ARTICLE: The World Cup Non-Squad

leggo

Hi guys,

I did up an article for www.sportspeak.eu as part of our World Cup coverage. After I got such a great reaction here the last time I posted an article (feeling sorry for John Terry, some may remember), I figured I'd give you guys a look and see what you think. Thoughts and ridicule welcome, as always!

If you get a chance, hop over to the website and have a read of some of the other stuff. The guys who run it are some of the top sports journalists in the country and do it for nothing but the passion, so I'm sure they'd appreciate the support!

We are just days from it all kicking off. Have you booked Friday off work? Have you arranged your barbeque for Saturday night and timed it so that everyone will be suitably drunk enough to scream abuse at the English on Saturday evening? Have you remembered to pick your World Cup Fantasy Squad?

Well, I have. And I’m so well prepared that I’ve even taken the time to make another squad. The fantasy...fantasy squad, if you will. The ‘What If’s’, I think we’ll call them. In other words, the players – either due to the fact that they suffer from George Best-itis (and their country wasn’t good enough to harbour their talent), or due to injury or similar haphazard – who are sipping on Mojitos on some Carribean island instead of training for South Africa. And I’ve even taken the time to divide my 23-man squad of devastating...failures...into a Starting XI and a subs bench.

Too much time on my hands, you say? Well that’ll all change come Friday.

Goalkeepers

Petr Cech
Chelsea/Czech Republic
After a double-winning season for Chelsea, Cech would have no doubt loved to come full circle and redeem himself on the international stage. Since the last World Cup, he has become more known for his headgear after a horrific head injury and an even more horrific blunder in Euro 2008 against Turkey, than for his undoubted talent between the sticks. His redemption was at least temporarily postponed, however, after Czech Republic finished 3rd in their qualifying group. Oh well Petr, take it on the chin. Too soon?

Defenders

Javier Zanetti
Inter Milan/Argentina
A controversial omission...until you realise that it was made by Diego Maradona. Zanetti is that player you still remember being in your team in FIFA 94. The guy you regularly spot running down the flanks for Inter Milan and think “Wow, he’s still playing? Fair play!” Well, he is, holding a club appearance record for nearly 150 consecutive appearance. He was instrumental in Inter’s Champions League success and remains as effective as ever. One worries if his omission is a sign that Maradona has fallen off the wagon...

Alex
Chelsea/Brazil
At both club and country level, Alex reminds me of a talented equivalent of Gill from The Simpsons: he’s always there, working hard and close to getting his break...but then it all falls apart for him at the last minute. Plagued by injury at Chelsea last season after making a break-through for both the Londoners and Brazil the previous year, he fought hard to get back into Chelsea’s double-winning side. His luck ran out when it came to Brazil though. Alex found himself in Dunga’s 30-man preliminary squad but narrowly missed the final cut. Oh jeeeez...

Thomas Vermaelen
Arsenal/Belgium
‘The Verminator’ was one of Arsene Wenger’s star players this season. A must-have in any fantasy football side, Vermaelen proved not only a rock at the back but a dab hand in the other half as he scored an impressive 8 goals during the term. He was nominated in the PFA Team of the Year and more than justified his hefty transfer fee from Ajax. Vermaelen was also named Belgian captain during the qualifying campaign, but his efforts could not inspire the Belgians to anything more than a disappointing 4th place finish in a group including Spain and Bosnia.

Fabio Grosso
Juventus/Italy
Grosso was an integral part of Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning side: scoring decisive goals against both Germany (in the semi-finals) and the penalty that won the Azurri the shoot-out against France. Since then, a disappointing spell at Inter and injury-plagued two seasons at Lyon saw him fall out of the Italian pecking order. One would have assumed his chances improved dramatically when he returned to Serie A with Juventus and proved one of the only high points of The Old Lady’s season. It was too little, too late as far as Marcelo Lippi was concerned though as Grosso found himself dropped from the preliminary 30-man squad. Upon hearing the news, he reportedly told one journalist: “There must be a grosso misunderstanding!” Aw-haw-haw...

