The Best Players to never appear in a World Cup, Part Ten

1- Bernd Schuster

Controversial West German playmaker Bend Schuster has gone done in History as one of the greatest players never to represent West Germany in a World Cup (potentially 1982, 1986 and 1990). In his case, it was mostly of his own doing as he feuded with the Hierarchy throughout his career.

Photo From: Fussball Magazin, Issue 2, March April 1981

(Bend Schuster)

2- Mark Hughes

Just like his Welsh contemporaries (Ian Rush, Dean Saunders, etc), Mark Hughes was part of a Generation (80s-90s) that did not qualify for the Finals of any Tournament.

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 35, December 1991

(Mark Hughes)

3- Julio Cesar Dely Valdes

Panamanian striker was a rare player from his Nation to make t in Europe and had a successful spell in Italy with Cagliari (1993/96), followed by a spell afterwards at Paris St. Germain. Unfortunately, for him his Nation did not qualify for any Finals of a Tournament during his career.

Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 79, August 1995

(Julio Cesar Dely Valdes)

4- Gianluigi Lentini

Italian midfielder Gianluigi Lentini was for a time the most expensive transfer in History when he joined AC Milan in 1992 from Torino. The future looked bright with the 1994 World Cup just on the horizon. However, a life threatening car accident in the summer of 1993 derailed his career and even after returning from injury he was not the same player and missed out on the 1994 World Cup.

Photo From: World Soccer, January 1993

(Gianluigi Lentini)

5- Costica Stefanescu

Romanian defender Costica Stefanescu was a mainstay of Universitatea Craiova and the Romanian National Team in the 1970s and 80s. However, his career ended just before the Gheorge Hagi inspired generation of the 90s. As a result he missed out on the 1982 and 1986 World Cups that Romania did not qualify.

Photo From: Mondial, New Series, Hors Serie 19, 1984

(Costica Stefanescu)

Honorable Mention:

Players who participated in a World Cup match but their presence was limited and negligible that would be considered tantamount to a non-presence.

Gianfranco Zola

One of the most talented players of his Generation, Gianfranco Zola had the misfortune of being Roberto Baggio in the pecking order for the 1994 World Cup. When he did finally get his chance in the Tournament, he was sent off within 12 minutes after coming on after a foul on Augustine Eguavoen (July 5, 1994, Italy 2-Nigeria 1). He was suspended for the rest of the Tournament and just missed out on the 1998 final cut.

Photo From: The Game, Issue 3, June 1995

(Gianfranco Zola after his sending off, July 5, 1994, World Cup, Italy 2-Nigeria 1)

New Addition: Error in Casting, Part one

They were supposed to be very good transfers or coaching appointments on paper, but somehow fared well below expectations

1- Franz Beckenbauer and Olympique Marseille, 1990

With the French League season well under way and with big spenders Olympique Marseille seemingly running away with the League title, it was a surprise when Club President Bernard Tapie coaxed the recent World Cup winning World Cup manager to replace Double title winning Manager Gerard Gili.

Tapie seemed to think Beckenbauer was the man to guide OM to European glory.

However, with Beckenbauer in charge, OM actually lost its form and started losing matches to such a point that he was nicknamed ‘Mr. 50 Percent’.

Finally, Tapie rectified the problem by moving Beckenbauer upstairs as Technical director and appointing Belgian Veteran Manager Raymond Goethals as Manager.

Photo from: Mondial, new series, issue 57, December 1985

(Franz Beckenbauer)

2- Andreas Brehme at Real Zaragoza, 1992

German defender Andreas Brehme departed Internazionale Milano after four years of good service to pre-retirement in the less pressured atmosphere of Real Zaragoza.

However, this adventure turned sour after he clashed with young Manager Victor Fernandez.

The following season he returned to his first love Kaiserslautern.

Photo from: World Soccer, August 1990

(Andreas Brehme, July 8, 1990, World Cup, West Germany 1-Argentina 0)

3- Steve Hodge and Leeds United, 1991

England National team midfielder Steve Hodge joined ambitious Leeds United in 1991 from Nottingham Forest after he had lost his place.

However, he never managed to hold a regular place and as a result was not called up by England as well.

Photo from: England, Player by Player, Author Graham Betts

(Steve Hodge)

4- Geovani and Bologna, 1989

Brazil’s captian during the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Geovani was being billed as the next Brazilian superstar.

He was transferred to Bologna in 1989, however, before his Serie A career had started, he had lost his place in Brazil’s squad midway through the 1989 Copa America.

His Serie A season was just as unsatisfactory as he lost his place there as well.

Photo from: Soccer International, Issue 4, April 1990

(A Mitre shoes advertisement featuring Geovani at Bologna)

5- Mark Hughes and Barcelona, 1986

There was much excitement when Terry Venables signed the British duo of Welshman Mark Hughes and Englishman Gary Lineker.

While Lineker slowly caught up with the Spanish game and started scoring goals, his partner Hughes struggled to such a point that he was dropped towards the end of the season and replaced in the squad by Scotsman Steve Archibald who had been put on ice.

The follwing season he was loaned to Bayern Munich, before making his way back to his original club Manchester United.

Photo from: Onze-Mondial, Issue 35, December 1991

(Mark Hughes at Barcelona, 1986/87)