Post by QPR Report on Jun 3, 2010 17:01:11 GMT
Football League
FOOTBALL LEAGUE WORLD CUP XI
Posted on: 03.06.2010
As teams from all four corners of the globe begin descending on South Africa, the planes touching down in the Rainbow Nation will include eleven Football League players all hoping to fire their country to World Cup glory.
Comprising of seven different nationalities, the Football League XI is made up of players from seven different clubs that played in The League during the 2009/10 season - Ipswich Town (1), Middlesbrough (2), Newcastle United (1), Plymouth Argyle (1), Reading (1), Watford (1) and West Bromwich Albion (4).
From the list, the two biggest interests for England fans will be Watford's Jay Demerit and former West Brom midfielder Robert Koren who could both line up against the Three Lions when they take on the USA and Slovenia in Group C's first and final games in Rustenburg and Port Elizabeth respectively.
"The number of Football League players selected for this summer's World Cup is testament to the strength and depth of professional football in England," said John Nagle, Head of Communications at The Football League.
In addition to Koren and Demerit, West Brom defender Marek Cech forms part of the Slovakian backline in their first World Cup Finals since independence in 1993. The central European nation await Italy, New Zealand and Paraguay in a daunting debut in Group F.
Cech's club team mate, Gonzalo Jara and Newcastle United's Jonas Gutierrez make up the South American contingent, representing Chile and Argentina in Groups H (Honduras, Spain and Switzerland) and B (Greece, Nigeria and South Korea) respectively.
On the other side of the planet, Tommy Smith (Ipswich), Chris Killen (Middlesbrough), Rory Fallon (Plymouth) and Chris Wood (West Brom) are The Football League's New Zealand quartet. The All Whites are in Group F and will take on Italy, Paraguay and Slovakia.
Finally, a hop across the Tasman Sea sees goalkeepers Brad Jones (Middlesbrough) and Adam Federici (Reading) go head-to-head for the Socceroos' number one shirt as Australia prepare to face Australia Germany, Ghana and Serbia in Group D.
Closer to home, 17 of the final 23 making up the England squad have played in The Football League during their careers.
All three goalkeepers that travelled to South Africa had stints in The League with Joe Hart beginning life at Shrewsbury Town, David James was a trainee at Watford and Rob Green spent ten years at Norwich City.
Out of the defenders, only Jamie Carragher and Ledley King have spent their careers to date exclusively in the top flight. But, Ashley Cole (Crystal Palace), Rio Ferdinand (Bournemouth), Glen Johnson (Millwall), John Terry (Nottingham Forest), Matthew Upson (Luton Town) and Stephen Warnock (Bradford City and Coventry City) have all had loan or permanent spells in The League.
In the midfield, Michael Carrick (Swindon), Frank Lampard (Swansea City), Aaron Lennon (Leeds United), James Milner (Swindon Town) and Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City) also all made appearances whilst up-front Peter Crouch (Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City and Portsmouth), Jermain Defoe (Bournemouth) and Emile Heskey (Leicester City) are former League stars.
www.football-league.co.uk/latestnews/20100603/football-league-world-cup-xi_2245681_2064351