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Fifa World Cup Qualifying Match
Time 19:00
With national teams invariably more stable than their club counterparts, supporters can be forgiven for arriving at a new FIFA World Cup™ expecting to see the same stars who illuminated the previous edition. Yet every global showpiece has its own, unique cast, and while some of Germany 2006's luminaries will be back for an encore in South Africa, others have passed on top billing to a new generation
Inevitably, the absence of iconic names such as Zidane, Figo, Riquelme and Roberto Carlos will be mourned, but the beautiful game evolves in such a way that new and occasionally unlikely legends rise to take up their predecessors' mantle. True to form, the qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa have witnessed several players rise from international obscurity to become genuinely indispensible.
Finalists' new stars
The reigning champions provide the perfect example of this 'changing of the guard'. Resisting the temptation to keep faith with the players who secured the game's greatest prize in Berlin three years ago, Marcello Lippi has wielded the axe in emphatic fashion. Gone are stalwarts such as Alessandro Del Piero and Marco Materazzi, and into a squad showing just eight survivors from Germany 2006 have come the likes of Simone Pepe, Giorgio Chiellini and Giampaolo Pazzini. Chiellini, 24, has proved a solid successor to Materazzi, yet it is undoubtedly Pazzini who has made the most dramatic impact, scoring within 15 minutes of his debut only to pick up a red card just three minutes into his first-ever start in Italy's next qualifier.
France, beaten finalists in '06, have faced arguably the toughest test in replacing not only Zidane, the focal point of their side, but also influential and experienced campaigners such as Claude Makelele, Willy Sagnol and Fabien Barthez. The gaping void left by these retirees has proved difficult to fill for the much-maligned Raymond Domenech, but recent evidence would suggest that the likes of Lassana Diarra, Bakari Sagna and, in particular, playmaker Yoann Gourcuff are beginning to emerge from the shadows of their iconic forerunners.
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