World Cup 2010: The rising footballers for next season
Some players that have been noticed by fans all around the world have more potential than they are given credit for, here’s mention of a few of those little known of players who will soon become super football stars if their current performance is maintained.
Let’s start with the very young South Korean Ki Sung-Yong. Foreigners usually have trouble remembering Korean names, all sounding alike to them, so it’s probably better to know Ki Sung-Yong as David Ki. That was his name during the five years he spent in Australia, where his father sent him to learn football. People also call him the Korean Steven Gerrard, as that’s the nickname FC Seoul fans gave him for his brilliant displays in midfield. At just 21 years in age, he is one of the most interesting young prospects in all of Asia, and Manchester United kept a keen eye on him during FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2007. In the end, Ki found himself moving to Celtic for about £2 million this winter.
Then, from Denmark, a new Michael Laudrup, going by the name of Christian Eriksen has caught the attention of many. All of Denmark is over the moon with the brilliant playmaking talents of Christian Eriksen who excelled at all the youth levels before making his debut for the senior team in March. He may be just 18, but rated so highly at Ajax that youth Coach Frank De Boer said Eriksen will develop into one of the best number 10’s in the club's history. As a result, Coach Martin Jol compared him to Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder within no time. Big teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United are interested, but Eriksen wisely decided to stay in Amsterdam for now, in order to get enough playing time in the coming seasons. Denmark coach Morten Olsen is careful not to expect too much from the youngest player of all 736 in South Africa, but had no second thoughts about taking him to the big stage. A duel against the real Sneijder and van der Vaart in their first game could be fascinating.
Another young super player this year is Neven Subotic of Serbia. Nemanja Vidic and Branislav Ivanovic might be getting all the attention in a very solid Serbian defense, but the 21-year-old Borussia Dortmund centre-back could probably even upstage them. Having preferred Serbia over Bosnia, United States and Germany, the multinational and multicultural stopper is brilliant in the air at 193 cm, and strong on the ground, he has good tactical sense and is extremely dangerous when joining the attack at set pieces, as nine goals in two seasons in the Bundesliga would show. Subotic was the first name on coach Jurgen Klopp's wish-list when he joined Dortmund from Mainz in 2008 and he developed into one of the best defenders in the league.
Stephane Mbia might not be well-known outside France, but his contribution to Marseille’s historic championship triumph has been immense. While Mamadou Niang and Lucho Gonzalez made the headlines, the 24-year-old Cameroonian was effective, first in his natural defensive position in midfield, and then as a center-back. Although he stated he hates playing in the back four, he barely put a foot wrong. The national team coach Paul Le Guen might use his versatility to switch him to the right-back in South Africa, making place for Alex Song in the midfield and Sebastian Bassong and Nicolas Nkoulou in central defense. Regardless of his position on the field, his speed and tactical discipline is a huge asset, at least his current worth of €12 million Marseille paid to Rennes last summer for his services which look like peanuts.
And finally, the 22-year-old turbo charged mid-fielder Marek Hamsik of Slovakia. The Napoli star is nothing short of a complete player, combining great defensive abilities with terrific vision and superb goal return with 30 league goals for the Partenopei in three seasons. National team captain at his tender age, he is a natural born leader, and having always admired Pavel Nedved, Hamsik could easily become as big a star as his idol. He is definitely among the football boys who are going to take over the football scene in the next couple of years. Good luck to all of them during the World Cup 2010.
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