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Benni McCarthy

Age: 24 Position: Forward Club: Celta Vigo (Spain)

The first South African to score a goal in the finals of a World Cup, Benni McCarthy will once again bear the brunt of the attacking burden for "Bafana Bafana" in Japan and South Korea.

Although a proven goalscorer at international level, with a rough strike rate of one every two games, McCarthy has not always been an automatic choice.

A series of rows between the national team and his Spanish club has disrupted McCarthy's development at international level, something that became all too clear at the African Nations Cup this year.

Though expected to do well in Mali, McCarthy failed to find the net once, and was often made to look ordinary by opposition defenders.