Soccer146;s Superstars

Raul GonzalezForward I Spain I Real Madrid I Age: 24 Pin-up boy for supporters of a club not exactly short of them. Good looks are bac...

Raul Gonzalez
Forward I Spain I Real Madrid I Age: 24

Pin-up boy for supporters of a club not exactly short of them. Good looks are backed by an unerring propensity to put the ball in the back of the net, given half a chance. Which is pretty handy, given that he earns 6 million every year to do just that. Currently the highest goalscorer in the forward-friendly Spanish La Liga, he has a knack for the spectacular. Will be desperate to prove himself after two flops on the international stage World Cup 1998 and Euro 2000.

David Beckham
Midfielder I England I
Manchester United I Age: 27

Okay, so you know everything there is to know about Goldenballs. All about his five-star life, his popstar wife and his deadly right foot. About how he8217;s soon going to be the most highly-paid footballer in the universe and that8217;s even before he gets his millions from advertising revenue. How he can8217;t change his hairstyle without first informing Brylcreem. How this tournament means more to him than to the rest of the England team because his sending-off against Argentina four years ago got his team out of the tournament. How Adidas is spending pound;20,000 designing special reinforced shoes to protect his damaged metatarsals for half-a-dozen matches. How he likes to wear his wife8217;s thongs and believes gay men fancy him. How he8217;s an animal in bed. So you know it all. Now get a life.

Pablo Aimar
Midfield I Argentina I Valencia I Age: 23

The wonderkid of Argentinian football, this could be his coming of age. His teammates predict he will be this year8217;s Michael Owen; he8217;ll be happy if he just gets a place in the team 8212; Argentina8217;s midfield is already star-studded. Superb technique and a creative mind are backed by lightning speed. But there8217;s a downside to his skills: apparently, he does not have the big-match temperament, the nerve to seize the moment. Well, the 8216;Little Angel8217; as one commentator called him, proved that wrong in the past season, winging his club Valencia to the Spanish league title. He8217;s also nicknamed 8216;Payaso8217; clown because he8217;s always smiling. That smile will be broader if he finally lives up to his potential on the biggest stage of them all.

Fabien Barthez
Goalkeeper I France I Manchester United I Age: 31

Living proof of the premise that goalkeepers are different. Smokes, talks little, admits that he finds it tough to concentrate for 90 minutes at a stretch. His off-field activities are as interesting as those on the field; till recently he was living with model Linda Evangelista and frequents fashion shows in the company of actresses Catherine Deneuve, for one. Also says he rarely listens to his manager8217;s pre-match talk, he just does things his own way. The physical skills 8212; honed by years of playing rugby 8212; are for all to see: shot-stopper nonpareil, he8217;s an attacking keeper, which means he starts most of his team8217;s attacks with pinpoint upfield kicking. Add to this his supreme confidence, a penchant for the audacious and a relentless will to win.

Hidetoshi Nakata
Forward I Japan I Parma I Age: 25

Japan and football stars? It wasn8217;t always this way; not, that is, until a 20-year-old set up three goals in a World Cup qualifying match against Iran. The legend of Hidetoshi Nakata was born. With time, that legend has only grown; no matter that Nakata has trouble plying his trade in Italy. No matter that he8217;s been off form of late. Whenever 8216;Hide8217; takes the field, he gives his countrymen some reason for hope 8212; and the girls an object of desire 8212; in troubled times. In a stratified, restrained society, he revels in Attitude: casual dressing, a frank diary on his website and the habit of dyeing his hair in a different colour ever so often. On the field, he operates by sheer instinct, as the best players do; he rarely needs to look around him to spot his teammates. Japan won8217;t win the World Cup but 8216;Hide8217; can help bring back the rising sun; and a million teenagers will swoon all over again.

Zinedine Zidane
Midfielder I France I Real Madrid I Age: 30

Glasgow, May 15. The Champions League final, Real vs Leverkusen. Forty-five minutes of relative tedium when the first half in injury-time, genius suddenly emerged and grabbed hold of the reins. One hammer-blow later, the final was as good as over. Zizou, a brooding, soft-spoken man of Algerian descent, had struck again. It has happened so often; he has come good when most needed. Cue back to a hot, sticky night in Paris four years ago when his two goals gave France the World Cup. There were calls for him to be made the country8217;s president. Two years later, he was the subject of a 64-million deal between Juventus and Real and, though he is often been in the shadows in Spain, it is nights like the one in Glasgow when Zidane comes into his own. Over the next month, there will be seven such nights. The world will be watching; history suggests it won8217;t be let down.

Gabriel Batistuta
Forward I Argentina I Roma I Age: 33

The Lion in Winter. At 33, he has won almost everything there is to win, achieved almost every feat 8212; except the biggest of them all. His nickname 8216;Batigol8217; isn8217;t some piece of misplaced adulation: he is Argentina8217;s all-time leading scorer 8212; more goals than even Maradona. His commanding height and flowing hair make him one of the sexiest footballers in the game, though he claims he hates being photographed. Deeply religious 8212; back home, the Press calls him 8216;Archangel8217; and he crosses himself whenever he steps onto the field 8212; Batistuta is also a heavy donor to charity. The goodwill ends, however, when he is on the field and in the penalty area; strong with his head, he has made himself two-footed through constant practice. This will be his final Big Event; the Lion in Winter will try and make it one last spring.

Christian Vieri
Italy I Inter Milan I Age: 28

In a country which churns out prolific goalscorers as easily as fast bowlers from Jamaica, Christian Vieri has a lot to live up to. So far he has delivered, the high point being five goals at the 1998 World Cup. That made him, a year down the road, the world8217;s most expensive player when he moved from Juventus to Inter for 45 million. The downside, though, is that these goals haven8217;t translated into great results for Italy. This time, Italy goes in as one of the favourites and Bobo, as he is known, is more experienced than most of his counterparts and one of the likely stars. A sometimes cricket fan 8212; he spent much of his childhood in Australia 8212; he8217;ll be hoping this time the pitch plays true.

THE SEXIEST EVER?

George Best
Northern Ireland

Best by name, Best by nature. George Best 8212; the greatest player never to have played in the World Cup 8212; was the first football star, the sport8217;s equivalent of the Beatles. He had it all: speed, amazing balance, mesmeric dribbling skills and the ability to top it all by scoring goals. Not that any of this mattered to his many women; all they saw was his dark Irish looks that only seemed to get better with age and helped him scoreoff the pitch as well. He would round off a good day on the park by bedding a top model or beauty queen. Or warm up for a cup final with some feminine help. If it wasn8217;t women, it was wine, the effects of which he is, sadly, suffering now. Often, a combination of both, which saw him in several barroom brawls. It had to end; it did, far sooner than anyone wanted. His best days were in his early 20s; by the time he was 25, he was fit only for retirement.