20 previous World Cup winners will be hoping to win the Trophy for a second time in Brazil. Unsurprisingly, this list is dominated by 16 of Spains class of 2010, while Italys Andrea Barzagli, Gianluigi Buffon, Daniele De Rossi and Andrea Pirlo will all be out to replicate their 2006 triumph. There are, however, no survivors from Brazils 2002 squad, with the likes of Kaka and Ronaldinho having failed to make Luiz Felipe Scolaris final 23. In bringing 16 of the players who won the Trophy four years ago, Spain are setting a new record for reigning champions, eclipsing the 13 called up by France in 2002. Needless to say, they will hope to fare better than that Bleus team, which crashed out the first round without scoring a single goal. 18 years and one month old, Cameroons Fabrice Olinga is the youngest player at Brazil 2014 and, if selected, he will become the ninth-youngest in World Cup history. Remarkably, though, there will still be three Cameroonians ahead of him in the all-time top ten: Samuel Eto’o (second on 17 years, three months), Salomon Olembe (fourth on 17 years, 6 months) and Rigobert Song (seventh on 17 years, 11 months). The youngest-ever is Norman Whiteside, who played for Northern Ireland at Spain 1982 just 41 days after turning 17. Second to Olinga in Brazil, meanwhile, is Englands 19- year-old left-back, Luke Shaw, with Julian Green of USA - a month older - following closely behind in third. 14 World Cup goals establishes Miroslav Klose as the most prolific of all the players heading to Brazil. Indeed, the veteran Germany striker needs just one more to equal the tournament record set by Ronaldo in 2006. Klose can also become just the third player to score in four different editions, a feat previously managed only by compatriot Uwe Seeler and the great Pele.
Posted on: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 04:57:58 +0000
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