FIFA World Cup 2010: Club Sides with the Most Semi-final Players
A total of ninety-two players will make up the rosters of four countries which have/are competing in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
These ninety-two players are spread over forty four club sides across Europe and South America. let’s take a look at which club sides are contributing the most to this year’s World Cup semi-final squads.
From Spain, Athletic Bilbao have contributed to the Spanish squad in the shape of Fernando Llorente and Javi Martinez. These players are not expected to start in the semi-final game between Spain and Germany but they can come off the bench to feature prominently. Valencia is another Spanish club which has contributed three players in total to the Spanish squad.
David Silva, Juan Mata and Carlos Marchena are all part of the Spanish squad but do not look like favorites to start. Valencia have also contributed to Uruguay’s squad with Ignacio Gonzalez.
The German club Stuttgart has contributed three players to the German squad. Sami Khedira, Cacau and Serdar Tasci have all featured for Germany, while Khalid Boularouz is a part of the Dutch squad and played for them in their semi-final win against Uruguay.
Werder Bremen who finished third in the German league and qualified for the Champions League have contributed four players to the German squad out of which two have played critical roles in their progression to the semi-finals.
Bremen’s young stars such as Ozil, Mertesacker, Marin and Tim Wiese are all part of the German 23-man squad but only Ozil and Mertesacker have played regularly in the World Cup so far for the Germans.
German club Hamburg’s stars such as Marcell Jansen, Piotr Trochowski and Dennis Aogo are part of the German squad but have been limited to substitute appearances. While for the Dutch, Hamburg’s energetic winger Eljero Elia and defender Joris Mathijsen have played frequently.
From the Dutch club Ajax, five players are part of the semi-final squads. Luis Suarez and Nicolas Lodeiro have been part of the Uruguayan squad since the start of the World Cup, while goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, midfielder Denny De Zeeuw and right back Gregory Van Der Wiel have featured for the Dutch. De Zeeuw will miss the final match of the World Cup after breaking his jaw in the semi-final match against Uruguay.
A total of six players are featuring in the semi-finals from the Spanish giants Real Madrid. In the Spanish squad Real Madrid has registered its presence with Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Raul Albiol and Alvaro Arbeloa. In the Dutch squad, Rafael Van Der Vaart has been limited to a substitute role which is quite similar to the role he has been playing for his club side Real Madrid.
Eight of Barcelona’s star players are part of the semi-final squads. For Spain, Pique, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Busquets, Puyol, Pedro and Victor Valdes are all representatives of the Catalan club.
From Bayern Munich, a total number of nine players are present in the semi-final rosters for the FIFA World Cup of 2010. Munich’s big names such as Klose, Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Mueller, Gomez and Badstuber have played for Germany. While their winger Robben and defensive midfielder Van Bommel are permanent fixtures in the Dutch starting eleven.
Clubs such as Bayer Leverkusen, PSV Eindhoven, Villarreal and Porto have all contributed two players each to the semi-final rosters. Leverkusen have contributed Toni Kross and Stefan Kiessling to the German squad, Eindhoven have their players in the Dutch squad in shape of Ibrahim Afellay and Andre Ooijer. Villarreal’s defenders Capdevilla and Diego Godin are playing for Spain and Uruguay respectively. From Porto, Jorge Fucile and Alvaro Pereira have featured for their national team Uruguay.
It is interesting to note that two of the semi-finalists of the UEFA Champions League in shape of Barcelona and Bayern Munich have contributed the most to the semi-final rosters.
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