I realized when I wrote the title that most Europeans would think I'm waxing about the bathroom/loo, but indeed I'm talking about the largest sporting event in the World...no...not the Olympics, but World Cup.
Today was the day that national team managers revealed their 30-man or in some cases 23-man teams. For Portugal, former United second-in-charge Carlos Queiroz didn't piddle around and just went with the 24-man squad, rather than drag the process out to cut someone. No surprises, although he did include Pepe, the Real Madrid defender who suffered a serious leg injury at the beginning of the season and has not played at all...not sure if he's going to be fit, but he's on the squad nonetheless. I have a feeling that Pepe is more of an emotional choice than a tactical one.
USA--
No surprises whatsoever for Bob Bradley's team. Charlie Davies, the Sochaux forward, just recently recovered from injuries received in a car accident. He tried desperately to make the squad, but fell short. He will be missed.
The nice thing about this squad is that they have experience playing in Europe. Prem League, Ligue 1, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Scottish Premier League. All three of our keepers play in the highly-competitive Premier League...that will bode well for us.
Brasil--
Manager Dunga has already received criticism for leaving out Ronaldo (Nazaria) from the squad, although the original Real Madrid #9 said recently that he didn't deserve to be on the team. Now the under-fire manager has left off a duck, and one -inho while retaining another -inho. Alexandre Pato (duck) has been left off. That isn't surprising, as his form has not been good this year (especially against top clubs) and his recent marital strife has made the headlines. He and wife Sthefany (not lying about the goofy name) are divorcing after one year of marriage...the reason? He spent too much time crawling the nightspots with fellow AC Milaner Ronaldinho. It's ironic and justified that the latter was also left off the squad. His prolific partying ways have gotten him into hot water at several clubs...not the least of which was his last employer, Barcelona. His form at the beginning of this season was non-existent. A surge in form after the New Year gave hope to many Brasileiros that "Dinho" would be on the squad for the WC. But Dunga is wise to not include this troublemaker. In his heyday he was the best, but his lack of focus is legendary and Brasil is in the "Group of Death" alongside Portugal, Ivory Coast, and North Korea.
While leaving off Ronaldinho, Robinho has secured a place on the squad. Both 'inhos are trouble for different reasons. I've already outlined the oversocializing done by the former. The latter is for lack of a better word...an ass. Signing for Manchester City for big bucks after flopping wildly in Madrid, this over-rated prima donna escaped Manchester (after flopping in the Prem League) for hometown side Santos...to rediscover himself. Yawn. The high opinion he has of himself must have a lonely existence, because no one else thinks that highly of him. It's puzzling why Dunga does.
The one question mark for Brasil is Kaka. Of course he would make the side or Dunga's exit from Brasil would resemble the running of the bulls in Pamplona. But Kaka's name has sadly become just that...a name. His play this year for Madrid (ironic that almost everyone goes there to end their career) has been spotty at best. Plagued by a mysterious pubalgia that Milan failed to reveal to his buyers, who paid a whopping 65 million for him (shouldn't have gone for even half of that), the former WPOTY in 2007 has not seen any decent form since his big award. He seems to do well in WC play, but this year could be different.
France--
Their loss in the final at the last WC was a sad event. Their inclusion in this year's WC is even sadder. Not only are they missing the one spark who has carried them through their best years (Zizou), but they will be the talk of South Africa for their surreptitious qualification. Thierry Henry's double handball in their qualifier against Ireland was equal to the shot heard 'round the world. Many think that they should have had to play a rematch with Ireland. They have also seen off-pitch issues boil over in the last couple of years. First, their manager, Raymond Domenech, was blasted for ignoring the questions of journalists after his team had been dumped from Euro 2008 qualifying, only to propose to his girlfriend instead. Then the handball incident, then Franck Ribery's under-aged prostitute thing (which included Karim Benzema and Govou), then Benzema crashes two vehicles in a couple of weeks....is your head spinning yet?
Well...Ribery is firmly in the squad. His Bayern squad will play for the Champions League crown against Inter in 10 days time. Benzema has done very poorly for Madrid this year (I said he was over-rated at the beginning of the season), and will not be on the team. Domenech insisted that the sex scandal had nothing to do with his decisions and given Benzema's poor form, that's believable.
Yoann Gourcuff, once thought to be the successor to Zizou, has had a spotty season at Bordeaux, although he is on the team for WC 2010.
The only bright star on the entire team in my estimation is Manchester United's Patrice Evra. He is without a doubt the best left-back in the world. It won't be enough. They'll be lucky to find their way out of their group.
30 days and counting...
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