Keisuke Honda, 'The False Nine'

Having excelled during the last FIFA World Cup and the recent AFC Asian Cup, CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda has quickly established his place as the team's new leader, filling the void left by Hidetoshi Nakata and Shunsuke Nakamura.

Described as a 'false nine' Keisuke Honda plays as an attacking midfielder, but he can equally play as a second striker or a deep-lying playmaker. He is also known for his free-kicks, dribbling and ability as a dead ball specialist. Honda scored the only goal in Japan's World Cup match against Cameroon, finishing off Daisuke Matsui's cross into the top left corner of the net. His performance in the game earned him the Man of the Match Award from FIFA.

In the final group-stage game against Denmark, he scored a magnificent free kick in the 17th minute from 30 yards out. He then turned provider for Shinji Okazaki after making his way into the penalty area, with a Cruyff Turn that beat a Denmark player, in the 88th minute to make the score 3-1 to Japan, a performance that earned him the "Man of the Match" award once more and qualified Japan for the knockout stage.

Honda missed the majority of the third round qualifiers due to injury he picked up while playing for his club. However during the fourth round, Honda scored a beautiful volley just eleven minutes into the game. The game ended in 3-0 a win for Japan. He continued his scoring streak against Jordan on 8 June 2012, managing to net a hat-trick. Honda was named in the squad for the game against Australia on 4 June 2013.

All Japan needed from this match was a draw to secure their place for Brazil. He managed to score a goal via penalty kick during extra time from a handball from Matt McKay, making the score 1-1. The result secured Japan's qualification for the World Cup in Brazil and became the first nation to book their place at the tournament. Driving the central field alongside Honda is set-piece specialist Yasuhito Endo while Schalke 04 defender Atsuto Uchida is the key man at the rearguard.