Wulan Kusuma Wardhani (Jakarta Post)
Jakarta ●
Fri, April 15, 2022
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Zwanziger is a column where contributors share top 20 lists of everything they care about, from food and history to pop culture and lifestyle.
The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious football tournament in the world. No player wants to be excluded from the competition. So far, 29 countries have secured their spot in one of the 32 spots at this year’s event. However, some notable players whose countries failed the qualification cannot participate. Here are a few.
1. Jan Oblak
Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak has been named the best male goalkeeper in the world. The Slovenian is one of the few players to have won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy five times, an award given to the goalkeeper with the lowest average goals conceded per game in Spain’s first division. Unfortunately, with Slovenia again failing to qualify, Oblak will have to wait for another chance to play at the World Cup.
Best goalkeeper: Slovenia’s Jan Oblak cheers on his teammates during a friendly match between Croatia and Slovenia March 26 at the Education City Stadium in the Qatari city of Ar-Rayyan. (AFP/Karim Jaafar) (AFP/Karim Jaafar)
2. Edin Dzeko
Inter Milan striker Edin Dzeko, widely regarded as the most successful Bosnian player, failed to repeat that feat in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
3. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
New Barcelona striker Aubameyang, who left Arsenal in January, will not take part in the World Cup with Gabon. The country recorded just seven points and finished second in Group F of Africa’s World Cup qualifiers.
4. Erling Haaland
Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland is one of the most sought-after players in the world football league today. He has scored 80 goals with the club in the last three seasons. Despite scoring a third of Norway’s goals in qualifying matches, the country were eliminated after losing to the Netherlands.
5.Sebastian Haller
Ajax Amsterdam player Sebastian Haller is currently the top league goalscorer in the Netherlands. In the Champions League, he equaled Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal record in every group stage game. However, the Ivorian striker had to watch his country fail at the World Cup for the second year in a row.
In action Ivory Coast striker Sebastien Haller (left) is pictured March 29 during an international friendly match between England and Ivory Coast at Wembley Stadium in north London. (AFP/Glyn Kirk) (AFP/Glyn Kirk)
6. Lucas Hradecky
Slovakia-born Finnish goalkeeper Lucas Hradecky has been a key figure for Bayer Leverkusen since joining the club in 2018. Since 2010 he has played 75 times for the Finnish national team. Unfortunately, this year he had the misfortune – for the first time – not to play the World Cup.
7. Stefan Savic
Over the past seven years, Stefan Savic has played a key role in Atletico Madrid’s successes in Spain and Europe as a centre-back. However, his country Montenegro was unlucky in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers as they ended up in the same group with stronger sides like the Netherlands and Turkey.
8. Henrik Mkhitaryan
In early March, AS Roma striker Henrikh Mkhitaryan announced his retirement from the Armenia national football team after scoring 32 goals in 95 games in his 15-year career. Being the team’s top scorer in qualifying wasn’t enough for Armenia to secure a place at the World Cup.
9. Mohamed Salah
Salah is a prolific goalscorer and has scored many goals for Liverpool. The Egyptian’s notable achievements include helping his club win the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup. Unfortunately, he had to watch club-mate Sadio Mane celebrate Senegal’s World Cup qualification.
Superior goalscorer: Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah controls the ball during Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg between SL Benfica and Liverpool FC at the Luz Stadium in Lisbon. (AFP/Carlos Costa) (AFP/Carlos Costa)
10. David Alaba
In his 12 years as a pro, Alaba won 28 trophies. The Austrian defender is believed to be the best replacement for Sergio Ramos following the Spaniard’s move to Paris Saint Germain. Unfortunately, he had to watch Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale score the winner for Wales in the play-off to eliminate Austria.
11. Hassan Calhanoglu
Whoscored, a website that focuses on in-depth analysis of football data, has named Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu as one of the top-rated players in the first half of Italy’s Serie A season. Despite this, his efforts to help Turkey qualify for the World Cup failed.
12. Jorge
Jorge Luiz Frello Filho, commonly known as Jorginho, was looking to score more goals after winning the European Cup with Italy and the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea. In last year’s interview with Sky Sport, the midfielder said he dreams of winning the World Cup. Italy’s shock defeat by North Macedonia ended their aspirations for this year.
Training: Italy midfielder Jorginho controls the ball during a training session ahead of a World Cup 2022 qualifier between Italy and North Macedonia March 23 at the Renzo Stadium – Barbera of Palermo, Italy. (AFP/Alberto Pizzoli) (AFP/Alberto Pizzoli)
13. Tomas Soucek
Soucek played a major role as his club West Ham defeated Sevilla in the second round of the UEFA Europa League. However, his World Cup dream did not come true when Sweden defeated the Czech Republic in a playoff game.
14. Near Keita
Like his Liverpool team-mates Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, midfielder Naby Keita is making a positive impact at the club. However, his country, Guinea, did not win a game in the group stage of the African qualifiers.
15. Alexis Sanchez
Hailed as the best Chilean player of his generation, Inter Milan winger Alexis Sanchez has triumphed with three European clubs. He is also the most-capped and most-scored footballer for the Chilean national team. However, poor qualifying results ended his World Cup hopes for the second time in a row.
16 . John Square
Juventus midfielder Juan Cuadrado is a versatile footballer who has represented Colombia in 111 games, making him the second-best player in the country. Despite their vast experience, Colombia failed to make the most of the qualifying period and were eliminated from the World Cup.
17. Alex Iwobi
Everton winger Alex Iwobi has been a key player for the Nigeria side but he has not played the last two crucial games of the qualifying stage. In an interview with a local radio station in Ghana, former Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr said: “Nigerians who miss Iwobi are not good.” The three-time Africa Cup of Nations winners had to abandon his dream after being eliminated by Ghana .
18. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Five years after announcing his retirement in June 2016, Ibrahimovic returned to the Sweden squad last year. Unfortunately, the forward missed this year’s tournament, which would have been his third World Cup. The 40-year-old has yet to make a decision about his future as he considers retiring from football or renewing his contract with AC Milan.
Back on the pitch: AC Milan’s Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic controls the ball during an Italian Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Bologna on Monday at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. (AFP/Miguel Medina) (AFP/Miguel Medina)
19. Riad Mahrez
Manchester City star Riyad Mahrez was born in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles and holds French nationality but chose Algeria. After his country failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the Algerian had a strong desire to take part in this year’s event. Unfortunately, Cameroon’s win via an away goal in the playoffs shattered his dream.
20. Kostas Tsimikas
Liverpool’s signing of Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas could be one of the best moves the club has made in the last two years. The player showed he could compete in Europe’s top flight but was unlucky when Greece were eliminated from World Cup qualifiers in November this year.
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