2010 World Cup

[Carter]

ok, so last night David Beckham got hurt and will not be able to play for you guy's in the world cup.

Well that sucks....

At least you still have Peter Crouch

[OlympicHero]

Losing Becks is a blow, but he wouldn't have been starting anyway. If anything, it frees up a place on the right side of midfield.....but worryingly no-one seems to have what it takes to fill it:

Wright-Phillips has been inconsistent at best this season, so there's no guarantee as to how he'd play........ditto Ashley Young and Theo Walcott.

Lennon is also a worry when it comes to injuries, let's just hope he's in top shape come June 12th.

You could also have Gerrard on the right and Milner or even Adam Johnson on the left, but whatever Fabio does he surely knows to build the team around Rooney......he's been unstoppable this season.

[MetalBlade]

I want Germany to win anyway.

[Woo]

Seriously wtf Metal?

Beckham isn't that big a loss to be honest. He's still fantastic at crosses, but I don't know about the rest of his game. The real descision to ponder is whether to take Walcott, Lennon or Wright-Phillips. I'd try and take them all myself, but that won't happen.

Oh and Flyers, Peter Crouch is awesome.

[MetalBlade]

Peter Crotch is very splendid tbh.
I've always had a soft spot for Germany.
I obviously would love to see England win, but they always jet themselves down, and Germany have produced so many great teams and players that I idolised over the years that I just love to see them play.
Plus they've won me a few bob in the past.
I reckon this is England's best chance for many years though, specially with Beckham not having the team built around him now, and Capello I feel is the man to bring us silverware - or goldware in this case.

[OlympicHero]

I'd take Lennon and Walcott (if their both fit)......but i'd play Milner ahead of them, he's been awesome this season and deserves a permanent spot in the first team.

As for Crouchie, he only seems to turn it on for England.......which would be perfect for the World Cup!

[Woo]

So Fabio has named his provisional squad of 30 for the world cup:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).
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Pretty good. No Wes Brown is suprising, but he sucks. Sadly Hargreaves one minute of football wasn't enough to make the squad, but Joe Cole and Barry make it despite their injuries. Adam Johnson could go to SKA (yes!), but he'll have to beat out competition from Lennon, Walcott and Wright-Phillips to do so. Jaime Carragher has come out of retirement which is good and will likely make the squad. Up front Hesky is there (boo!), Zamora is not, but Darren Bent deservedly is on the shortlist and I hope he gets the nod over Emil.

Of course this is just the squad of 30. 7 of these men won't make it and I think they will be:
1. Adam Johnson
2. Shaun Wight-Phillips
3. Darren Bent
4. Scott Parker
5. Tom Huddlestone
6. Stephen Warnock
7. Michael Dawson

[Woo]

Here are the squads from the other big sides.

Brazil
Brazil squad: Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (AS Roma), Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur)

Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Michel Bastos (Olympique Lyon), Gilberto (Cruzeiro), Lucio (Inter Milan), Juan (AS Roma), Luisao (Benfica), Thiago Silva (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Ramires (Benfica), Elano (Galatasaray), Kaka (Real Madrid), Julio Baptista (Roma), Kleberson (Flamengo), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg).

Forwards: Robinho (Santos), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Villarreal), Grafite (VfL Wolfsburg).


Note- No Ronaldinho or Adriano
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Italy
Italy squad:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo)

Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Mattia Cassani (Palermo), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Fabio Grosso (Juventus), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Juventus), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)

Forwards: Marco Borriello (AC Milan), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal)


Note- Totti came out of international retirement but he is NOT in the squad. Luca Toni isn't either and neither is Cassano, but that was expected as the manager hates him.
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France
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon), Steve Mandanda(Olympique Marseille), Cedric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux), Mickael Landreau (Lille)

Defenders: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), William Gallas (Arsenal), Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Rod Fanni (Stade Rennes), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla), Adil Rami (Lille), Marc Planus (Girondins Bordeaux), Gael Clichy(Arsenal), Anthony Reveillere (Olympique Lyon)

Midfielders: Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid), Alou Diarra(Girondins Bordeaux), Jeremy Toulalan (Olympique Lyon), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Yoann Gourcuff (Girondins Bordeaux), Abou Diaby (Arsenal), Yann M'Vila (Stade Rennes)

