Some of the world’s top clubs competing in this year’s World Cup have announced their preliminary World Cup rosters, and some of the coaches’ decisions could be second-guessed.
Here are a few of the coaches’ decisions who could be considered surprises, as well as a few that seemed obvious to most, but no so obvious to others.
Surprising:
Felipe Melo and Kaka Selected For Brazil Over Ronaldinho
Ok, you can call me crazy here, but I’m filing Ronaldinho’s omission from Dunga’s preliminary roster as a surprise. For Dunga to not even include ‘Dinho in the roster doesn’t really tell me that he’s fat, lazy, has lost a touch, or would rather spend the summer drinking (even though he’s likely all of the above), but that he’s such a distraction to the team that he doesn’t want him anywhere around the camp.
The buck-toothed former great seemed to have been getting his form back at Milan this season, with 10 goals (third on the team) and 14 assists (currently first in the Serie A). So for Dunga to not even give him a chance to earn a roster spot and keep him out completely? It would appear that there are players that Dunga doesn’t trust, and obviously Ronaldinho (who is still only 30) seems to be on the list, along with ex-Milan-party-mate Adriano who is also currently in form scoring 19 goals in 30 matches for Flamengo this season…. yes, you say “It’s the Brazilian League”, but that didn’t stop Robinho from being selected.
Meanwhile, Felipe Melo, who won the 2009 Golden Bin Award for the worst player in Serie A and failed miserably to live up to expectations following the Confederations’ Cup, was selected, as was the biggest transfer bust possibly in world football history: Kaka.
Many will say “well that’s not fair, Kaka was hurt” (which is probably not true), or “he had problems settling in” (which obviously hasn’t affected Cristiano), etc… but two things seem certain: current club form wasn’t looked at very closely with these selections, and the Brazilian manager obviously has a few favorites.
Totti, Balotelli, and Toni Left Out of Italian Team
You always have those young and up-coming superstars who you seem certain that managers will leave a roster spot open for (Theo Walcott for England in 2006, Ronaldo in 1994, etc.), and I thought for sure that Balotelli would be that player for Italy this season despite his poor attitude and numerous run-ins with Mourinho this season. Too bad for him (and the United States) that wasn’t the case, with Giuseppe Rossi ended up being selected instead.
Meanwhile Totti, who is still only 33 and who had a pretty decent season for Roma this year, fails to make it back onto the international scene and Luca Toni seems to be left out for the younger target forward Vincenzo Iaquinta.
You may not think that Toni and Totti’s exclusions are such huge surprises, but seeing as they have 105 appearances and 25 international goals between them, more than forwards Fabio Quagliarelli (18 appearances, 3 goals) Giuseppe Rossi (14, 3) Iaquinta (35, 5), Boriello (4,0), Pazzini (6,1) combined, it looks like Lippi is going with the same defensive midfield mentality that led to a World Cup victory (and many people falling asleep before the 90th minute of Italy matches) in 2006.
Tottenh…I mean, England
A few things about England surprise me when looking at their roster. They seem to have some defensive vulnerability (who knows who the England #1 will be, Rio may not be fit, King is lucky to get through a full training session, I couldn’t pick Matthew Upson, Leighton Baines, or Stephen Warnock out of a lineups, Michael Dawson hasn’t even been capped yet, and of course, there’s John Terry…), and they’re also ridiculously stacked at center mid (Lampard, Gerrard, Barry, Huddleston, James Milner, and Scott Parker)…. but the one thing that stands out: Fabio Capello must have been to more Tottenham matches this season than I remember.
Six players from the Spurs (who finished fourth in 2009-2010) were named to the England roster, while EPL Champions Chelsea only send three (Cashley, Fat Franky, and Terry), second-place Manchester United only send three (Rooney, Carrick, and Rio), and Arsenal, who are lucky to even have an Englishman in their squad these days, send Theo Walcott.
Compare that to Spain’s 30-man roster, who could possibly field a starting XI made entirely of Spanish players from Real Madrid (5 players on the preliminary roster) and Barcelona (7 players) and do a lot more than just compete. Seeing as the United States beat Spain in Confederations Cup,it all adds up to a victory for the red white and blue, I mean, the stars and stripes.
Not Quite As Surprising
Charlie Davies Not Making the Roster
You have to admire Charlie Davies’ determination to try to get back in form after suffering an auto accident that left him with multiple broken bones back in October, and as inspiring as the stories that he was back to training with his club team Sochaux were, you had to have seen this coming.
Is Bob Bradley dumb enough to risk this kids’ still promising future (remember, at only 23, he could still realistically make 2 more World Cup rosters) after rushing back from such a devastating accident? Nope.
Some might say “well bring him along as an inspirational player, he doesn’t have to play”. Right. That’s like telling your parents as a kid that you just wanted to go look around in Toys”R”Us. If Davies was on the roster, every USMNT fan would be screaming as loud as they could to get him on the pitch, and I’m having a hard time believing that Charlie’s ready to be fit for World Cup play after not playing a match all year and returning to training weeks before doctors expected. Everyone would have loved to see number nine in South Africa, too bad we’ll have to wait four more years and time around settle for either Brian Ching (ugh), Edson Buddle (Ugh), or Eddie Johnson (UGH!). It’s going to be a long summer.
About George:
George Murphy is an Op-Ed columnist for Yanks-Abroad.com and full-time Maryland SEO consultant.
