THE BEST SOCCER PLAYERS

Mikel thrives on centre stage Matt Spiroan , from Cairo When John Obi Mikel was replaced in the second half of Nigeria's African Cup of Nations semi-final against the Ivory Coast the game seemed to be up for the Super Eagles. Trailing to Didier Drogba's goal, Nigeria looked devoid of ideas without their teenage prodigy and not even the introduction of Jay-Jay Okocha, so often a match-winner in the past, could raise their flagging spirits. Mikel impact That Nigeria are already relying so heavily on the SFK Lyn Oslo midfield player says much about the impact he has made in Egypt. Rarely can a player have been hyped up so much before even featuring at the highest level, but the elegant 18-year-old, who is the subject of a much-publicised tug-of-war between Manchester United FC and Chelsea FC, wasted little time in showing people what the fuss was about. Playing with remarkable poise for someone so young and displaying the vision of a genuine creator, Mikel lit up the tournament wi

Standing an impressive 1.90 metres tall, Togo's Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor has been Arsene Wenger's choice for Arsenal's starter squad in many match. Adebayor (21) has signed for Arsenal from AS Monaco on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee at January. He was the top scorer in the entire African Zone in the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers with 11 goals, helping Togo reach the World Cup Finals for the first time in the country's history. Emmanuel has been a regular in the AS Monaco team over the past three seasons and was part of the squad which came runners-up in the 2004 UEFA Champions League. Before joining AS Monaco, Adebayor spent two seasons at French side Metz, where he made his first team debut for the club in Ligue 1 at the tender age of 17. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: "Emmanuel Adebayor is a great addition to our squad. He has shown in his performances with Monaco and Togo that he will add great quality to our offensive game. He is tall, good in the

While Spain were battling it out at Korea/Japan 2002, a 16-year-old Spaniard by the name of Sergio Ramos was roaring them on from his home in distant Seville and longing for the day when he too would don the famous red jersey. Now, four years down the road, it looks as if the youngster's dream is about to come true. Ramos' progress both at club and international level has been nothing short of meteoric. He made his Spanish league debut with Sevilla in February 2004 and then went on to play six more top-flight games that season. After another 31 appearances for the Andalusian club the following year, Real Madrid were sufficiently impressed to fork out an eye-watering €27million to take the gifted defender to the Bernabeu. "Very few kids of my age have managed to do what I've done," says Ramos during an exclusive interview with FIFAworldcup.com. "It's true the only thing I have right now on my CV is the European U-19 Championship, but that's something I

Instead the England striker finds himself attempting to repair a fracture in his relationship with Newcastle's fans caused by Sven-Goran Eriksson's ill-considered suggestion that he is unhappy at Newcastle and only joined the Magpies for the money. Eriksson's claim was made during an indiscreet discussion with an under-cover reporter posing as a sheikh claiming to be interested in taking over Aston Villa and installing the England manager as boss of the Midlands club. Along with a description of Rio Ferdinand as "lazy", it was the comments about Owen which were most embarassing for Eriksson because they appeared to confirm an impression that was already firmly implanted in the minds of many Newcastle fans. Owen, who has just had the cast on his broken foot removed, insisted however that he was happy on Tyneside following his 16-million-pound move from Real Madrid in August. "I'm enjoying my time here," the 26-year-old claimed. "I enjoyed it out

Ji-sung Park, or "Ji" as he is called by his United team-mates, is a skilful and energetic player, who can play on the left, on the right, or in the centre of midfield. His potential to make the leap from Asia to Europe was spotted by Guus Hiddink, who coached Park in the national team before and during the 2002 World Cup. Later that year, after Korea's phenomenal run to the semi finals, Park followed Hiddink to PSV. Although he gained widespread recognition in 2005 after scoring against AC Milan in the Champions League semi-finals, Park had been gradually building a reputation at PSV as one of the most highly-regarded young midfielders in Europe. He began his career with Japanese side Kyoto Purple Sanga in 2000. A regular in the South Korean national side from a young age, he played in all of his country's seven matches in a sensational run to the semi finals of the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. He moved to PSV on 21 December 2002, but played only a fleeting pa

