SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 — Twitter might not like admitting it, but the number-one conversation on the social networking company isn’t dictated by Justin Bieber, but by the beautiful game and, as the 2014 World Cup prepares to kick off on June 13 in Brazil, that conversation is only going to get louder. So just like an international manager, we’ve assembled a crack team of experts, writers and footballers to follow and support this summer.

Zlatan Ibrahimović Modest, quiet, reserved and conservative are words that have never been used to describe Zlatan. The Swedish striker, one of the most charismatic, confident and outrageously talented players ever to kick a ball for money, Ibra has never been shy in sharing what he thinks. Sweden failed to qualify for this year’s event but football’s loss will be Twitter’s gain as he’ll be allowed to tweet freely. Not that Zlatan needs permission to be Zlatan.

Thierry Henry Playing two strikers together might be going out of fashion, tactically, but Thierry Henry and Ibrahimović in the same team is many fans’ dream. Still France’s top scorer with 51 goals despite retiring from international duty in 2010, Henry only joined Twitter on May 12 but already has over 300,000 followers and will not be short of insight, wit and analysis as the tournament gets underway.

Sid Lowe The Spanish team goes into this year’s tournament as joint favorites with Brazil and as the world’s footballing eyes will be firmly focused on the team, don’t expect any juicy tweets from players, even those as great on the site as Cesc Fabregas (who tweets succinctly in English and Spanish). So the next best thing is Side Low. As well as a football journalist with an encyclopedic knowledge of the Spanish game and sources at every ground, he was David Beckham’s translator when he moved from Manchester to Real Madrid.

Fernando Duarte The Brazil team will be under similar restrictions, so there’s the option of following players who didn’t make the cut, such as Kaka, or of getting to know Fernando Duarte. An expert on European and Brazilian football, and one that’s already covered two World Cups, he has never, ever been short of a few words or an interesting take on any footballing situation.

Jonathan Wilson The man who quite possibly has the biggest brain in football writing, Jonathan has written one of the most important books on the history and development of tactics  —  “Inverting the Pyramid”  —  and is great at firing off quick tweets explaining the strategy behind any move in any match which you can read and then three or four seconds later repeat to your friends as if it’s your opinion. As well as tactics, his knowledge is equally in depth when it comes to Eastern European and African football. And if you love the tactical side of the game, then Michael Cox is also someone you should be following this summer.

The secret footballer A journalistic and blogging phenomenon in the UK, no one knows exactly who ‘the secret footballer’ is. All we do know is that he’s played for many years, including at the highest level and has even had call-ups to the national team. His anonymity has enabled him to spill the beans on many occasions and the World Cup should be no exception.

James Richardson Equal parts charm, wit, charisma and Italian football knowledge, James Richardson makes the subject fun and approachable. A broadcaster and journalist for more than 30 years, like Sid Lowe, he’s been called on by Italian clubs to translate for English players including Paul Gascoigne and Paul Ince when they played at Lazio and Inter Milan respectively. When not translating or tweeting, he hosts one of the world’s most popular football podcasts, the Guardian’s Football Weekly.

Raphael Honigstein Any football pundit that trades on clichés rather than knowledge of the game will tell you to write off Germany’s chances at any World Cup at your peril. And the thing is clichés come about because they’re grounded in truth. Therefore there’ll be no one better to turn to for the inside track than Raphael Honigstein. A bilingual broadcaster journalist and the author of Englischer Fussball, Honigstein offers a perfect blend of German precision and a British sense of humor to all of his missives.

Opta Joe The official Twitter account for Opta, the football stats and data gathering company, Opta Joe is great for little known facts, reports on individual players and everything from live possession stats to shots on goal. Oh and he does a good line in football trivia quizzes too.

Joey Barton The English midfielder has a talent for stirring up trouble on Twitter greater than his ability to play a perfectly weighted pass. However, much of this trouble comes from saying something interesting and challenging and usually relevant. Expect him to be the first person to share his opinion on anything even vaguely controversial that happens once the tournament gets underway.

Samuel Eto’o The well-traveled Cameroonian (he’s played for Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea), set to captain his team in Brazil will be remembered as one of the game’s greats when he finally hangs up his boots. And when he does retire, there’ll be a job waiting for him at any company with big social media ambitions. Eto’o has really embraced Twitter using it to talk with fans, raise awareness on issues and run competitions. — AFP-Relaxnews