THE BEST PLAYERS WHO WON'T BE IN QATAR
So, England's World Cup squad is announced and some were left disappointed, namely Jadon Sancho, Ivan Toney, Jarrod Bowen, Fiyako Tomori and James Ward-Prowse.
All had either starred for England recently or been tipped for a call-up, but now they will have to watch the finals on television, their childhood dreams dashed in spite of their best efforts to make the final 26.
Sancho had been lighting up the Bundesliga until he swapped Borussia Dortmund for Manchester United.
Back at the 2006 World Cup, England's best player was Owen Hargreaves, who had only played professionally in Germany. He also moved to Old Trafford and saw his career nose-dive, a warning perhaps for Jude Bellingham.
It is traditional at this time to make a best eleven of players not going to the World Cup. There is a more touching archive of those great footballers throughout history who never played in any World Cup, a canon that features the likes of George Best, Eric Cantona, Alfredo di Stefano and George Weah. But that list is for later.
It is 2022 and the list of talented no-shows is getting rather large with every squad announcement. So here is my count up to the 11th of November of those stars who could have but will not be playing at Qatar 2022. What do readers think?
First XI:
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy)
- Reece James (England)
- Leonardo Spinnazzola (Italy)
- Victor Lindelof (Sweden)
- David Alaba (Austria)
- Paul Pogba (France)
- Marco Verratti (Italy)
- Martin Odegaard (Norway)
- James Rodriguez (Colombia)
- Mohammed Salah (Egypt)
- Erling Haaland (Norway)
- Luis Diaz (Colombia)
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| Super striker Erling Haaland |
I am sure you will have your own opinions, but that is not a bad lineup is it? It would certainly be fun to let them play as a wild card entry.
But if you think that was good, wait until you see my full squad of MIAs:
David de Gea (Spain), Kepa (Spain), Ben Chilwell (England), Davide Zappacosta (Italy), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Roberto Firmino (Brazil), Jorginho (Brazil), Mats Hummel (Germany), N'Golo Kante (France), Dejan Kulusevski (Sweden), Robin Olsen (Sweden), Falcao Garcia (Colombia), Diogo Jota (Portugal), Thiago (Spain), Marco Reus (Germany), Victor Osimhen (Nigeria), Luis Sinisterra (Colombia), Alexander Isak (Sweden), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Franck Kessie (Cote d'Ivoire), Mohammed Elyounoussi (Norway), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Federico Chiesa (Italy), Ciro Immobile (Italy), Lorenzo Insigne (Italy), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), Giovanni Lo Celso (Argentina), Timo Werner (Germany).
Never mind lads, football is eternally regenerative - there is always next time.
Qatar World Cup
Opening Match - Qatar v Ecuador
(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile