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Diego Godin, Atletico Madrid (Centre-back)
While Radamel Falcao grabbed all the headlines with his goal scoring exploits, as strikers generally do, Diego Godin was the bedrock of Atletico’s stingy defence that propelled them to a 3rd place finish in La Liga. Under Diego Simeone, Atletico have added some defensive ruggedness to their team which has been as important to their fortunes as the potency of Falcao up top.
Godin was one of the players of the season for Atleti alongside Falcao and amongst the top defenders in the league. He made 35 appearances (all start) and was the most used player behind keeper Thibaut Courtois. Marshalled by Godin, Atletico had the meanest defence in La Liga conceding just 31 goals, under a goal a game – a fantastic effort. Also, Atletico as a team have been very good at defending set pieces and at aerial duels, which comes as no surprise.
Gaston Ramirez, Southampton (Attacking midfielder)
The Saints dished out £12 million to acquire the services of Ramirez, one of the most promising young talents around. In his first season in England he built up a nice combination with Ricky Lambert and Adam Lallana which saw Southampton play some attractive attacking football.
He is very good with his dribble and likes to play those short passes amongst his teammates to open up space. It is early days yet at the national level for Ramirez, he’s made 7 appearances in the qualifying campaign, but with his talent and ability one reckons he will become a regular feature in the sky blue shirt of Uruguay in the coming years.
NIGERIA
Vincent Enyeama, LOSC Lille (Goalkeeper)
A veteran of the national side, Enyeama has been playing for the Super Eagles since 2002. Inspite of signing for Lille in 2011, he spent last season on loan in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He captained Nigeria to the 2013 African Cup of Nations title. Enyeama is rated amongst the best shot stoppers in football.
Ahmed Musa, CSKA Moscow (Forward)
20-year old Musa currently plays for CSKA in the Russian league. He often plays as a winger or a second striker and is a hot prospect amongst the emerging group of African footballers. He found the net 15 times for his club side last season and has 5 at the international level so far.
Efe Ambrose, Celtic (Centre-back)
We saw a lot of Ambrose in the UEFA Champions League this season as Celtic progressed to the last 16. He had a nightmare game in the 1st leg at home against Juventus which his side ended up losing 3-0 effectively sealing the tie. However, one has to consider that Ambrose had just got off the flight a mere 24 hours before that game after winning the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria.
In the 2 games against Barcelona in the group stages, he was impressive in the rear guard action that Celtic put up. That performance earned him a place in the UEFA Champions League Team of the Week. He was also named in the African Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament.
TAHITI
In all honesty, I don’t think I can pick the three players to watch out for!
Only 1 of the 23 man squad is not from the Tahitian Division Federale. Tahiti won an international tournament for the first time when they lifted the OFC Nations Cup in 2012, thereby booking their tickets for this year’s Confederations Cup.
They will be led by defender Nicolas Vallar. Keeper Xavier Samin and defenders Teheivarii Ludivion and Vincent Simon are amongst the most experienced members of the travelling group.
