MasterCard Worldwide today announced the 23 players who have been named to the MasterCard All-Star Team of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The players were selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) based on their performances through the semi-final matches.
For the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the TSG is made up of 13 highly-experienced football experts, among them Andy Roxburgh (Scotland), Roy Hodgson (England), Teofilo Cubillas (Peru), and Roger Milla (Cameroon), just to name a few. The FIFA TSG, headed by Holger Osieck, Head of FIFA Technical Development, selected the following 23 players as the most outstanding stars of the tournament:
Goalkeepers (3): Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Jens Lehmann (Germany), Ricardo (Portugal)
Defenders (7): Roberto Ayala (Argentina), John Terry (England), Lilian Thuram (France), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy), Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal)
Midfielders (8): Ze Roberto (Brazil), Patrick Vieira (France), Zinedine Zidane (France), Michael Ballack (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy), Luis Figo (Portugal), Maniche (Portugal)
Attackers (5): Hernan Crespo (Argentina), Thierry Henry (France), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Francesco Totti (Italy), Luca Toni (Italy)
The MasterCard All-Star Team program was created by MasterCard following the 1990 FIFA World Cup and implemented at the last four FIFA World Cup tournaments.
About MasterCard Worldwide
MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link between financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes more than 16 billion payments each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard Worldwide serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercardworldwide.com.
