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Player To Watch #1: Leo Messi
Player Number One: Leo Messi Country: Argentina Position: Forward Club Team: FC Barcelona American-Based Professional Athlete Soulmate: Kobe Bryant, Guard, Los Angeles Lakers By the time our # 1 Player to Watch at the 2010 World Cup reaches his 23rd birthday, his national team, the Albiceleste,... -
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Player To Watch #2: Cristiano Ronaldo
Number 2: Cristiano Ronaldo Country: Portugal Position: Midfielder/Wing Forward Club Team: Real Madrid American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees He may only be our number two player to watch at the World Cup, but Portugal’s most important man is without a dou... -
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Player To Watch #3: Kaká
Number 3: Kaka Country: Brazil Position: Central Midfield Club Team: Real Madrid American-Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Joe Mauer, C, Minnesota Twins What is a superstar? Traditionally, the narrative goes like this: glamour position, great talent. Media-savvy if not personable. Almost alw... -
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Player To Watch #4: Steven Gerrard
Number 4: Steven Gerrard (a.k.a. Captain Fantastic) Country: England Position: Midfielder (CMF, LMF), Captain Club Team: Liverpool FC American Based Professional Sports “Soulmate”: A mutt between Lebron James and Paul Pierce from 1998 – 2006 With regard to Stevie G, my favorite player in the world (... -
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Player To Watch #5: Spanish Strikers
Number 5: Fernando Torres and David Villa (The Spanish Strikers) Position: Forward Country: Spain Club Teams: Liverpool FC, EPL and FC Barcelona, La Liga American based Professional Athlete “Soulmates”: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburg Penguin We could have written about Fernando Torres an... -
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Player To Watch #6: Wayne Rooney
Number 6: Wayne Rooney Position: Forward Country: England Club Team: Manchester United, English Premier League American-based Professional Sports Athlete “Soulmate”: Jonathan Papelbon, RP, Boston Red Sox When Chancellor Seco, in his “infinite wisdom,” assigned me this player to watch piece my initia... -
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Player To Watch #7: Carlos Tévez
Number 7: Carlos Tévez Position: Forward Country: Argentina Club Team: Manchester City American Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Alexander Ovechkin, LW, Washington Capitals What can I say about Carlos Tévez besides the fact that he’s our number seven player to watch at the upcoming World Cup? ... -
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Player To Watch #8: Didier Drogba
Number 8: Didier Drogba Position: Forward Country: Ivory Coast Club Team: Chelsea FC, English Premier League American-Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings Beyond the questions about South Africa’s post-Apartheid future, beyond the security concerns (now allev... -
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Player To Watch #9: Robinho
Number 9: Robinho Position: Forward Country: Brazil Club Team: Santos, Brazil Serie A, on loan from Manchester City FC, EPL American-based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Manny Ramirez, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers The World Cup produces all manner of fascinating plot lines. A recurring one, yet one tha... -
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Player To Watch #10: Franck Ribéry
Number 10: Franck Ribéry Position: Winger Country: France Club Team: Bayern Munich American Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Chris Paul, Guard, New Orleans Hornets Franck “Don't Call Me Frank” Ribéry is an offensive dynamo, capable of dictating the flow of an entire football match from the win... -
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Player To Watch #11: Tim Howard
Number 11: Tim Howard Position: Goalkeeper Country: United States of America Club Team: Everton, English Premier League American Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Brian Urlacher, Linebacker, Chicago Bears Let’s face it – we all knew that another American was going to make this list of 32 player... -
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Player To Watch #12: Gigi Buffon
Number 12: Gianluigi Buffon Position: Goalkeeper Country: Italy Club Team: Juventus, Italian Serie A American Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Martin Brodeur, Goaltender, New Jersey Devils World Cup Final. Berlin 2006. It’s the wee moments of stoppage time at the end of one of the most physi... -
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Player To Watch #13: Frank Lampard
Number 13: Frank Lampard Country: England Position: Midfielder Club Team: Chelsea American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants It is 2:15 AM on a Sunday night and I’m still wide awake. Being awake at this hour is not uncommon for me; as Puck would say, “Sorry for pa... -
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Player To Watch #14: Daniele De Rossi
Number 14: Daniele De Rossi Country: Italy Position: Midfielder Club Team: Roma American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Brian McCann, C, Atlanta Braves Daniele De Rossi is lucky to be alive. No one bloodies Brian McBride’s face with a flying elbow and lives to tell about, except this parti... -
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Player To Watch #15: Thierry Henry
Number 15: Thierry Henry Country: France Position: Forward Club Team: FC Barcelona, Spanish La Liga American-Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Warrick Dunn (retired), RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Atlanta Falcons I wouldn’t be too upset if our informed, gregarious and quick-witted The Yanks Are Comi... -
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Player To Watch #16: Miroslav Klose
Number 16: Miroslav Klose Country: Germany Position: Forward Club Team: Bayern Munich American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Tomas Holmström, Winger, Detroit Red Wings Miroslav Klose is a poacher. He’s the talented executor of the ugly goal. He uses phenomenal instincts and more skill than mo... -
