2014 FIFA Club World Cup: 5 Players to Watch

In much of the football world, the FIFA Club World Cup is among the most-anticipated tournaments on the calendar.

Europe, however, is the exception to the rule.

This is due in no small part to the simple fact that the UEFA region has little to gain from the annual tournament, held each December since 2005 (the inaugural CWC was played in 2000 but cancelled the following year after the collapse of a key FIFA sponsor), and everything to lose.

Not surprisingly, its Champions League winner goes into each installment of the competition as presumptive favourites, and opposition players face them with an eye toward making a name for themselves—something they've been wildly successful at doing.

In 2000, Sao Paulo defender Diego Lugano and midfielder Josue were starters in the team that shut out Liverpool in Yokahama, and in 2012 Paulinho helped neutralise Chelsea as goalscorer Paolo Guerrero showed he could still do the business for Corinthians following a move from Hamburg.

The Copa Libertadores champion has been keyed on as well, such as in 2010 when TP Mazembe duo Mulota Kabangu and Dioko Kaluyituka scored in a 2-0 semi-final win over Internacional.

Whatever it may be, the Club World Cup is an excellent showcase for players, some of which will be highlighted in the following slideshow.

Here are five players to watch at the 2014 tournament in Morocco, which begins on Wednesday.

Marco Fabian, Cruz Azul

Marco Fabian is capable of the spectacular, as he showed last February in a Liga MX match against Puebla.

After receiving Alejandro Castro's 93rd-minute cross with his right foot, the 25-year-old switched to his left before swiveling back to his right and lobbing an expertly placed shot into the far corner of the goal for what proved to be the winner for Cruz Azul.

He also scored his side's only goal in their final match of the season last month away to Universidad de Guadalajara.

A key contributor in Luis Fernando Tena's Mexico side that won Olympic Gold in 2012 (he assisted on the winner in the final against Brazil), Fabian is once again enjoying his football under Tena, who guided Cruz Azul to the Invierno title in 1997 and rejoined the club last December.

Sofiane Younes, ES Setif

Sofiane Younes only joined Algerian outfit ES Setif in June, but the following month he scored in the CAF Champions League for his new club (in a group-stage match against Al-Ahly Benghazi) as they progressed to the knockout stages.

In September, the attacker, who prefers to play from the right, found the back of the net in both semi-final legs against 2010 winners TP Mazembe, and in the second leg of the final he scored the decisive goal at home to AS Vita.

"I enjoyed a second youth with Setif in the Champions League," the 32-year-old told FIFA.com after lifting the trophy on November 1. "I gave everything in training and during the games in order to silence my critics."

Upon his arrival at ES Setif it was thought Younes was too old to play high-level football.

Ante Covic, Western Sydney Wanderers

The goals have dried up for Western Sydney Wanderers, who presently sit last in the A-League with just six goals to show from nine outings.

Still, it was just over a month ago that the Australian side beat Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal to win the AFC Champions League, and they'll be relying on what succeeded for them at the continental level when they face Cruz Azul in Rabat on December 13.

In other words, they'll be counting on more heroics from 39-year-old Ante Covic.

The former PAOK and Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper kept a pair of clean sheets in the Champions League final, where he faced not only shots from opposition forwards but, according to The Daily Telegraph, lasers pointed from the Al-Hilal fans.

Nevertheless, Covic stood tall in the Wanderers' goal and in the 86th minute of the second leg made a spectacular save to deny Yasser Al-Qahtani.

"Today on the big stage, where he needed to stand tall, he did," remarked former Western Sydney assistant manager Ante Nilicic, as per Fox Football.

No doubt he'll need to perform at a similar level for his side to have any chance of upsetting Cruz Azul.

Emiliano Tade, Auckland City

Incredibly, this will be Emiliano Tade's fourth successive FIFA Club World Cup. And while he's yet to score in the tournament, the former law student led New Zealand's top flight in goalscoring during the 2013-14 season and won the Golden Ball as Auckland City won a sixth continental title.

The 26-year-old, who was born in Argentina and previously represented a pair of Wellington sides, found the back of the net in both legs of the OFC Champions League final against Vanuatu's Amicale and, in the semi-final round, scored a brace against French Polynesia outfit Pirae.

If the Navy Blues are to beat Moroccan champions Moghreb Tetouan on Wednesday, they'll no doubt require a monumental performance from their most important player.

Gonzalo Veron, San Lorenzo

Nicknamed "Bird" for his ability to fly down the wing, Gonzalo Veron will likely start out wide in the 4-1-4-1 formation San Lorenzo manager Edgardo Bauza is set to deploy at the Club World Cup.

Scarcely used by former Ciclon boss Ricardo Caruso Lombardi, the 24-year-old has become rather more prominent under Bauza, although he recently spent more than half a year on the sidelines after suffering a torn ACL in October, 2013.

Veron's best match of the just-completed Torneo de Transicion came early last month against Boca Juniors, when he scored a goal, set up another and took four shots in a 2-0 win at home to Boca Juniors.