Team of the departed.
By: Richard Jolly (Soccernet).The greatest prize of all will evade them; early elimination means they will not be acclaimed in Berlin on July 9. The individual awards, whether the golden boot or a place in the team of the tournament, will go to others.
But, among the early exits, there are plenty of players who can look back with personal pride after distinguishing themselves on the highest stage. This, then, is Soccernet's team of the departed.
Goalkeeper: Joao Ricardo (Angola)Club football is clearly overrated. Why? Because Angola's veteran goalkeeper Joao Ricardo has prepared for the World Cup on his own, deemed surplus to their requirements by, well, just about every club around. Such solitude may the reason for his eccentricities, though at least he did not arrive in Germany exhausted by his heavy workload during the previous nine months.
Trinidad & Tobago's Shaka Hislop produced the first outstanding goalkeeping performance of the tournament to deny Sweden, while Swede Andreas Isaksson's one-man resistance against Germany was perhaps the best to date. Yet none were more remarkable than Ricardo's display against Mexico, earning him an unlikely clean sheet and Angola their first World Cup point.
Right back: Philipp Degen (Switzerland)Switzerland's slice of World Cup history may never be equalled. Four games, four clean sheets: they left Germany without conceding a single goal. Philippe Senderos has a case to be named their finest defender but the marauding, uncompromising right back Philipp Degen also caught the eye.
Clearly a believer that the best form of defence is attack, he spent much of the tournament overlapping, often taking the opposition left winger back with him, and brought a power and a vitality that bodes well for Switzerland in future.
Centre back: Lucas Neill (Australia)The cruelty of Australia's exit was only increased by the identity of the unfortunate defender. When Lucas Neill was adjudged to have fouled Fabio Grosso, Francesco Totti converted the penalty to end the Socceroos' endearing adventure. Many impressed, but none acquitted themselves better in gold and green than Neill. If the hallmark of a high-class defender is the ease with which they seem to play, Neill's reading of the game and pace to recover mean he stands comparison with the best in the tournament so far.
Centre back: Rafael Marquez (Mexico)He made an ignominious exit from the 2002 World Cup, sent off in shame for a particularly brutal assault on the unfortunate Cobi Jones. Rafael Marquez, however, can leave the 2006 tournament with his head held high. Even the needless penalty he conceded against Portugal cannot detract from some imperious performances. Central defender and playmaker is a rare combination yet Marquez, besides repelling opposition attacks, brought the ball out of defence with confidence and smoothly moved into midfield to engineer victory over Iran with his passing.
Left back: Arthur Boka (Ivory Coast)Extreme pace and a willingness to venture forward wherever possible, the features of Emmanuel Eboue's swift rise were, as expected, in evidence for the Ivory Coast. Except that Eboue was rather overshadowed by his counterpart on the left flank, Arthur Boka.
His barnstorming advances were accompanied by a devotion to his defensive duties. Holland's Robin van Persie posed him problems but Boka's was still a World Cup to make many sit up and take notice.
Right midfield: Darijo Srna (Croatia)A workhorse who also contrived to create the majority of Croatia's chances, Darijo Srna shouldered a heavy burden. Zlatko Kranjcar's 3-5-2 formation, while providing great solidity in the centre of the park, depended greatly on the wing-backs. Mario Babic and Srna, however, coped admirably.
The latter was the set-piece specialist for the Croatians, with a fine line in teasing crosses that proved equally dangerous in open play. It was undeserved that Srna was the man denied by Japan's Yoshi Kawaguchi from the penalty spot, even if his was a superb save.
Centre midfield: Stephen Appiah (Ghana)There is a case for including much of the Ghanaian midfield. Certainly Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari merit a mention, for the Black Stars operated at a speed few could rival, especially on the counter-attack. The Czech Republic were overpowered; even Brazil were hurried. And at the heart of the Ghana team was captain Stephen Appiah, providing the springboard to numerous attacks and with the strength to make his presence felt at either end.
Centre midfield: Didier Zokora (Ivory Coast)A Rolls-Royce of a midfielder, Didier Zokora exuded class, even in defeat. The Ivory Coast's first two World Cup fixtures pitted them against Argentina and Holland, a daunting examination of their credentials. Zokora passed with flying colours, and his team almost did: the Ivorians were desperately unfortunate not to have a point to show for their efforts.
Blending wonderful athleticism with considerable ability on the ball, his World Cup, albeit brief, appeared to herald the arrival of a central midfielder to rank among the very best.
Centre midfield: Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)There was no happy ending, but Pavel Nedved justified his decision to come out of international retirement.
The Czechs' injury problems meant he left his usual left-wing station for a more central role in support of a solitary, though ever-changing, striker. He orchestrated the demolition of the United States, even if it is remembered more for Tomas Rosicky's two magnificent strikes.
Still more notable, however, was his extraordinary effort, coupled with his creative instincts, when the Czechs found themselves down and reduced to 10 men against first Ghana and then Italy. They looked to Nedved for inspiration, and he always obliged.
Left midfield: Arjen Robben (Holland)The reminder that Arjen Robben in full-flight is a glorious sight was welcome, unless you were part of the Serbia and Montenegro.
Within their first 45 minutes of the tournament, the winger's trickery had caused one opponent - Nenad Djordjevic to be replaced - though the identity of his marker seemed insignificant when Robben's quick footwork and change of pace enabled him elude all with ease. If he never quite touched the same heights again, he remained Holland's major threat.
Centre forward: Fernando Torres (Spain)The tournament when he came of age. Fernando Torres was in a trap familiar to much-hyped young players, with a sizeable gap between reputation and achievements. Three goals in a World Cup suggest he will soon rectify that.
There were hints that he is developing into a complete centre forward: that wonderful fourth goal against the Ukraine, a willingness to lead the line and the pace to escape would-be markers.
If only Spain hadn't made a typically early exit, perhaps those impressions could have been confirmed in the latter stages of the World Cup.
Honourable mentions / Vastly over-populated substitutes bench:Shaka Hislop (Trinidad & Tobago), Andreas Isaksson (Sweden); Hatem Trabelsi (Tunisia), Philippe Senderos (Switzerland), Ricardo Osorio (Mexico), Ivan Hurtado (Ecuador), Robert Kovac (Croatia), Carlos Puyol, Mariano Pernia (both Spain); Xavi (Spain), Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic), Tim Cahill (Australia), Edison Mendez (Ecuador), Tranquillo Barnetta (Switzerland), Park Ji-Sung (South Korea), Dwight Yorke (Trinidad & Tobago), Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari (both Ghana); David Villa (Spain), Carlos Tenorio (Ecuador), Mohamed Kader (Togo), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Aruna Dindane (Ivory Coast), Mark Viduka (Australia).
