Players whose stock has risen during World Cup 2006
World Cup 2006 has given players a chance to show the world how good they are. Some have impressed, others have flopped. Here are some who have impressed.
Jens Lehman - Arsenal and Germany’s keeper nailed the penalty shootout against Argentina. Lehman looked big and impressive and any team would want him in their goal.
Miroslav Klose - currently the leading scorer in this World Cup, Klose has got enough goals at the right time to get Germany through.
Ricardo - Angola goalkeeper who does not play for a professional team, made countless saves for his team. Aged 36, he may not have a long career ahead of him, but might get picked up.
Franck Ribery - This speedy Frenchman has skill and determination. His efforts are a big reason France beat Brasil. Lyon might find themselves with offers by the end of the competition.
Philip Lahm - Germany’s left winger looks dangerous, getting inside defenders and providing crosses. As Germany advances Lahm gets more attention.
Cesc Fabregas - Spain’s center midfielder has been a ‘must have’ for Spain since he came on as a substitute against Saudi Arabia. Likely to feature in Spain’s starting line up for years to come, this Arsenal player is already wanted by Real Madrid.
Kaka - Brasil midfielder who is young, speedy and skillful. Kaka was Brasil’s best player in this World Cup, providing the spark and passion that most of his team mates didn’t have.
That leaves us with the other side of the coin, players who’s stock has gone down in World Cup 2006
Wayne Rooney - One of the big name players who was expected to set the World Cup on fire, Rooney showed a coople of moves, but never imposed himself. His temper finally got the best of him as England crashed out.
Ronaldinho - FIFA’s player of the year 2005 didn’t show us very much at all. He’s got touch and doesn’t waste the ball, its just that he was expected to produce the magic and couldn’t do that. His price tag is super high anyway and this World Cup hasn’t justified that.
Christiano Ronaldo - What a waste of time this player is. The pretty boy of the tournament, Ronaldo does for Portugal what he does for Man U. namely, gets the ball a third of the way up the field, sprints across some ‘dead -space’ to the opponent’s defence, waggles his right foot over the ball, followed by half dozen step overs, then loses it. Repeat 20 time a game, plus pouting and crying, and you have Ronaldo’s contribution to World Cup 2006. Team’s like Real Madrid want him to fill Beckhams’ shoes as poster boy.
Demarcus Beasley - The waif like left winger for the US was supposed to light up the US offence. Apart from passing the ball in field and getting knocked off the ball, Beasley really didn’t do much in World Cup 2006.
Robert Carlos - Brasil’s left back looks old and slow. His patented power shots have all gone into the 40th row, rather than the goal. If I was Chelsea I’d pass on Roberto Carlos.
David Beckham - Beckham doesn’t have much athletic ability anyway, can’t dribble and isn’t a huge on field presence. His contibution to this World Cup has been some accurate crosses and a great free-kick. His high profile status once again has not been justified.
Frank Lampard - Chelsea and England midfielder had a horrible World Cup. Lampard starred in a non-threatening England midfield, scored no goals and looked ordinary. He did not live up to his third best FIFA player of the year 2005.
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Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 87 comments.
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By Claude | July 7th, 2006 at 2:54 am 
Lahm, Odonkhor, and Podolski for Germany. Ribbery for France. Messi for Argentina. Robinho for Brazil. Down I would say most of the Brazilian team and most of England. The US didn’t have anybody who really shone. I didn’t put Zidane since he is retiring but if not for that his stock is way up. Lehmann already had a very impressive resume and I don’t think he added more glory to it. Kahn by not being named as a starter could be a drop in his profile.
Posted from 
United States
By go football | July 7th, 2006 at 2:57 am Jodido I agree with you Appiah is one of the best players in this world cup definitely. I would put Essien on the list as well.
Posted from 
Canada
By Scottyboy | July 7th, 2006 at 3:17 am It has been a World Cup of tactics and defenses no doubt, especially in the knockout stages. The best game ended 0-0 in normal time (Italy .v. Germany) The best attacking squads,(arguably England and Brazil),failed to impress due to some to notch defending as much as sub-standard play. Indeed the defense made many of the World’s greatest look sub-standard. The Goalies have had a big part to play too. With Jens Lehman,Shaka Hislop,Ricardo and the Portugal keeper,(whos name escapes me), have all impressed.
Of course the best defensive displays have been by the Italians and for this reason I believe that Italy will beat the French on Sunday. Zidane has skill yes but does he have the legs to go past the Italian super defense when it really matters?
Posted from 
United Kingdom
By Lex | July 7th, 2006 at 3:35 am it seems that a lot of the big names just didn’t want to play as hard as they could, fearing their multi million contracts will be no more. Should I add Ronaldinho to the list? He was awful in this tournament. Robinho was the hardest worker on the team, along with inconsistent spurts from Kaka on the Brazilian side. And Ronaldo is just a fat, unmotivated jock who wouldn’t care less if his country loss.
C.Ronaldo? I think his stock stayed the same. It’s not as if he scored a lot of goals or generated a ton of assists for Man U. He was one of the few bright spots for Portugal, always pushing up the field. He needs to learn how to cut his ball hogging and oscar antics.
