Asian zone
Iran: Ali karimi
2004's asian player of the year, he has mesmerised everyone with
his mazy run, dribbling and close control. Five goals, including a
spectacular hat-trick in the quarter-final against Korea Republic,
saw the 25-year old share with Bahrains Aala Hubail for the
Golden Boot at the asian cup.
His skills saw him snapped up this summer by bayern munich and
unlike his predecessors, he is very much invovled in bayern's plans
and is marked as a successor to mehmet scholl.
Saudi Arabia: Zaid mabrouk
The current Saudi No1 has been earning plaudits left and right
even from rival coaches.
"We could have won the game, but the Saudi goalkeeper was at his
best and this prevented us from getting the victory," Uzbekistan's
newly appointed German coach, Hans Juergen Gede, remarked after
Zaid's brilliant performance in Tashkent earned a 1-1 draw against
Uzbekistan.
According to Zaid, he should only be compared with his idol after
serving with the national team for a number of years. However, no
one denies the fact that the young keeper, whose regular place is
unchallenged with both the national team and his club, is
progressing rapidly towards the lofty goals he has set.
