50 Players to watch at the World Cup - No 26 Alexis Sanchez

06 May 2010 11:02

We continue our players to watch at the World Cup countdown here at football.co.uk and making waves at number 26, it's Alexis Sanchez of Chile.

Name: Alexis Sanchez

Age: 21

Club: Udinese

International Caps: 26

International Goals: 8

Aged just 21, with 26 international caps to his name already tells its own story about this man.

A left-sided attacking winger, the Chilean has enhanced his reputation even from his billing one of the top 50 most exciting teenagers in the world from four years ago.

Aged just 17 when making his first international appearance, El Niño Maravilla (The Wonder Boy) has become integral to Chile's successes at such a young age.

For this reason, Udinese paid £3million to bring him to Europe four years ago, loaning him back to South America initially to aid his growth.

Since recalling him back to Italy at the beginning of last season, Sanchez has been inspired, playing a major part in Udinese's UEFA Cup run last season.

If Chile are to qualify from their World Cup group and make any impression on the tournament, then Sanchez will be crucial. He has indicated a desire to leave Udinese lately, so scouts should watch this tricky winger closely so they might pick up a fantastic young player.

THE STORY SO FAR...
No 28: Gonzalo Higuain
No 29: John Terry

No 30: Andres Iniesta

No 31: Maicon
No 32: Victor Obinna

No 33: Klaas Jan Huntelaar
No 34: Ryan Nelsen

No 35: Tranquilo Barnetta
No 36: Jozy Altidore

No 37: Robert Koren
No 38: Teko Modise
No 39: Simon Kjaer
No 40: Jong Tae-Se
No 41: Nadir Belhadj

No 42: Roque Santa Cruz

No 43: Park Ji-Sung

No 44: Nikola Zigic
No 45: Yaya Toure
No 46: Angelos Charisteas
No 47: Keisuke Honda
No 48: Hugo Lloris
No 49: Mario Gomez
No 50: Guiseppe Rossi

- Sam Parker



Source: DSG