club and country. UEFA Cup and African Nations experience should prove the ideal preparation for the big stage.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Velodrome, Marseille.
Javier Zanetti
Club Inter Milan Country Argentina
Inter’s captain is a cultivated, cultured player when darting forward to set up (and occasionally finish off) raids into the opposition half, and he brings a distinctly South American approach to defensive duties. Often a calming influence on those around him, Zanetti will use a cool head to guide an emerging generation of exciting young Argentines, keen to eclipse their headline-hogging Brazilian neighbours.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Giuseppe Meazza, Milan.
Ronaldinho
Club Barcelona Country Brazil
Barca and Brazil’s talismanic striker is the ultimate showman, but all those audacious touches and deft turns are rarely just trickery for its own sake. The current European and World Player of the Year plays with an infectious grin, but there’s a steely determination in there too; this is a man who will pull out all the stops to find a way through to goal. Germany should provide the perfect stage for Ronaldinho to seal his place among the all-time greats.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Nou Camp, Barcelona.
Pablo Aimar
Club Valencia Country Argentina
Valencia’s Argentine seemed a little over-awed by all those Maradona comparisons a few seasons back, but with national team-mate Messi seemingly more comfortable to inherit the great man’s crown, now’s the time for the gifted playmaker to relax and fulfil all that potential. Argentina has always mixed a European toughness with South American flair, and Aimar belongs firmly in the latter group. If protected well by his fellow midfielders, he could really shine.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Mestella Stadium, Valencia.
Lionel Messi
Club Barcelona Country Argentina
If anyone can upstage the mercurial talents of Ronaldinho, it could well be his promising young Barca team-mate. The Argentine has been in Catalonia since school-leaving age, but this season has seen him claim a regular place in the Spanish champions’ starting line-up and put in some impressive performances for the national side (despite a red card on his short-lived debut). Diego Maradona is a huge fan.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Nou Camp, Barcelona.
Adriano
Club Inter Milan Country Brazil
Has had to live in the shadows of Ronaldo and the more extravagantly gifted of his fellow Brazilians, but the Inter frontman has shrugged off some indifferent form to reach his deadly peak just at the right time. Built to tank-like proportions, l’imperatore (the emperor, as Inter fans have christened him) packs a powerful shot. Pity those poor defenders this summer – if Ronaldinho doesn’t get you, this guy certainly will.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Giuseppe Meazza, Milan.
Kaka
Club AC Milan Country Brazil
This young Brazilian buck has it all: worshipped by the red and black half of Milan as the rossoneri’s multi-skilled fantasista, he also enjoys a lucrative sideline in modelling (and is currently the face of Armani jeans) and has just married his childhood sweetheart. Together with the ubiquitous Ronaldinho, Kaka is set to be one of his country’s brightest stars in Germany.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Giuseppe Meazza, Milan.
Vanderlei Luxemburgo
Club Santos FC Country Brazil
No apologies for including so many Brazilians in the World-starting line-up and, with the Rio-born coach currently kicking his heels after being shown the door at Real Madrid, who better to keep his countrymen happy? Of course, those Argentines might not be best pleased at having one of their great rivals at the helm but, having experienced the soap opera that is life at the Bernabeu, dealing with this little lot should be a stroll in the park...
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: Urbano Caldeira, Brazil.
Arne Friedrich
Club Hertha Berlin Country Germany
A capable defender who has captained his national side while on pre-World Cup friendly duty. Could well prove the bedrock of a German side that few tip to go too far, despite the home advantage. Of course it never pays to write off the Germans, and don’t be too surprised to see a Friedrich-influenced team calling the shots come the quarter-finals.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Olympiastadion, Berlin.
Alessandro Nesta
Club AC Milan Country Italy
This angelic-faced Milan defender is an expert practitioner of the dark arts of catenaccio, that Italian-perfected technique of guarding the goal like it’s your family home. Steady, determined and streetwise, Nesta has been a regular fixture in the Azzurri’s defence and, bar the odd freak injury (too much PlayStation leading to a problem with his wrist earlier in the season), is fast becoming a Milanese favourite.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Giuseppe Meazza, Milan.
Jose Mourinho
Country Portugal
The mean, moody and occasionally magnificent boss of runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea has the ego, guile, drive and tactical nous to handle a team of superstars. And the dapper Portuguese coach would jump at the chance to take charge of Europe’s finest, if only to swap styling tips with Beckham and to persuade the likes of Shevchenko to try out life in west London.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: Stamford Bridge, London.