Midfielders

Esteban Cambiasso
Inter Milan/Argentina
In a decision that beggared belief to many football die-hards (again...until you realised that Diego Maradona had made it...) will have been the glaring lack of Cambiasso in the Argentine squad. Serie A fans have long espoused the defensive midfielder’s virtues and the mainstream public were treated to them during Inter Milan’s Champions League-winning campaign. His international career is perhaps best remembered for finishing possibly the greatest World Cup team goal of all-time: Argentina’s legendary 24-pass masterpiece during the 6-0 routing over Serbia & Montenegro in 2006. However, he has struggled to fit in to Maradona’s squad and only been called up once since the enigmatic boss took charge. Given his ineffectiveness for the national side in recent years, many Argentineans batted an eyelid. However, fans on this side of the ocean can see that, with the right management, he can be as good as anyone in his position on his day.

Michael Essien
Chelsea/Ghana
‘The Bison’ lost a race against the clock to return from a long-standing knee ligament injury sustained during the preparation for the 2010 African Nations Cup. To underpin the importance of Essien in any club, Chelsea have recently renewed his contract until 2013 despite him being absent for the past six months. Ghana still had the chutzpah to make the final of the tournament (losing 1-0 to Egypt in the final), but one wonders how sorely Essien will be missed as they look to take on the world now. Their draw is relatively kind (Australia, Germany and Serbia), but with Essien as the engine of the side you would have tipped them as outsiders capable of causing massive upsets in the first World Cup on African soil. Without him, qualification from their group will have gone from a safe bet to an impressive feat.

Andrey Arshavin
Arsenal/Russia
Who doesn’t love Andrey Arshavin? In his online Q&A’s with fans (on Arshavin.eu), he once advised a fan who complained of being overweight to simply “lose weight.” Words escape the legendary status of the Russian mighty mouse. And he’s a bloody good footballer too. Arshavin proved his worth in Arsenal’s side, sometimes single-handedly carrying them to 3rd spot despite the absence of big names like Fabregas, van Persie and Ramsey at different stages of last season. He also shone in Russia’s Euro 2008 campaign and brought the UEFA Cup to then-club Zenit St Petersburg. Unfortunately, presumed arrogance was the downfall of the Russians during their qualification play-off with Slovenia. They failed to hold onto a 1st leg lead with a sluggish performance against Slovenia and were punished by a late goal causing them to miss the competition. Their failure may still be our success, though, as now Arshavin will have more time to keep us amused with his philosophical blogs.

Michael Ballack
Chelsea/Germany
The course of history has taught us that you never back against the Germans in a major international tournament. Time and again, regardless of the domestic state of affairs of the country, they have shone on the big stage. Cue 2010 and German club football appears to be on a massive upswing: with Bayern Munich’s Champions League run and continued consistency in the UEFA Cup/Europa League. Is the stage perhaps set for a return to glory? Well, it may have been until the gods of fate (or Ghana, depending on who you believe) decided to throw one massive spanner in the works. Michael Ballack, the constant driving force behind the national side in recent years, caught the wrong side of a Kevin Prince-Boateng tackle during Chelsea’s FA Cup Final against Portsmouth. The tackle has even sparked conspiracy theories that Ghanian Boateng intended to assist his country by taking out their group rivals’ captain. Whatever the case, Ballack’s injury added to a long list of German woes (see the subs bench for more). Is it safe to assume that they are out of contention yet?

Strikers

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Barcelona/Sweden
Famously, Ibrahimovic once replied to a question (about how he would describe himself in 3 words) with the quote, “I am brilliant.” The quote certainly was. The football? Well if you use YouTube to formulate your opinions then you’d be quite entitled to agree with him. I’m not sure if Barcelona fans would concur though. Ibra has disappointed during his first season with the Catalans and the signing of David Villa perhaps pre-empts Barca saying “The Door is Zlat Way...” in the very near future. Ibrahimovic is a puzzling player. The flashes of brilliance often come after months of mediocrity. He has never shone on a big stage. He must be the ultimate selection headache for a gaffer: don’t pick him and you’re risking leaving him out on the one day he decides to be the best striker on the planet. Either way, the World Cup will be poorer without Ibrahimovic’s presence... if only for the heated debates he brings wherever he goes. And the post-match press conferences.

