[Maczebus]

I realise this is meant for current examples but just a couple from yesteryear thrown into the discussion:

George Best: Northern Ireland never qualified for a WC during his international playing career.

George Weah.

[Blue Army]

How about David Beckham, hes pretty good and plays for a third rate national team.

[Wolves_67]

Originally posted by Blue Army
How about David Beckham, hes pretty good and plays for a third rate national team.

You made me laugh..good one!

[gerr18]

Originally posted by Blue Army
How about David Beckham, hes pretty good and plays for a third rate national team.

only 11 posts before we got an England knock...im suprised.

now go bother someone else.

[BerwynBlazers]

some other mentions

marian pahars latvia
harry kewell & mark viduka but they cried and got their way so they will actually play in the next wc

[Auriaprottu]

Originally posted by BerwynBlazers
some other mentions

marian pahars latvia
harry kewell & mark viduka but they cried and got their way so they will actually play in the next wc

I wouldn't blame them personally. The governing body of Australian football, perhaps, and FIFA for sure, but Kewell and Viduka, as players, don't have that much clout.

[Parkhead_Faithful]

Originally posted by Auriaprottu
but Kewell and Viduka, as players, don't have that much clout.

Viduka might, the fat bastard

[afgrijselijkheid]

how bout kuffour bayern/ghana
.............ruiz la galaxy/guatemala
.............johansson finland
.............berkovic man citeh/israel
.............barbarez hamburg/bosnia
.............mido ajax/egypt
.............khatskevich dynamo kiev/belarus
.............arveladze rangers/georgia
.............coulibaly marseille/mali

and i think wales might make it this time around

[Excape Goat]

Originally posted by Elninho

Julio Cesar Dely Valdes, Panama - longtime Spanish Primera player, on a national team that loses more often than it wins in CONCACAF competitions.

Shaun Goater, Bermuda - not exactly world-class, but at least a regular starter in the Premiership... and plays for a Bermuda team that isn't even good enough to be called third-rate.

Jeff Strasser, Luxembourg - regular starter for Kaiserslautern. The less said about the Luxembourg national team the better.

Eidur Gudjohnsen, Iceland - one of the best strikers in the Premiership, who has the misfortune to play for an island nation with little chance of ever qualifying for a World Cup.

Hasan Salihamidzic, Bosnia-Herzegovina - regular starter for Bayern Munich, but his country has yet to make an impact on the international scene.

This group fits the bill. Others:

Dwight Yorke

[Excape Goat]

Ukraine is one match away from qualifying in WC Finals. They also supplied the bulk of the old Soviet Union. He is not the first Ukrainian superstar. He will not be the last.

Oleh Blokhin was Ukraine produced two European Player of the Year winners -- Oleh Blokhin and Igor Belanov. In England, we had Andrei Kanchelskis starring for Manchester United. Valery Lobanovsky is perhaps the top 5 international coach of the best 50 years. I just don't see Ukraine is the same "class" as Panama, Bermuda, Sierra Leone, etc.


Andriy Shevchenko does not belong to the list.