South Africa 2010 - Players to Watch

Ok, I am going to alienate most, if not all female potential readers of this blog early doors by making my first post about the World Cup. However sleep easy, not ALL of my posts will be football related.

As I seek to entice debate I have compiled my own personal list of players to watch out for in the upcoming tournament. Let us begin shall we...

5. Rafael Van Der Vaart - OK not exactly a gamble from me here. As everyone knows Van Der Vaart is a hugely talented footballer and would be tipped to light up any game. However, after a frustrating season at Real Madrid he has dropped off many people's radars. Nevertheless for Holland Van Der Vaart is vital. He was sensational in a warm up game against Ghana earlier this week finishing up with 2 assists and a goal. He is so good for them that he has forced the brilliant Wesley Sneijder out of the attacking midfield position. Needless to say anything good that the Dutch produce in South Africa will come through the creative genius of Van Der Vaart.

4. Pedro, Sergio Busquets and Pique - Three players rolled into one for you here. The young and highly talented Barcelona trio will all play a part in South Africa and with Spain's injury problems Pedro and Busquets might figure more than first expected. A good tournament for Pique could also cement his place as a truly world class central defender, a tag which would have raised more than a few eyebrows a couple of years ago. Pedro is always good for a goal and will probably play a role coming off the bench for the European Champions and Busquets may just peek his way into the holding midfield position.

3. Aleksandar Kolarov - If you know me you may be aware with my obsession with this player. He is a consitent purchase for me on any Football Manager game. Kolarov is a robust, attacking full back. He is an exciting player capable of the spectacular (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSQxr5HbHA) while also possessing the physical attributes to perform his defensive duties sufficiently. The Lazio player is being increasingly linked with big clubs around Europe including Real Madrid and Liverpool (I know 'big club' is debateable these days) Despite Serbia's embarrassment of riches in defensive areas we should get a good look at the Serbian Roberto Carlos.

2. Angel Di Maria - The Benfica winger has been attracting huge amounts of interest from Europe's elite in the last two years (as well as a reputedly huge price tag) and now he has the chance to prove his worth on the biggest stage. Despite the abundance of attacking players Maradona is blessed with Di Maria has figured consistently for his nation since bursting on to the scene and scored a magical goal in their warm up game with Canada, curling the ball with the outside of his left foot from outside the area into the far right hand corner of the goal. He is expected to start down Argentina's left hand side and could set the tournament alight with his exciting style.

1. Joe Cole - Yes I am highly biased towards Joey as a Chelsea fan but the boy can be a bit special. Despite an injury hit season Joe has contributed on every occasion he has played this season and helped us with a brilliant goal against Man Utd. Cole gives England something different and is easily the best player to play on the left hand side. His quiet season could just make him England's surprise package in South Africa.

And just to finish a quick list of players not to look out for in South Africa - Ronaldinho, Alexandre Pato, Esteban Cambiasso, Javier Zanetti, Karim Benzema and Theo Walcott.