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.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I vote Egypt, which was not in the poll. They are the most under-rated team out there. They know when to put the pressure on, and they will entertain you… win or lose.
Egypt performed well in the Confederations Cup but the national team suffered during the qualifiers. The lack of discipline amongst certain players (such as Mido and Zaki) also weakens the team’s chemistry. Some of the European teams such as Bosnia, Russia and Ireland would probably deserve more to be in South Africa 2010. The poll so far shows Mali is quite up there as well.
I think it’s pretty obvious that Ireland will be missed the most.
It looks like a close call between the Republic of Ireland and Mali according to readers.
Come on. Croatia, easily.
Hello Kevin,
The Croatians were easily dismantled by England and no longer have te same star power as they used to in the past. There are better teams which failed to qualify to South Africa 2010.
Who is a better team missing the WC than Croatia and they are still ranked top 10 and have star players like Modric Eduardo Srna Kranjcar
It looks like the majority believe it is between Ireland and Mali which kind of make sense as the Irish were unfairly eliminated while Mali has a number of well-known players. The other teams like Sweden and Russia are good teams but perhaps just have one star player (Ibrahimovic and Arshavin respectively).