The Picks, The Pricks and The Potential

Its that time of the year when players take their roles a bit more seriously. Despite the busy schedule encountered by the top European clubs and their players, there is always a thought at the back of the players' minds that the world cup is around the corner and it is crucial that their contributions on the pitch gets noticed by national team managers. Some players don't even have to worry about things like that. But there are a few who might have dropped down the ranks, picked up an injury or fallen out of favor with management and need to re instill the faith. 

Let's start with some of the players who have a guaranteed place in their respective national teams. Few players who are going to be absolutely crucial for their teams are Christiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Luiz Suarez (Uruguay). Even though these teams have other good players in the main team, the aforementioned players can hold the key to a successful run in the tournament for their teams. If we take a look at previous world cups, there has almost always been a certain key player, who has been consistently exceptional, responsible for helping their team to win the world cup. Some examples that come to mind are Diego Maradona  (Argentina) in 1986 and Zinedine Zidane (France) in 2006. Christiano Ronaldo is a key figure for Portugal and their attacking prowess largely depends on the Real Madrid star. Most of their attacking play goes through or ends with Ronaldo. Having recently been voted as Ballon D'Or winner, there are huge expectations from Ronaldo to carry Portugal to at least the semi finals of the world cup. Real Madrid, having fallen out of contention for the Spanish league title, Ronaldo will be eager to make the most of the Champions League final at his former club, Lisbon. The squads haven't been announced yet but one can be sure to see his name on the roster. 

      Eden Hazard has been a revelation for Chelsea this season. Chelsea have developed a certain dependency on the Belgian international. Similar to Ronaldo's situation at Real, most of Chelsea's attacking play depends on and forms with Hazard. His ball control, skill and lack of errors makes him one of the brightest young talents in the game today. He has a serious work ethic just like Ronaldo and will prove to be a key player for Belgium this summer. Even though Chelsea are out of every competition, it is safe to say that the PFA young player of the year has cemented his place in the Belgian national team. When it comes to Drogba, Ivory Coast wholly depend on him to help them progress from the group stages. Their team is not as strong as four years earlier but with Drogba playing, they can breathe a bit easier as the former Chelsea player can turn the tide of any match in a matter of seconds as displayed during Chelsea's only Champions League triumph against Bayern two years ago. Luiz Suarez will have the luxury of sharing the attacking line with the likes of Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani which provides Uruguay with probably the most lethal front three in the tournament, maybe after Argentina. Having grabbed the PFA player of the year, Suarez will look to erase the memories of Liverpool's late premier league collapse in order to focus on national duties. Some of the other high profile players who have a guaranteed place in their respective national teams are Neymar (Brazil), Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Iniesta and Xavi (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Arjen Robben and Robin Van Persie (Netherlands), Andrea Pirlo (Italy) and Franck Ribery (France). These were some of the names that could be pivotal to their teams progress in the tournament and their possible path to the final at the Maracana stadium.  

      Let's now look at some of the interesting squad selections made by national team managers. The selection process is still going on but some of the omissions have been surprising. The one that stands out and baffles me is the exclusion of Lucas Moura from the Brazil side. He is one of the most talented players in Europe and probably has the best skill on the ball. He hasn't had the same impact for PSG as other players at the club, but he could have lit up this year's world cup. Nonetheless, Brazil still has a strong side with exceptional players at every position. Another surprising omission is John Terry from the England squad, especially after his exceptional performance with Chelsea during the 2013-2014 season. Chelsea, under Jose Mourinho, have displayed a rock solid and impenetrable defense during the season, owing much to the successful combination of John Terry and Gary Cahill at the back. It only makes sense that they play together for the national team as well. Without Terry, Cahill might have to partner Phil Jagielka, Phil Jones or Chris Smalling at center back, none of whom have really showed too much promise during the season. The most recent high profile squad omission has been Samir Nasri from the France squad. It comes as a surprise especially due to the fact that Nasri just assisted Manchester City to lift the Premier League trophy. He had been instrumental in their run in to the last few games. Although he hadn't featured regularly in the team, he has enough skill and experience to make it into at least the 23-man squad.    

      Let's finally look at some of the young and promising talents that could add some spice to the world cup. We start off with Julian Draxler (Germany and Schalke). He has proved his talent in the Champions League over the past season and also in the German Bundesliga. He is not the traditional German player who likes to work hard and fight for every ball. He more closely resembles a South American player that contains flare and style. His ball control is impeccable and often likes to take on defenders on his own. His preferred position would be in attacking midfield and might also shift out to the wings if required. Our next addition to this list is Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Oscar. He was highly favored by Mourinho during the first half of the season due to which Juan Mata was left out of the main team. He is more of a midfield general than a play maker. He likes to be in a free role right behind the main strike force and likes to create or set up those final balls. He also has a knack of scoring by arriving late in to the box much like Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. Paul Pogba has been the key to Juventus's Serie A success this season. He immensely resembles Patrick Vieira in the type of position as well as the physique he possesses. He still lacks a lot of experience but has the potential to become even better than Vieira. He will be crucial to France's success in the world cup and should easily make the main team. Spain's ever lasting search for a dependable striker continues. After Raul and Fernando Morientes, no one has been quite prolific in terms of goals. David Villa was good at the last world cup but has fallen out of favor this time around. Fernando Torres is but a shadow of his former self and Roberto Soldado is certainly not world cup material. That has left Vicente Del Bosque with prolific Athletico Madrid striker Diego Costa. He is an out and out striker and has a great built. He has the chance to win the La Liga as well as the Champions League with Athletic this season but his position already seems to be guaranteed with other strikers failing to live up to the expectation. Another striker who has been terrific this season is Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool and England. England's golden generation might be reaching their twilight but with the likes of Sturridge and other young players, England could still pose a threat. Sturridge is exciting to watch and gets into great scoring positions. He is the second highest scorer in the Premier League after Suarez and has a great eye for goal. Finally we end with Romelu Lukaku (Belgium and Chelsea). He has been on loan at Everton this past year and has scored 15 Premier League goals. With Christian Benteke ruled out of the world cup for Belgium, Lukaku has the opportunity to spearhead Belgium's strike force. Again, I stressed on only some of the promising players. There are many others like Marco Reus (Germany), Raheem Sterling (England), Raphael Varane (France) and Hulk (Brazil) who could set the world cup on fire. We'll have to wait and see what these players make of their opportunities but with only a month left for the tournament, the countdown begins.     