Iker Casillas
Club Real Madrid Country Spain
Real Madrid’s keeper seems to have been around for ages and, indeed, in many ways he has, but the proud Spaniard has only just reached the grand old age of 25. Sneaked in between the Bernabeu posts at the age of 17 when everyone’s attention was focused on the first generation of galacticos further up the field, and quickly made the position his own, with a series of mature, commanding performances. Loves to have a good shout at his back four, and is one of the few keepers around with enough experience to cope with that fearsome Brazilian forward line. Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid.
Carlos Puyol
Club Barcelona Country Spain
Barcelona’s local boy-made-good has a maturity above and beyond his teenager’s shaggy haircut. Club captain, and the missing link between Barca’s years of underachievement and the new golden age of Ronaldinho, Puyol has bags of experience of playing in the red shirt of Spain and will remain unfazed at the thought of facing so many familiar faces from his club’s star-studded training ground in opposing line-ups. Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Nou Camp, Barcelona.
Michal Zewlakow
Club Anderlecht Country Poland
The twin brother of Polish striker Marcin, Michal is a quick-fire defender who was one of few bright spots during club side Anderlecht’s recent Champions League campaigns, adding an extra dimension to the Belgian club side’s attack, while also gaining a growing reputation as a left-back of solid reliability and a nifty stand-by when it comes to free kicks.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: Constant Vanden Stock Stadion, Brussels.
Luis Figo
Club Inter Milan Country Portugal
Plenty of sceptical eyebrows were raised when the Portuguese veteran left Real Madrid for Internazionale last summer, but exchanging Los Blancos for I Nerazzurri has given the forward a spectacular new lease of life. All is set for a memorable swansong for one of European football’s finest exponents and an original member of Portugual’s much-talked about, but ultimately medal-less, ‘Golden Generation’. Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Giuseppe Meazza, Milan.
Pierluigi Collina
Cheating of course, because he actually retired last year, but what the heck. The most recognisable man-inthe-middle on the planet deserved a far better send-off after 25 years of whistle-blowing and card-brandishing; refereeing’s in the blood – surely it wouldn’t take too much to tempt him out of retirement?
Francesco Totti
Club AS Roma Country Italy
Having opted to stay with his beloved Roma, despite the interest from European club football’s A-list, this proud native boy of the Eternal City has struggled at times to transfer his talents on to an international stage.This World Cup probably offers the best chance for a global audience to see at first hand what all the fuss has been about, especialy with debonair Azzurri coach Marcello Lippi on hand to point him in the right direction.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Stadio Olimpico, Rome.
Zinedine Zidane
Club Real Madrid Country France
Having put his international retirement on hold to allow himself one last shot at glory on the world stage, the enigmatic Frenchman will be at his most deadly inventive in Germany. Setting up moves and firing in shots with a deceptively casual air, Zizou is set to bow out at the heart of a Les Bleus side who will be desperate to prove themselves after the bitter disappointments of 2002 – and to prove that 1998 was no one-off.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid.
Gennaro Gattuso
Club AC Milan Country Italy
Someone always has to do the ugly stuff, and Milan’s midfield terrier will relish the chance of snapping at the heels of some of the globe’s greatest players. A man who still takes his club’s defeat to Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final very personally, this big-hearted pocket dynamo is the perfect bodyguard for his fellow midfielders, and enjoys the occasional foray into the opposition goalmouth.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Giuseppe Meazza, Milan.
Andriy Shevchenko
Club AC Milan Country Ukraine
One of the modern game’s finest forwards finally gets the chance to shine in a major international tournament following the qualification of the Ukraine to the World Cup finals for the first ever time. Sheva, feared throughout Europe for his clinical finishing and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it movement off the ball, has what it takes to propel his country towards the quarter finals, and a surprise-package Ukrainian side could very quickly become the neutral’s favourite.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Giuseppe Meazza, Milan.
David Beckham
Club Real Madrid Country England
Bar the odd sending off and dodgy choice of head-band, this has been a relatively quiet season for Becks, forced to buckle down in the engine room of an – at times – indifferent Real side. That he’s been able to do so to such devastating effect, winning the admiration of hard-to-please Madrilenos, will only help an already impressive England side. Free from penalty-taking duties, the national skipper will be one to watch when it comes to set pieces.
Where to check out his pre-World Cup form: The Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid.
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