The Top 15 Players Not Going To The 2010 World Cup

Ollie Irish

17th, May 2010

24 Comments

By Ollie Irish

Some very good players won’t be at the World Cup next month for their nations. Witness:

pa-photos_t_not-going-to-world-cup-15-1605b

Picture 1 of 15

Francesco Totti - Italy. Not selected

Photos: PA

(Note: players from countries which didn’t qualify are not included)

Posted in Featured, Photos, Top 10s & lists, World Cup

Share this article: Email

24 Comments

  1. HörderSCFan says:

    Nearly all of them are playing in Italy…
    This “overlooking” means two things:
    a) Serie A has many overaged players, who are past their best…
    b) The coaches dont trust anymore in Serie A, which could have 2 reasons,1.the quality in general is falling down,2.the game played in italy(more importance on solid defending than on fast attacking;f.e.: Inter s anti-football against Barcelona) isnt seen as modern as for example in Premier League

  2. alex says:

    yawn.
    anti-football? they beat them 3-1.

  3. Deckard says:

    Some more players that are worth mentioning in my opinion: Robert Pires, David Trezeguet, Torsten Frings, Christophe Metzelder, Kevin Kuranyi, Edwin Van Der Sar(retired but public hoped he’d return), Jose Bosingwa, Bojan Krkic, Guti, Alberto Aquilani, Massimo Ambrosini, David Beckham, Joao Moutinho, Juan Pablo Aimar.

    Some miss the form, some haven’t done enough this season, but all of them would’ve been an added value to their respective country’s squad IMO.

    Guti for example has a poor mentality, but on-song he’s one of the finest playmakers around. Keeping in mind both Xavi and Cesc may come into the WC not fully fit.

  4. Ty says:

    Cambiasso’s omission is truly shocking. you’d be hard pressed to find a better holding midfielder in the world today. Hes in top form as well. Also pretty surprising to see Cassano out of the Italy squad considering the season he had.

  5. kritter says:

    Nasri? Ballack? Pedro? Aguero? About 100 other Spanish players?

  6. Jack says:

    The decline of the serie A has nothing to do with this list of overlooked players, yes many teams such as milan or juve do over rely and age and expierience rather than youth or flair but its more italy manager Lippis sturborn ways… refusing to pick italys only livewire creative spark cassano or flamboyant balotelli(risk yes but could easily pay off)Instead sticking wih many verterens who have had poor seasons (such as all the juve players) or previous greats but past their best (cannovaro, gattuso). Also the stereotypical ‘solid- defending’ didnt harm inter milans path to the european final or italys world cup win in 2006..boring yes but very effective.cambiasso and zanettis absense is shocking, they have had brilliant seasons with inter and were it not for a dick of a manager would both be starting for argentina this summer..not a ialy fan but fancied a rant.

  7. Quincy says:

    Where the (f-word) is MICHAEL OWEN???

  8. teeebs says:

    Could name loads of frenchmen. Nasri, Benzema, Ben Arfa, Viera and possibly more all not selected.

    Is it me or is there gradually being a shift in paradigm with selections. Seems more or less purely a selection process based on form first then possibly age

  9. bob says:

    Ollie Irish you are shite; left out Nasri and called Ronaldinho out of form and out shape, did you even watch this season’s football. You should be ashamed of yourself for claiming to be a football journalist.

  10. Alex says:

    Bob, don’t be a prick, cheers.

  11. I agree with Bob Ronny has been brilliant this year and deserves to be in South Africa. Also Diego is a suprise omission. He has been poor this year but he’s in a struggling Juve team and on his day he is class.

  12. Kasra says:

    Where the hell is Nasri, considering he’s a much bigger surprise then the out of form Benzema or the ageing Viera

  13. Pictures: The Top 15 Players Not Going To The 2010 World Cup…

    whoateallthepies has put together a list of the top 15 players not going to the 2010 World Cup and it makes some interesting reading with some big names there. They’ve also only included players from ……

  14. Deckard says:

    I agree that Vieira not going isn’t really a surprise nor unjustified. But I can also see the reasoning behind not selecting Nasri. Firstly, he hasn’t had a great season with Arsenal. He came back from a serious injury then when he was fully fit again he struggled to maintain a place in the first 11, even though players such as Van Persie were out with long-term injuries. And Secondly, with Ribery and Gourcuff the squad already has two architects in the team who, like Nasri, can both operate from the centre of mid or on the wings. Let’s be real, had Nasri been selected he’d most likely play nothing but a bit-part. Don’t think that would’ve done him much better than not being selected.

  15. […] his team. Insecure Mourinho (The Game) But, Mourinho is happy Chelsea won the Premiership… Top 15 Players not going to the World Cup (Who Ate all the Pies) USA defender Oguchi Onyewu to play for free at AC Milan in a gesture to […]

  16. john says:

    kritter says:
    May 17, 2010 at 5:21 pm

    Nasri? Ballack? Pedro? Aguero? About 100 other Spanish players?

    Pedro and Aguero are going to South Africa…

  17. john says:

    “kritter says:
    May 17, 2010 at 5:21 pm

    Nasri? Ballack? Pedro? Aguero? About 100 other Spanish players?”

    Pedro and Aguero are going to South Africa…

  18. bayou says:

    Why is everyone so in love with Hargreaves? He’s never really impressed me, maybe because he’s rarely healthy.

  19. Sabas Tukaytri says:

    Serves you right Totti. I can hear Barlotteli laughing out loud….

  20. vanmark says:

    i do agree with the dutch coach for having dropped a dutch poarcher like ruud van nistelrooy.

  21. jack says:

    dunga, bastard you are fired after the world cup 2010.

  22. sparky says:

    Ashley Young: a surprise omission from Fabio Capello’s first 30, let alone his final 23, if you ask me.

  23. shariz says:

    WTF! wheres nasri. its like the most saddest think that he is not selected into france squard you must be kidding me

Leave a Reply to Deckard