It’s almost here, y’all. It’s almost here! We’re about 30 days from the World Cup so let’s look at some of the biggest absences or any interesting stuff happening around the world cup teams:
Perú: Paolo Guerrero’s doping issues
Paolo Guerrero’s ban has been extended for 14 months, which means he’ll miss the World Cup. He’s trying a hail Mary appeal on Switzerland but he’s pretty much done. To make matters worse, Flamengo just fired him. His ban is for cocaine that he claims came from contaminated tea
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/sports/soccer/peru-world-cup-paolo-guerrero.html
México: Rafa Márquez trains without sponsorships
First of all it’s bonkers that 39yo Márquez is going to play with the national team again (5th cup), but besides that he’s still under investigation by the US Treasury Department so he has been training without logos in his uniform and he’s gonna miss all Mexico games in the US (they play Wales in the 28th).
France: bunch of folks out of the final list
Martial, Payet and Benzema are out of the final list. Benzema is obvious, sure he’s scoring but I guess sex/blackmail scandals are not forgotten on the football world. Payet got injured on the Europa League final, which sucks and Martial is on the reserves. Still, team’s stacked
https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/benzema-martial-payet-left-off-france-world-cup-squad/
England: Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hart and Wilshire out of the squad
Ox injured his knee and is out. They other two aren’t. Hart went down with West Ham’s ship and the fact that he’s complaining about the “snub” is bonkers. Same-ish goes for Wilshire
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44163416
Brazil: Dani Alves out on injury, Neymar still recovering
In a really big setback for Brazil, Dani Alves is out after tearing his ACL in the French League Cup final, City’s Danilo might take his place. Neymar hasn’t played since February for PSG after fracturing his foot. He should be ready for the World Cup, but not on the best form
Saudi Arabia: World Cup referee banned for life for match fixing
I have no clue if any of their players are injured or if there were any big snubs (I have no clue who plays with them), but the biggest news from their camp is that Fahad Al Mirdasi, the referee that was going to represent them in the World Cup, was banned after trying t fix the King’s Cup final. He offered to help Al Ittihad thru Whatsapp… whatspp! What happened to meeting in a dark alley?
Sweden: Zlatan doesn’t make the cut and passes his driver’s test
As expected Zlatan didn’t make the cut, unexpected he had to take his driving license test. But Zlatan being Zlatan he never misses
"Zlatan never miss, remember." 🚗 pic.twitter.com/dFGoxNG9eJ
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) May 17, 2018
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44133055
Russia: everyone’s injured but it’s not like they had any chance anyway
CB Georgy Dzhikiya tore his knee ligaments during a friendly in January, same as Viktor Vasin a month later. And now Zenit’s “star” forward Alexander Kokorin tore his knee ligaments in the Europa League. So, yeah
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2018-03-22/russia2018/Russia-2018-6736186742
Argentina: AFA claims printing error on player’s guide that had tips to woo Russian women
Basically the Argentinian Football Federation (AFA) gave a “Language and Russian” culture manual to the players that included a guide on how to seduce Russian women. Federation claims that it was printed on error, so wait they wrote it as a joke and included it by mistake? Because it sure does not look like a joke, here’s the page in question
In summary the tips are:
- Good personal higiene
- Don’t treat them as objects
- Don’t be boring
- Don’t be negative
- Be original
To end this, here’s an article on every country’s squads and that’s it from me. When I started this I thought of making an update for every team but that turned out to be a daunting task (and a really long article). But if you have any updates from your teams, let me know in the comments. And, GET HYPE y’all! The tournament is almost here!
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