England - I didn’t expect more from them actually. The team has often played uninspired football and it showed again. Perhaps put in a more offensive minded coach, and perhaps ignite a few fires under their so called stars.
Defense is overrated. Any great offensive mind can get past a solid defense with a couple of goals. It was more an issue with generating any consistent offense on most teams’ part.
Posted from United States
By maha | July 7th, 2006 at 4:00 am come on,stop pickin on becks, england wen till there wit beckhams help n ronaldo is not a poster boy if u know football he has skills n will develope to b a good player.even ribery wasted many chances runin wit an ugly final ball
Posted from 
Singapore
By Buzo Libre | July 7th, 2006 at 4:46 am Rafa Marquez of Mexico did a splendid job on defense for the Mexicans, His stock has gone up no doubt.
By greg | July 7th, 2006 at 5:31 am My Studs and Duds:
I think the Ivory Coast team even in defeat, showed us why they have three of their starters playing in the Premier league. Didier Drogba, African player of the tournament in my eyes, justified all the money he gets paid by chelsea and Eboue was solid in defense as was Toure.Michael Essien was ok, could have done more for a player of his calibre. Appiah was a stud muffin and will probably command more, the Angolan goalie Ricardo should be a good back up for a top team in the premiere league or in Serie ‘A’, the age thing doesn’t do him much justice. Fabrice Akwa showed he still got game even for an aging veteran. Adebayor wasn’t too impressive, maybe all the politics about mo’ money was too much of a distraction. Rio Ferdinard with his no nonsense defense also had a good showing. The Coles played their hearts out. Lampard and Terry could have done more for England to have a realistic chance, poor coaching not withstanding. Crouch was good much but didnt get much play time.
Borgetti could have done more, Rafael Marquez was rock solid, Omar Bravo deserves to move up from the mexican league. Riquelme, Mesi and everybody from Argentina showed why everybody picked them to win it all. Maybe with better coaching(e.g not subbing your key playmaker-Riquelme when you need him most) and if they didnt have to face the host nation so early the quarters they could have lived up to our expectations.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy, was the biggest no show, the fact that his team ran into the crazy Russian ref and although their game with Portugal turned into a free for all wrestling match is no excuse. Must be a reason why the coach benched you in a crucial game like that!
Winner of the FIFA ‘pussy player’ of the tournament is Beckham, didnt have the balls to stay in a game when his teammates needed him most. Universal cry baby!No wonder C. Ronaldo wants to be like you when he grows up. He should hurry up and move to the MLS so that he can play for the LA Galaxy and be closer to his preferred final destination in Hollywood.
C. Ronaldo was just plain immature and extremely annoying. Although it was sweet to see him cry some real tears like the baby he is , after losing to france.Maybe Rooney has picked up too much of your B.S. No excuse for Rooney though, he needs to grow up, we expect more from an Englishman.
Posted from United States
By Fairis | July 7th, 2006 at 5:56 am good list… but wow, time & time again, Becks gets criticized… created 2 and scored one of England’s 5 goals. Do the math and that’s 60% of direct involvement of the goals. And still he gets one below the belt for having no “athletic ability.. can’t dribble and isn’t a huge on field presence”… oh yeah, everyone is making a big hoo-haa about Aaron Lennon. SO the kid’s fast, and can dribble, but he lacked the final ball, So what if u can get past defenders but cannot deliver the cross to score goals from… he’snan unfinished article the boy, a Shaun Wright-Phillips in the making (look at where Shaun is now). But he’s the future, he’ll improve, & will get his chance in due time. But personally, i would prefer golden balls’s experience, never-say-die attitude and his dead ball accuracy anytime.
Posted from 
Malaysia
By staybeautiful | July 7th, 2006 at 6:44 am yo sumit, no offense, but if your favorite team is real madrid, then you should know that messi doesn’t play for them. he plays for barça.
and saviola doesn’t play for seville. he plays for barça.
i at least hope you know what barça did this year.
-sb
Posted from United States
By Kaka | July 7th, 2006 at 7:18 am Maxi Rodriguez’s stock definitely went up. Odonkor and Robinho were effective whenever they played.
Riquelme blew hot and cold for Argentina.
I always thought Klinsman made a mistake choosing Lekham instead of Kahn. But I am so wrong!!!
By jon | July 7th, 2006 at 7:43 am My list of WC06 Stars are as follows..
Podolski(GER), Maniche(POR), Klose(GER), Srna(CRO), Lehman(GER), Appiah(GHA), Toni(ITA), Buffon(ITA), Cannavaro(ITA), ZeRoberto(BRA), Babic(CRO), Neil(AUS), Cahill(AUS), Zidane(FRA), Van Persie(HOL), Torres(SPA), Rodriguez(ARG), Marquez(MEX), Valencia(ECU), Joe Cole(ENG), Henry(FRA), Kaka(BRA), Viera(FRA), Figo(POR), Senderos(SWI), Rosicky(CZH). And i’m sure there are many more that i missed..
as for the dissapointments..well..
