The dust has settled on the day after the 32 World Cup teams named their provisional 30-man rosters and there were plenty of surprises all over the world.
Charlie Davies missing out was easily the most shocking news for American fans, but the list of players left out by other countries reads like a who's who of the world game. Consider the following list of players who were snubbed by their respective countries:
Ronaldinho, Alexandre Pato, Diego, Adriano, Francesco Totti, Patrick Viera, Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri, Ruud van Nistelroooy, Esteban Cambiasso, Javier Zanetti, Lisandro Lopez
The scary part is that this is just the first batch of standouts to be excluded from the World Cup. Most teams must still cut down from 30 to 23 players, which means we will soon be hearing about a new wave of snubs. While some of the exclusions will be products of impressive depth for some countries, in some cases it will come down to a head coach's own preferences (which in some cases, can't be explained).
U.S. national team head coach Bob Bradley did his part to explain the process he used to pick his 30-man squad. I can't say I disagree with his picks since he selected 27 of the 28 players I would have brought into camp (with Charlie Davies being the lone exception).
With the provisional rosters out of the way, we can turn our attention to other news. Here are some stories to get your Wednesday going:
FULHAM READY FOR EUROPA LEAGUE
U.S. national team midfielder Clint Dempsey is ready to become the first American to play in a European Final when he and Fulham faces Atletico Madrid today in the Europa League Final (2:45pm, Direct TV-461). The Cottagers will look to complete a dream run that has seen them upset Juventus and Hamburg among others.
FIFA SUSPENDS EL SALVADOR
When FIFA says it doesn't want government interference, it means it.
FIFA announced on Wednesday the suspension of the El Salvador Football Federation, citing the country's failure to implement new statutes into the national register. If El Salvador doesn't take action, it could face a year-long suspension. While that may not mean much for the national team in the immediate future, such a suspension would mean that the Salvadoran referees currently slated to take part in this summer's FIFA World Cup would be unable to officiate in the tournament (and no, that still isn't likely to mean a place for American officials).
NEWS & NOTES
Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner insists that manager Martin O'Neill isn't going anywhere.
Lost in the shuffle on Tuesday was Gianfranco Zola's firing at West Ham. A dismissal Zola is apparently going to sue over.
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What did you think of the superstars who were left off World Cup squads yesterday? Which snub was the most shocking? Think Fulham can win today?
Share your thoughts below.
How on Earth does Brazil leave Pato and Ronaldinho off their squad? AC Milans biggest stars right now. Especially Pato who is so young and made for a tournament like the World
Cup.
No Nasri?…Domenech is an imbecile
It’s a crying shame Nasri is being left out of the French squad, he is quality. Domenech is just as nuts as Maradona. Leaving Cambiasso out is a joke as well.
Good Point. I believe they saw enough in Davies before the accident to not want to risk him … I mean he was in the top 2 players evertime he was on the field for them
Not sure why Benzema is even on that list. He has been terrible for Real Madrid this season, and his confidence is shot. He would get into games late and his teammates would basically force-feed the ball to him, hoping he would score.
I’m not surprised at all given his form and legal troubles.
Seriously kpugs, has Eduardo at Arsenal truly recovered from his leg break?
Do you really think a guy that has not played since October of last year would miraculously regain his touch? Since Rooney has been injured, has he regained his form from earlier this season after several games?
You guys are all thinking with your hearts and not your heads on this one.
So, he plays and misses a pass ala DaMarcus Beasely back from injury last year. How supportive are you all going to be then?
Everyone wants Beasley banned now. Will Davies get the same treatment?
I hate Harkes in the booth. He puts everyone down in the booth. I just wish he would shut up.
After I heard the Wynalda story, I hate him even more.
I love Wynalda on Fox Football Fon in
LOL! Good one.
Cocaine is a hell’uva drug… I don’t know why we would risk Davies. His club thinks highly of him and doesn’t want him hurt, completely understandable. Gooch perhaps isn’t thought of as highly at Milan and may even be on the outs there so Milan has nothing to lose if Gooch hurts himself again.
Top Portugal snub: Joao Mountinho.
Moving along from the Davies topic, as far as snubs, Ronadinho and Cambiasso have to be the biggest two. You can bet the house that if either of these two teams fair poorly, or not up to expectation, Dunga and Maradona are going to be scrutinized HEAVILY.
Does anybody have any reasonable insight as to why they may have been left out?
No Clint in the game.
Totti retired shortly after the 2006 WC. I was well reported in the Italian papers but never made it in any news here.
Here’s the link from 2007:
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=556364.html
sorry, here:
http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=75296&part=sports
you can watch the game on a livestream. there are many:
Right because Gooch’s injury can be compared to CD’s who almost got killed in a car crash. CD is lucky if he is a functioning human being again. The two cases can’t even compare.
Benzema was disappointing for Madrid this year.
Zanetti is ageless and a warrior. Don’t know how you leave him out. I love Martin Palermo but he has no business on this team regardless of what he did for Argentina in qualifying.
Yeah Harkes is the only one I remember but I was young at the time. Sampson’s team was crap as I remember but the Harkes exclusion is completely justifiable in my mind. I love Harkes’ book where he slams Sampson for cutting him knowing full well why he did it. How did Sampson and Wynalda stay quiet for so long?