Many club teams could claim to have produced the stars of the World Cup. Barcelona could clearly make a case for acquiring the best talent; six of the starters and several of the bench players for Spain call Barcelona their home club. Bayern Munich, too, could throw their hat into the ring; eight of the members of the German national team, as well as Arjen Robben, belong to the Munich giants.
Neither of those teams, however, is particularly surprising; Barcelona and Bayern have long been the home for quality talent. More interesting is the case of Udinese, the little Italian club that just so happens to house some of the best talents from the World Cup.
It’s easy to overlook Udinese’s contribution to the international rosters; the club finished 15th in Serie A last season, and their players are a smattering of nationalities that are spread across many different national teams. Still, there’s talent on this roster. Consider the following players:
Slovenia: Samir Handanovič
The memory that most Americans will have of goalkeeper Samir Handanovič is Landon Donovan ripping a shot across his face from no angle in the opening minutes of the second half in the 2-2 draw with Slovenia; still, Handanovič did well enough to make “The Guardian” team of the tournament, based mostly on his ability to perform in spite of the fact that his defense was generally lacking in ability.
Chile: Alexis Sánchez, Mauricio Isla, and Fabián Orellana
For a brief moment, Alexis Sánchez was the player of the tournament. It was two weeks ago that he exited, so it’s possible you’ve forgotten, but Sánchez was a crucial part of Chile’s marauding, attacking style of play; the team’s attack flowed through him on the right hand side quite a bit. Defender Mauricio Isla was less noticeable, but perhaps more important; as one of Marcus Bielsa’s defenders, he had to possess the tactical awareness to adjust to multiple formations and multiple styles of play. Sánchez is 21; Isla is 22. Both of these players have a bright future ahead of them.
Orellana was perhaps less crucial to Chile’s World Cup success (his only appearance was as a late sub against Spain), but in 2008 he scored Chile’s only goal in a 1-0 win over Argentina during qualifying.
Ghana: Kwadwo Asamoah
21-year old midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah is just the latest Ghanaian star to come through Udinese’s ranks. Asamoah played in every match for Ghana, typically behind striker Asamoah Gyan (formerly of Udinese); he did the same thing for Ghana in the African Cup of Nations. While he’s the only current Ghanaian team member at the Bianconeri, he’s by no means the first; on top of Gyan, fellow national team members Sulley Muntari and Stephen Appiah played for Udinese, while up-and-coming talent (and star of the U-20 World Cup) Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu is on the roster as well. If Agyemang-Badu continues to succeed at the international level, that will be five key Ghanaians that have come through Udinese’s ranks.
Switzerland: Gökhan Inler
Long time fans of the blog will recognize this name, as I happen to have a particular soft spot for Gökhan Inler. And here’s why: with Inler as captain, Switzerland were able to pull off a rather impressive win over Spain. He’s a highly capable midfielder; his main contribution to that 1-0 win was his marking ability, which he showed off against Xavi. I’ve long thought Xavi was the best player in the world, but Inler took him out of that game; that (along with a really deep defensive line and an injured Fernando Torres) stifled Spain’s attack, and allowed Switzerland to consider the possibility that they may, in fact, win that match. Fantastic performance from a great midfielder.
Serbia: Aleksandar Luković
Centerback Aleksandar Luković is the first player on the list who didn’t play in every World Cup match for his country. However, that was because he was sent off in Serbia’s opening match against Ghana; prior to that, he’d done well. He returned for Serbia’s 2-1 loss to Australia, but didn’t have much of an impact; still, he’s a solid-if-not-spectacular player. Also, he brings my list to seven.
The unanswered question, however, is obvious: with this kind of talent, why didn’t Udinese finish higher than 15th in Serie A?