Beckham(ENG), Ronaldinho(BRA), R.Carlos(BRA), Lampard(ENG), Kezman(SRB), Klasnic(CRO), Kranjcar(CRO) Nedved(CZH), VanNistelroy(HOL), Rooney(ENG), Reyes(SPA), Karimi(IRA), Shevcenko(UKR), Ibrahimovic(SWE), Larson(SWE), Beasley(USA), Stankovic(SRB), Nakamura(JPN). I’m sure there are many more also…
it’s been a great world cup, and alot of the players that struggled will play better, whereas the players that played well will play worse..its all about the timing and who hits form.
Posted from 
Australia
By Marcelo | July 7th, 2006 at 7:47 am Hey, anyone remember Fabio Grosso?
The leftback who play like a left winger and with a shot at goal that is on par or maybe even better than most forward?
I still wondering how a left sided fullback got into a position to shoot at goal from the right side? And curl a real beauty to beat Lehman?
Grosso is the revelation of this World Cup.
Posted from Malaysia
By jadius | July 7th, 2006 at 7:49 am wow alot of trinis here huh
well here is my list of those whose stock went up
1)maxi rodriguez
2)lahm
3)Franck Ribery
4)Christian Lara
5)Nuno Maniche
6)Luis Miguel
and of course Miroslav Klose
and as for Christiano Ronaldo he was the best thing in portugal’s midfield deco and figo had forgettable campaigns
Posted from 
Trinidad And Tobago
By BIK | July 7th, 2006 at 9:22 am What became of Steven Gerrard? I thought he was doing well till just before that penalty shoot out.
Posted from 
India
By Jagadeesh | July 7th, 2006 at 11:43 am The greatest disappointment in the world cup has been the whole Brazil team except Robinho.Ronaldinho showed a few glimpses of class,but the higly over rated Ronaldo didnt convert any.Ronaldo was a great player,but nowadays he is highly over rated and is not a contender for an automatic playing eleven entry
Posted from India
By Hans Bryers | July 7th, 2006 at 11:57 am Hi folks: I am in trouble Sunday. My oldest sun is half French, and his Ethiopean girl-friend grew uo in Italy. When we watch the game I’ll have to sit between them to keep them from attacking each other. I am originally Dutch,and the Dutch lost, so I have nothing to fear.
Hans in New York City
Posted from United States
By CP | July 7th, 2006 at 12:26 pm ‘I think the Australian team’s stock is definitely falling because of their fans.’
There has been some silly things said around here over the last few weeks, but the idea that transfer values will decrease because some Australian fans on this blog are venting their spleens well and truly takes the cake.
Posted from Australia
By Mystique | July 7th, 2006 at 3:43 pm Lol, and poor Hans in NYC. Since your oldest son speaks from my heart, I will cheer with him. My son who is also a soccer fanatic is American with mostly German, some Hungarian, some Italian (right now he is not happy about that one) and some French (he will root for the French on Sunday)
Posted from United States
By fred | July 7th, 2006 at 4:34 pm CP, I think it was a joke, where’s your sence of humour. Just think what the spanish and italian fans had to go through after their contraversial loss to S. Korea. I know I mocked them, so what? It’s all stupidity and means nothing.
Posted from Canada
By MARCO | July 7th, 2006 at 5:27 pm Suprised no one has mentioned C.Tevez (ARG)! The guy’s like a damn Energizer-bunny - he won’t stop running! He’s got great pace, good ball skills, good awareness and movement and the way he’ll run at defences is awesome.
Buffon and Cannavaro put on some stirling performances for Italy as did Pirlo in his role as deep playmaker.
Appaiah proved that he’s lost none of the magic he showd a few years ago in Serie A.
Flops: Luca Toni (IT) missed a bunch of chances that Inzaghi would have put away with his eyes shut. Half the Brazilian squad. Frank Lampard choked on the biggest stage. P. Crouch crumbled under the weight of the job…
Peckerman (ARG) and Erikson (ENG) are the coaches that blew it big time considering the talent at their disposal….
Posted from 
United Arab Emirates
By MARCO | July 7th, 2006 at 5:30 pm @Scottyboy: England one of the best attacking sides in the tournament? Surely you jest?? Their fwd play has been amongst the most uninspiring and insipid of all!
Posted from United Arab Emirates
By Preto | July 7th, 2006 at 5:31 pm What about Miguel(Por), Buffon (Ita), Cannavaro (Ita), Zé Roberto (Bra), Vieira (Fra), Zidane (Fra), Pirlo (Ita)?
Players that didn’t play at all: Pauleta (Por), Deco (Por), Sheveshenko (Ukr).
Posted from 
Portugal
By daloola | July 10th, 2006 at 1:13 am actually you guys are so stuped, beckham is always going to be one of thr best no matter what happens he just has the skills, even though he doesnt do alot of tricks but he really effects his team and believe me beckham is very important is one of the best.
Posted from 
Kuwait
By akmal | November 27th, 2006 at 8:24 am safraz bulu ur a mut wat can u do ill bang u out watch afta skool u swore at my mom watch
By akmal | November 27th, 2006 at 8:26 am u mom is da slag
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