2010 FIFA World Cup: 10 Players Who Can Build On Success in South Africa

The 2010 World Cup was full of surprises, including the fact that many top players—Rooney, Ronaldo, and Torres to name a few—had downright sleepy performances, while many lesser known players gave people a reason to stop and take notice.

Following are 10 footballers who saw their stock rise in South Africa, and as a result, may be off to a new club during the August transfer window.

Diego Forlán (Uruguay)

Club: Atlético Madrid (Spain)

Diego Forlán was arguably the best player in the 2010 World Cup and has FIFA’s Golden Ball to prove it.

The Uruguayan striker was pure class and a major reason why his country made it all the way to the semi-finals, notching five goals along the way—just as many as Golden Boot winner Thomas Mueller.

Forlán also helped his club win the 2009-10 Europa League and took home the European Golden Boot the season before that.

Luis Suarez (Uruguay)

Club: Ajax (Netherlands)

Luis Suarez is another member of South America’s top representative in South Africa and striking partner of Golden Ball winner Diego Forlán.

Heading into the 2010 World Cup, Spain’s David Villa and Fernando Torres made up arguably the most lethal striking combo in the world, but that’s no longer the case.

Forlán matched Villa in goals scored while Suarez notched three of his own, which was three more than Torres.

Suarez is no doubt considered a cheat in some circles and some blame him for Ghana’s elimination, but he did what a lot of players might have instinctively done with the match on the line, and was rightly sent off for it.

It’s not his fault Asamoah Gyan missed the ensuing penalty kick.

Michael Bradley (USA)

Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach (Germany)

Michael Bradley finally squashed any lingering notions of nepotism floating amongst Yanks fans with a heartfelt display of athleticism and desire.

Bradley covered over 22 miles during the group stage, one of the highest in the tournament.

He also scored USA’s crucial equalizer against Slovenia that helped keep the Yanks in the competition.

The young Bradley had a solid club season in 2009-10 as well and could be destined for Champions League football this year.

Andre Ayew (Ghana)

Club: Marseille (France)

Ayew was part of a Ghana squad that was competing in only its second World Cup ever but was nonetheless able to advance to the knockout stages for the second time in a row.

He made his World Cup debut as part of the starting 11 in the Black Stars’ opening match with Serbia, retaining his position through the remainder of the tournament (save for the quarter-finals in which he was suspended due to yellow card accumulation).

Ayew also provided the assist for Asamoah Gyan’s game-winning goal against the United States in addition to being named Man of the Match by FIFA.

The 20 year-old Ghanaian spent the latter half of his youth career with Marseille, who have loaned him to fellow Ligue 1 clubs FC Lorient and AC Arles-Avignon the past two seasons. He’s made over 20 appearances for each versus only nine for Marseille (all in 2007).

Given his performance in South Africa, Ayew could very well return to his parent club as a new member of the core squad, or Marseille may decide to turn a profit on their youth investment by selling him to a bigger team.

Kevin Prince-Boateng (Ghana)

Club: Portsmouth (England)

With Pompey relegated from the Premier League and scrambling to find ways to pay their creditors, a transfer seems inevitable.

Portsmouth picked the midfielder up from Tottenham last year for around $6 million and should be able to get at least that following Boateng’s performance in South Africa.

They may even be able to turn a profit, but either way, they’ll at least take a chunk out of their debts, which forced them to pay their players’ wages late on more than one occasion over the last year.

Italian club Lazio is rumored to be interested.

Jong Tae-Se (North Korea)

Club: VfL Bochum (Germany)

Tae-Se already changed clubs in early July, but I felt he nonetheless deserved a spot on this list.

Already having been dubbed the “Asian Wayne Rooney” prior to the 2010 World Cup, Tae-Se provided the pass that set up North Korea’s only goal of the tournament.

Granted, it wasn’t much, but it was against Brazil and Chollima were outclassed from the get-go in this year’s group of death.

The North Korean striker, who spent the previous five seasons with Kawasaki Frontale of the J-League (Japan), is now in Germany’s second division, which means he’ll be playing in one of the world’s top leagues if he can help his club regain promotion this season.

Maarten Stekelenburg (Netherlands)

Club: Ajax (Netherlands)

To be fair, Stekelenburg has some pretty big shoes to fill taking over for Dutch legend Edwin van der Sar, the most capped player in Holland’s history.

In fact, heading into the tournament, the 27 year-old keeper appeared to be the only weak link in a team overflowing with talent.

But Stekelenburg marshaled his defense, made key saves, and showed the world that he does possess the skills to play for a quality side.

He’s been with Ajax since 2001, a club known for fostering the early careers of several top footballers, including his Holland predecessor Edwin van der Sar.

Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria)

Club: Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel)

Another keeper who made the case for a big move, Enyeama was the only redeeming quality in an otherwise dreadful performance from the Super Eagles that enticed Nigeria’s president—the ironically named Goodluck Jonathan—to ban his team from international competition for two years.

FIFA ordered the politician to reverse the withdrawal or face an official suspension from them.

At any rate, he been plying his trade in Israel for the last five years and would be wise to capitalize upon his World Cup performance by moving to a larger European club.

This would allow him to further hone his skills, especially given the fact that he may not be playing international football for quite some time.

Fabio Coentrão (Portugal)

Club: Benfica (Portugal)

Bayern Munich have confirmed that they do not intend to sign the Benfica defender, but Chelsea is rumored to be eying the left back as a replacement for Ashley Cole, should he decide to join former coach José Mourinho at Real Madrid.

Coentrão was a sparkling gem in a Portugal squad that won just one match in South Africa against pushovers North Korea, who were also the only team against whom they managed to score.

The Portuguese wing back was also one of the best players at the 2010 World Cup and named to the best 11 in several publications around the world.

After several seasons on loan to other clubs, Coentrão returned to his parent club in 2009-10, where he notched three goals and eight assists in all competitions.

Like Ajax, Benfica has also been known to profit in the transfer market by developing, and selling, promising young talent.

Mauricio Isla (Chile)

Club: Udinese (Italy)

Sports Illustrated’s Georgia Turner named Isa as one of the unsung heroes in South Africa, a solid defender who “stormed toward the [opposing] goal at every opportunity.”

Isla played all 180 minutes of the group stage prior to coming off in the 62nd minute during Chile’s 3-0 loss to Brazil in the Round of 16, a tactical substitution in no way indicative of a poor performance.

Isla has also demonstrated the ability to play numerous positions—including right, centre, and left back as well as a winger or centre midfielder—for both club and country.

His club, Udinese, finished 15th in Serie A this past season, so he could be looking to join a more competitive team this summer.

Honorable Mentions

The success of USA’s Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy, USA) dates all the way back to the 2009 Confederations Cup. He was already tipped for a return to Everton heading into the World Cup, which merely upped the value of his transfer.

Japan’s Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow, Russia) made a move to the Russian Premier League at the beginning of 2010, where he scored the match-winning goal in his Champions League debut and helped his club to the quarterfinals, so a move to another club is unlikely.

A move elsewhere is also unlikely for Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger and Golden Boot winner Thomas Mueller, who are both under contract with Bayern Munich, reigning Bundesliga champions and runners-up in the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League.