In a recent article, we told you what an impressive list of top football players did not go to the World Cup due to injuries. Everything is very clear here - none of the coaches at the World Cup in Qatar will risk either the player or the prospects of their team in the tournament. Not being called up to the national team of recently recovered players is quite logical and understandable. But not all coaches have called in the 26 people of those players who are having a great season this season and should have been included in the squad. Of course, according to the fans and the public.
The coach has his own view on the formation of the squad, only after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar it will be clear whether each coach of the national teams made the right choice. In the meantime, TOP 9 football players who are healthy and did not go to the World Cup 2022.
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool, Brazil)
The news that Firmino was flying past the World Cup in Qatar surprised and even shocked the entire football world. The all-round Liverpool striker played below his ability last year, and many have spoken of Firmino’s decline as a top player. But in this crisis season, Klopp’s team has a clear leader - just Bobby. He’s just great at the end of the run-up, with the loss of Mane, Salah’s slump and Nunez’s adjustment problems, only Firmino plays at a superb level, which allowed the Liverpool side to slightly fall in the standings in the Premier League and easily exit the group in the Champions League.
Why Tite did not call the only striker with experience who can perform several functions on the field is unknown. The Brazilian national team has as many as 5 magnificent, but completely one-sided wingers (from Rafinha to Vinicius), and only 3 forwards - one of which is newcomer Pedro from Brazilian Flamengo with TWO matches for pentacampeons. A very strange choice given Firmino’s form, he would have clearly become Tite’s plan B for the game. But the coach decided otherwise, which caused the anger of the fans.
The match with Serbia showed that even without Firmino, the Brazilian attack is a powerful force. However, serious contenders are yet to come. It’s a pity Firmino, he will be 34 at the next World Cup, the chances of getting into it are small.
Ante Rebic (Milan, Croatia)
Why is Horat Rebic so high? Because he is a finalist of the last World Cup in Russia and the champion of Italy with Milan. And now the Croatian national team, in principle, does not have a striker - this is very noticeable in the first game of the 2022 World Cup against Morocco. Why is Rebic not on Croatia’s squad? It’s simple, after the unsuccessful Euro 2020, Rebic allowed himself to openly criticize the national team coach Zlatko Dalic and the whole team in the press, calling it “shit”. He said: “None of the coaches have been able to take advantage of the talented Croatian generation. Who is to blame that we have been such “shit” in the last 2-3 years?
After the release of the news, Dalic, of course, removed the presumptuous player from the national team, and has not returned so far. Rebic himself did not apologize and did not try to return, at least in the information field. But out of furious anger, he helped Milan become the owners of the Scudetto for the first time in many years. This season, Rebic is just as good as a winger - 2+3 in 10 matches in Serie A.
It is unfortunate that because of a stupid statement, the silver medalist of the last World Championship lost one of the main attacking options. And this is the last major tournament for Modric, Brozovic and Lovren. Levaya and Kramaric in the center of the attack is not even a request to leave the group.
Mats Hummels (Borussia D, Germany national team)
Mats Hummels is one of the best central defenders of the golden German generation, who took the 2014 World Cup and the championship with his native Borussia. Dortmund fans were not even embarrassed by his transfer to the hated Bayern and returning back. At 34 years old, Mats is experiencing a second youth in the team and is having a great season for the second time in a row. However, for the head coach of the German national team Hansi Flick, he did not even become a backup choice in the application for the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
Why? Flick gave a strange answer - they say, we watched all the matches of Hummels and he was good, but we decided to give younger players a chance. So calling a 20-year-old Bell-Kotchup with a minimum of experience is a reliable solution? Many fans doubt it very much, although Mats would not have become the main player, he could well have insured the national team at the end of the match. Yes, and play a full match for Hummels is now a simple task. Flick will have Hummels’ partner Süle in the center, who does not look much more reliable. Mats could go at least as a third substitute, and the same Bella-Kotchap is unlikely to get even a few minutes in Qatar.
Flick has already failed the first match of the World Cup in Qatar - in the event of a final failure, Hummels’ non-challenge will definitely be remembered.
Fikayo Tomori (Milan, England)
And again the defender, and again in great shape, and again slurred explanations from the coach. This time from Gareth Southgate, whose management of the England team is not criticized only by the lazy. Fikayo Tomori is a central defender who, unexpectedly for the English, opened up in Italy after an unsuccessful game for his native Chelsea. In Milan, Tomori revealed all his great potential, and became the main one already in the championship season of the Pioli team. This year, Tomori began to play even better, got stronger mentally - and definitely deserved a call to the national team.
But Southgate doesn’t think so. He explained that Tomori was not challenged by the fact that he was supposedly no better than all our central defenders in the application for the 2022 World Cup. But the worst form of Maguire, the constant importation of Dyer did not become a reason for the coach to think.
Yes, Tomori has never played full-time for the national team before, and playing a newcomer before the biggest tournament in the life of many football players would be strange. But nothing prevented Tomori from being taken as a substitute instead of the same Cody, who plays in the middle and is now on the relegation in the Premier League Wolverhampton.
Tomori himself did not publicly criticize Southgate’s decision, saying he would train more. Already at the next major tournament with the same game, he will be able to take a place at the base of an incredibly young and promising England team.
Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco, France)
Ben Yedder is the most experienced leader of the French “Monaco”, who has already traveled in the national team for the European Championship 2020. He has amazing stability, while remaining a versatile player. In terms of the way he plays, he is somewhat reminiscent of Firmino, and their fate is similar. France head coach Didier Deschamps did not call for another good season for Wissam, even after injuries to Nkunku and Benzema. Amazing stubbornness - in this Southgate and Deschamps are incredibly similar.
It turns out that Deschamps is quite satisfied with Giroud’s understudy named Colo-Mouani, who has never played at a serious level before. Even in clubs. Yes, the Eintracht striker has 5+9 in 14 league matches, but he has never played in France and is unlikely to be able to help the team off the bench without experience. Moreover, Deschamps had two replacement slots left, but he did not use them.
What will happen if one of the three Giroud-Mbappe-Griezmann drops out of the squad - no one knows. But the French coach is confident, and he is responsible for choosing the squad. Ben Yedder, at 32, is unlikely to get a chance to play in a major tournament.
Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern, Netherlands national team)
The head coach of the Netherlands national team Louis van Gaal loves young players and experiments. Many have heard about the debut of the goalkeeper in the national team in the first match of the 2022 World Cup, but the coach decided not to take one of the most promising Dutchmen, Ryan Gravenberh, to the national team. The leader of Ajax, after a crazy last season, moved to Bayern itself for promotion, but he has not been able to gain a foothold there yet. But for a 20-year-old player, practice in one of the best clubs in the world is worth a lot.
Gravenberch played for the Netherlands national team at the last Euro, all 11 matches and even 1 goal on his account. Nevertheless, van Gaal preferred the young but experienced player to the very young Xavi Simmons and Noah Lang from the local championship. Why the coach did not like the all-round box-to-box with an excellent strike by Gravenberh is still unclear. Yes, he does not have a super stable practice at Bayern, but he does not sit in a dead reserve and regularly comes on as a substitute, playing as a basis in minor tournaments.
The Dutch midfielder has fully recovered from the injury and was ready to help the national team, but van Gaal decided otherwise. At the Euro, Gravenberch had played under de Boer, so the new coach might have seen differently the chances of a young player without a stable place at the base. By the way, for the same reason, the young TsZ Timber did not go to Manchester United - van Gaal threatened him that in the absence of playing practice in Manchester United, he would not go to the World Cup in Qatar. Timber decided not to risk it and ended up going to Qatar.
Jonathan Kloss (Marseille, France)
Kloss hardly fits into the category of stars, many have never even heard of him. However, the Marseille right-back deserves a mention for his incredible story of rising from obscurity to the last world champions. It is a pity that the fairy tale for Kloss and the media did not work out. But again there are questions for Deschamps.
Few people knew Jonathan Kloss until 2021, when he really sparkled at the French Lance as a winger. He was recognized by many FIFA 22 players, and then they began to write about him as a candidate for the national team. At the age of 28, Jonathan appeared for the first time in his playing career in a Premier League 1 match, and already in March 2022 he was called up to the French national team for the first time to participate in friendly matches against the national teams of Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa. On March 25, he made his debut as part of the Tricolors.
Why did not call Kloss cause a lot of noise? Because Deschamps, after the injury of one of the Hernandez brothers, again did not call anyone. The coach is quite satisfied with one Pavard on the right and Theor Hernandez on the left, there are no more nominal full-backs in the squad. Jonathan Kloss, after moving to Marseille, gained incredible form and could have helped the national team at least from the bench. But Deschamps is an insanely conservative coach, he was wildly lucky with the great generation of the French. Kloss could get a minute of fame, but the coach decided otherwise.
Christian Noboa (Sochi, Ecuador national team)
And again a footballer, little known in Europe. But for the Russian Championship, he is undoubtedly a star, and of a bright scale. Christian Noboa is already 37 years old, but this does not prevent him from playing at an excellent level in the RPL for Sochi. Why was the best player of the Russian Championship of the 21/22 season and one of the leaders in the number of matches for the Ecuador national team not received a call to the World Cup? Questions to the coach - perhaps he thought that Noboa was already old and could not help the team in Qatar.
But in fact, this veteran has already scored 10 goals in 15 matches of the Russian championship.
Noboa spends the third consecutive powerful season in Sochi, at a younger age he was regularly called up to the Ecuador national team and was one of the leaders. He has 83 caps and 4 goals. As an experienced substitute for a young team, he would definitely come in handy. Gustavo Alfaro decided not to call the man who is in the top 10 in the history of the national team by the number of matches. Well, he apparently had a good reason. Could it be that the reason for not calling Noboa was his football residence permit?
Ricardo Pepi (Groningen, Team USA)
Another little-known footballer to the general public brightly began the season in a new club - the Dutch “Groningen”. In 9 matches, Pepi scored 6 goals and gave 2 assists, and in the qualifying tournament for the World Cup, the footballer played regularly with the current US coach Burkhalter. Why Pepi was not called into the application is not clear.
On loan at the Eredivisie, the striker reveals himself in a new way, he plays well with his head and even works out in defense. But in the end, Timothy Weah went to Qatar with zero goals in the season, frankly average players like Hadji Wright (Antalyaspor) and Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders). A very strange choice of strikers from the head coach of the US team. Yes, Weah has already scored in the first match of the 2022 World Cup, but what will happen next with stronger opponents is still unclear.