Forwards: Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyon), Djibril Cisse (Panathinaikos), Hatem Ben Arfa (Olympique Marseille), Mathieu Valbuena (Olympique Marseille), Jimmy Briand (Stade Rennes)


Note- So no Samir Nasri or Patrick Viera and get this, NO Karim Benzama! Holy crap!
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Holland

Squad:

GK- Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Sander Boschker (FC Twente), Michel Vorm (FC Utrecht)

Def- Vurnon Anita (Ajax), Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart), Edson Braafheid (Celtic), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Everton), Joris Mathijsen (HSV), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax), Andre Ooijer (PSV)

Midfield- Otman Bakkal (PSV), Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Wout Brama (FC Twente), Orlando Engelaar (PSV), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), David Mendes da Silva (AZ), Stijn Schaars (AZ), Wesley Sneijder (Inter), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax), Ibrahim Afellay (PSV)

Striker- Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Jeremain Lens (AZ), Eljero Elia (HSV), Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (AC Milan), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich).


So no Ruud Van Nistlerooy, but the team looks awesome still.

[Woo]

Spain

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), David De Gea (Atletico de Madrid), Diego Lopez (Villareal), Jose Manuel 'Pepe' Reina (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona).

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Cesar Azpilicueta (Osasuna), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabier Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Javier Martinez (Athletic Bilbao), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona).

Forwards: Santiago Cazorla (Villarreal), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia), Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Daniel Guiza (Fenerbache), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia).


So the legendary Raul won't be there, but what a team that is! Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes is there, but get this he hasnt even had a single cap yet! That's right, the goal keeper for the worlds best team hasn't played for his county once! That's how outstanding Iker Casillas has been and seeing as how there are five goal keepers on that squad Valders may not even go to South Africa! Also worth noting is that there are only eight defenders and eight midfields listed, which means almost all of them will go. It seems the real hotly contested places are for the goal keeping gloves and the strikers. Despite injuries Torres, Iniesta, Cesc Fabergas and Xavi are all included.
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Portugal

Portugal's 24-man provisional squad for the World Cup finals:
Goalkeepers: Eduardo (Braga), Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis), Beto (Porto).

Defenders: Miguel (Valencia), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Bruno Alves (Porto), Rolando (Porto), Ricardo Costa (Lille), Duda (Malaga), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica).

Midfielders: Pedro Mendes (Sporting), Pepe (Real Madrid), Ze Castro (Deportivo Coruna), Tiago (Atletico Madrid), Deco (Chelsea), Raul Meireles (Porto), Miguel Veloso (Sporting).

Forwards: Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid), Danny (Zenit St Petersburg), Liedson (Sporting), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Nani (Manchester United).


Note- Portugal only listed 24 players so this is almost the whole team. You have to feel sorry for the one poor guy who doesn't get to go.
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Ivory Coast

Goalkeepers: Vincent Angban (ASEC Abidjan), Boubacar Barry (Lokeren), Aristides Zogbo (Maccabi Netanya), Daniel Yeboah (ASEC Abidjan).

Defenders: Souleymane Bamba (Hibernian), Arthur Boka (VfB Stuttgart), Benjamin Brou Angoua (Valenciennes), Guy Demel (Hamburg SV), Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal), Abdoulaye Meite (West Bromwich Albion), Steve Gohouri (Wigan Athletic), Siaka Tiene (Valenciennes), Kolo Toure (Manchester City).

Midfielders: Emerse Fae (Nantes), Jean-Jacques Gosso Gosso (Monaco), Abdelkader Keita (Galatasaray), Emmanuel Kone (International Curtea Arges), Gervais Yao Kouassi (Lille), Christian Koffi Ndri (Sevilla), Cheik Ismael Tiote (Twente Enschede), Yaya Toure (Barcelona), Gilles Yapi Yapo (Young Boys Berne), Didier Zokora (Sevilla).

Forwards: Kanga Akale (Racing Lens), Aruna Dindane (Racing Lens), Seydou Doumbia (Young Boys Berne), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea), Bakary Kone (Olympique Marseille).


Note- Not much to add here. The people expected to be selected were, but compare that team to Portugal's and you see that they have a real chance of surviving from the Group of Death.
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USA

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Jose Torres (Pachuca)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki).


