5 Quality Defenders Not Going To The World Cup
The 2018 Russia World Cup begins in under a month and most national team managers have submitted their 23-man squads. With a number of controversial and hard decisions taken by the respective bosses, selected players now get the chance to represent their country at the greatest spectacle on the earth, the FIFA World Cup.
A mixture of top professionals has been left out due to various reasons. Whether it was inconsistency, lack of playing time or injuries managers have made difficult decisions and will have to stick their choices unless there are late injuries that hamper the squad.
A number of top defenders have been left out of their national team squads and here we look at the top 5 defenders who won't be going to Russia.
#5 David Luiz
David Luiz is probably one of the most passionate Brazilian footballers in the world today. A quality defender, with great passing ability, Luiz might not be the ordinary defender but he is explosive and aggressive in his own right.
However, his fall out with Antonio Conte early in the season and a lengthy injury has kept him out of the Chelsea squad and in-turn Tite's Brazilian World Cup squad. While the player is said to be back in training, he is not entirely fit and hasn't played enough games this season.
The 31-year-old lost out to a place in the squad to Fagner, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Miranda and Pedro Geromel. All these players have had complete seasons and performed at a high level consistently, pipping the Chelsea defender in the squad.