- guardian.co.uk, Sunday June 9 2002 04.10 BST
Nicky Butt Simon Kuper
Nicky Butt, no one will ever laugh at you again. When grudgingly praising the eternal reserve, it is customary to do so in the tired language of trench warfare: the heroic battler defused, etc, etc. But in Sapporo Butt played like David Beckham, whereas Becks was about as creative as Nicky Butt is generally supposed to be. While Paul Scholes placed beautiful chips, Butt hit the sort of long, low passes everyone used to expect of his Manchester United club-mate Juan Sebastian Verón. He also did his defensive job so well that Verón, the Argentine captain, was taken off at half-time, even if he did claim later it was because of a recurrence to an injury.
Guus Hiddink Amy Lawrence
South Koreans don't want to let him out of the country. Ever. Not after the co-hosts' Dutch coach moulded a team capable of pulling off one of the most heartwarming results in Asian footballing history. Hiddink has now written his name into Korean legend. The best thing about their sensational triumph over Poland is that it was thoroughly deserved; and delivered in such style that the locals should feel confident about further progress. Afterwards, Hiddink hugged his players like a father embracing his sons. He will leave them eventually, but his contribution will never be forgotten.
Luiz 'Big Phil' Scolari Guillem Balague
Six goals in two games now - the Brazil coach is letting Brazil play like Brazil - to everybody's surprise. The offensive style of play, the 3-5-2 formation and the quality up front recalls the wonderful 1982 side of Paulo Isidoro, Falcao, Socrates, Zico and Eder, helped in the wings by Leandro and Junior, reincarnated by Cafu and Roberto Carlos. Scolari's side may have needed a lucky penalty to beat Turkey, but despite the obvious flaws (they play with only one proper midfielder, Gilberto Silva) the Brazilian coach has promised to keep the same formation throughout the tournament. Their kamikaze style and tactical disorder is beautiful to watch, but very vulnerable.
Junichi Inamoto Paul Wilson
Arsenal's perennial reserve appears to have waited longer than anyone for the World Cup to come around, as do the patient legion of Japanese reporters who turned up fruitlessly for every match-day at Highbury. Japan's 2-2 draw with Belgium was one of the most scintillating of first-round matches, and Inamoto was briefly the man of the moment in the second half, sending the Saitama stadium wild with a cleverly executed solo goal to put his side 2-1 in front. Inamoto's finish was first class, but it was the way he and Japan engineered the goal out of nothing that suggested the co-hosts may finally have to be reckoned with. After winning the man-of-the-match award Inamoto may have proved something to Arsène Wenger.
El Hadji Diouf James Copnall
Yes, he was caught offside at least 480 times against France. And yes, he is a striker who hasn't scored in either of his two games. But Liverpool-bound El Hadji Diouf has been in simply sparkling form for Senegal. Playing as a lone striker in the Lions' 4-5-1 formation, Diouf was instrumental in the win against France, holding up the ball to relieve pressure and hastening the end of Frank Leboeuf's international career (worthy of an award in itself) with his lightning breaks with the ball at his feet. One such foray led to Pape Bouba Diop's goal, and Diouf nearly repeated the dose against Denmark,setting Souleymane Camara free with a beautifully weighted pass that was met with a disappointingly poor finish. Michael Owen probably can't wait.
