When the draw was made for the European play-offs in World Cup qualification, the world was left to rue the fact that either Cristiano Ronaldo or Zlatan Ibrahimovic, two of the finest players in the world today, would not be going to Brazil next summer. As it turned out, it was the Portuguese who were celebrating, thanks to Ronaldo's hat trick on Tuesday night, and Sweden to wonder what might have been. It is the second successive World Cup finals that Ibrahimovic will miss. It got me thinking of some of the other players who will also watch the greatest show on Earth on television, and here I have compiled a 23-man squad capable of taking on the best in Brazil.
For the record, I have only selected players from nations that haven't qualified. I have not considered players that have retired from International football, irrespective of whether their team reached the finals (although I am happy to be corrected on any mistakes). Is it too late for this squad to form their own country?!
Goalkeepers:
Petr Cech (Chelsea and Czech Republic)
Samir Handanovic (Inter and Slovenia)
Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal and Poland)
Defenders:
Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund and Serbia)
Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea and Serbia)
Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund and Poland)
Martin Skrtel (Liverpool and Slovakia)
Daniel Agger (Liverpool and Denmark)
Vlad Chiriches (Tottenham Hotspur and Romania)
David Alaba (Bayern Munich and Austria)
Midfielders:
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid and Wales)
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund and Poland)
Arda Turan (Atletico Madrid and Turkey)
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Tottenham Hotspur and Iceland)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Borussia Dortmund and Armenia)
Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal and Wales)
Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur and Denmark)
Andriy Yarmolenko (Dinamo Kiev and Ukraine)
Forwards:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG and Sweden)
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund and Poland)
Oscar Cardozo (Benfica and Paraguay)
Marek Hamsik (Napoli and Slovakia)
Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund and Gabon)
Let me know who you would select for your squad, or which of these 23 would make your starting 11. Tweet me @adamgray50 or leave a comment.
Wednesday 20 November 2013
Friday 8 November 2013
TWIF 2.03: Plenty to shout about in north London
This Week In Football takes a look at how north London is coping with new expectation.
Are Arsenal the real deal?
Sunday will be a fantastic day for armchair fans of the Barclays Premier League, with Sky Sports showing three games back-to-back. Consider it your reward for sitting through the inevitable bore draw between Norwich and West Ham on Saturday Night Football. Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle begins the Super Sunday hat trick, followed by Manchester City's trip to Sunderland. But the big one is at Old Trafford, as Manchester United host leaders Arsenal in a must-win game for the home team. Defeat for David Moyes' side is not an option. They would fall 11 points behind the Gunners, and surely out of the title race. For Arsenal, it is the third game of what has been called a season-defining week. Many times before, we have seen previous Arsenal teams fail these sort of tests; the big boys would show them up for being the flat track bullies they perhaps were. But right now they are two-thirds of the way to proving that they could be here to stay, following wins at home to Liverpool last Saturday night, and best of all, their victory at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League which proved how resillient they have become defensively. Despite their excellent start, there are many that are yet to be convinced about their credentials both at home and abroad, yet a win on Sunday would surely get everyone believing that their long trophy drought could end.
Tottenham could be, just be patient.
Across north London, Tottenham are continuing to make slow and steady progress. Thursday night's 2-1 win over Sheriff Tiraspol ensured their place in the Europa League round of 32, they are in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals, and are in the top four in the Premier League with the top flight's second best defensive record. Reason for optimism you would think, yet Andre Villas-Boas can't seem to win over the fans who think his team plays dull football. For me it doesn't matter. A 1-0 win is worth as much as any other, and don't forget that Spurs are still a work in progress when you think of how many new signings are still gelling together. The supporters who are frustrated at the lack of goals should remember that they are still picking up wins, and will only get better once the likes of Roberto Soldado, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela begin to hit form. Villas-Boas must believe that to win you have to concede fewer goals than the other team, not score more! All he should be criticised for this week is his decision not to substitute Hugo Lloris following his head injury at Everton. It was irresponsible to say the least, and he was lucky that Lloris had a relatively quiet end to the game.
Are Arsenal the real deal?
Sunday will be a fantastic day for armchair fans of the Barclays Premier League, with Sky Sports showing three games back-to-back. Consider it your reward for sitting through the inevitable bore draw between Norwich and West Ham on Saturday Night Football. Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle begins the Super Sunday hat trick, followed by Manchester City's trip to Sunderland. But the big one is at Old Trafford, as Manchester United host leaders Arsenal in a must-win game for the home team. Defeat for David Moyes' side is not an option. They would fall 11 points behind the Gunners, and surely out of the title race. For Arsenal, it is the third game of what has been called a season-defining week. Many times before, we have seen previous Arsenal teams fail these sort of tests; the big boys would show them up for being the flat track bullies they perhaps were. But right now they are two-thirds of the way to proving that they could be here to stay, following wins at home to Liverpool last Saturday night, and best of all, their victory at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League which proved how resillient they have become defensively. Despite their excellent start, there are many that are yet to be convinced about their credentials both at home and abroad, yet a win on Sunday would surely get everyone believing that their long trophy drought could end.
Tottenham could be, just be patient.
Across north London, Tottenham are continuing to make slow and steady progress. Thursday night's 2-1 win over Sheriff Tiraspol ensured their place in the Europa League round of 32, they are in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals, and are in the top four in the Premier League with the top flight's second best defensive record. Reason for optimism you would think, yet Andre Villas-Boas can't seem to win over the fans who think his team plays dull football. For me it doesn't matter. A 1-0 win is worth as much as any other, and don't forget that Spurs are still a work in progress when you think of how many new signings are still gelling together. The supporters who are frustrated at the lack of goals should remember that they are still picking up wins, and will only get better once the likes of Roberto Soldado, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela begin to hit form. Villas-Boas must believe that to win you have to concede fewer goals than the other team, not score more! All he should be criticised for this week is his decision not to substitute Hugo Lloris following his head injury at Everton. It was irresponsible to say the least, and he was lucky that Lloris had a relatively quiet end to the game.
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