Sunday, February 21, 2010

Which young players should we watch at 2010 World Cup?

FIFA loves awards. And the money the sponsors attach to them. The latest one to come out of Zurich is the Hyundai Best Young Player award.


According to FIFA, it's been created to recognize the impact made by young footballers to their first FIFA World Cup. We've seen a great many good young players come out of the four-yearly showpiece. From Pele in 1958 to Lukas Podolski in 2006 and many others in between, the world has seen some truly remarkable guys come out of the mundial.


The Hyundai Best Young Player will be announced before the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, with a Hyundai Tucson 35 ix given to the award winner.


Ghana would be in South Africa this year and I'm wondering if any of our lads can win this award. Of course winning this award is highly dependent on the entire team's progress so this means that we have to get to at least the quarters or semis.


At the moment my picks from our current Stars team would be Kwadwo Asamoah, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, Dominic Adiyiah and Andre Ayew.


About the Award
The award will be presented to the player who creates the biggest impact in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. Judges will be looking for certain qualities such as technical skill, style and charisma but also other important facets such as a sense of fair play and a genuine impression that they are playing Merely For The Love Of The Game.


Selecting a player
The FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) takes the following criteria into account when selecting the Hyundai Best Young Player: Exceptional skills, Youthful and refreshing playing style, Creativity and inspiration, tactical maturity and efficiency, fan recognition as a result of entertaining performances, role models for young players, positive attitude - fair play.


What young player would make the most impact at South Africa 2010? I'm sure names like David Silva (Spain), Marek Hamsik (Slovakia), Mesut Ozil (Germany) would come up ...


(Thanks to FIFA.com for the info)