LONDON — No matter the foul news that FIFA officials generate, it is players who are the flesh and blood of any World Cup.
Their clock is ticking. Monday is deadline day when the 32 nations must submit their rosters of the 23 players each will be taking to Brazil.
One player, Italy’s creative midfield man, Riccardo Montolivo, will not make that cut. His left leg was broken by a tackle from an Irish defender in London on Saturday night as the Italians took part in a warmup game on their way to South America.
Two others — England striker Rickie Lambert and Spanish midfielder Cesc Fàbregas — are going to the tournament that could define their careers. Both, however, are unlikely to return to the clubs they leave behind.
Lambert, now 32, is having a glorious late summer to his career. Before he boards the plane taking England westward on Monday, his move from Southampton to Liverpool will become official. And that will complete an emotional trip for a player who was born in Liverpool and grew up in the club’s academy, but then was told at age 15 that he wouldn’t make it as a Red.
Fàbregas is another player in transit. Right now, he is one of seven Barcelonaemployees named to the Spanish squad that will defend the World Cup. Born a Catalan and a graduate of Barça’s famed academy, Fàbregas was put up for sale over the weekend.
His place at Barcelona will be taken by Rafinha, the younger brother of Thiago Alcântara, who left the club for Bayern Munich one year ago. The sons of Mazinho, who played for Brazil at the 1994 World Cup, both were also enrolled at the Barça academy, La Masia.
Rafinha (christened Rafael) is now 21 and ready to come home. He played last season on loan at Celta Vigo, where his coach was Luís Enrique, the former Barça B team coach who also is returning to Barcelona, to be the head coach.
The wheel of soccer is never still. Lambert’s career has gone full circle. He reaches full national-team status at an age when most players are winding down their international careers, a testament to both his perseverance and his willingness to run and run.
That Liverpool is paying 4 million pounds, or about $6.7 million, for a talent it discarded 17 years ago tells another story. Lambert admitted as he passed through the local airport on Saturday that he might well be telling his grandchildren “until the ends of time” how proud he was of this late twist to a pro career filled with struggles.
At one stage, a decade ago, he was working the line in a vegetable canning factory. Never mind any grandchildren, his Southampton teammate Luke Shaw was in stitches of laughter hearing Lambert tell the media about his “beet root bottling” days.
Shaw is 18. He too is on the England plane heading to Rio de Janeiro. Shaw is another Southampton player who will not return because Manchester United is negotiating to buy him.
The national team managers know the situation. They need the undivided attention of their chosen players for the next few weeks, but the fact is the World Cup is merely an interlude, albeit a highlight, to their careers.
“I’m sure that when Rickie Lambert plays against Ecuador, you’ll see a fella running around with all the joy that his heart can muster,” England manager Roy Hodgson told reporters about England’s scheduled warmup game in Miami. “He’s happy to be with England now that the move to Liverpool has gone through.”
Others are in limbo. Fàbregas has just been told he can go to a buyer who will pay the $50 million that Barcelona values him at.
It could be a return to Arsenal, which took him from La Masia at 16, sold him back to Barça when he wanted to leave, and now is in the market for a proven winner on English fields, along with United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea.
His three years back in Spain reaped 149 games, 41 goals and 42 assists without entirely convincing his own people, the Catalans, that he was as important a player as he once was at Arsenal.
That, in part, is because Barcelona could still count on Xavi Hernández, while it was schooling the likes of the Alcântara brothers as the potential replacements.
All these transfer options might play on the minds of players at the World Cup, because, after all, club soccer is what puts jam — or caviar — on their daily bread.
Alas, poor Montolivo is the latest player to get so near, yet so far, from the World Cup. He was made captain on Saturday for the friendly in London as he stepped in for the regular skipper, the goalie Gigi Buffon, and for Italy’s midfield maestro, Andrea Pirlo.
Both of those senior citizens on the team are certain starters if they are fit for Italy’s opening World Cup game against England in Manaus. So Coach Cesare Prandelli rested rather than risked them against the Irish.
Prandelli cares about the health and also the emotions of players in his charge. On Sunday morning, after it was confirmed that Montolivo must fly back to Italy for surgery, the coach had no option but to move on and select somebody else.
That somebody is likely to be Marco Verratti, the 21-year-old Paris St.-Germain player who has long been dubbed the Pirlo of tomorrow. Verratti was on the field Saturday, and he was the first Italian to reach down to try to console his stricken compatriot.
“Mi sono rotto,” Montolivo mouthed to him. “I’ve broken it.”
