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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32 Players To Watch

Player To Watch #9: Robinho

Player To Watch #10: Franck Ribéry

Player To Watch #11: Tim Howard

Player To Watch #12: Gigi Buffon

Player To Watch #13: Frank Lampard

Player To Watch #14: Daniele De Rossi

Player To Watch #15: Thierry Henry

Player To Watch #16: Miroslav Klose

Player To Watch #17: Samuel Eto’o

Player To Watch #18: Diego Forlán

Player To Watch #19: Michael Essien

Player To Watch #20: Nemanja Vidić

Player To Watch #21: Fanis Gekas

Player To Watch #22: Arjen Robben

Player To Watch #23: Yak Aiyegbeni

Player To Watch #24: Cesc Fàbregas

Player To Watch #25: Philipp Lahm

Player To Watch #26: Wilson Palacios

Player To Watch #27: Roque Santa Cruz

Player To Watch #28: Clint Dempsey

Player To Watch #29: Martin Skrtel

Player To Watch #30: Giovani Dos Santos

Player To Watch #31: Maxi Rodríguez

Player To Watch #32: Mark Schwarzer

Comments (4)

#1 written by Justin Churchill
about 5 months ago

Reply Quote

Im excited by this. I like the one soccernet and goal.com do. but this would be better if it was a more interactive version. If the page goes with the site layout it will be sick
#2 written by Dakota Sillyman
about 5 months ago

Reply Quote

Definitely excited for this!
#3 written by Daniel Seco
about 5 months ago

Reply Quote

Justin, could you explain more?
#4 written by Neil W. Blackmon
about 4 months ago

Reply Quote

I think the people want a list here with a link to all of our articles on the Top 32. A good idea too– so people can click back and check it out. In fact, that would be superior to the soccernet format b/c our features are longer and certainly more in-depth !!! Dan Seco– editor of the year ?

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