Golden Jubilee celebrations in Cyprus 03 XXVIII UEFA Congress 06 ...
Golden Jubilee celebrations in Cyprus 03 XXVIII UEFA Congress 06 ...
Golden Jubilee celebrations in Cyprus 03 XXVIII UEFA Congress 06 ...
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FLASH PRESSLatvia(Igors Semjonovs)are mak<strong>in</strong>gtheir debut <strong>in</strong>a EuropeanChampionshipf<strong>in</strong>al round.AFP/MACDOUGALLMany Swiss<strong>in</strong>ternationals playabroad, suchas Johann Lonfat(FC Sochaux).Ten playersto watchHERE IS A SELECTION OF SOME YOUNGPLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR WHO HAVENOT PLAYED IN A EUROPEANCHAMPIONSHIP OR WORLD CUP FINALROUND BEFORE. THEY COULD WELL MAKETHEIR MARK IN PORTUGAL.Dimitar BERBATOV(23/Bulgaria): leader of the Bulgariannew generation, fast and skilful,signed with Bayer Leverkusen <strong>in</strong>January 2000 and is currently theirtop scorer. He is also a prolific scorerat <strong>in</strong>ternational level (more than onegoal per two matches on average).Antonio CASSANO(21/Italy): transferred from Bari toRoma for 30 million euros <strong>in</strong> 2001,Cassano is the most gifted Italianplayer of his generation. This season,he and Totti formed the most efficientstrik<strong>in</strong>g duo <strong>in</strong> the Serie A. In thenational team, he is compet<strong>in</strong>gwith Del Piero for the third attack<strong>in</strong>gposition, beh<strong>in</strong>d the untouchableTotti and Vieri.Alexander FREI(24/Switzerland): a complete, faststriker, a good shooter with an <strong>in</strong>disputableeye for the goal, Frei scored17 times for Rennes <strong>in</strong> the Frenchleague this season (goal tally as at2 May). His national team average isalso impressive: 15 goals <strong>in</strong> 25 matches.Kev<strong>in</strong> KURANYI(22/Germany): a tall and powerfulstriker, he was the revelation of theBundesliga last season, notch<strong>in</strong>gup 15 goals for Stuttgart. Born <strong>in</strong>Brazil of a father of Hungarian orig<strong>in</strong>and a Panamanian mother, he is consideredthe new Kl<strong>in</strong>smann and Bierhoff<strong>in</strong> the German team.Greece are count<strong>in</strong>g on their strength as a team<strong>in</strong> order to put on a good show at EURO 2004.Benoît PEDRETTI(23/France): though France are knownfor their strik<strong>in</strong>g force, the great retriev<strong>in</strong>ghalf-backs have also contributedgreatly to their success, be it Deschamps,Petit or Vieira. Sochaux’s Pedretti, giftedwith a great view of the game and anextremely accurate passer, is of the samecalibre as the aforementioned greats.He will be compet<strong>in</strong>g with Makelele fora first-team place.Dado PRSO(29/Croatia): althoughhe is not quite soyoung, this strong centreforward has onlybeen play<strong>in</strong>g top-levelfootball for a few years.Tra<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> Split, he spenta long time play<strong>in</strong>gamateur football <strong>in</strong>France before catch<strong>in</strong>gthe attention ofMonaco. He has been amajor player <strong>in</strong> Monaco’sexcellent <strong>UEFA</strong> ChampionsLeague run this season.Arjen ROBBEN(20/Netherlands): oneof the great revelationsof the Dutchchampionship<strong>in</strong> the last two seasonswith PSV E<strong>in</strong>dhoven,capable of play<strong>in</strong>g on the w<strong>in</strong>gs,up front or beh<strong>in</strong>d the strikers.He is on his way to Chelsea thissummer.Cristiano RONALDO(19/Portugal): a w<strong>in</strong>ger of extraord<strong>in</strong>arytalent, he has succeeded <strong>in</strong>FLASH PRESSFLASH PRESSmak<strong>in</strong>g his presence felt at ManchesterUnited, who he jo<strong>in</strong>edfrom Sport<strong>in</strong>g Portugal last summer.The national-team “joker”right now, he could be the idealpartner for centre forward Pauleta.Wayne ROONEY(18/England): the youngestplayer to have ever pulled on anEngland shirt (at 17 years and111 days), he is very mature forhis age. With Owen, the Evertonstriker should form one of themost explosive strik<strong>in</strong>g duos ofEURO 2004.Fernando TORRES(20/Spa<strong>in</strong>): Atletico Madrid’syoung prodigy has often beencompared to Raúl. This season hehas broken new ground by mark<strong>in</strong>grepeatedly <strong>in</strong> the Liga. A skilfuland powerful striker, he is compet<strong>in</strong>gwith Morientes for a placealongside his “model”. His goal<strong>in</strong> a friendly aga<strong>in</strong>st Italyon 28 April puts him<strong>in</strong> a good position.Dado Prso:an explosivestriker.E.S.11