I have resisted until now but here are some stats just to keep you going.
Squad Players by Club 1950 - 2010
The following clubs have provided players for England on World Cup duty
Manchester United - 33
Tottenham Hotspur - 31
Liverpool - 25
Chelsea - 19
Arsenal - 17
West Ham United - 15
Wolverhampton W - 13
Leeds United - 11
Everton - 9
Aston Villa - 8
Newcastle - 8
West Brom - 8
Manchester City - 7
Unused Tourists
The following players went to the World Cup with England squads but didn’t play a single minute.
2006
David James
Wayne Bridge
Jermaine Jenas
Scott Carson
Theo Walcott
2002
Wes Brown
Nigel Martyn
Martin Keown
Gareth Southgate
David James
1998
Nigel Martyn
Martin Keown
Les Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Tim Flowers
1990
Gary Stevens
Neil Webb
Chris Woods
Tony Dorigo
Steve Hodge
Dave Beasant - Stevens, Webb and Dorigo all played in the 3rd & 4th place play-off, I stand corrected!
1986
Viv Anderson
Chris Woods
Gary Bailey
1982
Ray Clemence
Viv Anderson
Terry McDermott
Joe Corrigan
Peter Withe
Saudi Arabia flag controversy
McDonald's and Coca-Cola advertised their sponsorship of the 1994 World Cup by printing the flags of the participating nations on take-away bags and drinks cans, respectively. However, in doing so they made the faux pas of including the flag of Saudi Arabia, which bears the Islamic declaration of faith. Outraged Saudi Arabian officials said “Printing the creed on disposable items is completely unacceptable”, these items were discontinued.
Keeper plan backfires
North Korea’s plan to boost their attacking options at the World Cup by naming striker Kim Myong-won as a back up keeper has backfired. Manager, Kim-Jong-hun, only named two regular keepers in his squad but has been told by FIFA officials that Kim, listed as the No3 will only be allowed to play as a goalkeeper, not as an outfield player. FIFA increased squad sizes from 22 to 23 for the 2002 World Cup.
England v France Friday 18 June Group C
I know we are supposed to be playing Algeria in Cape Town but looking at their squad, I may have been right first time. Only six of the 23 man party are born in Algeria, the remaining 17 are all born in France! Only Lounes Gaouaoui (1), Rafik Halliche (5), Rafik Saifi (10), Abdekader Laifaoui (14), Faouzi Chaochi (16) and Djamel Mesbah (20) are Algerian by birth.
Old Man James
David James made his international debut against Mexico in 1997, every member of the England side, with the exception of Robbie Fowler, has since retired. And let’s be honest Robbie is only topping up his pension in the A League.
Cameroon – Paul le Guen won 17 caps for France and three consecutive league titles as managed of Lyon. He had an ill fated five month stint as Glasgow Rangers boss. The 46 year old turned around Cameroon's qualification campaign after handing the captaincy Samuel Eto'o
Denmark – Morten Olsen is the longest serving manager at this world cup. He secured two Danish titles with Brondby and the double in Holland with Ajax. As a player he got 106 caps with 50 as skipper including leading the side out at Mexico 86.
Japan - Takeshi Okada is the first native Japanese coach of the national team for 14 years, Phillip Troussier, who took over after Okada’s first spell at the end of the 98 world cup, then Zico and finally Bosnian Ivica Osim had led them until his stroke in 2007. Okada as a player won 24 caps.
Netherlands – Bert van Marwijk despite only winning a solitary cap the midfielder has crafted out a great career as a coach. He managed Feyenoord twice, winning the Dutch Cup, and Uefa Cup in 2002, and Borussia Dortmund in Germany. He took over from Marco van Basten after Euro 2008. He had a 100% record in qualifying.
Group F
Italy – Marcello Lippi stood down after winning with Italy in 2006, but returned in 2008, yet again he will stand down at the end of this world cup with Fiorentina's Cesare Prandelli his replacement. He played for Sampdoria throughout the seventies but was never capped. As a boss he won five titles with Juventus and a champions league.
New Zealand – Ricki Herbert made three appearances at Spain 82 and has managed his nation since 2005. With a reported basic salary of £25,000, he may be the lowest paid coach at the World Cup. He is also the head coach of A-League side Wellington Phoenix. He scoured the globe for eligible players and converted several players to the Kiwi cause, having represented the likes of England and Denmark at youth levels.
Paraguay – Gerardo Martino is one of three Argentine coaches at the 2010 World Cup, Nicknamed 'El Tata'. On qualifying he graciously praised his predecessor, Anibal Ruiz, arguing he deserved credit for blooding many of the Paraguay’s rising stars.
Slovakia – Vladimir Weiss is the father of Manchester City’s young star, and son of a former Czech international in the sixties, they all share the name Vladimir. He managed Artmedia Bratislava in their 5-0 win over Celtic in 2005-06 Champions League qualifier. He will be the youngest coach at the world cup at 45 and played at Italia 90 for Czechoslovakia.
