Huge responsibility lies on Stankovic's shoulders

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.

REUTERS