World Cup 2014

joseephuss · May 13, 2014

Spain announced their 30 man squad. I'm a little surprised Isco didn't make it, but he probably wouldn't make the final 23 anyway.

http://www.insidespanishfootball.com/108041/spain-announce-provisional-world-cup-squad/

Goalkeepers:

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Pepe Reina (Nápoles)
David de Gea (Manchester United).

Defenders:

Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Gerard Piqué (Barcelona)
Raúl Albiol (Nápoles)
Javier Martínez (Bayern Munich)
Juanfran Torres (Atlético Madrid)
Jordi Alba (Barcelona)
César Azpiliciueta (Chelsea)
Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)
Alberto Moreno (Sevilla)

Midfielders:

Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)
Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona)
Koke Resurrección (Atlético Madrid)
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)
Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)
Ander Iturraspe (Athletic Club Bilbao)
Cesc Fábregas (Barcelona)
Thiago Alcántara (Bayern Munich)
Juan Mata (Manchester United)
David Silva (Manchester City)
Pedro Rodríguez (Barcelona)
Jesús Navas (Manchester City).

Strikers:

Diego Costa (Atlético Madrid)
David Villa (Atlético Madrid)
Fernando Torres (Chelsea)
Álvaro Negredo (Manchester City)
Fernando Llorente (Juventus).

windward · May 13, 2014

That's a formidable squad. #understatement

CanadianCowboysFan · May 13, 2014

Vive La France

joseephuss · May 14, 2014

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27401306

Midfielder Samir Nasri has been left out of France's World Cup squad, two days after helping Manchester City win the Premier League title.

Club-mate Gael Clichy was also not selected by Didier Deschamps.

jterrell · May 14, 2014

That Spain side is ridiculous, lol.
Only issue they'll have is there is only one ball in play at a time.
Only other side with that type talent is Brazil. And they aren't as experienced.

joseephuss · May 14, 2014

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27403312

Tottenham attacker Erik Lamela and Juventus forward Carlos Tevez have been left out of Argentina's 30-man provisional World Cup squad.

Lamela, 22, joined Spurs for a club record fee of £26m from Roma last summer but has suffered a series of injuries and made just 10 starts.

Coach Alejandro Sabella did not consider Tevez despite his 19 goals in Serie A this season.

There is also no place for Paris St-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore.

Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis is included after winning the Premier League title in his first season at the Etihad Stadium.

The centre-back, who played in the 2010 World Cup, has not featured for his country since a 1-1 draw at home with Bolivia in a qualifier in November 2011.

CanadianCowboysFan · May 14, 2014

jterrell said:
That Spain side is ridiculous, lol.
Only issue they'll have is there is only one ball in play at a time.
Only other side with that type talent is Brazil. And they aren't as experienced.

true but can Spain win again? they have already won three major tournaments in a row, hard to win four.

MC KAos · May 14, 2014

Screw France! I hate that country anyway, but leaving my boy Sami out of their team is just idiotic! Hope they crap out in the first round again!

MC KAos · May 14, 2014

Spain's team looks nice on paper, but a lot of those names are declining because of age and their performance has suffered. iniesta, villa, xavi and Torres are not as good as they were 4 years ago. Reminds me a lot of the 02 French team

joseephuss · May 14, 2014

MC KAos said:
Spain's team looks nice on paper, but a lot of those names are declining because of age and their performance has suffered. iniesta, villa, xavi and Torres are not as good as they were 4 years ago. Reminds me a lot of the 02 French team

Iniesta is still as good as he was in 2010.

Xavi isn't as good. Fortunately for Xavi his game is based on technical skill, so his eroding athleticism doesn't hurt that much. Also, Silva is better now than he was in 2010, so he along with Cazorla and Mata may be able to offset any decline in Xavi.

Torres was not that good in 2010. His injury problems had started before then having had knee surgery two months before WC South Africa. He wasn't as explosive as he was during EURO 2008 and during qualifying for 2010. He really wasn't utilized that heavily during the 2010 games or in EURO 2012, either. While he isn't the explosive player he used to be he can become a poacher and help Spain. That is if he makes the final 23. Same with David Villa. They are weak at the #9 position and have been for some time.

jterrell · May 14, 2014

The biggest issue for Spain is team's have had years to prepare against that system.
Add that they haven't had much youth break through because they were so insanely deep from 2008 on.

I think Costa makes them worlds better up front. --There is a reason Chelsea is reportedly offering to pay a king's ransom plus Torres for the striker swap.

Villa is a wild card. He was great 4 years ago, very poor a couple years ago and has bounced back strong this year.
Iniesta is arguably as good as any 2 way player in the world

jterrell · May 14, 2014

FWIW Costa wasn't guaranteed a spot on even the team much less starting duties for Brazil.
He made the right choice to go to Spain where they were #9 poor.

Current odds....
Brazil 3/1
Argentina 9/2
Germany 5/1
Spain 7/1
Belgium 14/1

CanadianCowboysFan · May 14, 2014

MC KAos said:
Screw France! I hate that country anyway, but leaving my boy Sami out of their team is just idiotic! Hope they crap out in the first round again!

how can anyone hate the country that has given us the French language, the Louvre, Impressionists and Napoleon?

Nasri was kept off because he is not a good influence in the room and is not a good extra player.

joseephuss · May 14, 2014

jterrell said:
FWIW Costa wasn't guaranteed a spot on even the team much less starting duties for Brazil.
He made the right choice to go to Spain where they were #9 poor.

Current odds....
Brazil 3/1
Argentina 9/2
Germany 5/1
Spain 7/1
Belgium 14/1

The strange part is Brazil is also weak if not weaker at the #9 spot. Costa would have been a great addition to either squad.

RastaRocket · May 14, 2014

Ze Germans have ze best squad this year.

joseephuss · May 14, 2014

RastaRocket said:
Ze Germans have ze best squad this year.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/worldcup/2...r-joachim-low-names-30-man-provisional-roster

They are lacking at the #9 spot as well. Klose is quality, but he is 35. They do have a nice roster.

MC KAos · May 14, 2014

jterrell said:
FWIW Costa wasn't guaranteed a spot on even the team much less starting duties for Brazil.
He made the right choice to go to Spain where they were #9 poor.

Current odds....
Brazil 3/1
Argentina 9/2
Germany 5/1
Spain 7/1
Belgium 14/1

I agree wholeheartedly with the top 4 of those odds, but I'd put Italy and Uruguay as more likely winners than Belgium

MC KAos · May 14, 2014

CanadianCowboysFan said:
how can anyone hate the country that has given us the French language, the Louvre, Impressionists and Napoleon?

Nasri was kept off because he is not a good influence in the room and is not a good extra player.

I haven't forgiven them for being pansies since ww2

RastaRocket · May 14, 2014

joseephuss said:
http://www.mlssoccer.com/worldcup/2...r-joachim-low-names-30-man-provisional-roster

They are lacking at the #9 spot as well. Klose is quality, but he is 35. They do have a nice roster.

Meh, they will get scoring from their midfield, and guys like Muller and Podolski can strike. Goals will be plenty for them.

MC KAos · May 14, 2014

I don't know how but can someone embed that YouTube link?

World Cup 2014

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