TOKYO, June 28 (UPI) -- Claudio Reyna, the United States captain and midfielder, unexpectedly was named to the FIFA World Cup All-Star team Friday.
Reyna, who received Man of the Match honors for his performance in the United States' 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Germany, joined Germany's Michael Ballack, South Korea's Yoo Sang-chul and Brazil's Rivaldo and Ronaldinho as the midfielders on the 16-man roster.
The 28-year-old Sunderland player's inclusion left no room on the midfield list for such World Cup standouts as Senegal's Pape Bouba Diop, who recorded three goals, and teammate Henri Camara, who collected two goals and an assist. Turkey's Umit Davala helped his side reach the semifinals with two goals and an assist.
Fellow American midfielders Landon Donovan and John O'Brien, who played in every game and combined to notch three goals and an assist, perhaps were more valuable to the historic U.S. World Cup run than Reyna.
However, Adrian Heath, the assistant coach at Sunderland, thinks Reyna fully deserves the tribute.
"Claudio was outstanding in every World Cup game he played and against top class opposition," Heath said on Sunderland's official website.
Germany's Oliver Kahn and Turkey's Rustu Recber were the two goalkeepers named to the all-tournament team. The defenders selected were Brazil's Roberto Carlos, England's Sol Campbell, Spain's Fernando Hierro, South Korea's Hong Myung-bo and Turkey's Alpay Ozalan.
A quartet of forwards completed the squad -- Brazil's Ronaldo, Senegal's El Hadji Diouf, Turkey's Hasan Sas and Germany's Miroslav Klose.
