An ever-present during qualifying for South Africa 2010, winger Andraz Kirm has become one of Slovenia’s most important players during Matjaz Kek’s three-year reign. It was Kek who handed the talented wide man his senior debut in August 2007, and Kirm has barely missed a minute of international action since. Though he has forged a reputation at club level as an old-fashioned winger, the 25-year-old has adapted his game to play in a less adventurous wide midfield role for his national team, and in doing so has made himself one of the first names on Kek’s teamsheet.

It was with his hometown team NK Svoboda that Ljubljana-born Kirm first caught the eye in 2004, and a move to the top flight with NK Domzale followed just a year later. Success wasn’t long in arriving either, and Kirm became an increasingly influential player as NK Domzale clinched two successive league titles in 2006/07 and 2007/08.

The winger, who was by now an established international, was already attracting admiring glances from overseas and, after a year of sustained speculation, he moved to Wisla Krakow for an undisclosed fee on 2 July 2009. Wisla, the most successful Polish club of the past decade, represented a new challenge for Kirm, but it was one that he relished, immediately establishing himself as a first team regular. With the young winger high on confidence and in the form of his career, big things are expected at South Africa 2010.