Key Players

[chapulin]

Lets talk about the key player (or players in some cases) of each team... and sorry about the countries I didn't type in, i'm sure someone can help me outwith some more info on those teams. :)

Germany..............Ballack
Costa Rica...........Wanchope
Poland................
Ecuador..............Delgado
England..............Lampard
Paraguay............
Trinidad..............John
Argentina............Riquelme
Ivory coast.........Drogba
Serbia................
Holland...............van Nistelrooy
Mexico...............Blanco
Iran...................Karimi
Angola...............Akwa
Portugal.............(tough 1 u guys decide)
Italy..................Totti
Ghana................Essien
USA...................Keller/Donovan
Czech Rep...........Baros/Nedved
Brazil..................(arguable, u decide :))
Croatia................
Australia.............Schwarzer
Japan.................
France................Zidane (its not even funny :D )
Switzerland..........Frei
SOuth Korea.........
Togo...................
Spain..................(tough 1 u guys decide)
Ukraine................Shevchenko
Tunisia.................
Saudi Arabia..........

[tomwilhelm]

Lets talk about the key player (or players in some cases) of each team... and sorry about the countries I didn't type in, i'm sure someone can help me outwith some more info on those teams. :)

USA...................Keller

Fixed.

[GRBomber]

I don't really agree on Ronaldinho.
Off course he is the best and can make great difference, but I belive Brazil can win without him

I think the players we would miss more are Ze Roberto and Emerson.

Juninho Pernambucano could replace Ronaldinho or Kaka.
We have many quality strikers to replace Adriano or Ronaldo.

To replace the 2 DMs we have Gilberto Silva and Renato.
They are really not as good as the starters.

[Klogon]

South Korea......... Park Ji Sung

[Rakim_22]

Switzerland is Frei.

[gumbacicc]

Totti is a key player for Italy, but the team no longer relies on his performance. It will be more of a team effort this time around where each player will be responsible to execute well, and a guy like Pirlo will be called upon to take some of Totti's playmaking duties.

[chapulin]

Fixed.

Your right, I forgot about Keller. If it wasn't for him, USA would not be where they are at right now.

South Korea......... Park Ji Sung

Ahh, I forgot about him. He is an excellent player. Sorry. :o

[FCPorto_Dragao]

Portugal---> combination of Deco and the defensive tandem of Jorge Andrade and Ricardo Carvalho...Deco makes our attack tick and the sheer athleticism of Carvalho and Andrade provides Portugal with a stiff defence and also a springboard for our attacks as both of them are capable of attacking.

We can survive without the flash of Cristiano Ronaldo and Figo, but without Deco or our central defenders, we aren't so capable any more.

[YCashMoney42]

Serbia - Mateo Kezman

[Nanbawan]

France : Thuram

[leonidas]

Brazil have enough depth to survive without Ronaldinho. They arent the same team, but still. Look at the Brazil - Turkey semifinal. No Ronaldinho. We won a close game though.

For Brazil, I'd either pick Ronaldo or Adriano as the key player. Brazil really doesnt have a consistent 3rd striker. Not many teams do. Robinho is up and down, though I think he will regain his form by the World Cup...and Fred is still unproven.

Some other teams.

Tunisia: Francileudo dos Santos...the naturalized Brazilian making his trade for Sochaux is probably their best player. He was crucial in their march to the 2004 African nations cup glory.

Togo: Emmanuel Adebayor for Monaco. Rumors are he will be making a January transfer to West Ham.

Paraguay: Either Roque Santa Cruz if he gets healthy. He is definitely the key for them. A close second is Julio dos Santos, Santa Cruz's new teammate at Bayern.

Ghana: I'd probably say Udinese's Muntari is more important than Essien. That's up to debate though.

Saudi Arabia: We just saw Hamad Al Montashari star in the World Club Cup. He's the reigning Asian player of the year.

Croatia: Probably Ivan Klasnic. The guy has had a great season for Bremen. 8 goals already.

[gumbacicc]

"Ghana: I'd probably say Udinese's Muntari is more important than Essien. That's up to debate though."

Then I'd say Ghana are screwed. I've seen quite a bit of Udinese this year and Muntari is nothing special. In my view, they will be largely dependant upon Essien.

[Vinnievin]

I wouldn't say van Nistelrooy was our key player, since we have enough other players for the position (Makaay, Vennegoor of Hesselink, van Persie, Dirk Kuyt, etc.). I don't really think we have a real key player...

[JanBalk]

Why are there only 31 countries on the list?
I find the omission of Sweden chocking. :D

Key player for Sweden is probably Zlatan Ibrahimovic although some would say otherwise.

[johan neeskens]

We don't really have key players but the top three in order of importance for Holland as far as I'm concerned are 1. Van der Sar 2. Philip Cocu and 3. Arjen Robben

[Glass Moon]

I´d say Brazil key player is Lucio. We have great players to fill the other positions, but without Lucio we would be stuck with Roque Jr.

[Wessoman]

I guess for Paraguay I would go for Roque Santa Cruz, but what about Mexico? Blanco may in fact not make the squad, and besides I would rate Borgetti, Kikin or Marquez to be higher. I would give it to Marquez.
As for Japan, I would say their star player would be Shunsuke Nakamura, Mashashi Oguro or Shinji Ono, with my nod to Shinji Ono.
And yes, Keller over Donovan. As good as Donovan is he is not the best US Field Player (Reyna and Beasley rate higher). Even when the USA is playing a B-Team, Keller gives them a chance to win.

[Xevor]

Iran
Mahdavikia, Karimi and Rezaei

[midknight]

Germany..............Ballack CHECK
Costa Rica...........Wanchope CHECK
Poland................ ZURAWSKI?
Ecuador..............Delgado
England..............Lampard
Paraguay............GAMARRA?
Trinidad..............John
(nope, he's the goal poacher but the motor is one of Yorke, Birchall or Whitley, or Latapy according to the tactics :D )
Argentina............Riquelme CHECK
Ivory coast.........Drogba (some might say DINDANE)
Serbia................ KEZMAN
Holland...............van Nistelrooy (I tend to disagree)
Mexico...............Blanco (MARQUEZ)
Iran...................Karimi (shrugs)
Angola...............Akwa CHECK
Portugal.............DECO
Italy..................PIRLO
Ghana................Essien (shrugs)
USA...................KELLER
Czech Rep...........NEDVED
Brazil..................(shrugs)
Croatia................(shrugs)
Australia.............Schwarzer CHECK
Japan.................(shrugs)
France................Zidane (its not even funny :D) no it isn't...
Switzerland..........Frei CHECK
SOuth Korea.........(shrugs)
Togo...................ADEBAYOR
Spain..................(someone other than Raul, PLEASE!)
Ukraine................Shevchenko
Tunisia.................a Brazilian?
Saudi Arabia..........[shrugs]
Sweden................LJUNGBERG

[midknight]

I always wonder what it says about your team when your key player is your goalkeeper...