Note- Decent squad, with Landon Donovan being the obvious stand-out. Shame that Blackburn's Brad Friedel retired from international football as he is one of the best around. Still Tim Howard isn't bad. Striker Charlie Davies who was aiming to recover from a serious car crash isn't in the team due to not being fully fit.
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Australia

Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), Adam Federici (Reading), Brad Jones (Middlesbrough), Eugene Galekovic(Adelaide United)

Defenders: Lucas Neill (Galatasaray), Craig Moore(unattached), Scott Chipperfield (Basel), David Carney (Twente Enschede), Luke Wilkshire (Dynamo Moscow), Rhys Williams (Middlesbrough), Shane Lowry (Aston Villa), Mark Milligan (JEF United), Jade North (Tromso), Michael Beauchamp (Al-Jazira)

Midfielders: Tim Cahill (Everton), Mark Bresciano (Palermo) Vince Grella (Blackburn) Brett Emerton (Blackburn), Jason Culina (Gold Coast), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray), Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar), Carl Valeri (Sassuolo), Mile Jedinak(Antalyaspor), Richard Garcia (Hull), Nick Carle (Crystal Palace), Tommy Oar (Utrecht), Dario Vidosic (Nuremberg), James Holland (AZ Alkmaar)

Forwards: Josh Kennedy (Nagoya), Scott McDonald(Middlesbrough), Nikita Rukavytsya (Twente Enschede)


Note- Harry Kewell has made it despite picking up an injury. Kewell, injured? Surely not! Like the USA this is another decent team with lots of players that either play in the premier league such or used to.
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No squad for Argentina yet, but I imagine Maradona is trying to remember the names of the 100 players he used during qualification.

[Carter]

USA vs England, June 12th..... can't wait.

[Woo]

Argentina
Argentina squad: Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Mariano Andujar (Catania), Diego Pozo (Colon)

Defenders: Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Walter Samuel (Inter Milan), Gabriel Heinze (Olympique Marseille), Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle), Juan Manuel Insaurralde (Newell's Old Boys), Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes), Ariel Garce (Colon)

Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Sebastian Blanco (Lanus), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes), Jesus Datolo (Olympiacos), Jose Sosa (Estudiantes), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Liverpool), Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina), Juan Mercier (Argentinos Juniors), Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle), Javier Pastore (Palermo)

Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Diego Milito (Inter Milan), Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli).
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So no Cambiasso or Javier Zanetti! Crazyness!

[OlympicHero]

It's a travesty that Del Piero hasn't even made the provisional squad for Italy. The man is playing some of the best football of his career and his influence on the squad would surely be a huge advantage for the current World champions.

Their loss, England's gain I suppose.

[Woo]

Hasn't he retired from international football?

[MetalBlade]

We are running a promotion at work at the moment, where if you buy a TV over £599.99, you can claim back £10 cashback for every goal that England scores.
And Toshiba have gone one better, by saying if you buy one of their TVs, they will give you all your money back if England win the cup!
Looks like they don't hold out much hope for Fabio's men.

On aside note, you know that rule that the host nation automatically qualifies for the World Cup?
Well I hear Scotland have applied to host it in 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026, 2030, 2034, 2038, 2042, 2046, 2050, 2054, 2058, 2062, 2066, 2070 etc...

[Woo]

Hahaha @ Metal.

A few quick international friendly round-ups to keep you informed on the current countries form.

Mexico 1 - 0 Senegal
Germany 3 - 0 Malta
Mexico 1 - 0 Angola
Paraguay 1 - 0 North Korea

So Germany look good, but it was only Malta. Mexico took on two decent, not great, African sides and won both by a sole goal at home. I would have thought they would have found those games easier, but thy won I guess and that's all that matters. And North Korea managed to hold their own away from Paraguay away from home. Very impressive in fact they only lost due to an 86 minute penalty from Santa Cruz.

Later today South Korea will be in action against Ecuador while Mexico once again host a friendly fixture, but this time against Chile, who should prove to be much tougher. Mexico will take on South Americans Uruguay in their group at the world cup, so if they can defeat Chile (who are better) they should be confident of making it out the group stage as usual. Chile will take on North Americans Honduras in their group, who actually beat Mexico 4-1 in qualifying.... of course in the return fixture Mexico then beat Honduras 4-1 also, but still if Chile can defeat Mexico they too should be very confident of making it from the groups.