Karim Benzema
Real Madrid/France
Benzema made the calculated risk of becoming a ‘Galactico’ last season as the first prong of Florentino Perez’s attempt to buy world football dominance. We all know how well the latter plan fared. The former dream was equally disastrous. Benzema went from being first on the French team sheet and a national treasure as star player of Lyon during their glory years...to being the other guy coming onto the pitch whenever Manuel Pellegrini wanted the Bernabau to give Cristiano Ronaldo a standing ovation. The Champions League success of his former club also mustn’t have helped Benzema sleep easier at night. It’s akin to breaking up with a girl, being cocksure you’re the best thing she’s ever had, then seeing that she’s dating a handsome millionaire. This dramatic turnaround in fortunes shouldn’t belittle Karim’s undoubted talents, though. He is currently being linked with a move to Manchester United and has the ability to set Old Trafford on fire if given a chance. His poor fortunes have simply been a consequence of being given the squeeze in an over-abundance of talent...and hanging out with Frank Ribery.

Subs

Shay Given (Possibly the most heart-breaking omission, the Manchester City and Ireland veteran missed out on what may be his final World Cup after being inches away from the fateful hand of Thierry Henry that dashed Irish hopes)

Rene Adler (After being given his chance at the German No 1 spot following the tragic death of Robert Enke, he held onto his spot like a well-handled corner kick. That was, at least, until a serious rib injury ruled him out of South Africa. One wonders if the Leverkusen keeper’s place will still be intact if Germany impress)

Heiko Westerman (A key defender for Schalke 04 and Germany who saw his World Cup hopes ruined by an injury sustained during a friendly with Hungary. Will be sorely missed)

John Arne Riise (The immediately recognisable ginger proved crucial in Roma’s return to form and Serie A challenge. Unfortunately for him, he’s Norweigan. And, unlike Roma, they’re still useless: being Holland’s whipping boys in the foregone conclusion that was the Group 10 qualifying table)

Richard Dunne (Another deserved mention for the Irish as Dunne settled in to new side Aston Villa in no time and showed Manchester City that money couldn’t buy them what they already had under their noses. Hands, apparently, can get you into the World Cup though. So it swings in roundabouts for Richard)

Rahfina (The Brazilian and Schalke 04 full-back showed loyalty to his country by participating in the 2008 Olympics against his club’s wishes...and was fined a record E700,000 for his patriotism. A big one-to-watch for the future. His name, in English, means ‘Little Rafa’. But don’t let that put you off)

Ronaldinho (Four years ago, Ronaldinho was hailed as the player that would single-handedly ensure Brazil took home their second consecutive World Cup. He was at the peak of the footballing world and the sky was the limit. However his fall from grace is second only to Diego Maradona as weight issues, late night partying and underachievement on the pitch has seen him dramatically omitted from Brazil’s final 23. Fans still question if Dunga made the right call, though, as Ronaldinho has still demonstrated he is capable of flashes of brilliance in patches. Could he have been the power sub that redeemed himself by being key in another Brazilian success? We will never know...)

Luka Modric (Under Harry Redknapp, Modric has proved one of the most invaluable midfield dynamos in the English game and – despite missing a chunk of the season with injury – still played a key part in breaking Spurs into the Top 4. The World Cup would have been an ideal opportunity for him to display his talents to a global audience. Alas, it wasn’t to be as Croatia failed to follow up on an impressive Euro 2008 campaign by falling flat in 3rd place in their qualification group)

Robbie Keane (Keane has had a tormenting two seasons in England after being given the shaft by both Liverpool and Spurs...but seemed to find short-term happiness during a loan spell at Celtic. He has always saved his best performances for high pressure international football, though. Critics were silenced during his last World Cup outing in 2002 and Keane would have relished the opportunity to proved those doubters wrong again if not for that fateful night in Paris)

Amr Zaki (Fans of English football may raise eyebrows at this inclusion, given Zaki’s highly-publicised bust-up with Steve Bruce during his loan spell with Wigan and his failure to make an impact at Hull last year. However it is on the international stage where Zaki has earned his stellar reputation. He is a crucial part of the Egyptian set-up and, although he missed out on their 2010 African Nations Cup win due to injury, was integral in assisting them to two previous tournament successes. Egypt are perhaps the most dominant side in Africa, continentally-speaking. In the first World Cup in the continent, for them to miss out is a crime. And to not have their key player, Zaki, is almost as much of a shame)

