Vaultboy

That's a lot of questions powerclown!

I'll attempt to answer a few:

1. Can the captain play any position, or do they tend to play or or another position?
Yes, a captain can play in any position, and can even be substituted. The captain can also be changed during the game, although this normally only happens if the captain is substituted or sent off. I am not aware of a statistical tendency towards a certain position.

2. why it was so easy for Germany to play keepaway with the ball and the Austrailians barely touched the ball.

Germany are just inherently better than Australia at keeping possession. If you look at their stats, they have a high "passes completed" statistic meaning that they pass accurately. This is due to playing more short balls, and keeping it on the ground. Their high player mobility ensures that players are always open to receive passes. They are big strong boys meaning they are less likely to be pushed off the ball. What also helps is that unlike most teams at the World Cup, German players have been playing with Jabulani since December. Also, Australia went into damage limitation mode (which didn't work) after going 2-0 down and being reduced to 10 men.

3. What is a midfielder's primary responsibility?

To understand this better, you need to understand soccer formations. Its a very visual thing, so I'd suggest that you wiki soccer formations.
But to answer your question briefly, you get two basic types of midfielders: Defensive and Attacking. Each midfielder is expected to do a bit of both, but the emphasis depends on pitch position and role, i.e.
CM (Central Midfielder)
CDM (Central Defensive Midfielder)
CAM (Central Attacking Midfielder)
LDM (Left Defensive Midfielder)
RDM (Right Defensive Midfielder)
LM (Left midfielder)
LW (Left Wing)
RM (Right Midfielder)
RW (Right Wing)

Typically, teams play with 4 midfielders - as you can see from the list above, there are many possible roles, so it is up the coach to decide how to best deploy his players for maximum offensive and defensive impact, based on both strategy and the respective strengths/weaknesses of the players, i.e. Some players' method of defense is based on speed and well times tackles. Another can be good at positional awareness and rarely tackles, but rather "Screens" or intercepts attacks. Similarly, some attacking midfielders are good at taking long range shots, while others are good passers and playmakers.

4. What makes this Messi so special?

Well, everything. The ball sticks to his feet like glue. Look at replays of the Nigeria game and how he just runs ans runs and runs without anyone stopping him. He's fast, agile and a sweet striker of the ball. He's relatively strong on the ball for someone his size. He is a CAM with the finishing skill and anticipation of a striker - the same as what Pele and Maradona were.

5. who are some of the alltime greats and the one's to watch in this WC

Well, Messi (Argentina, CAM) and Ronaldo (Portugal, RW) are the past and present World Player of the Year. Both still have to prove themselves at international level, as their successes have mostly been on club level. So a lot of eyes will be on them.I would also recommend watching the exploits of Snjeider (Holland), Oezil (Germany) and the whole Spanish midfield. I will also be watching certain players from all over the world who I would love to see at the club I support.

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