There were 10 Liverpool players who featured in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the count increasing by two this year. With 12 Liverpool players across 6 nations, the Liverpool fans will hope for every Liverpool player to do well for their countries!
Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard has his Liverpool teammates Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Glen Johnson and Jon Flanagan (on stand by) with him in Roy Hodgson’s England squad. One of Liverpool’s two summer purchases has been Rickie Lambert who is also in the England squad.
Other Liverpool players in the World Cup are Simon Mignolet for Belgium, Kolo Toure for Ivory Coast, Mamadou Sakho for France, Luis Suarez and Sebastian Coates for Uruguay and on-loan Pepe Reina for Spain.
Simon Mignolet is second in line as the goalkeeper for his nation Belgium behind Thibaut Courtois. It’s unlikely for him to get a game but in case he does he’ll try his best and prove himself as a top keeper and give competition to Courtois for the main goalkeeper’s position for Belgium.
Kolo Toure, having more than a 100 appearances for his country Ivory Coast is one of the most experienced members of the squad and his experience will be crucial in their games with supporters counting on him for the strength in their defence.
Mamadou Sakho is another player on whom supporters will rely on for the defence, if he gets the nod in the starting eleven for France.
Nothing much needs to be said about the destructive Luis Suarez’s importance in the Uruguayan squad. Every Uruguay, Liverpool and football fan will hope for Suarez, who is now recovering from a knee surgery, to be fit in time for the World Cup and help Uruguay to victories. Solely depending on Edinson Cavani will not help Uruguay’s case and the entire presence of Suarez in the team and in the matches will in itself make a difference to Uruguay’s matches.
Sebastian Coates’ presence in the Uruguayan squad will depend mostly on the recovery of his injury. Does he get fit, he will hope to help out Uruguay’s defence.
Like Liverpool’s current goalkeeper Simon Mignolet’s situation for Belgium, Pepe Reina, currently on-loan is in Spain’s squad standing behind Iker Casillas for the goalkeeper’s role. He’s also yet to have an appearance in a World Cup match and it seems unlikely he’ll have that chance this year but being part of that strong Spanish team is itself an honour.
Coming to the English players, there’s not much to talk about the importance of the captain, Captain Fantastic, Steven Gerrard in the team. With his new playmaking and deep-lying midfield role largely supported by Jordan Henderson, these two will hope to click for England the way they clicked for Liverpool this past Premier League season. Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge will be highly important in England’s matches with their goal scoring and assisting abilities.
Sterling being agile could assist Sturridge who has the ability to finish beautifully. With Glen Johnson being England’s first choice as right-back, his defending will be crucial in England’s group stages. With his cemented place in the team, Johnson will try giving it his all and help England concede as little possible even though he’s been really shaky as of late.
Jon Flanagan on the sidelines is to be called up only if there’s any injury among the main squad members.
Whichever team we support at the World Cup, every PL team’s supporter will want the players from their EPL team to perform well at the World Cup for their respective nations and come back to the Premier League and go on with the good form. No wonder it’s not surprising to hear when someone says it’s difficult to pick a team to support in the World Cup (for us neutrals that is!).
