The deadline for the initial team selection during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa expires today, and the different national coaches are sending to FIFA their pre selection lists complete with a few surprises. Nigeria for example has selected eleven strikers - a full squad line-up of offensive players, whereas Spain has a grand total of five goalkeepers in their initial roster selection!
Spain has also added Fernando Torres and Cesc Fàbregas in the initial team selection, with both players currently being on the injury list and could even miss the 2010 World Cup in South Africa if not fully recovered. The Portuguese national coach apparently has only selected three strikers for his team, leaving behind some big names like João Moutinho that has 20 goals this season and Ariza Makukula with 22 goals scored. It seems that Portugal will put all the weight on Cristiano Ronaldo as the main goalscorer during the World Cup tournament, but if something goes wrong there are really not many replacement options.
Raymond Domenech is coming up with the initial team selection of France later today, and it seems that the big surprise will be Djibril Cissé. A recent poll in France showed that over 70% of fans think that the coach should reinstate Cissé in the team, since the player scored 23 goals in 27 games this season and is in excellent condition.
The national teams of Japan, New Zealand and Honduras decided to select their official team roster right away instead of selecting an initial team and cutting some players later on. The rules for the World Cup roster selection procedure dictate that each team can start with a list of 30 players by May 11, but before the 1st of June the managers need to give an official team selection with just 23 names. A player cannot be switched from the final 23 unless injured, and any changes to the team roster must be done before the opening game of each country. Most coaches go through the normal procedure and select a larger list to see which players are best while having a preparation period before the World Cup kicks off.
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