I wanted to put together a list of great players that many casual soccer fans may not have heard of or followed in the past. Some young, some old, some more well-known than others, all of these players have done very well and I think a few of the youngsters listed may find their way to the big clubs of Europe in the near future.
Germany
GK - Rene Adler - Bayer Leverkusen
DF - Per Mertesacker - Werder Bremen
MF - Simon Rolfes - Bayer Leverkusen
FW - Mladen Petric - Borussia Dortmund
France
GK - Steve Mandanda - Marseille
DF - Sébastien Puygrenier - Nancy
MF - Jeremy Toulalan - Lyon
FW - Pascal Feindouno - St Etienne
Italy
GK - Alberto Fontana - Palermo
DF - Giorgio Chiellini - Juventus
MF - Marek Hamsik - Napoli
FW - Marco Borriello - Genoa
Spain
GK - Carlos Kameni - RCD Espanyol
DF - Ezequiel Garay - Racing Santander
MF - Diego Capel - Sevilla
FW - Dani Güiza - RCD Mallorca
England
GK - Joe Hart - Manchester City
DF - Joleon Lescott - Everton
MF - Ashley Young - Aston Villa
FW - Tuncay Şanlı - Middlesbrough
If you closely follow any of these leagues and have some "lesser-known" players that you think deserve to be listed, feel free to leave your own list in the comments.
And don't forget Bafetimbi Gomis from St. Etiennne of France. I have a feeling that people will remember his name after Euros.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree about Gomis, Laurie. I think he is gonna be a big name in the world of soccer. He looked excellent the other day against Ecuador.
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