倫敦 - 無論犯規消息稱，國際足聯的官員產生，它是球員誰是肉的任何世界杯和血液。
他們的時鐘滴答作響。週一是最後期限一天，當32個國家必須提交的23名球員每個將採取巴西他們的名冊。
一名球員，意大利的中場創造力的人，蒙托利沃，也不會作出這樣的削減。他的左腿被從愛爾蘭後衛在倫敦上週六晚鏟球斷為意大利人參加了熱身賽的路上，南美洲。
兩個人 - 英格蘭前鋒瑞奇蘭伯特和西班牙中場法布雷加斯 - 要，可以定義自己的職業生涯的比賽。但是，雙方都不太可能回到他們留下的俱樂部。
蘭伯特，現在32，是有一個光榮的夏末到他的職業生涯。他板之前，飛機起飛向西英國在星期一，他的舉動從南安普敦利物浦將成為正式的。而這將完成一個情感之旅的誰是出生在利物浦和在俱樂部的學院長大，但後來被告知在15歲時，他不會把它作為一個紅色的一名球員。
法布雷加斯是另一名球員在運輸途中。現在，他是七分之一的巴塞羅那員工入選了西班牙隊，這將捍衛世界杯。生於加泰羅尼亞和巴薩的著名學院的畢業生，法布雷加斯被拿出來售賣週末。
他在巴薩的地方會採取拉菲尼亞，蒂亞戈·阿爾坎塔拉，誰離開了俱樂部拜仁慕尼黑一年前的弟弟。馬津霍，誰在1994年世界杯效力於巴西，雙方的兒子也就讀於該學院巴薩，拉瑪西亞。
拉菲尼亞（命名為拉斐爾）現在是21，準備回家。他在塞爾塔，他的教練路易斯·恩里克，前巴薩B隊教練，誰也重返巴薩出場租借，上賽季成為主教練。
足球的車輪是永遠不動。蘭伯特的職業生涯已經完整的圓。他達到全民族隊的地位在這個時代，當大多數球員都蜿蜒起伏的國際職業生涯，充分證明了他的毅力和他的意願來運行和運行。
利物浦是支付4000000磅，或約67億美元，為人才丟棄它17年前，講述另一個故事。蘭伯特承認，他通過當地機場上週六，他很可能會告訴他的孫子們“直到時間的結束”，他是多麼自豪是這麼晚扭曲的職業生涯充滿了鬥爭。
在一個階段，在十年前，他工作在一個蔬菜罐頭廠就行了。沒關係任何孫子，他的南安普敦隊友盧克 - 肖在笑聲針聽到蘭伯特告訴了他的“甜菜根裝瓶”天媒體。
肖是18歲。他也是在英格蘭平面標題里約熱內盧。肖是另一個南安普頓球員誰也不會返回，因為曼聯正在談判給他買。
國家隊管理人員了解情況。他們需要自己選擇球員的全神貫注在未來數週，但事實是世界杯只是一個插曲，但這是一個亮點，給自己的職業生涯。
“我敢肯定，當瑞奇蘭伯特起著對厄瓜多爾，你會看到周圍傢伙跑了所有的喜悅，他的心臟可以鼓起，”英格蘭主帥霍奇森向記者講述了英格蘭隊的熱身預定比賽在邁阿密。“他很高興能與英格蘭現在的轉會利物浦通過已經一去不復返了。”
其他人則無人過問。法布雷加斯剛剛被告知，他可以去一個誰買方將支付5000萬美元，巴薩重視他的。
這可能是一個回歸阿森納，這把他從拉瑪西亞16，賣給他回到巴薩時，他想離開，而現在是在市場上的英語領域一個經過驗證的勝利者，隨著美，曼城，利物浦和切爾西。
他三年前在西班牙收穫了149場，41球和42次助攻沒有完全說服自己的人，加泰羅尼亞人，他是作為一個重要的球員，因為他曾經在阿森納。
也就是說，在某種程度上，是因為巴薩仍然可以指望哈維·埃爾南德斯，而這是學校教育的阿爾坎塔拉兄弟喜歡作為潛在的替代品。
所有這些傳輸選項可能對球員在世界杯上的頭腦打球，因為，畢竟，足球俱樂部就是把果醬 - 或魚子醬 - 在他們每天的麵包。
唉，可憐的蒙托利沃是最新的球員得到這麼近，又那麼遠，從世界杯。他做隊長在週六的友好在倫敦，他臨危受命，在常規隊長，守門員布馮，以及意大利的中場大師，皮爾洛。
雙方對球隊的老年人有一定的起動，如果他們是適合意大利的世界杯開幕對陣英格蘭在馬瑙斯的遊戲。所以教練普蘭德利休息，而不是冒著他們對愛爾蘭人。
普蘭德利關心的健康，也是玩家的情緒在他負責。週日上午，確認了蒙托利沃必須飛回意大利手術後，主教練別無選擇，只能繼續前進，並選擇別人。
有人很可能是馬可Verratti，21歲的巴黎聖日耳門球員誰一直被冠以明天的皮爾洛。Verratti是在球場上週六，他是意大利第一個到達下來，試圖安慰他的災區同胞。
“彌索諾闊得流油，”蒙托利沃放入口中的他。“我已經破了。”
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