Number 24: Cesc F bregas Country: Spain Position: Midfielder Club Team: Arsenal American-Based Professional Sport "Soulmate": 1990 Steve Young, QB, San Francisco 49ers, NFL Francesc "Cesc" F bregas is at the top of his... Read more

Number 19: Michael Essien Position: Central Midfielder Country: Ghana Club Team: Chelsea FC, English Premier League American-Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Tony Parker, PG, San Antonio Spurs... Read more

Number 9: Robinho Position: Forward Country: Brazil Club Team: Santos, Brazil Serie A, on loan from Manchester City FC, EPL American-based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Manny Ramirez, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers The World Cup produces all manner of fascinating plot lines. A recurring one, yet one that always compels, is the tale of the player who rebounds from disappointing club form to find a measure of vindication wearing the shirt for.

Number 7: Carlos Tévez Position: Forward Country: Argentina Club Team: Manchester City American Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Alexander Ovechkin, LW, Washington Capitals What can I say about Carlos Tévez besides the fact that he's our number seven player to watch at the upcoming World Cup?

Number 5: Fernando Torres and David Villa (The Spanish Strikers) Position: Forward Country: Spain Club Teams: Liverpool FC, EPL and FC Barcelona, La Liga American based Professional Athlete "Soulmates": Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburg Penguin We could have written about Fernando Torres and David Villa independently as two unique "Players to Watch," but it just didn't seem right.

Player Number One: Leo Messi Country: Argentina Position: Forward Club Team: FC Barcelona American-Based Professional Athlete Soulmate: Kobe Bryant, Guard, Los Angeles Lakers By the time our # 1 Player to Watch at the 2010 World Cup reaches his 23rd birthday, his national team, the Albiceleste, will be finished with group play and, sitting as I write on three points, more than likely awaiting the runner-up from Group A in the Round of.

Number 23: Yakubu Aiyegbeni Position: Center Forward Country: Nigeria Club Team: Everton FC, English Premier League American Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate(s)": Jerome Bettis Divided by Lendale White... Read more

Number 22: Arjen Robben Country: Netherlands Position: Wing Forward Club Team: Bayern Munich American-Based Professional Sport "Soulmate": Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees and Robert Horry, retired NBA forward/guard First... Read more

Number 21: Theofanis Gekas Country: Greece Club Team: On loan to Hertha BSC, German Bundesliga Position: Forward American Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears For... Read more

Number 20: Nemanja Vidić Country: Serbia Position: Center Back Club Team: Manchester United American-Based Professional Sport "Soulmate": Zdeno Chára, D, Boston Bruins Nemanja Vidić is on the short list of players who... Read more

Number 18: Diego Forlán Country: Uruguay Position: Forward Club Team: Atlético Madrid American-Based Professional Sport "Soulmate": "Sugar Shane" Mosley, Welterweight Boxer Contrary to what you might have heard from Manchester United supporters whenever his name is brought up, Diego Forlán is no bum.

Number 16: Miroslav Klose Country: Germany Position: Forward Club Team: Bayern Munich American-Based Professional Sport "Soulmate": Tomas Holmström, Winger, Detroit Red Wings Miroslav Klose is a poacher. He's the talented executor of the ugly goal. He uses phenomenal instincts and more skill than most box-exclusive strikers to get the job done better than any other "garbage goal" scorer in the world.

Number 15: Thierry Henry Country: France Position: Forward Club Team: FC Barcelona, Spanish La Liga American-Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Warrick Dunn (retired), RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Atlanta Falcons I wouldn't be too upset if our informed, gregarious and quick-witted The Yanks Are Coming readers called "handball" on our number 15 player to watch, France's Thierry Henry.

Number 14: Daniele De Rossi Country: Italy Position: Midfielder Club Team: Roma American-Based Professional Sport "Soulmate": Brian McCann, C, Atlanta Braves Daniele De Rossi is lucky to be alive. No one bloodies Brian McBride's face with a flying elbow and lives to tell about, except this particular Italian.

Number 13: Frank Lampard Country: England Position: Midfielder Club Team: Chelsea American-Based Professional Sport "Soulmate": Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants It is 2:15 AM on a Sunday night and I'm still wide awake. Being awake at this hour is not uncommon for me; as Puck would say, "Sorry for partying.

Number 12: Gianluigi Buffon Position: Goalkeeper Country: Italy Club Team: Juventus, Italian Serie A American Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Martin Brodeur, Goaltender, New Jersey Devils World Cup Final. Berlin 2006. It's the wee moments of stoppage time at the end of one of the most physically grueling, fiercely contested title matches in the history of the beautiful game.

Number 11: Tim Howard Position: Goalkeeper Country: United States of America Club Team: Everton, English Premier League American Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Brian Urlacher, Linebacker, Chicago Bears Let's face it – we all knew that another American was going to make this list of 32 players to watch.

Number 10: Franck Ribéry Position: Winger Country: France Club Team: Bayern Munich American Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Chris Paul, Guard, New Orleans Hornets Franck "Don't Call Me Frank" Ribéry is an offensive dynamo, capable of dictating the flow of an entire football match from the wing, something that can't be said about more than a few players in the world.

Number 8: Didier Drogba Position: Forward Country: Ivory Coast Club Team: Chelsea FC, English Premier League American-Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings Beyond the questions about South Africa's post-Apartheid future, beyond the security concerns (now alleviated) about the possible visit of President Barack Obama, beyond the concerns about tourists being victims of crime, beyond the very.

Number 6: Wayne Rooney Position: Forward Country: England Club Team: Manchester United, English Premier League American-based Professional Sports Athlete "Soulmate": Jonathan Papelbon, RP, Boston Red Sox When Chancellor Seco, in his "infinite wisdom," assigned me this player to watch piece my initial reaction was one of complete disgust.

Number 4: Steven Gerrard (a.k.a. Captain Fantastic) Country: England Position: Midfielder (CMF, LMF), Captain Club Team: Liverpool FC American Based Professional Sports "Soulmate": A mutt between Lebron James and Paul Pierce from 1998 – 2006 With regard to Stevie G, my favorite player in the world (with all due respect to Sacha Kljestan), I could not think of a single American athlete to do him justice.

Number 3: Kaka Country: Brazil Position: Central Midfield Club Team: Real Madrid American-Based Professional Athlete "Soulmate": Joe Mauer, C, Minnesota Twins What is a superstar? Traditionally, the narrative goes like this: glamour position, great talent. Media-savvy if not personable. Almost always (not always), but almost always a leader and a household name—sometimes to the point where you simply say his first name, or his.

Number 2: Cristiano Ronaldo Country: Portugal Position: Midfielder/Wing Forward Club Team: Real Madrid American-Based Professional Sport "Soulmate": Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees He may only be our number two player to watch at the World Cup, but Portugal's most important man is without a doubt the most widely hated footballer on earth.