Gunners Make 30-Man Preliminary World Cup Rosters

The 30-man preliminary rosters from each national team federation were due to FIFA today. While rosters still have to be pared down from 30 to 23 before the tournament itself starts, that will almost certainly be done from the 30 men on each preliminary roster, so if you’re not on one of those rosters, it’s pretty safe to say you’re not going to the World Cup. Here are the Arsenal players who did and did not make their nations’ preliminary rosters:

Brazil: Denilson failed to make the 30-man provisional roster, and was never seriously in consideration for a roster spot. When you can’t win a spot over Kleberson, maybe it’s time to take a long hard look at how hard you’re trying, young ‘un.

Cameroon: Alex Song made the provisional roster, will make the 23-man roster, and will probably start at center half for the Lions.

Denmark: Nicklas Bendtner made the provisional roster, and will definitely make the 23-man roster and start up front for the Danes.

England: As expected, Theo Walcott made the Three Lions’ provisional roster, and barring something unexpected, will make the final roster as well. I don’t think he’ll start matches for England, but I do think he’ll see regular action as a super-sub. Sol Campbell had lobbied for inclusion, but was ultimately left off the team, as Mr. cabbage man Capello probably felt that he had enough old, crippled center halves in Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher, and Ledley King. There had been at one time talk of Manuel Almunia playing for England, as he became eligible a few years back, but that all died down this season when he played like crap, so that’s no surprise at all. And finally, there had been some talk about possible inclusion for youngsters Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs, but Wilshere’s just too young and Gibbs’s injury doomed his prospects. Both those guys are decent candidates for 2014, though.

France: Abou Diaby, Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, and Gael Clichy were all included in Raymond Domenech’s 30-man provisional squad. Sagna and Gallas are definites, health permitting, to make the final squad. Gallas’s heath in particular will merit a long look, since he’s been out injured for Arsenal for quite some time now. Diaby will likely make the squad, although I imagine he’ll be mainly a reserve/substitute in midfield. And I still think Clichy won’t make the final squad, unfortunately, only because doing so would mean leapfrogging either Patrice Evra or Eric Abidal, both long-time internationals whom Domenech preferred. But if there’s an injury to either player, or Clichy puts in a good enough showing at camp to convince Domenech he’s overtaken Abidal, he’s got a chance.

Samir Nasri didn’t make it. He should have. Raymond Domenech is a bad coach who’s made a bad decision. Nasri’s hardly been world-class for us this season, but he’s had moments of genuine brilliance — the goal against Porto, the chip-pass to set up Cesc’s goal against Burnley, etc. And even at his worst, he works hard and is great at maintaining possession. He’ll be crushed by this, but he’s got his whole career ahead of him, and with a coach who has an ounce of common sense in Laurent Blanc coming on to coach France after the World Cup, Nasri will start to get some caps soon in the run-up to the 2012 European Championships. Armand Traore and Mikael Silvestre were also left off, but were never really in contention.

Italy: Vito Mannone failed to make the 30-man provisional roster, and was never really in consideration for a spot.

Ivory Coast Emmanuel Eboue made the 30-man roster, and can be expected to make the final roster and play a starting role for the club, just as he did at the ACN in January.

Mexico: Not announced just yet, but Carlos Vela will almost certainly be included in the Mexico provisional roster, and will probably go to South Africa as an impact sub. I’ll post an update to either confirm that this is the case or report that Vela was left off as soon as the roster is announced.

Netherlands: Robin van Persie made the squad, and is a lock to make the final roster and start for the Oranje.

Spain: Cesc Fabregas made it, and, barring a major injury setback, will certainly make the 23-man final roster and play an important role (even if it is from off the bench, which is the role he played for the 2008 squad which won the European Championship) for the pre-tournament favorites. The other Spanish Arsenal players, Fran Merida and Manuel Almunia, failed to make the roster, and neither was ever given serious consideration for a roster spot.

Switzerland: Philippe Senderos, still technically an Arsenal player on loan, made the Swiss squad and will make the final squad with a strong performance in camp. However, Johan Djourou failed to make the squad. I have no doubt he would have made it had he returned to health just a little bit earlier, but I guess Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld understandably determined that was a risk he couldn’t take. I still would have liked to see Djourou at least make the provisional roster and be given a chance to prove himself fit and ready at the camp before being given the ax. You know Djourou has to be absolutely gutted by this.

As you all know, I’m not super into internationals, mainly because they generally seem to serve no purpose other than to hurt Arsenal players. But I will be generally following the World Cup, and will keep you abreast of how the Arsenal players do in the competition. Congrats to all the players who made the rosters, and I wish them the best in representing their countries on the game’s biggest stage. Hope they are successful and, most of all, injury-free in the tournament.

Twelve guys from Arsenal make the 30-man rosters (even though two of them, Senderos and Gallas, are almost certainly gone at the end of the season), and probably all but one or two will make their nation’s final rosters barring health issues. Best of luck to all of them.

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Category: Arsenal News, World Cup