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Most of the World Cup playing nations have announced their provisional squads for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2014 tournament in Brazil. While the declaration has delighted many players, a few unlucky ones have been denied of a trip to the land of the samba.
Perhaps, the discrimination and the widespread difference in opinions is more vocal among the supporters of various footballing clubs. They want to see players from the club they support to be selected for the tournament. It may seem difficult to favour a set of players from a particular club but when Real Madrid harbours those players, we expect them to be selected nine out of ten times.
And this year is no different as 13 players from Los Blancos squad get to feature at the summer event in Brazil. Boasting a squad that includes the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos among many others gives you the idea as to why so many players from the capitol club of Spain get to represent their nations in the tournament.
The Real Madrid forward duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have been selected for the World Cup . Ronaldo makes his 3rd appearance on the big stage for Portugal where he will be joined by defenders Pepe and Fabio Coentrao while Benzema leads the French attack for the 2nd time in his career.
Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas resume their positions in Del Bosque’s Spain squad apart from first timer, Daniel Carvajal, who has been included in the 30-man provisional team.
Angel Di Maria finds his place in Argentina’s line-up while his midfield partner Luka Modric is set to feature as the playmaker for Croatia. Marcelo is the only Brazilian in the Seleccao squad from the Santiago Bernabeu.
Sami Khedira, who has been sidelined for a long time with an injury, gets his chance in a star studded German midfield.
Young defender Raphael Varane has been called up by Didier Deschamps and he is set to make his mark in his maiden tournament.
Here is the list of the 13 players who will represent their nations in Brazil.
- Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo (110 caps), Pepe (57 caps), Fabio Coentrao (44 caps)
- Spain – Iker Casillas (153 caps), Sergio Ramos (115 caps), Daniel Carvajal (0 caps), Xabi Alonso (109 caps)
- Brazil – Marcelo (29 caps)
- France – Karim Benzema (65 caps) , Raphael Varane (5 caps)
- Croatia – Luka Modric (73 caps)
- Argentina – Angel Di Maria (44 caps)
- Germany – Sami Khedira (44 caps)
