The
2014 World Cup begins on June 12, when Brazil plays Croatia in the
opening match. Reporters and editors for The Times will count down to
the start of the tournament each day with a short capsule of news and
interesting tidbits.
From
two-thirds of the Benelux countries (Belgium and the Netherlands, but
not Luxembourg) to Spain, Portugal, France and Italy in Europe;
Colombia, Argentina and Chile in South America; and Ivory Coast in
Africa, World Cup squads are taking shape as a sense of urgency sets in
only 30 days from the start of the tournament.
Here is a quick look at some of the roster news from Tuesday:
Colombia
Radamel
Falcao, the Monaco striker who has been sidelined by a knee injury
since January, was included among the 30 players named by Colombia’s
Argentine coach, José Peckerman. According to news media reports,
doctors have given Falcao a 50-50 chance of making the 23-man final
roster, which must be submitted to FIFA by June 2. Falcao scored 70
goals in two years with Atlético Madrid and 11 goals in 19 appearances
in France’s Ligue 1 for his new club, before sustaining the injury. He
struck for 9 goals as Colombia finished fourth in South America’s
marathon qualifying round.
“Falcao
is very important for us, he’s like Lionel Messi is for Argentina,”
goalkeeper Faryd Mondragón told reporters last month. “We are hopeful he
will recover. I think if anyone has the courage and pride to come
through this injury it’s Falcao, and he’s important for us on and off
the pitch.”
Colombia is in Group C with Greece, Japan and Ivory Coast.
Belgium
Coach
Marc Wilmots on Tuesday named a provisional squad that includes two
youngsters who have never played internationally for Belgium: Manchester
United’s Adnan Januzaj and Lille’s Divock Origi. Januzaj only three
weeks ago declared his intention to play for Belgium. Origi is seen as a
possible replacement for the injured Christian Benteke. Origi’s family
is from Kenya, but he was born in Belgium. Januzaj’s family is from
Albania, and he could have played for that country, Kosovo, Serbia and
even England (in a stretch).
“He
is a top talent and has such exceptional qualities, he can play several
positions,” Wilmots said of Januzaj. On Origi, Wilmots said: “He has
great potential. He has Benteke’s profile. It is easy to target him.”
At
the heart of Belgium’s squad are goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, defender
Vincent Kompany, the creative Eden Hazard and Bayern Munich’s Daniel Van
Buyten.
Belgium is in Group H with Russia, South Korea and Algeria.
Italy
Giuseppe Rossi may finally fulfill a dream to play for the land of his ancestors in the World Cup.
The
27-year-old striker who grew up in New Jersey but moved to Italy at age
12 to join Parma’s youth academy was named by Manager Cesare Prandelli
to Italy’s 30-man pre-World Cup roster on Tuesday. Rossi, who played for
Italy in the 2009 Confederations Cup but was a late cut from the team
that went to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, was leading Serie A in
goals scored when he sustained another knee injury, in January.
He spent time in the United States rehabbing before returning to Italy and playing several late-season matches for Fiorentina.
Prandelli
chose not to select forwards Alberto Gilardino and Pablo Osvaldo;
Sunderland wing Emanuele Giaccherini; attacking midfielder Alessandro
Diamanti who is headed to China; and Zenit St. Petersburg defender
Domenico Criscito.
The
attack includes Mario Balotelli, Antonio Cassano, Alessio Cerci, Mattia
Destro, Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne and Rossi. Goalkeeper Gianluigi
Buffon is headed to his fifth World Cup.
Italy is in Group D with England, Costa Rica and Uruguay.
France
Shocked! Shocked!
That
is probably the only word to describe the reaction of Sami Nasri (or at
least his girlfriend on Twitter) to being left off France’s provisional
23-man World Cup squad on Tuesday. Nasri, fresh off winning England’s
Premier League with Manchester City last week, is not even among the
seven players named in reserve by Coach Didier Deschamps.
In addition, Deschamps did not select defenders Eric Abidal and Gaël Clichy, and midfielder Yoann Gourcuff.
The
spark for Les Bleus will come up front from Loic Remy (Newcastle),
Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) and Olivier
Giroud
France is in Group E with Honduras, Switzerland and Ecuador.
