'A time to make friends' may be the official slogan of the 2006 FIFA World
Cup Germany? but for a good number of the players in the 31 visiting squads, 'A
time to meet old friends' would just as apt as they return to their adopted home
for the finals.
In all, a total of 52 internationals from 23 teams involved ply their trade
in Germany, a scenario that will not only allow them to prepare their team-mates
for the forthcoming event, but also to welcome them to the host country.
Switzerland have the largest contingent of players based in Germany, with
coach Jakob 'Kobi' Kuhn placing his trust in seven Bundesliga men: Philipp Degen
(Borussia Dortmund), Ludovic Magnin (Stuttgart), Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer
Leverkusen), Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt), Marco Streller and Ricardo
Cabanas (both Cologne) and Raphael Wicky (Hamburg).
The lowdown on the 32 squads
Five Bundesliga players - Tomas Rosicky, Jan Koller, David Jarolim, Jiri
Stajner and Jan Polak - figure in Karel Bruckner's Czech Republic squad, while
Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar has the same number in Ivan Klasnic, Josip
Simunic, Marko Babic, Jurica Vranjes and Nico Kovac.
The German top flight is also represented in Iran's final 23, with Mehdi
Mahdavikia, Ali Karimi, Vahid Hashemian, and Ferydoon Zandi all included. Even
world champions Brazil are getting in on the act, putting their faith in a
quartet of German-based players as they go in search of back-to-back titles. Ze
Roberto and Lucio won the German league and cup double with Bayern Munich this
season while Gilberto is at Hertha Berlin and Juan at Bayer Leverkusen.
Another South American team, Paraguay, meanwhile, will line up with a trio of
forwards from the Bundesliga after coach Anibal Ruiz named Bayern team-mates
Julio Dos Santos and Roque Santa Cruz, as well as Werder Bremen's Nelson Valdez
in his squad.
Players in Germany's lower divisions will also be represented at this
summer's showpiece event between 9 June and 9 July. One such player is
Australian Joshua Kennedy, who was surprisingly included in Guus Hiddink's final
23. Kennedy has just been relegated with Dynamo Dresden from the German second
division to the regional league, though he will be lining up for Bundesliga
outfit Nuremberg next season.
Elsewhere, Togo's German coach Otto Pfister is putting his faith in two
players from the regional league: Karim Guede (Hamburg's B team) and Assimou
Toure (Bayer Leverkusen's B team).
Only nine teams, including Argentina, for whom Bayern Munich's Martin
Demichelis was surprisingly excluded, will arrive in Germany without any players
from the German leagues. Indeed overall, German football boasts more players in
other nations' FIFA World Cup squads than every other country bar England.