Group G
Brazil – Dunga amassed 91 caps and was the winning captain in 1994, he played in Europe for Fiorentina and Stuttgart. When he took over as manger he was a relative novice. After the disappointment of the 2006 World Cup things have improved, they won the 2007 Copa America and the 2009 Confederations Cup and they have only lost five matches in four years.
Ivory Coast – Sven-Goran Eriksson whilst in charge of England he took them only as far as the quarter finals twice but in 10 games there were 7 clean sheets and they only lost once in normal time. Since leaving the England job he coached Man City, winning 19 of 45 games and Mexico 6 wins and 6 loses. He is the only manager to complete domestic doubles in different countries, Sweden, Portugal & Italy.
North Korea – Kim Jong-hun is a difficult man to find information on! Rumoured to have accepted advice from leader Kim Jong-il, the coach has not denied this. Don’t expect all out attack: "While the global trend is attacking football, we stick to our largely defensively strategy with the 5-4-1 formation”. "Perhaps there's no other team in the world who would be fighting with the same dedication to please the leader and to bring fame to their motherland."
Portugal – Carlos Queiroz is the former Real Madrid manager and no.2 to Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford. Despite the difficulties Portugal have had during his second stint as national coach, Queiroz has only lost twice. They just squeezed past Bosnia & Herzegovina in the play-offs. Previously managed the UAE and South Africa.
Group H
Chile – Marcelo Bielsa had six years in charge of Argentina during which time he led them to Olympic gold in 2004 and is one of three Argentinians managing here. He has managed in Europe with Espanyol, and is nicknamed ‘El Loco’ - The Madman - due to his train-spotter like obsession. He has an encyclopaedic collection of games on video.
Honduras – Reinaldo Rueda is a Columbian by birth and never played professional football. He was granted Honduran citizenship in April in recognition of his achievement in steering the country to only their second World Cup. Rueda previously coached Colombia.
Spain – Vicente del Bosque succeeded Luis Aragones after Euro 2008 and began his reign with 13 consecutive wins. Previously, the 59-year-old led Real Madrid to its most successful spell in modern history with two Champions League titles and two Spanish league trophies in four seasons before being harshly sacked in 2003. As a player he played over 300 games for Madrid between 70-84
Switzerland – Ottmar Hitzfeld has won 19 major trophies as a manager, including two Champions League titles making him one of only three men to manage different clubs to victory in European Cup’s history. Born in Germany, he was a goal getter with Stuttgart during his playing career.
The eccentric former Lyon full back may never win over the French public even if he wins the World Cup. He admitted astrology is used when making team selections and proposed, live on TV, to his girlfriend after France’s disappointing Euro 2008 campaign The 58 year old has been at the helm for 6 years now.
Mexico – Javier Aguirre “El Vasco” is in charge of the national team for a second time, he took over mid campaign, from Sven-Goran Eriksson, and guided them to a fifth consecutive finals. A feisty character, he kicked a Panama player as he ran down the touchline at last years Gold Cup. They went on to win the tournament, with their first win over the USA outside of Mexico for ten years.
South Africa – Carlos Alberto Parreira is at a sixth world cup as a manager and this is his second spell in charge of South Africa. A winner in 1994 with Brazil
He first led Kuwait in 1982 and the United Arab Emirates at Italia 90. That win in 94 was Brazil’s first for 24 years. At France 98 he was in the Saudi Arabian dugout and took charge of his home nation, Brazil, for one last time four years ago.
Uruguay – Oscar Tabarez has been at the helm for four years in this, his second spell as manager of his national team. The former teacher, known as “El Maestro”, first lead the team as far back as 1990 when reaching the second phase, but fell to the hosts Italy.
Group B
Argentina – Diego Maradona divides opinion, those who claim he was the greatest talent to grace football fields, face the argument that his memory is tarnished with a failed drug test for ephedrine at USA 94, cocaine addiction throughout the eighties and nineties and oh, did I forget to mention the hand of god? As a manager his track record prior to taking over the national job was 3 top flight wins in 23 games! He called up more than 100 players during qualification and squeezed through with an 84th minute winner againsy Uruguay on the final day of qualification, in 5th place.
Greece – Otto Rehhagel is unique in that he played and managed in 1000 Bundesliga games during his career. The 71 year old will be the oldest coach this time around and the second longest serving after Denmark’s Morten Olsen. This is his first world cup, but he led Greece to an unlikely victory at the European Championships of 2004 in Portugal.