  

Drogba, Shevchenko, Torres, Ballack, not the only superstars at Chelsea

The English premier league with all its popularity and glamour, has attracted many celebrities over the years, whether it be musicians, actors or other sports stars. England has immense industries in all of the three professions. Let's see, there was once a rock band from Liverpool, in the 60's, and they say the band revolutionized the genre. Oh yeah, the Beatles! Other legendary bands like Radiohead, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath also emerged from England. When it comes to actors, there are Ian McKellen, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins and many others. Let's not even go into football but here are a few non-football sports personalities as well, Paula Radcliffe (marathon runner), Johny Wilkinson (Rugby) and Jenson Button (Formula one). But we are not here to talk about England and its celebrities. We are here to talk about some of the celebrities who were attracted by the blues of London, Chelsea.

Beatles founder Paul McArtney performing at Anfield stadium in Liverpool.

      The wealth and glamour of Chelsea has not only lured players but celebrities as well. I am specifically going to talk about the three industries mentioned earlier since these are of my interest. There are many to choose from but I have selected a few pretty famous ones to talk about. As usual I am going to leave the best for the last. The first few will be celebrities who are apparently Chelsea fans but I have never seen any reason to believe it. We begin with a man from the isle of Britain itself, Gabriel Byrne. Any movie fanatic would recognize him from the movie "the Usual Suspects". Born in Ireland, he doesn't quite have a legendary status in the industry but is still a great actor. Then there is the lovely Sienna Miller, featured in movies such as "G.I. Joe" and "Casanova". Next we have guy Ritchie, the famous director who made "Snatch" and "Sherlock Holmes". Singer Bryan Adams is also on the list. There is a bit more reason to believe he is a true fan because he once dedicated a song name "We're Gonna Win" to the club. Another musician to have claimed to be a blues fan is Justin Chancellor, the bassist of American progressive rock band Tool. It's time to get some personalities that have given us a bit more reason to believe that they are a true blue. During the team's regular pre season tour of the States, the likes of Will Ferrel and Zack Galifianakis made it a point to visit the players personally, Ferrel having done so on more than one occasion. Having provided a great dose of laughter to fans with their brand of comedy and humor, these two are established American actors. It is highly doubtful whether they know a great deal about Chelsea though, or football for that matter. But its always great to celebrities taking an interest in the sport and Chelsea of course. Now for a real shocker - actress Charlize Theron. I never saw that coming. She paid a visit to one of the friendly games featuring Chelsea and also got a club shirt with her name on it. Actor Ashton Kutcher has also been spotted sitting in the Chelsea dugout during one of those friendlies.

      Oscar nominee Joseph Fiennes has been seen at Stamford Bridge promoting an event. He was nominated for the Oscars for his films "Elizabeth" and "Shakespeare In Love", the latter winning the Academy Award for best picture in 1998. Actors from Bollywood have also been attracted with Abhishek Bachchan known to be a Chelsea fan. His movie "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" portrayed him as a die hard Chelsea fan and also featured the club itself.

 

      Two famous sport stars to have supported Chelsea are Boris Becker and Alec Stewart. Becker is a former German tennis player and world no. 1. He was spotted in the stands during a Chelsea game at Stamford Bridge, which was an FA Cup fixture against Leicester City. Former English Cricketer and captain, Alec Stewart is a well known Chelsea fan and has often been heard speaking about it during his commentary. Another musician, another Irish. Any guesses? It's U2 front man Bono. Apparently good friends with the owner himself, Roman Abramovich, Bono was once seen walking across the pitch at the Bridge. Part of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Bono sprinkles even more stardust on this list. 

      As mentioned earlier, these are just a few of the host of supposed celebrity Chelsea supporters. I say supposed because most fans of Chelsea nowadays are just people who have hopped on to the Chelsea bandwagon. The same applies for celebrities, especially celebrities. It's sad but I think we are about to come to a conclusion. OR ARE WE?!! Didn't I say that I leave the best for the last. You can be rest assured, I am going to live up to my word. We end with two British legends. One is an actor and the other a musician. "The Dark Knight", "The Prestige", "Inception". Ring any bells? This man will forever be known as "Alfred". Yes, it is the legendary Michael Caine and it is safe to say that this man is a true Chelsea fan since he has been supporting the club for a long time, much before their glory days. And we end with a bang. More clues? "Kashmir", "Whole Lotta Love", "Heartbreaker" and "Stairway to Heaven". It's Led Zeppelin lead guitarist Jimmy Page. I am getting goosebumps just mentioning his name on this list. A rock god of the 70's and 80's and dare I say it, a fellow true blues fan. Now that's an ending.