Below is a list of teams with some quality players which will unfortunately miss the World Cup next summer:

Ireland- The Irish team may not be the most talented to miss out on qualification but certainly was unjustly eliminated by France. The Ireland squad is not as deep as other but has talented players such as Aiden McGeady who plays as a winger and/or forward for Celtic. The Irish can also count on the goals of experienced scorer Robbie Keane and the consistency of goalkeeper Shay Given. The team is coached by the shrewd Italian Giovanni Trapattoni who has won league titles in a number of countries.

Mali- the African nation boasts Frederic Kanoute who scores regularly for Sevilla, Mohamed Sissoko who is the Juventus midfield general and Barcelona’s Seydou Keita who has already scored six goals in 10 league games. Mali may not have the football pedigree of the likes of Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria when it comes to Africa football but with the aforementioned players and Real Madrid’s Mahamadou Diarra can certainly form a well acclaimed side.

Russia- The team includes Arsenal’s Andrei Arshavin and Chelsea’s Yuri Zhirkov but failed in the play-off stage against Slovenia after losing on the away goal rule. The Russians won 2-1 at home only to lose 1-0 in Slovenia. Arshavin is one of the most entertaining players when he is at his best.

Bosnia- The Portuguese were missing Cristiano Ronaldo and yet were able to overcome the Bosnians after two identical 1-0 wins. The Bosnia- & Herzegovina team has quite the the talent with names such as Edin Dzeko, Vedad Ibisevic, Zlatan Muslimovic and Zvjezdan Misimovic. The Bosnians were beaten by a more experienced team with the likes of Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe, Deco, Nani and Simao. The Bosnians formed an entertaining and high-scoring team which ironically failed to find the net against Portugal. (Please refer to a previous article dated November 5, 2009 and titled Will Portugal Overcome Bosnia Without Ronaldo for more coverage on this topic)

Sweden- The World Cup next summer will not feature one of the most gifted big man in the shape of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Barcelona forward has audacious talent considering his size and has so far notched seven goals in just nine la Liga games for the Catalan club. Ibrahimovic was one of the main reasons behind Inter’s domestic domination in Italy prior to his summer move to Barca.

Egypt- Egypt receives a mention because of two hotly contested matches with Algeria which occurred in a space of four days. The two countries are the only ones to play each other three times during the World Cup qualifiers to determine which side makes it to South Africa. The team from the land of the Pharaohs was able to beat Algeria 2-0 in Cairo to force a play-off match in Sudan which was ultimately won by Algeria 1-0. The team is led by Al-Ahly’s star player Mohamed Aboutrika and counts on the goals of striker Amr Zaki who played for one season with Wigan Athletic (On loan last season). Other notable names include Mohamed Zidan who plays for German side Borussia Dortmund and Ahmed Hossam Mido (who played in England and has not featured in the recent matches for Egypt).

The other national teams which will be missing on South Africa 2010 do not contain the same star-name appeal though the likes of Togo (which boasts Manchester City’s Adebayor), Morocco and Tunisia failed to qualify from Africa while in Europe all the big guns have qualified after the France-Ireland fiasco. The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, England and Spain have all booked their place in next summer’s World Cup.

Portugal will most likely be missing Cristiano Ronaldo when it hosts Bosnia-Herzegovina on 11/14/09 as it looks to build some momentum prior to the return leg in Bosnia on the 18th of November. Unfortunately for the Portuguese the latest report claims Ronaldo will be out for about a month which means he will not feature in both matches for the national team.

It is hard to determine the extent of the damage that Portugal will suffer as a result of his absence yet his performances during the qualifiers have been mediocre at best by his standards. Regardless of previous displays, missing out on the current world player of the year is definitely not an encouraging sign, in particular when the opponent is a dangerous Bosnian side full of offensive menace. While Bosnia’s defense remains susceptible, which would have meant more chances for Ronaldo to shine, the country’s attack features some lethal forwards in the shape of Edin Dzeko (pictured above right), Vedad Ibisevic, and Zvjezdan Misimovic. The Bosnian national team registered 25 goals in the group stage, trailing only England, Spain and Germany in the goals scored by any national team in European qualifiers. It would be wrong to assume the Bosnian team is limited to a potent attack although the defense has leaked 13 goals during the campaign. The Bosnians also have the advantage of playing the return leg on home soil.

On the other hand and despite the likely absence of Ronaldo, Portugal will still have its plethora of stars with Chelsea’s Deco, Manchester United’s Nani and of course defenders Pepe (Real Madrid), Jose Bosingwa & Ricardo Carvalho (both Chelsea), Atletico de Madrid’s Simao Sabrosa. The Portuguese side might have sneaked into the play-offs after a stuttering start, yet the fixture list featured a single defeat and revealed a water-tight defense which conceded a mere give goals in a group which also included Denmark and Sweden. It will be an interesting tussle between Portugal’s stingy defense and Bosnia’s elusive attack force. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to underestimate the set of skills that defines Portugal’s creative players such as Deco. One factor that may serve in Bosnia’s favour is the experience of the shrewd coach Miroslav Blazevic who led Croatia to the semi-finals in France 1998 when the French eliminated the Croatians on route to the World Cup triumph.

With Ronaldo missing, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the Portuguese players react and whether they will work hard together in order to offset his absence. On the other side, a hungry opponent in the shape of the Bosnian players will try to feed off the frenzy that has been created by the advancement to this stage of the qualifiers. Let the fireworks begin in what should be a cracking game between two sides more than capable of scoring on their day.