Nigeria – Lars Lagerback spent 11 years as Sweden manager, leading them to five consecutive major tournaments but it was his failure to guide them to South Africa that saw him resigning. He only took over the Nigerians in February following their third place at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
South Korea – Huh Jung-moo played for some years at PSV in Holland and was nicknamed the hunter dog. He has coached the national side twice before this stint, but he was unfortunate that didn’t include the World Cup of 2002 when Guus Hiddink led the co-hosts as far as the semi finals. As a player he finished with 29 international goals (4th highest) from 84 games.
Group C
Algeria – Rabah Saadane will be the only African coach at this world cup. In his fifth spell in charge of the national team. He has been on the coaching staff at all three world cup tournaments Algeria have been at. This is the second in sole charge. His playing career ended aged 27 following a car accident.
England – Fabio Capello played in, and scored for Italy in the 1974 world cup in Germany, but went out early in the group stages, these proved to be his only appearances as a player. As a manager he has won the domestic league title of every club he has managed. Seven championships in Italy and two in Spain plus a Champions League win with AC Milan. In qualification he had a record of nine wins and only one defeat which maybe suggest he is worth his £6m a year salary.
Slovenia – Matjaz Kek as a player he won 3 Slovenian titles with Maribor but was only capped once by his country. He proved an unpopular choice as national coach in 2007 when promoted from the under 16’s. But all of that was forgotten when he took them to South Africa.
USA - Bob Bradley finallystepped out of the shadow of his friend and former mentor Bruce Arena since replacing him as national coach in December 2006. His first success was the 2007 Gold Cup and he took them to the Confederations Cup Final in South Africa last year.
Group D
Australia – Pim Verbeek spent most of his career in his native Netherlands. He worked as Guus Hiddink’s assistant when taking South Korea to the semi finals in 2002. He took over in sole charge after the world cup but could only mange 3rd place at the Asian Cup in 2007. After a six month break he took the Aussie job. When questioned about his knowledge of the Australian national anthem he vowed to sing it live on TV if the Socceroos qualified.
Germany – Joachim Low was an attacking midfielder who spent the majority of his playing career at Freiburg.After an unspectacular coaching career he found himself as assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann at the world cup in Germany in 2006. He then took over the semi finalists and reached the final of Euro 2008 where they lost to Spain. Speculation is rife that German FA's technical director Matthias Sammer will succeed him this summer.
Ghana – Milovan Rajevac will face his native Serbians in Ghana’s opening game. He is, in fact, the third Serbian to lead Ghana. He took them all the way to the final before losing to Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Serbia – Radomir Antic will be best remembered in the UK for the goal that kept LutonTown in the first division in 1983. He hit the winner, four minutes from the time and relegated opponents ManchesterCity. This led to David Pleat’s infamous jig on the pitch. As a manager, he is one of only two men to manage both Real Madrid and Barcelona. He also won the domestic double with Athletico Madrid. Hired only two weeks before qualifying started they suffered only two defeats and topped their group.
Welcome to my World Cup Blog. I had to find a way to justify to my wife why I should watch every game in the coming weeks and this seemed like the best idea. I plan daily updates, once the tournament starts, and loads of stuff by way of a preview.
Just a quick introduction, I am a 35 year old class one referee, and a Spurs season ticket holder.
As I write, news has broken of Fabio Capello’s selection, so there seems an ideal place to start.
The seven players who have been omitted are Leighton Baines, Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone, Scott Parker, Adam Johnson, Theo Walcott and Darren Bent.
The omission of Walcott, I suspect, is the biggest surprise. For me, he has done no worse that Shaun Wright-Phillips this season. SWP has managed 19 starts and 11 appearances from the bench for Man City where as Walcott started 7 less games and came on as often but Walcott’s pace and potential to play through the middle, if needed, would have seen him make the flight had it been my choice. It seems his hat-trick in Croatia counts for nothing now.
Warnock and Baines are much of a muchness and let’s be honest, if Ashley Cole is struggling, so are England. WayneBridge will be missed, but there’s only one man to blame for that!
Michael Dawson can rightly be disappointed at his exclusion after an excellent season where as Matthew Upson can be thankful for his place, both are old fashioned English centre backs, best suited to standing there heading balls away and blocking shots, but one has had a significantly better season. Did Capello not say months ago form would play a part in selection?
Huddlestone and Parker were only ever 3rd and 4th choice for this role and had Hargreaves been fit they wouldn’t have made the 30 man squad. Carrick has had a poor season, by his own standards, but it should be noted that this was the first season Manchester United have failed to win the Premier League since he joined, which says to me, how important he is.
This tournament comes 12 months too soon for Adam Johnson, he has done well at Eastlands since signing in the New Year but needed more time to show his worth.
Darren Bent may have the sympathy of many fans, out scoring Heskey in the premier league by 73 goals to 25 in the last 5 years, but they offer entirely different attributes. Rooney has scored 9 goals in the last 10 games alongside Heskey, but only 2 in 10 without him. Bent is suited to playing up top on his own in a counter attacking side, which England are not.
There you are, the first of many Blogs over the coming weeks.
