50 Players to watch at the World Cup - No 24 Marek Hamsik

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 THE STORY SO FAR. 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