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Player To Watch #17: Samuel Eto’o
Number 17: Samuel Eto’o Country: Cameroon Club: Inter Milan, Italian Serie A Position: Forward American Professional Sport-Based “Soulmate”: Zach Parise, Forward, New Jersey Devils At 15, Samuel Eto’o was plucked from his home in Cameroon, labeled a phenom and brought to the capital of Spain to batt... -
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Player To Watch #18: Diego Forlán
Number 18: Diego Forlán Country: Uruguay Position: Forward Club Team: Atlético Madrid American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: “Sugar Shane” Mosley, Welterweight Boxer Contrary to what you might have heard from Manchester United supporters whenever his name is brought up, Diego Forlán is no bum... -
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Player To Watch #19: Michael Essien
Number 19: Michael Essien Position: Central Midfielder Country: Ghana Club Team: Chelsea FC, English Premier League American-Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Tony Parker, PG, San Antonio Spurs Murtaugh: See how easy that was? Boom, still alive. Now we question him. You know why we question him... -
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Player To Watch #20: Nemanja Vidić
Number 20: Nemanja Vidić Country: Serbia Position: Center Back Club Team: Manchester United American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Zdeno Chára, D, Boston Bruins Nemanja Vidić is on the short list of players who legitimately belong in the best defender in the world conversation. Spain’s Carles... -
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Player To Watch #21: Fanis Gekas
Number 21: Theofanis Gekas Country: Greece Club Team: On loan to Hertha BSC, German Bundesliga Position: Forward American Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears For many of my American sports brethren—particularly those of us fortunate enough to hail from the South (wh... -
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Player To Watch #22: Arjen Robben
Number 22: Arjen Robben Country: Netherlands Position: Wing Forward Club Team: Bayern Munich American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees and Robert Horry, retired NBA forward/guard First let’s get a little background on Mr. Robben before we get down, Dutch, and dirt... -
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Player To Watch #23: Yakubu Aiyegbeni
Number 23: Yakubu Aiyegbeni Position: Center Forward Country: Nigeria Club Team: Everton FC, English Premier League American Based Professional Athlete “Soulmate(s)”: Jerome Bettis Divided by Lendale White In 1977, Pele, the greatest player in the history of football, predicted that an African nat... -
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Player To Watch #24: Cesc Fàbregas
Number 24: Cesc Fàbregas Country: Spain Position: Midfielder Club Team: Arsenal American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: 1990 Steve Young, QB, San Francisco 49ers, NFL Francesc “Cesc” Fàbregas is at the top of his game and on top of the world. He’s essentially a 22-year-old kid who captains Ars... -
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Player To Watch #25: Philipp Lahm
Number 25: Philipp Lahm Position: Sideback/Defender Country: Germany Club Team: Captain, Bayern Munich FC, German Bundesliga American Professional Athlete “Soulmate”: Jonathan Toews, Center/Captain, Chicago Blackhawks, NHL A gifted screenwriter would be troubled to begin a character sketch better th... -
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Player To Watch #26: Wilson Palacios
Number 26: Wilson Palacios Position: Central Midfielder Country: Honduras Club Team: Tottenham Hotspur FC, English Premier League American-Based Professional Athletic “Soulmate”: (A YOUNGER!!!) Jason Kidd, PG, Dallas Mavericks First of all, let me be the first at The Yanks Are Coming to wish all our... -
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Player To Watch #27: Roque Santa Cruz
Number 27: Roque Santa Cruz Country: Paraguay Position: Striker Club Team: Manchester City American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Carson Palmer, QB, Cincinnati Bengals Roque (pronounced “Rocky” just like your favorite fictional boxer or flying squirrel) Santa Cruz is a pure striker. He posses... -
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Player To Watch #28: Clint Dempsey
Number 28: Clint Dempsey Country: USA Position: Flank Midfielder/Forward Club Team: Fulham FC American Based Professional “Soulmate”: Joe Johnson G Atlanta Hawks Some may be wondering, “Why hasn’t Landon appeared on the players to watch list for the United States?” The answer is simple – the most ... -
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Player To Watch #29: Martin Skrtel
Number 29: Martin Skrtel Country: Slovakia Position: Central Defender Club Team: Liverpool FC American Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Ray Lewis, LB Baltimore Ravens One of the number one complaints that American sports fans have with soccer is that soccer players are “sissies.” The argument g... -
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Player To Watch #30: Giovani Dos Santos
Number 30: Giovani Dos Santos Position: Attacking Midfielder Country: Mexico Club Team: Tottenham Hotspur FC, English Premier League American Based Athletic “Soulmate”: John Wall, PG, University of Kentucky Six months ago, there were legitimate questions as to whether Mexico would have any players i... -
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Player To Watch #31: Maxi Rodríguez
Number 31: Maxi Rodríguez Country: Argentina Position: Winger/Attacking Midfielder Club Team: Atlético Madrid American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Thomas Jones, RB, New York Jets There’s a natural tendency to think of strikers when you think of Argentine soccer. They’ve got the luxury of ch... -
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Player To Watch #32: Mark Schwarzer
Number 32: Mark Schwarzer Country: Australia Position: Goalkeeper Club Team: Fulham FC, English Premier League American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Ryan Miller, GK, Buffalo Sabres Mark Schwarzer is one of the finest goalkeepers in the world. He’s a well-known but well-kept secret, in every ...
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