FIFA World Cup 2018 star watch: Kevin de Bruyne, Belgium orchestrator

Bengaluru, June 11: Lionel Messi of Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Brazil's Neymar will be the biggest stars to watch out for during the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, which gets underway on June 14.

However, the World Cup is not just about them. There are plenty of other stars who will set the World Cup stage on fire with their dazzling runs and insane goals or blocks.

In this daily series, MyKhel features the other top stars you have to watch out for in Russia.

This segment is about Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester City and Belgium midfielder.

Kevin de Bruyne in a deep-lying midfield "Regista" role, provides him the time, space & options to exercise his multidimensional qualities; break the lines on the ground, switch the play in the air, or transport the ball himself. Belgium a side to fear! pic.twitter.com/soSkPSRi2R

— coachdogge (@coachdogge) June 9, 2018

It's wrong to say de Bruyne is a midfielder - he's everything except for the goalkeeper on the pitch. De Bruyne started off as an attacking midfielder, excelled in that role in Wolfsburg (after being sold by Chelsea) and now at Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, he's the orchestrator all over the pitch. His record during the 2017/18 season in Manchester City's Premier League winning campaign is an enviable 16 assists in 37 appearances. He was involved in 19 big chances that did not result in goals and was second to Mohamed Salah in the PFA Player of the Year honour.

Guardiola, through his system at Man City, has transformed de Bruyne into a total player who could fit into the Netherlands team of 1974 - famous for playing Total Football. This means de Bruyne can operate from anywhere in the pitch and he can be anything that the team wants him to be. You just give him that freedom on the pitch.

Defender, set-piece specialist, playmaker, creator

De Bruyne is a unique player. He doesn't tackle opposition players much. Instead, he tries to win the ball by dispossessing them through an interception. Gifted with impeccable game sense, de Bruyne can judge where an opponent will likely pass the ball, run towards that space and try to block the pass. He runs all over the pitch and could also be near the goalkeeper though he's not a striker.

De Bruyne plays short passes for sure, but his real talent is finding those spaces in the wings, or on the far side. In Manchester City, de Bruyne has distributed play between the two wings - sometimes he finds right-back Kyle Walker and other times he will just pump one ball into the deep for Leroy Sane. And if the Belgian is himself near the wings, he likes to float crosses instead of playing it short. No wonder he likes to take all the corners and free-kicks for country and club.

At Belgium, Eden Hazard compliments de Bruyne by combining pace and accuracy to play excellent through balls. The duo will give Belgium command over the midfield in Russia.

Young and intelligent

"He is so clever," Guardiola said about him. "He only needs one instruction to know what has to be done. So fast. He produces a huge amount of passes and assists. He's fast ... he sees space better and faster than anybody. He is good with the ball at the foot. He is a complete player."

De Bruyne is reaching his peak and at 26, he has the right balance of raw energy and experience to turn games around. De Bruyne will be vital in helping Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens shine for Belgium in the FIFA World Cup 2018.

From Genk to Russia, this is how it all came to be for Kevin De Bruyne. 🇧🇪

On Tour: Origins. Episode 4. Thursday. pic.twitter.com/Nq4lOKD7zK

— COPA90 US (@COPA90US) June 6, 2018

Belgium's fixtures:

vs Panama at 8.30 pm IST on June 18 (Sochi)

vs Tunisia at 5.30 pm IST on June 23 (Moscow)

vs England at 11.30 pm IST on June 28 (Kaliningrad)

Other stars to watch out for: Sergio Ramos (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Gabriel Jesus (Brazil), David de Gea (Spain), Kylian Mbappe (France)