People's Republic of Zlatan: 23 players not going to the World Cup

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.