A new week and our countdown of players to watch at the World Cup this summer continues with Slovakia's Marek Hamsik filling the number 24 spot.
Name: Marek Hamsik
Age: 22
Club: Napoli
International Caps: 30
International Goals: 8
Still at the rather tender age of 22, Hamsik has already racked up 30 caps for Slovakia having made his debut just over three years ago.
Hamsik plays as an attacking midfielder, generally used by his country on the left-hand side of midfield or in the hole behind the striker, where he has made a habit of grabbing goals, with an impressive scoring rate for a midfielder.
Brought to Italy at the age of 16 by Brescia, having already made his debut for Slovan Bratislava, Hamsik has been billed as a hot prospect for the future for some time.
Thrust into his first Serie A game at 17, Hamsik made such an impression for Brescia that it was enough for Napoli to pay £5.5 million for his services, seeing him as such a hot prospect that Napoli legend, Diego Maradona, was even drawn as a potential comparison.
He finished top scorer for Napoli in first two seasons for the club and with 12 goals so far this campaign, could yet do so for the third season running.
Impressive performances for club and country have seen his name linked with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea. A price-tag of nearly £20m has been mooted, although an impressive showing at the World Cup could see this inflated further.
- Sam Parker
No 25: Wilson Palacios
No 26: Alexis Sanchez
No 27: Tim Cahill
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
Source: DSG
