By Myles Hodgson, PA Sport
Last updated March 7 2006
Frank Lampard will arrive in Germany for this summer's World Cup as a marked man having established himself as one of the best goalscoring midfielders on view.
The Chelsea man has been a revelation since the arrival of coach Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge at the start of last season and has revelled in the tactics and style introduced since then. That scoring knack has been an asset badly missed by England since the days when Bryan Robson was the driving force in midfield.
The big test of Lampard's ability, however, will be how he performs in comparison to the best midfielders around during the tournament. Will he get the better of France's Zinedine Zidane, Kaka of Brazil or brilliant Argentina playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme?
Here we take a look at the leading goal scoring midfielders likely to parade their wares during the coming World Cup and compare them to Lampard's recent scoring record.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England)
Has blossomed into an outstanding attacking midfielder since the arrival of Mourinho at Chelsea, who immediately recognised Lampard's talents and built the team around those abilities.
Claimed 19 goals at domestic level last season by running from deep and utilising his ability to find space and is on course to beat that total this time around. Covers more ground than any midfielder currently playing in the Premiership and has added a growing awareness of his team-mates to his game in the last few years.
Enjoys linking up from midfield and has now begun to translate his Chelsea form onto the international stage and can be seen frequently surging into the box late to demonstrate his impressive finishing ability.
Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy)
Made his Serie A debut for Brescia aged just 16 and has developed since into an outstanding deep-lying playmaker, who has been integral to AC Milan's success in recent years.
Thriving on the freedom supplied by the physical approach of Gennaro Gattuso alongside him in midfield both at Milan and for Italy, Pirlo has the flair and vision to dominate matches.
One of the Milan players to miss a penalty during the dramatic shoot-out defeat to Liverpool in last summer's Champions' League final at Istanbul, he is regarded as irreplaceable by his coaches at domestic and international level.
Has a healthy scoring record at international level and will be a key player if Italy are to be successful this summer.