Edin Dzeko (“Who?” I hear you ask. The Wolfsburg and Bosnian striker is a player that would have surely used the World Cup exposure to get snapped up by a big club. He was the 2nd top scorer in the European World Cup qualifying zone. Dzeko finished top scorer in the 2009-10 Bundesliga and found himself on the shortlist for the 2009 Ballon D’Or. He also has 15 goals in just 24 caps for his country. Somehow, I think you’ll remember his name now. Unfortunately for him, and us, he won’t be given the chance to shine after Bosnia were eliminated by Portugal in the play-offs)

Luca Toni (A man who will truly think “Where did it all go wrong?” In 2006, he was a star as starting striker in Italy’s World Cup winning side. His goal scoring at Fiorentina led fans to compare him to the immortal Gabriel Batistuta. However, it was a move to Bayern Munich gone sour that started the change for the frontman. A falling out with Louis van Gaal saw him quickly shipped back to Serie A, and Roma, last season. It was expected he would return to prominence just in time for South Africa. No such luck. Despite Roma’s impressive run to 2nd place, Toni only scored five goals during the entire campaign. He soon fell out of favour with Marcelo Lippi after the latter’s return to the national manager’s spot and Toni couldn’t even manage to get into Lippi’s 30-man preliminary squad. What a difference four years makes)

GLaDOS

Rio Ferdinand obviously, though it's possible he got injured after that was written

Peyton Manning

Good read that. There's some fabulous* players on show this summer, but some equally brilliant players at home. Zanetti, Cambiaso and Alex are the most shocking omissions imo. And it's a damn shame that Essien as well as (maybe) Drogba will miss out on home soil.

*yes, I said fabulous - deal with it honey.

Le King

Archimedes wrote: »

Good read that. There's some fabulous* players on show this summer, but some equally brilliant players at home. Zanetti, Cambiaso and Alex are the most shocking omissions imo. And it's a damn shame that Essien as well as (maybe) Drogba will miss out on home soil.

*yes, I said fabulous - deal with it honey.

For me leaving out Cambiasso and Zanetti is nothing short of a crime. I'd put my money on Argentina if those two were included and if Maradona wasn't such a stubborn **** with Riquelme.

They have a Gutierrez playing RB. Zanetti, obviously, would be far more effective in that position.

Peyton Manning

Osu wrote: »

For me leaving out Cambiasso and Zanetti is nothing short of a crime. I'd put my money on Argentina if those two were included and if Maradona wasn't such a stubborn **** with Riquelme.

They have a Gutierrez playing RB. Zanetti, obviously, would be far more effective in that position.

Maradona's reasoning for leaving out Cambiasso strikes me as a paltry excuse. He obviously has some sort of problem with the chap. He said it was because he plays on the left for Inter, and he doesn't need him for that position with Argentina. It's like he's never even bothered watching the chap play. I know it's simple thinking, but Xavi gets the best out of Messi with Barcelona, and Cambiasso is as close a player to Xavi as you'll find across Europe, so they could have worked so well together. (Shameless plug apologies here, but I wrote a quick article on how I thought Argentina could have emulated Barcelona's system here)

eagle eye

Here is another team with those you left out and plenty of additions too. I don't like Benzema in there and Darren Fletcher has to be in midfield imo.

---

Akinfeev
Cuellar----Hangeland----Van Buyten----O'Shea

---

Fletcher

---

Sissoko
Valencia

---

Riquelme

---

Bellamy

---

Adebayor


Marcelo
Chivu
Corluka
Bale
Kompany
Fellaini
Keita
Giggs
Ashley Young
Pato
Bent
Saha

tdv123

Havent Giggs & Riquelme retired from international football?

gustavo

Cambiasso and Zanetti were both fairly poor for Argentina before Maradona took over and no-one there is up in arms about their exclusion at all.

