World Cup Squads Throw A Few Surpirses

The World Cup finally feels like it is around the corner. Once we get the European Finals and the FA Cup out of the way, the best torunament in the World will suddenly get the full attention of football lovers everywhere. With the majority of the World Cup squads being announced, the interest is starting to grow.

The squad announcements have been dragging for a while now. Constant friendlies, unfortuante injuries and players hitting rich veins of form have given us hours of will he, won't he press columns and tv air time. Finnaly we know who is in the running for a World Cup call up. Whilst it has all panned out pretty much as we expected, there are a few interesting selections or omissions.

Let's start with England. Media hype has been at its highest in recent days with the impending news that Fabio Capello would be announcing the squad of players that will surely (as always!) bring back the World Cup to this country. While a lot of Fleet street's finest have been quick to condemn his decisions, i think it is a pretty good squad. He has rightly given Darren Bent a chance to show he can cut it at the highest level. The only query i would have is Carragher's inclusion. Having said that international football is no longer for him, it is interesting to see Carragher back in the fold. His performances this season have been far from comforting, as any Liverpool fan will tell you. However, if he can reproduce the type of form he showed when helping Liverpool to Champions League glory, then that will be forgotten.

Meanwhile, handball specialist's France have announced a few surprise ommisions. While Premier League talent such as Clichy, Evra, Gallas, Malouda and Anelka have been selected, coach Raymond Domenech has left out former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Viera and current Arsenal play maker Samir Nasri. Viera, i hear has not taken kindly to Domenech's decision, as he faces being left out of the squad for the first time since he was part of that 3-0 win over Brazil in the 1998 Final. Nasri must also be shocked to hear he will not be needed after been one of the shining stars of an otherwise dim season for Arsenal. Put it this way, Diaby made it while Nasri didnt. Has Domenech been watching Arsenal at all? Another interesting note is the inclusion of Thierry Henry and the exclusion of Real Madrid's big summer signing, Karim Benzema. Domenech has been quoted as saying Benzema didnt feature enough for Real and he needs players who have played good amounts of football recently. I dont know if he has watched any of Barcelona's recent games but Thierry has done a magnificent job at sitting in one place for the whole 90 minutes. That place being the bench.

But finally, lets look at Argentina as they have surpirsed me and confused me the most. Now, i am a big fan of Argentina. I love to watch Messi play, have always admired Argetnian football and until his move across the city of Manchester, was a massive admirer of Carlos Tevez. Then there is Diego Maradona. How can you not love one of the greatest players to ever have played the game and now one of the most eccentric managers around. Sadly though i think his eccentricity is going to be a negative aspect to what could be a great team. Maradona has omitted big name players from his squad, such as Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti. Both players have been pivotal in bringing yet another Serie A to Inter Milan and also in helping the Italian giants reach the Champiosn League semi Final. They have shown they can still cut at the top level and instead of including experienced heads like those, Maradona has gone for an inexpereienced side. In fact, if you like your facts and figures 21 of the 30 (70%) of his squad have never featured in a World Cup. Whilst i admire evertyhing Maradona has done in his career (almost everything) and i wait on baited breath for his pre and post match interviews as there is a high possibility that something outrageous and sometimes racist can be said, i hope this eccentricity that is tagged to him doesnt cloud sensible judgement and get in the way of what could be a very very good team.