Germany: Dietmar Hamann

After a successful season with Newcastle he joined Liverpool for £8 million back in the summer of 1999.

Injury restricted his early progress at Anfield but he played an influential role in Liverpool's historic cup treble last year.

Before his switch to England, Hamann made over 100 appearances for Bayern Munich and is seen by many as a future German captain.

Strong defensively, he is also a major threat going forward and certainly one of the key members of Rudi Voller's squad.

One notable part of his game is his long-range shooting and who can forget his 35-yard effort that beat David Seaman in Germany's 1-0 win over England - a game that saw the last last match played at Wembley and the last game for Kevin Keegan as England manager.

Hamann will certainly be trying to push his name forward for set-pieces.

Indeed, he showed his prowess with a long-range strike in the friendly against Israel in February, which Germany won 7-1.

For the present he is a key element in a German midfield which needs to shrug off several lacklustre displays if they are to repeat the heroics of their World Cup 90 predecessors.