The World Cup will see the best football (soccer) players on the globe gathering in South Africa to play for sports greatest prize. However, the week running up to the World Cup has seen several big names, Robben, Drogba and Nani have become injured and face the possibility of missing the tournament. These are not the only players who will miss the tournament, and some of the world’s best players will watch the World Cup from home.
Who are the best players who will not be featuring in South Africa? This is the best team compiled from players will be missing the World cup because they are injured, were not selected to represent their nation or the country they represent failed to qualify.
The Best Players Not Going to the World Cup XI
Goal Keeper
- Petr Cech (Czech Republic) – Arguably the best goalie in the world, the Chelsea keeper will not be appearing in South Africa as the shot stopper could not help Czech Republic qualify for the finals.
Defenders
- Javier Zanetti (Argentina) – Inter’s Serie A and Champions League winning right back will miss the tournament after Diego Maradona left the veteran defender out of his squad.
- Rio Ferdinand (England) – The injury to the Manchester United center back and England captain in the could damage
- Alex (Brazil) – Chelsea’s Premier League winning centre back was one of several big names to be left out of Dunga’s World Cup squad.
- Wayne Bridge (England) – The Manchester City left back was not included in Fabio Capello’s squad after ruling himself out following the scandal involving John Terry and his former girlfriend, Vanessa Perroncel.
Midfielders
- David Beckham (England) – After spending the past two years playing himself into the England squad with quality performances for LA Galaxy and AC Milan, Beckham will miss the tournament through injury.
- Francesco Totti (Italy) – The Roma captain, who retired after winning the World Cup in 2006, wanted to be recalled, but failed to make Lippi’s squad.
- Michael Essien (Ghana) – The Chelsea holding midfield will not be heading to South Africa after failing to recover from a knee injury suffered training for the African Cup of Nations in January.
- Ronaldinho (Brazil) – A return to form this year for the two time world player of the year who was dropped over a year ago, failed to secure the Brazilian superstar a place in Dunga’s squad.
Strikers
- Karim Benzema (France) – The Real Madrid strikers disappointing season following his €35 million transfer from Lyon, lead to him not being selected for France.
- Alexandre Pato (Brazil) – The young AC Milan striker was a surprised omission from the World Cup favourites squad, as the coach decided to only take four strikers to the World Cup.
Bench – Players who Failed to Qualify for the World Cup
These are not the only superstars not to feature in the World Cup, a whole host of the world’s best players will not be heading to South Africa, and almost made the ‘best players not heading to the World Cup XI”
Antonia Valencia (Ecuador), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Tomáš Rosický (Czech Republic) will all miss the World Cup as their respective countries failed to qualify for the tournament.
This team comprised of players who will not be featuring in South Africa, would have a good chance of winning the Champions League, or even the World Cup itself. However, even with these superstars absent the World Cup will still be packed full of the world’s best players, and will no doubt be one of the best tournaments ever.
Tom Ravenscroft - Tom Ravenscroft is a freelance journalist and academic who currently resides in the UK. Though he feels particularly educated in ...
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