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Several Star Soccer Players Absent at Euro 2008
By Ally White
The preface to presently all major soccer tournaments is the focal point of who’s team is out more than who is integrated in the tournament.
Subsequently in the tournament at Austria and Switzerland, there once more will be quite a few important players not participating, counting David Trezeguet and Raul Gonzalez.
Though Raul, who is the Spain’s all time leading scorer with 44 goals in 102 appearances, has never won a major international event title, but on the other hand Trezeguet scored the Golden Goal to capture the Euro 2000 title with France.
"It's an organizational choice," France coach Raymond Domenech said of Trezeguet after announcing his squad.
But if club soccer is any gauge, equally Trezeguet and Raul would be certain of having a place in their teams. For one side Raul made 18 goals and helped out Real Madrid to win its record 31st Spanish league title and Trezeguet attained 20 goals for his team Juventus.
"I look at players, not if their clubs are first, second or third in the standings," Spain coach Luis Aragones said of his selection process. "There are other players who, in terms of the minutes they have played, have scored more goals and they're not going either."
The last game Raul played for Spain was again Northern Ireland in a qualification loss of 3-2. Trezeguet on the other hand has attained 34 goals for his team-country France and has been substituted by more athletic players like Bafetimbi Gomis and Djibril Cisse. In the World Cup final two years ago, Trezeguet failed to spot France’s aperture penalty kick and loss again Italy.
Some other important players who are left out of the tournament are midfielder Pavel Nedved, midfielder Maniche, forward Filippo Inzaghi, midfielder Clarence Seedorf and forward Hakan Sukur.
For this season Inzaghi has scored 11 goals in the Italian league and has attained 25 goals in 57 appearances for Italy.
"The choice doesn't have to do with his age," Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said. "It was exclusively a technical choice."
Nedved played on the Czech Republic team that reached the 1996 final, however the 35-year-old Nedved retired from the national team after the 2006 World Cup.
Additionally, Seedorf, who has attained 11 goals in 87 appearances for the Netherlands, didn’t want to participate in the tournament and disagreed with coach Marco van Basten for not giving him room to achieve his potential.
"Since my return to the national team, the right conditions have not been created to let me perform at my best and to effectively excel as the team member I always strive to be," the 32-year-old Seedorf said. "We have seen from the past that some negative issues with the national team and players are recurring."
Moreover Maniche played a vital role in Portugal's classification to the Euro 2004 final and the 2006 World Cup semifinals. Though, Maniche has frequently been on the bench at Inter Milan. In addition Sukur who is the all-time leading scorer for Turkey with 51 goals, was put out of the list by coach Fatih Terim
All these great players are the typical example that by playing in great way and helping the team doesn’t mean they always they will have the opportunity to be in their national teams.
About the Author
Ally White is a top senior copy writer for the EURO 2008 games as well as the top ranking online bookmaker: www.instantactionsports.com/uk/
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