The highway to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil was paved with an assortment of uncertainty, ill fortune and the expected levels of excitement. Add to that the fact that a large contingent of the players is coming off exciting seasons in the English Premier League and Spain’s La Liga where the title races went down to the wire, this year’s World Cup promises an especially tasty treat.
Familiar foes will become brothers-in-arms for four weeks as 32 nations battle it out to be crowned the king of the football world.
With the exception of goalkeeper Fraser Foster and standby Jermain Defoe, England manager Roy Hodgson has picked only domestic players.
His largely inexperienced squad, including those players on standby, number 30, with 28 of them playing in English-based clubs.
In all, the English contribution to the World Cup is a whopping 128 players spread over 28 nations. Belgium have the second largest number of England-based players, with 12. France are a close third, with 10.
England’s Wayne Rooney is perhaps the most experienced player in the Lions’ squad. After being left out of the team, Ashley Cole, who has 107 international caps to his credit, had famously quit international football. Cole, who has played three World Cups for England, had made news for all the wrong reasons in the recent years, but was gracious while announcing retirement.
“I got the call from Roy and agree the England team should be about the young players. I think it best I retire from the England team now,” Cole had said during an interview after his omission from the English side.
Meanwhile, surprise exclusions from the French squad are Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy, who had recently won the English Premier League title with Manchester City. However, the France boss was steadfast in defence of his decision. “I built the best squad, I did not pick the 23 best French players,” Deschamps was quoted as saying. The onus is now on Deschamps to justify ignoring Nasri.
Those expecting Spain’s La Liga, arguably the second most popular football league in the world, to run England close in terms of player supply to World Cup squads will be disappointed, as only 65 players who will feature in Brazil are currently on play in Spain. In terms of numbers, La Liga is fourth.
A surprise second is the Italian league, Serie A, which has contributed an impressive 91 players to World Cup hopeful nations. A close third is Bundesliga, the German championship. Very strong performances in the Bundesliga has rewarded 87 players with World Cup berths. Not surprisingly, a lion’s share belongs to World Cup favourites Germany, whose squad comprises mainly of players from record-breaking German champions Bayern Munich.
Neighbours Switzerland have picked 13 players based out of Germany in their squad.
The World Cup, as the title suggests, is a battle between nations for football supremacy, but taking all these numbers into account, the story clearly runs deeper. On the surface of it, chances are that whichever nation holds aloft the trophy on July 13, will likely have at least one English Premier League player in its squad.
