Premier League players you didn't realise would be at the World Cup: Wigan

Players Under The Microscope / Jaymes Monte / 11 April 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Maynor Figueroa is a modern-day full-back who is a key player for both Wigan and Honduras

Wigan's World Cup players are under the spotlight this week in Jaymes Monte's guide to the perhaps not so well-known Premier League players who will be travelling to South Africa this summer....

"Figueroa is very much a modern day full back who is comfortable running with the ball at his feet, making overlapping runs down the line and has the rare commodity of a deadly accurate left-foot. Few who saw it will forget the goal he scored from the half-way line against Stoke this season; expect that to be named as one of the goals of the season in Match of the Day’s close of season montage."

Richard Kingson - Ghana

Richard Kingson's Premier League appearances may be countable on one hand, but at international level he is one of Ghana's most capped players, ever. After beginning his career in earnest in Turkey he moved to Birmingham in the summer of 2007 following impressive performances at the 2006 World Cup. He made just one appearance for the Blues before they were relegated at the end of the season and was branded "a complete waste of space" by the then Birmingham owner David Sullivan - completely out of character from Mr Sullivan, I am sure you will agree.

Manager Steve Bruce obviously saw enough in him to warrant taking him to Wigan when he became manager there, although obviously not enough to give him any sort of extended run in the first team - he has made just three Premier League starts for The Latics.

Kingson's international record however, makes for much more impressive reading. In both the 2008 and 2010 African Cup of Nations he was named, by the competition's Technical Study Group, as a 'substitute' behind Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary in the team of the tournament. He also played in all four of Ghana's 2006 World Cup games when they made an impressive run to the last 16, beating United States and Czech Republic en route.

Kingson will have the chance to show Sullivan, and any other doubters, just why Bruce was so keen to have him in his squad with games against Germany, Australia and Serbia at this summer's World Cup. They are [2.3] to progress to the knockout stages and [80.0] to become the first African side to win a World Cup.

Maynor Figueroa - Honduras

One of Bruce's lasting legacies at Wigan was his impressive record of unearthing Latin American talent. Although Wilson Palacios and Antonio Valencia were the first to go on and secure lucrative deals at 'bigger' Premier League clubs there have been many sniffing around Maynor Figueroa, and despite penning a new deal in January you can be sure that that there will still be a few interested parties once the summer transfer circus kicks into full drive.

Figeuroa was signed from the same Honduran club as Palacios and after a couple of initial loan spells he made the move permanent in December 2008. He has gone on to nail down an almost guaranteed starting place in the Wigan defence and has now made over 50 appearances for the club.

The Honduran is very much a modern day full back who is comfortable running with the ball at his feet, making overlapping runs down the line and has the rare commodity of a deadly accurate left-foot. Few who saw it will forget the goal he scored from the half-way line against Stoke this season; expect that to be named as one of the goals of the season in Match of the Day's close of season montage.

Although Palacios and Figueora are established Premier League players, the majority of the rest of the Honduran team is assembled from players who play their domestic football in Honduras. In truth, they have no chance at this year's World Cup and are, in reality, bigger outsiders than Betfair's maximum odds of [1000.0]. It may sound patronising, but they will just be hoping to 'do themselves proud' and their best chance of picking up a group stage point will be in their final game against Switzerland where you can back the draw at [3.7].