Best of the rest

The shameful change of rules before the end of the European qualifying competition for the World Cup was widely reported as being designed to ensure the top names in the game made it to South Africa next year. Down the years, there have been plenty of top players that haven't played in the finals. George Weah for one, George Best, Alfredo di Stefano, Bernd Schuster and Liam Brady for a few others. And while Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry are going to be there, we can pick a pretty handy XI from the non-qualifying nations this time around.

Goalkeeper: Igor Akinfeev (Russia)
Only 23 and one of the best keepers in Europe, the CSKA stopper has been first choice at the Luzhniki since he was 17. Russia were the only unseeded side to bow out, beaten by Slovenia, not that Akinfeev could do anything about the crucial goal.

Defence: Jan Vertonghen (Belgium), Thomas Vermaelen (Belgium), Brede Hangeland (Norway), Kakha Kaladze (Georgia)
Vertonghen and Vermaelen formed a fearsome pairing on the right-hand side of the Ajax defence last season. Vermaelen has really kicked on since joining Arsenal while Vertonghen has revelled in the added responsibility since his buddy left Amsterdam. They've a cracking young squad have Belgium, but internal divisions once again proved the undoing. As the Francophone and Flemish speaking parts of the country seem determined to split, so it goes in the national team's dressing room.
Hangeland's performances for Fulham saw him much in-demand recently from Europe's top players. If nothing else, he'd form a defensive pairing with Vermaelen that few would want to bump into down a dark alley. Norway were the European team that finished second in the group, behind the rampant Dutch, but failed to make the play-offs. Poor old Kaladze: national hero, classy defender and scorer of two calamitous own goals in the qualifier against Italy as Georgia - riven by war during the tournament, lest we forget - ended bottom of the group without a win. Frankly, the campaign faded into insignificance thanks to the domestic situation and ended with a whimper, a 6-2 defeat in Sofia.

Midfield: Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Zvejzdan Misimovic (Bosnia), Anatoly Tymoschuk (Ukraine), Balázs Dzsudzsák (Hungary)
Tymoschuk is a water-carrier par excellence. Although his club side, Bayern, are threatening to implode yet again, he does his job without fuss: sit in and spoil lest the opposition get anywhere near that flaky back four. He did the same job for Ukraine, but the rest of the side had little flair and they were undone by a workmanlike Greece in the play-offs. For Wolfsburg, Misimovic has Josué to do the Tymoschuk role and let him strut his stuff. For every dynamic playmaker, someone needs to mop up behind. Misimovic was instrumental in Bosnia's run to the play-offs where his injury in the second leg stymied the hope they took out of the first game.
Dzsudzsák offers great width down the left and he's got bags of pace and a mean shot. Hungary started well in a tough group, but faded. It may well have been Dzsudzsák's best hope of making the finals. They are improving, but may rely on the luck of the draw to qualify. Arshavin. Quality. I think we all know that.

Attack: Edin Dzeko (Bosnia), Fredi Kanouté (Mali)
Dzeko is one of the most complete strikers I've seen at the age of 23. Maybe Marco van Basten, but evoking names like that show the regard he's widely held in. Pace, good in the air, strong... what else does a striker need? 14 goals in 22 internationals speaks volumes of his ability, especially when combined with long-time club-mate Misimovic. Kanouté has that classically languid Gallic style, but he's clinical in front of goal. Of all the players in the Primera Liga, he's right up there with David Villa as the most feared striker. Having been constantly overlooked by France, he declared for Mali who made it through to the final round of qualifying, finishing third in the group behind Ghana and Benin. Two wins from six just wasn't good enough.

Honourable mentions: Lorik Cana (Albania), Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Marouane Chamakh (Morocco), Souleymane Diawara (Senegal), Richard Dunne (Ireland), Mounir El Hamdaoui (Morocco), Alex Hleb (Belarus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica), Ze Kalanga (Angola), Mohamed Zidan (Egypt) and Ryan Giggs (Wales). Again.