Spain
La
Furia Roja will be attempting to win back-to-back World Cup titles for
the first time since Brazil won in 1958 (Sweden) and 1962 (Chile). That
would be a nice bookend to consecutive European Championship titles
(2008 and 2012).
Eighteen
of the 23 players from the 2010 World Cup roster were selected by Coach
Vincente del Bosque among the 30-man provisional squad. Eight play in
England; seven with Barcelona, four each with Real Madrid and Atlético
Madrid; three in Italy; two in Germany and one apiece with Athletic
Bilbao and Sevila in Spain.
If anything, de Bosque is going to be hard-pressed to designate seven players who will not be among the 23 going to Brazil.
The
roster reads like an all-star team: Fernando Torres, David Villa,
Álvaro Negredo, Fernando Llorente, Pedro Rodríguez, Diego Costa, Juan
Mata, Cesc Fàbregas and Santi Cazorla. In goal, another bounty: Pepe
Reina, the captain Iker Casillas and David de Gea.
Left out were Álvaro Arbeloa and Isco.
Spain is in Group B with the Netherlands (opening with a rematch of the 2010 final), Chile and Australia.
Portugal
Coach Paulo Bento has a luxury — being able to write in, with a pen, the name Cristiano Ronaldo on his lineup sheets.
The
Real Madrid star was among the 30 players named to Portugal’s
preliminary roster ahead of its opening match against Germany in Brazil.
Joining Ronaldo are his Madrid teammates Pepe and Fábio Coentrão. Also in the squad are Nani and Hélder Postiga.
Portugal is in Group D with Germany, Ghana and the United States.
The Netherlands
Coach
Louis van Gaal, who is headed to Manchester United after the World Cup,
according to numerous news media reports, released his preliminary
30-man roster on Tuesday. After the World Cup, van Gaal will be replaced
by Guus Hiddink (through the 2016 European Championships), and
Hiddink’s assistants Danny Blind and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The
team, as it now stands, includes only eight players from the squad that
lost to Spain in the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa. Van Gaal
included two veterans in the midfield — Rafael van der Vaart and Nigel
de Jong. The emotional center of the team belongs to Robin van Persie,
who is racing to return to form after an injury-plagues season at
Manchester United, and Arjen Robben of Bayern Munich.
The
outs include goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, and defenders John
Heitinga and Joris Mathijsen; while van Gaal opted to include Wesley
Sneijder after a subpar season in Turkey.
Van
Gaal said this week that the absence of the injured Kevin Strootman in
the midfield may force him to use a formation that has five defenders,
at least on paper.
The Dutch are in Group B with Spain, Chile and Australia.
Chile
AdvertisemChile
could be one of the big surprises in Brazil (bear in mind that o
European team has ever won a World Cup title in the Western Hemisphere),
but much will depend on the healing power of Juventus midfielder Arturo
Vidal. Vidal underwent knee surgery only last Wednesday in Italy and
was granted permission to return to Chile for rehab.
On
Tuesday, he was named to Chile’s 30-man provisional roster by Coach
Jorge Sampaoli, who also is counting on the play of Barcelona’s Alexis
Sánchez to progress beyond the group state.
Left out were midfielders David Pizarro and Humberto Suazo.
Chile is in Group B with Australia, Spain and the Netherlands.
Ivory Coast
With
players sprinkled throughout some of the best leagues in Europe —
England, France, Germany and Turkey — this could be the last hurrah in
the World Cup for some of the best and best-known Ivorians.
Named
to the squad on Tuesday was striker Didier Drogba, 36, and midfielder
Yaya Touré, part of Manchester City’s Premier League winners. Drogba has
been dealing with a knee injury that limited his playing time late in
the season in Turkey.
“Not seeing Drogba on the field is also worrying,” Coach Sabri Lamouchi said.
Ivory Coast is in Group C with Japan, Greece and Colombia.
Argentina
An orgy of riches, there is simply no other way to put it.
Though
Carlos Tevez was left out, Argentina’s provisional roster is loaded,
simply loaded. From Lionel Messi to Ángel Di Maria, Pablo Zabaleta to
Javier Mascherano, Sergio Agüero to Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Argentina is in Group F with Iran, Nigeria, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
No comments:
Post a Comment