The winning eleven that won't even play

Before a ball has been kicked in South Africa, one thing is becoming clear - this year's World Cup will be influenced almost as much by the players that are absent as by those on the field. Injury has taken a savage toll on the tournament already, with multiple sides, including some of the favourites, shorn of their best player.

The injury toll has become so long that an you could pick an eleven out of injured players that would be red hot favourites to win the tournament - and that is just what I've done. While most of these players will miss the entire tournament, the criteria for selection is that, at this moment, it looks as though the player will be absent for at least the first game.

Playing with the 4-5-1 formation that is popular with many of today's top sides, the team would contain a trio of Chelsea stars. Didier Drogba would lead the attack, with Michael Ballack and Michael Essien sharing the defensive midfield duties. In front of them, the third in a brilliant midfield triangle would be Italy's mercurial playmaker and dead ball expert, Andrea Pirlo. Arjen Robben was the best winger in Europe this season, but looks like missing the Dutch campaign through a hamstring injury, making him an automatic starter on the wing in our crocked eleven. The other wing place might be taken by Harry Kewell, or, if he recovers in time for the tournament, David Beckham can still make a handy contribution. At the back, England's intended captain, Rio Ferdinand, will be joined by Germany's Heiko Westerwelle. Martin Skrtel of Slovakia might be shifted from the centre of defence to the left wing, and the right back position will be taken up by another Chelsea star, Jose Bosingwa. Standing behind them all in goal will be Renee Adler, Germany's number 1 and its third contribution to the injured eleven, missing out with a broken rib.

That is as strong an eleven as any one of the national sides playing. Linking the pace and trickery of Robben with the guile of Pirlo and the brute power of Drogba would mean the team would almost certainly score more than it conceded, while Ballack, once the best header of the ball in the game, would have a field day with perfect crosses that Beckham is known for. Of course, a World Cup side needs both a captain and a manager. Drogba, Essien, Pirlo, Beckham, Kewell and Ferdinand have all captained their national sides, but for having captained his side to a World Cup semi-final and a European Championship final, the armband would have to be awarded to Michael Ballack. As a manager, there is also someone who has established himself as amongst the very best in previous World Cups, but is absent from South Africa. Anyone remember Guus Hiddink?

Fortunate though the injured eleven is to have these players, it is a great shame that some of them will not grace the biggest stage of all this year. Each players absence will be felt in a different way.

For those romantics hoping for an underdog story, the absence of Drogba is perhaps the most devasting. With the World Cup being staged in Africa for the first time, and host nation South Africa looking unlikely to achieve much, Ivory Coast were carrying the hopes of the continent, and of all those who would like to see the duopoly of South America and Europe broken. And for once, those hopes were not entirely misplaced. Even without Drogba, the Ivorians boast a talented lineup, brimming with stars from the best European clubs - Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea), Yaya Toure (Barcelona) and his brother Kolo Toure (Manchester City) and Didier Zokora (Sevilla), to name a few. At the head of this line up was meant to be Dider Drogba, certainly in any list of the top five strikers in the world.

Ivory Coast were unfortunate to be drawn in this years Group of Death, and have to overcome one of Portugal and Brazil to make it out of the group stages. With Drogba at their helm, they might well have managed this, especially with Portugal looking vulnerable throughout qualifying and Cristiano Ronaldo still to turn up at a major tournament. It is not impossible, even without Drogba, but certainly looks less likely now. There is still some hope that Drogba will recover from his broken arm and be able to take part in the tournament. If you are one of those people hoping for a fairytale from Africa this year, cross your fingers for him (and if he does, put some money on Ivory Coast for the semi finals)

The footballing purists will be saddest to see that Arjen Robben looks likely to miss the tournament. Robben has been a super star waiting to emerge for years now, but has been consistently hampered by injury. At his best, Robben is unstoppable, able to dribble the ball as if its glued to his foot while sprinting at a speed most players can not match even without the ball, and always ready to unleash a fierce shot with the left foot that eliminated Fiorentina and Manchester United from the Champions League this year. The World Cup highlight reels will certainly suffer from Robben's absence, as will Holland's chances of winning the tournament. To see what you won't see in South Africa, click here

Those who follow the personal drama that sport produces will not be able to help feeling sorry for Germany captain Michael Ballack, whose injury provides a poignant, and perhaps fitting, cap to a brilliant career marked by sporting tragedy. Perhaps no player in history has come so close so many times, without lifting a major international trophy. He has been a talisman for Germany for almost a decade, and in that time has lead them to the World and European Championship finals. Suspended for the 2002 World Cup final, he missed the chance of a repeat when Italy won one of the greatest semi finals ever played with the winning goals in the 120th minute. At club level, he lead Bayer Leverkusen from obscurity for the Champions League final in 2002, only to be sunk by one of Zinedine Zindane's finest strikes. And in 2008 it seemed he'd finally done enough, after a man of the match performance and converting his penatly in the shoot-out against Machester United in the Champions Leage Final. Alas, John Terry missed his spot kick and Chelsea lost their grip on the trophy. After the Euro 2008 final loss Angela Merkel told a tearful Ballack they would have to wait two more years before they could really celebrate. Sadly, the chance won't be forthcoming for Germany's captain.

For fans of their countries, the other injured players will have special meaning. For Ghana, Essien is irreplaceable, and without him, they may struggle. England will have to pick a third captain within months, after John Terry lost the armband for off field reasons earlier this year. Italy already looked vulnerable, and will be even more so without one of the heroes of 2006.

The silver lining is easy to see - in the absence of these many established stars, a new generation will be given a chance to put their mark on the world game and write their names alongside their absent colleagues. There may just be a blog post in that somewhere

p.s. as a Germany fan, a Ballack fan, and one who falls into the category of people who enjoy the personal stories of sport, I feel obliged to post a proper tribute article to Ballack, which will be in an upcoming blog entry. Look out for it :-)