Spurs at the World Cup - Germany, 2006

As Brazil prepares for the start of the World Cup tonight, here's the penultimate countdown of Spurs players to feature on the world's biggest football stage.

Next up, three players at Germany, 2006...

Lee Young-Pyo - Spurs 2005-2008, 93 appearances

Defender Lee Young-Pyo became the first South Korean player to ever pull on the Spurs shirt when he joined us from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2005.

Lee had been one of his country’s key players for a number of years, moving to Europe to further his career and he quickly established himself in the Netherlands.

He won league titles and reached the Champions League semi-finals with the Dutch giants and on the international scene, the likeable full-back had been a major part of the South Korean side which enjoyed the most remarkable journey at World Cup 2002, reaching the semi-final stage on home soil in front of a partisan crowd at every game along the way.

Only a workmanlike German side, inspired by Michael Ballack, denied them what would have been an amazing place in the Final against Brazil.

At the end of his first season at Spurs, Lee was once again World Cup-bound as South Korea had qualified with relative ease for the tournament in Germany in 2006.

Drawn in Group G alongside Togo, France and Switzerland, hopes were high back home that the Koreans could again spring a surprise and progress to the latter stages of the event.

That belief was certainly enhanced when they began with a victory over World Cup debutants Togo, although they had to come from a goal down at the interval before securing a 2-1 win.

They then held France to a highly-respectable 1-1 draw, as Manchester United’s Park Ji-Sung’s 81st minute strike cancelled out Thierry Henry’s opener which meant they needed just a draw in the final group game against Switzerland to move into the knockout stages.

But Dick Advocaat’s side just couldn’t muster the spirit that had inspired them four years earlier and fell 2-0 to the Swiss, a result which, combined with France’s 2-0 victory over Togo, saw Korea exit the competition.

Lee had started all three group games, his experience considered a major asset, but he couldn’t prevent their demise. But it did take his appearances at the World Cup Finals to eight games in total.

He left us to join Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2008 and went on to make 127 appearances for South Korea, including another four in 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Below: Robbo makes a save against Paraguay

Aaron Lennon - Spurs 2005-, 348 appearances, 30 goals
Paul Robinson - Spurs 2004-2008, 175 appearances, 1 goal

Fans' favourite Paul Robinson had earned four of his 41 caps when he joined us May, 2004 and within six months, took on the mantle of 'England's number one' under Sven Goran Eriksen.

He started nine qualifiers for 2006 and took his place in the squad for Germany.

Robbo started every match as England beat Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago before a draw against Sweden took them through to the knockout stage.

Ecuador were toppled 1-0 to set-up a quarter-final against Portugal, which England lost on penalties after a goalless draw.

Aaron Lennon burst onto the international scene aged just 19 after a fine first season at Spurs in 2005-2006. However, his first cap wasn't until June 3, 2006, against Jamaica at Old Trafford, just a week before the tournament opener against Paraquay.

Aaron was on the bench in Frankfurt and was then used as an impact sub in the matches against Trinidad & Tobago, Ecuador and Portugal. He's since won 21 caps, his last in February, 2013.

Michael Carrick and Jermain Jenas were also members of the England squad but not used in the tournament.