Position: Midfielder
Born: 24.07.83
Club: Roma

Daniele de Rossi has been labelled the man to replace Francesco Totti once the famous No 10 hangs up his boots. He is a product of the Roma youth system and is expected to become club captain one day.

At just 20, his techinical ability is unbelievable and no side will want to come up against him should he turn out for Italy in this World Cup.

He scored a screamer on his full debut for Roma in May 2003 then won the 2004 Under-21 European Championship with Italy before later helping the country to bronze in the 2004 Olympic Games.

In November, he made his full debut in a game against Norway, and of course, scored.

Not only does de Rossi possess immense techical ability, he also shows a great maturity on the pitch and has a fantastic footballing brain and instinct that will see him go far in the game and could make him a big star in this tournament, should he be given the opportunity.

• Morgan de Sanctis
• 8 Gennaro Gattuso
• 11 Alberto Gilardino
• 15 Vincenzo Iaquinta
• 23 Marco Materazzi
• 13 Alessandro Nesta
• 21 Andrea Pirlo
• 9 Luca Toni
• 10 Francesco Totti
• Christian Vieri