The excitement and chatter surrounding a World Cup always fall between two inescapable pleasures – the joy of watching the world’s finest stars representing their home nations and wondering which youngster will forever immortalize their status on the grandest stage of all.
So it’s surprising that already this week’s World Cup preliminary squad headlines are dominated by their shocking exclusions rather than real admiration of a nation’s squad depth.
Whilst certain contenders (Portugal, Spain, Holland) have posted their team sheets with a minimum of fuss, it’s the under-fire managers which stand the most to lose that have ignited the rage of the blogosphere. Raymond Domenech (France), Marcelo Lippi (Italy), Dunga (Brazil) and Diego Maradona (Argentina) all stand accused of excluding established veterans or potential starlets through a mix of stubbornness or conservatism. Considering each boss holds a less than sterling reputation (justified or not) amongst their countries’ football fanatics, it is these decisions which will be held accountable should they fail to live up to expectations.
Italy: It would be unthinkable for most countries’ fans to deride a manager’s World Cup preparation after he had won the prize four years previously, yet critics charge that Italy’s main problem is exactly that – their 2010 preliminary squad is overly reliant on the winners of 2006. When Sampdoria and Palermo fight this weekend for the final UEFA Champions League fourth spot, each club will owe much from their campaigns to their respective talismans – Antonio Cassano and Fabrizio Miccoli, who alone has hit the target domestically 19 times. Alas, neither will be hitching a ride to South Africa, despite huge campaigns from the Italian press. Would there be any link between Miccoli’s exclusion with the infamous Calciopoli match-fixing scandals of 2006, where former Juventus director Luciano Moggi (who Lippi had worked under for years) was wire-tapped telling the striker’s friend “Tell him to be less stupid, otherwise I won’t let him be called up for the national teamâ€, before Miccoli subsequently testified against the Juve? Work that one out yourself.
Juventus themselves boast eight players of the preliminary 30 despite conceding 56 goals thus far and rendered mathematically unable to reach Europe (Europa League or otherwise). Whilst no-one doubts the credentials of Italy’s top goalkeeper and defender (Gigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini), Fabio Cannavaro and Fabio Grosso have both been singled out for awful domestic campaigns, whilst Vincenzo Iaquinta returns from a six-month absence (five goals this season, equal to a paltry international record from 35 appearances) to seal a spot. When one of your starting wingers is an under-form 33 year-old Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus, naturally), it’s tough to see where Italy’s firepower and spark lies. Of course these criticisms (aging squad, conservatism in selection and tactics) were leveled at the 2006 trophy-winning side but that’s exactly the point – four years have passed whilst Lippi stands still.
France: Raymond Domenech has never been too popular in a country where an ironic song extolling his sexual prowess became an online hit, yet the furry-eyebrowed astrology buff has raised eyebrows throughout his team selection history, to the point where he admitted “distrusting Scorpios†as his basis for excluding Robert Pires from national duty. Whilst his preliminary squad features a lone Scorpio (defender Anthony Réveillère), it included four uncapped players and surprise exclusions of Samir Nasri and Karim Benzema.
Whilst Benzema has had a quiet and injury-blighted first season at Real Madrid, it mustn’t be forgotten he is 22, Ligue 1 Player of the Year 2008 and has a fine International record (8 goals from 27 appearances) – surely a more promising prospect than Hatem Ben Arfa (just 6 goals from 33 appearances for the Ligue 1 winners Marseilles). Samir Nasri will have to accept an improving season for Arsenal and Champions League performances counted for little against uncapped midfielders Mathieu Valbena and Yann M’Vila. Now there may be method to Domenech’s madness (with a focus on Ligue 1 players corresponding to French sides’ 2010 European improvements) but with a tough group and a captain that could be heading to the MLS post-tournament, he will need big results to confound the doubters.
Brazil: Despite embarking on a 19-game unbeaten run and winning last year’s Confederations Cup, Brazilian fans and media alike have never quite taken to 1994 World Cup-winning captain Dunga as manager. Their main contention is with Dunga’s organised, no-frills ethos that resulted in one of the least Brazilian sides to watch, but gets the job done in workmanlike fashion rather than the “Joga Bonito†style of football synonymous with yesterday’s exclusions Adriano and Ronaldinho. Whilst each player has successfully rehabilitated their careers it is of no real surprise Dunga has discarded both potential media distractions.
What was a surprise however, was Dunga’s decision to announce his full squad of 23 players, leaving just four forwards and excluding the potentially magnificent youngsters Neymar and Alexandre Pato (a combined age of 38). Whilst no-one could take umbrage with his striking decisions (Luis Fabiano, Nilmar, Grafite and Robinho), the paucity of their striking options leaves no possibility for a Brazilian wonderkid to grab the headlines, much like Pelé and Ronaldo in the 1958 and 1998 tournaments respectively. Though it sounds like a fickle complaint, a lack of flair and youthful options will be the scapegoats trundled out should Dunga fail to appease the notoriously demanding Brazilian press.
Argentina: The biggest surprise in Diego Maradona’s preliminary squad selection would have been if there were no surprises – after all the man Argentinians call God has been a notoriously choosey deity, calling up over 100 players during his 18-month reign. Despite players leading their clubs to the Champions League final (Inter captain and legend Javier Zanetti, Estaban Cambiasso) or winning Ligue 1 player of the Year (Lisandro Lopez), Argentina’s South Africa-bound plane will feature ten players from the Primera División Argentina and three goalkeepers whose combined International appearances total 12. In Argentina’s case, however, if Diego’s maddening selection leads to an underperforming side and tough media questioning we can perhaps look forward to another epic press conference rant.
In the end few would argue that the only objective of any side in the World Cup is to win. To do so each side must operate within the system with suits the players and manager and has grown organically through qualifying. Whilst fans such as us yearn for star-making moments and world-class pairings in our World Cup experience these concerns matter little should a manager’s game plan come to glorious fruition. Though we can baulk and grumble (rightfully in some cases) at this week’s exclusions, there will be plenty of packed pubs and online forums this summer for us to vent our spleen back and forth at the first sign of our dire prophecies coming true – and that’s a sport in itself.
By Emmet Purcell
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