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Every footballer
aspires to feature at the World Cup. For these footballers, it is the
zenith of their respective careers regardless of how successful or
otherwise it is, after all, there are numerous examples of great
players who never got the chance to strut their stuff on football’s
biggest stage.

So it is so
disappointing when after giving their best in ensuring that their
country’s flag gets to be hoisted at the World Cup, these players end
up not going to the tournament for one reason or another, ranging from
a dip in form, change in coaching personnel resulting in the player in
question not found suitable by the team’s new handler, or in the worst
case scenario, as a result of an injury.

Such was the case
of players like England’s David Beckham, the Three Lions’ most capped
outfield player who ruptured his Achilles tendon playing for his loan
club AC Milan in March, as well as Nigeria’s Ikechukwu Uche, who
suffered a ligament injury that kept him out for six months before
staging a return a few weeks to the end of the season by which time it
was already too late to impress new Super Eagles handler, Lars
Lagerback, of his readiness to feature in South Africa.

For some players
however, their injury status isn’t enough to rule them out of the
tournament but will they recover on time to make some sort of
contribution to their side’s World Cup aspirations?

Bounced from the party

Michael Ballack:

The influential
German captain would have been making his third World Cup appearance
but for the unfortunate ankle injury he picked up while playing for his
erstwhile club Chelsea in last month’s FA Cup final win over
Portsmouth. And with age no longer on his side, the last may have been
seen of the German midfield general on the international stage.

Nani:

The Portuguese
winger was ruled out of the tournament on as recently as last Tuesday,
after hurting his collarbone while attempting to do the spectacular in
training in Lisbon. His disappointment was, however, a blessing for
Benfica’s Ruben Amorim who subsequently took the place of the
Manchester United star in Portugal’s World Cup squad.

Rio Ferdinand:

The England
captain’s dream of becoming the first Englishman since Bobby Moore to
lead the Three Lions to World Cup glory was brought to an abrupt end
right there in South Africa after an innocuous challenge from teammate
Emile Heskey in his country’s first major training session penultimate
Friday resulted in a knee injury for the Manchester United star whose
place was subsequently taken by Tottenham’s Michael Dawson, and who
doesn’t look likely to ever get to feature at another World Cup
tournament.

John Obi Mikel:

So much was
expected of Mikel at the World Cup but his inability to recover fully
from an injury he picked up quite a while ago on club duty for Chelsea
means he will have to wait another four years before gracing the World
Cup. But he’s young and can look forward to enjoying a holiday that
will most likely see him having anxious moments in front of his TV set
wondering how things would have gone for the Super Eagles had he not
voluntarily withdrawn himself from the squad.

Michael Essien:

Another Chelsea
player who will be missing at the World Cup is Essien whose absence is
sure to leave a huge vacuum in the Black Stars who are seeking to
emulate their performance from four years ago when they made it to the
second round of the tournament before losing to Brazil. The workaholic
midfielder picked up a knee injury at the African Nations Cup in
January and has failed to recover in time.

Lassana Diarra:

South Africa 2010
was going to be Diarra’s opportunity to confirm his credentials as one
of France’s best players but he won’t be featuring at the World Cup
after being told he needed a prolonged rest, no thanks to intestinal
problems which began while scaling a glacier with his teammates during
France’s week-long training camp in the French Alps last month.

Miroslav Karhan:

Karhan is
Slovakia’s most capped player but a hamstring injury meant he won’t be
playing any part in his country’s debut World Cup appearance in South
Africa.

Gate crashers

Arjen Robben:

Robben sustained a
thigh injury in last Saturday’s 6-1 drubbing of Hungary in Amsterdam
and looked set to miss the World Cup until news emerged that he will be
okay for the tournament but not in time for tomorrow’s opener against
Denmark. Looks set to miss his team’s opening World Cup match against
Denmark due to a hamstring injury.

Didier Drogba:

The next World Cup
in Brazil is too far off for Drogba so he planned on making South
Africa 2010 a memorable tournament for himself and his nation.

Fans of the
Elephants must have thought they will be prosecuting the tournament
without their talismanic captain after he broke a bone in his forearm,
but the fearsome striker underwent a successful surgery and may only
get to miss Cote d’Ivoire’s opening game against Portugal.

Fernando Torres:

The Spanish striker
missed a considerable amount of last season’s campaign as a result of
injuries and underwent a knee operation in April which appeared to put
his participation at the World Cup in doubt. But the Liverpool striker
came on as a substitute in Spain’s recent 6-0 thrashing of Poland in
Murcia and looks set to play a key role, as the Spaniards seek to
finally secure a first ever World Cup title.

Andrea Pirlo:

The influential
midfielder was initially expected to miss the entire tournament after
hurting his calf in penultimate Thursday’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of
Mexico. But the latest news is that he will only get to miss Italy’s
opening game against Paraguay and should be available for the defending
champions’ remaining fixtures.

Harry Kewell:

Kewell has hardly
played since December because of a troublesome groin injury but the
injury-prone winger has been training with the rest of the Australian
team in South Africa and, barring any unforeseen injury, should play a
key part in Australia’s quest to go one better than the second round
appearance they achieved four years ago in Germany.