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The 5 best current players not in this World Cup

Andrew Couldridge / Action Images

It's the duty of the national team managers and coaching staff to decide who they'll bring to the biggest spectacle in sports when they whittle down their nations rosters to determine which 23 players will represent a country during the World Cup.

The final roster selection always seems to inspire debate among fans about who should and shouldn't have been included. For the qualified nations, the debate is an annual routine. 

For others, it's a horrible reminder of their team's failures during the qualifying stages and the lengthy wait for the next round of qualifiers while they're forced to listen to fans, completely oblivious to the tortured souls around them.

The teams that make the tournament usually have an even balance of quality soccer players who can guide their nations through the qualifiers with ease.

Elite talent, however, can't choose which country they represent (except for Diego Costa), which leaves them in the same position as the rest of the world as spectators.

These are the best players who will not be taking part in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Sweden

This year might have been Zlatan Ibrahimovic's last chance to represent Sweden at the World Cup. Instead we have to watch some guy named Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal play in Brazil after their playoff victory over Sweden in the qualifying round. The match was basically a win/win situation for the neutral fan.

The world will miss out on Ibrahimovic's scoring prowess and intimidating presence that have helped his club, Paris Saint Germain, capture back-to-back Ligue 1 titles.

Soccer fans have only had the pleasure of watching the six-foot-four striker once when Sweden qualified and made it to the Round of 16 during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Here's hoping the big man is still around for the 2018 tournament in Russia at the tender age of 36.

The only people happy to see him and Sweden excluded are the team's participating in Brazil, especially England:

[Courtesy: berra86]

Gareth Bale - Wales

While the Wales supporters continue to burst with pride following the Champions League final where their native son Gareth Bale won La Decima for Real Madrid with his extra time goal, they surely would have rather seen him do it in June for their country.

The soccer world will likely never get to witness Bale play in a game of that nature on the international stage. Even though they're fully capable of qualifying for the tournament and the European Championship, the chances of Wales advancing past the group stages seem remote. They possess loads of talent in the midfield, but lack substantial depth on both defence and attack.

But if there's one single player that could lead his country to unimaginable heights, it's Bale and his ability to completely hijack a match with one single burst of speed from his own end, a la Diego Maradona or himself:

[Courtesy: Andrey Gusev]

Aaron Ramsey - Wales

Before this past season in the Barclays Premier League, Aaron Ramsey wouldn't get a sniff at making this list. But after a dominant first half  for Arsenal, he will make lists like this for years to come, as long as Wales fail to qualify for major tournaments.

Ramsey entered the season with plenty of questions about whether this was the season he finally extinguished the mental impact of a horror tackle that broke his leg 2010. It only took two games for him to find the scoresheet, and it didn't stop until an injury forced him to miss the second half of the season.

He finished the season with 16 goals, most of them important, match winning goals, for Arsenal and elevated his reputation as a gifted midfielder capable of finding space when there isn't any and proving to be a threat from just about anywhere in front of the net.

Robert Lewandowski - Poland

Unfortunately for Poland, the luxury of automatic qualification doesn't count this time around as they and Robert Lewandowski will be spectators for the second straight World Cup.

Poland, co-hosts during the 2012 European Championships, disappointed fans with an early exit, but Lewandowski proved to be one of the few bright spots on the squad after his opening match goal against Greece. He captured even more attention the season before the tournament when he helped lead Borussia Dortmund to a second straight German championship.

Like others on this list, the most important matches he'll participate in will take place during league play, and he might reach the pinnacle next season following his move to Dortmund's rivals, Bayern Munich.

David Alaba - Austria

Even though David Alaba led his team with five goals during World Cup qualifying, it was always going to be tough for Austria to get through to the finals with a group that featured Germany and Sweden.

And, until Austria's depth of talent increases, it will be tough for them to end their World Cup drought that stretches back to 1998.

The 21-year-old's won just about every trophy possible as a member of the dominant Bayern Munich squad and will win many more with the soccer powerhouse. Unfortunately he's wasted on the Austrian squad and soccer fans would be fortunate to see him in at least one major tournament, even if it's only during the group stage.

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