Lionel Messi became the toast of Argentina when, just days after his 18th birthday, he inspired his country's U-20 side to a fifth world title with a series of masterful displays at the FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005. Such was the impression made by the prodigious midfielder that in addition to taking home a gold medal he also picked up the adidas Golden Shoe award as top scorer, and the adidas Golden Ball as best player. "Although he's already a great player, Lionel needs to take things slowly. What he did in this tournament was fantastic, but in order to keep developing his game and improving, he needs to continue along the same lines," said his Argentina coach Francisco Ferraro. 'Messimania' has also broken out back in Argentina with many supporters and analysts already comparing him to the young Diego Maradona. Indeed 'El Diego' himself was so taken with the youngster's mercurial displays that he personally phoned to offer his

After a gentle-paced start to his career in France, Didier hit full sprint after his move to the big time at Marseille where his stunning form and goalscoring helped his club to the 2004 UEFA Cup Final and himself to the France Footballer of the Year Award. And sprinting plays a big part in the big man's armoury; his pace allied to strength making Didier the type of forward not seen at Stamford Bridge for a long, long time. He also possesses aerial power in front of goal that at times borders on awesome. Signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2004, Didier's transfer fee makes him the second most expensive striker in British football history, only surpassed by the money paid by Man United for Wayne Rooney. The man who has spearhead the Ivory Coast to a first World Cup Finals moved from Africa to live in France as a young child and played his early junior football at right-back. He dabbled with various small clubs and even turned down the chance of a trial at Paris Saint-Germain, pr

Thierry Henry believes Arsenal are paying a heavy price for their mistakes this season. The captain was disconsolate as he spoke after Tuesday’s heartbreaking exit from the Carling Cup at the hands of Wigan. Arsenal were on the cusp of another trip to Cardiff before Jason Roberts profited on hesitancy in the home defence to fire in from close range. “I think that is a reflection of our season right there,” said Henry. “It is difficult to take. I know they had a lot of opportunities to score but we had a lot of opportunities. “On the other side it difficult with the goal we conceded. We conceded the same goal at Everton when maybe we were not playing that great but it looked like we were going to get back to a good position. “It was a long ball not really looking for anyone. It would have been sweeter if they had scored with one of their better chances. “When you play like we did — desire, commitment and creating chances — there is nothing to say about it. I thought we played tremendous

Birthdate: 24 Oct 1985 Birthplace: Croxteth, Liverpool Position: Striker Appearances: 271 Goals: 122 Joined United: 31 Aug 2004 United Debut: 28 Sept 2004 v Fenerbahce (H) International: England Wayne Mark Rooney was born on October 24th, 1985 at Croxteth, Liverpool. He is the first child of parents of Irish descent Thomas Wayne and Jeanette Marie Rooney. Wayne Rooney burst onto the Old Trafford stage in September 2004, netting an unforgettable hat-trick against Fenerbahce on his debut। He'd arrived from Everton, his boyhood club, a few weeks earlier, becoming the world's most expensive teenager in the process. But it wasn't his performances for the Toffees that had sparked United's interest, mind you. Staff at Carrington knew about Wayne from a much, much earlier age. "Our U-9 side played Everton's boys one day and they absolutely hammered us," now-Academy manager Paul McGuinness remembers. "Rooney scored a few [six, actually], but there was one

" I still have a video of my father, which I watch before every game I play for Brazil. It gives me strength, makes me determined ." - Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira -- or Ronaldinho Gaucho to nickname-happy Brazilians -- was born on March 21, 1980 in the southern city of Porto Alegre. Like most Brazilian soccer prodigies, he came from a poor family and was raised in the heart of the dirt road-laced settlements known as favelas. But his family loved the sport and found joy in playing it. Ronaldinho's father, Joao da Silva Moreira, played in an amateur club when he wasn't working as a welder or guarding the Gremio soccer stadium. Even though it was Ronaldinho's older brother Roberto who was a rising star in the Gremio club, Joao saw in young Ronaldinho a true champion. The way the boy dribbled a ball around the furniture at home was unbelievable. Sadly, Joao would never get to see Ronaldinho shine on the world stage. When Ronaldinho was only eight, Joao drowne