BELGRADE, May 24 - Inter Milan midfielder Dejan
Stankovic is the most influential player in the Serbia &
Montenegro World Cup squad and a huge responsibility lies on the
27-year-old's shoulders.
Seemingly able to run the entire 90 minutes without
flagging, he possesses an enormous work rate and is a robust yet
versatile all-round player with solid skill, good vision and an
instinct for goal while making runs into the box behind the
strikers.
He has a balanced ability to defend and is very good in the
air.
Stankovic, who is likely to start every match in Germany,
has scored 10 goals in 57 appearances for his country and took
part in the 1998 World Cup in France.
He made his debut for Red Star Belgrade in 1994 at the age
of 16, became the club's youngest scorer at 17 and the youngest
captain when he turned 19.
He went on to score 30 goals in 85 appearances for the
former European champions and won two league titles with them
before moving to the Italian Serie A in 1998.
Even more impressive was his debut for the national team
when he scored two goals in Yugoslavia's 3-1 win against South
Korea in a friendly shortly before the 1998 World Cup.
Stankovic won a league title with Lazio in his second season
in the Italian first division in 2000 and scored a total of 25
goals in 207 appearances for the club before joining Inter Milan
in February 2004.
He has become the backbone of the team's midfield and was
particularly impressive this season in their run to the
Champions League last eight as well as in the Italian
championship, scoring several important goals.
There is little doubt that he could be Serbia's top
performer in Germany.