May
20
Left Out of Euro 2008
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With the Euro 2008 tournament fast approaching, coaches have begun picking their rosters. As usual there are some unexpected picks and along with that some surprising rejections. Among the left out is David Trezeguet who is currently third all-time in goals scored in International play for France. Manager Raymond Domenech has had an uneasy relationship with Trezguet and perhaps felt that having him on the team would prove to be a hit to team unity. Forward Bafetimbi Gomis was chosen in place of Trezeguet.At this point coach Domenech has showed a 30-man list of potential players (Trezguet not being one of them of course.) The list will eventually be condensed to the 23-man limit. Several coaches have already chosen their final 23, but Domenech is stalling since some of them still haven’t played their finals games yet.
France is not the only team which made some surprise inclusions. Spain left out all-time leading scorer Raul as well as Bojan Krkic of Barcelona. Raul was expected to make the squad after a great year at Real Madrid, showing that he still has it. Krkic, who is still only seventeen years old, came to a conclusion with Luis Aragones, manager of Spain, that he needed some rest. He knows that he will have plenty of chances to play in Euro in the future of what is expected to be a brilliant career. Instead of Krkic and Raul, Aragones chose Santi Cazorla (midfielder for Villareal) and forward Sergio Garcia of Real Zaragoza.
A few other surprises who will not be playing in the tournament are: Timo Hildebrand (Low Germany), Alexander Kerzhakov (Russia), and Igor Denisov (he actually turned down an invitation from Russia.) Several teams are still getting things settled as many are still waiting for players to finish their seasons with their clubs. As training becomes more frequent we will begin to see less personnel issues.