Le King

Archimedes wrote: »

Maradona's reasoning for leaving out Cambiasso strikes me as a paltry excuse. He obviously has some sort of problem with the chap. He said it was because he plays on the left for Inter, and he doesn't need him for that position with Argentina. It's like he's never even bothered watching the chap play. I know it's simple thinking, but Xavi gets the best out of Messi with Barcelona, and Cambiasso is as close a player to Xavi as you'll find across Europe, so they could have worked so well together. (Shameless plug apologies here, but I wrote a quick article on how I thought Argentina could have emulated Barcelona's system here)

I had a read of that article when you originally posted it. Great read.

DazMarz

Great article, and it really does make you think of all the talent that won't be on show at this year's World Cup...

But I do think that there will be enough on show to compensate!

m@cc@

Benzema has done as much if not more than Henry this season to justify his inclusion.

Mr.Nice Guy

Good read. I think Van Nistelrooy is another guy that could and should be involved. I think he would have been a useful option for the Dutch to throw on if things aren't quite working out for them.

Hank_Jones

Robbie Keane?

You've got to be having a laugh.
Doing well in Scotland does not make you a top class player.

Also, it's Rafinha.

pickarooney

Nice article. Bit of an Irish bias (Robbie Keane rather than, say, Darren Bent) and you might have mentioned that Given was injured in any case. Rafinha is spelled wrong and there are a couple of misused phrases.

"words escape" - used when a person is speechless rather than indescribable. "words can't describe" works better.

"most invaluable" - you can be invaluable or not; there are no levels of invaluable. Use "most valuable" or simply "invaluable"

"Their failure may still be our success" - "their loss may be our gain".

Mr. Presentable

With respect, Fabio Grosso is no loss to the WC. If Italy might have brought another player it ought to have been Cassano.

leggo

Thanks for the replies. The article is only there to drum up debate and discussion over who YOU would pick, so feel free to disagree and thanks to everyone who has added some great suggestions so far. Keep them coming.

Also keep in mind that I tried to keep it as close to simulating a real 23-man squad as possible: 3 keepers, 8 defenders, 6 midfielders and 6 strikers. So that can explain a lot of omissions. For example, I would have had David Beckham in there if it was about the Top 20 Players (regardless of position). But, as it stood, the 6 midfielders selected in the end were (to me) far and away more important to their countries than a Beckham who's in the autumn of his career.

Thanks for the grammar tips pickarooney! I've done quite a lot of editing in my time so trust me that stuff winds me up as much as anyone. I'm sure you've done a lot of writing yourself...so you know how it is when you're trying to push something out against the clock. You just throw whatever is in your head onto paper at first, clean up whatever you can find after a couple of quick browses then send it off to the editor who will hopefully pick up on the nuances you've missed. Unfortunately here it wasn't, but that happens. As I say, Sportspeak is something that we all do in our spare time on top of our full-time jobs, so stuff like this can fall through the net when under pressure to deliver a lot of content on time. I'm sure you understand.

Mr. Presentable

leggo wrote: »

Also keep in mind that I tried to keep it as close to simulating a real 23-man squad as possible: 3 keepers, 8 defenders, 6 midfielders and 6 strikers.
.

Ah, right. I haven't had any coffee this mornig

parker kent

Hank_Jones wrote: »

Robbie Keane?

You've got to be having a laugh.
Doing well in Scotland does not make you a top class player.

Also, it's Rafinha.

43 international goals does though.

A lot of the players left out of squads like Van Nistelrooy etc are left out with some logic behind it. Van Nistelrooy has a history of trouble-making when he is not an automatic first pick. In theory, he would be a fantastic option on the bench but it is not worth the potential disruption he could cause. The same logic applies to many of the other experienced players left out like Seedorf, Ronaldinho etc.

Seaneh

Archimedes wrote: »

Cambiasso is as close a player to Xavi as you'll find across Europe[/URL])

Really? I don't see it... totally different styles of play. one doesn't tackle and routinely makes defense shattering 50 yard passes and the other is one of the toughest tackling cm's in europe and makes 10-20 yard quick passes to creative players...

Seaneh

nipplenuts wrote: »

With respect, Fabio Grosso is no loss to the WC. If Italy might have brought another player it ought to have been Cassano.

Or Ambrosini.