Ten Players to Watch Today (Not Including David Beckham)

March 26th, 2008 | by: Daryl | View Comments

Yes, it’s David Beckham’s 100th Cap Day. Check your calendar. But while GoldenBalls’ spell of standing out on England’s right hand touchline reaches three figures, there are all kinds of other player worth keeping an eye on. Here’s a quick guide to who to watch today, in no particular order:

1. Alexander Frei
The Swiss striker has been out for a year with hip and calf injuries. But now he’s back. And when he faces Germany today, Frei can continue chipping away at Kubilay Tuerkyilmaz’s Swiss goalscoring record.

2. Rubén de La Red
The 22 year old couldn’t get a kick at Real Madrid, so he was sent out on loan to Getafe. De La Red must have put in some solid defensive midfield displays while out in the ‘burbs, because Luis Aragones has called him up for the game against Italy, and could give De La Red his debut today.

3. Alexandre Pato
The 18 year old Brazilian phenomenon is already lighting up Serie A with AC Milan. And with the sad state of Ronaldo and Adriano there’s a definite vacancy for a star striker in the canary yellow of Brazil right now (don’t tell Luis Fabiano I said that though.) Ronaldinho and Kaka are also absent through form and injury repsectively so the stage is all set for Pato against Sweden today.

4. Fredrik Risp
Sweden are short of defenders and so Lars Lagerback has called in Turkey-based Risp to give him another go at international football. I wish Risp the very best of luck as he attempts to look good against Pato.

5. Theo Walcott
The 19-year-old Arsenal starlet might be making his proper international debut today. I know he played for England in 2006, and I know he went to the World Cup, but that was only because Sven-Goran Eriksson had gone temporarily insane. Now the pacy winger/striker/Thierry Henry-clobe has more or less earned this call up with some impressive moments for Arsenal. He’s matured 2006 between 2008, and should be better equipped to show us what he’s all about today.

6. Giovanni dos Santos
There are still question marks about his fitness, but after the disaster of Olympic qualification failure, Hugo Sanchez would love a stellar performance from his young Barcelona playmaker.

7. David Trezeguet
He’d pretty much given up on Raymond Domenech every picking him again, but after injuries to Thierry Henry, Louis Saha and Karim Benzema, Serie A’s top scorer has been recalled. English eyes will be on David Beckham, but all French eyes will be on Trezegol.

8. Jonathan de Guzmán
The Canadian born Feyenoord winger dramatically (but not altogether surprisingly) chose to play for the Netherlands recently. The game against Austria will mark his debut.

9. Benny Feilhaber
After spending eternity on the bench at Derby County, he might make an appearance during Poland vs USA today. Will he still remember how to play football? We’ll find out.

10. Ivan Klasnić
Croatia will be without Eduardo tomorrow but they welcome back a striker who they probably never expected to see again. Ivan Klasnić has had two kidney transplants (his body rejected the first) and no one knew if he’d be fit to play football ever again. But Klasnić returned to action for Werder Bremen this season with a spectacular nine minute cameo that yielded two goals and an assist. Keep your eyes peeled just in case his return to action for Croatia against Scotland today is even half as dramatic.

and…

11. David Beckham
Yeah, we fooled you, sort of. But why not, eh? It’s very easy to be cynical about all the hooplah surrounding Beckham’s 100th cap, but like it or not it’s still a big deal. More importantly, GoldenBalls will be looking to put in a memorable performance to make sure his 100th cap isn’t his last.