Below is a list of teams with some quality players which will unfortunately miss the World Cup next summer:

Ireland- The Irish team may not be the most talented to miss out on qualification but certainly was unjustly eliminated by France. The Ireland squad is not as deep as other but has talented players such as Aiden McGeady who plays as a winger and/or forward for Celtic.

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The appetite for commentary on the farce in Paris still seems strong, and I thought Arsene Wenger had a very wise take on the entire situation today. Wenger is, obviously, a French supporter and very close with Henry. In fairness to the Irish fans, the world football community, and for the sake of Henry, he called for the game to be replayed.

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Without getting into a great deal of opinion, or any at all for that matter there's surely plenty of that floating about it would probably be prudent to look into the words on each side of the divide from those who were there, at the game and directly impacted. (What with it being one of the most controversial games in World Cup Qualifying history and all.

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"I'd love to finish my career here," he declared. "I haven't been here long, but I already feel at home and love the club.

"I grew up a Celtic supporter and they have a big place in my heart, but I really hope I can finish my career here. You can never say never, but I'd like to think I will.

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Not yet, Trapa. Hope is alive and well. The Republic of Ireland and France will face each other in the first leg of their competition for a place in South Africa in 2010 tomorrow at Croke Park in Dublin. Being that it's my birthday and I'm Irish by heritage, I think it's only fitting that fate allows [. Click to continue reading...

The Republic of Ireland will take on France in the World Cup play-offs which commence next weekend in what will be an intriguing clash between the shrewd Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni and the much-maligned French national team coach Raymond Domenech.

Trapattoni's record speaks for itself with successful spells almost everywhere he coached yet his most notable job prior to taking over Ireland ended in miserable failure with the Azzurri.

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Steve Harper has been a top player for Newcastle this season, and he's certainly taken the chance offered to him, when Shay Given left Tyneside for Manchester City last January. Steve Harper - in great form this season And of course the other motivating factor for Steve  is certain Ditch youngster, Tim Krul, who will no doubt become [. Click to continue reading...

Are we the only ones who now find it hard to watch somebody like Newcastle legend, Shay Given, when he plays for Manchester City? Shay Given another world class display yesterday Every time we watch the Premier League now we think of how things were. And to see Shay Given give a world class display yesterday against [. Click to continue reading...

Shay Given came to the rescue of a 10-man Manchester City and helped Mark Hughes' men to secure a point against Wigan at the DW Stadium. Final minutes of the game saw Given made an excellent save, as he didn't allow the home side to win the game, which they deserved from the Kick Off. Charles N'Zogbia [. Click to continue reading...

Speaking about the key presence that Given has become since his signing from Newcastle last January:

"Shay's been more than I could have hoped for in terms of his presence on the field.
"He's got a calming influence on the back four. That's made a marked difference to the way the guys in front of him have been able to defend.

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Shay Given will captain Ireland in Wednesday night's final World Cup qualifier against Montenegro as he wins his 100th senior international cap.
Manager Giovanni Trapattoni has handed the 33-year-old Donegal man the captain's armband as he and full-back Kevin Kilbane each complete a century to leave themselves only two adrift of Steve Staunton, Ireland's most-capped player. Click to continue reading...

Shay Given is desperate to give the Irish nation a chance to dance in the streets as he once did by securing another trip to the World Cup finals.
The Irish keeper was a teenager back in 1994 when Ray Houghton's strike at Giants Stadium in New York saw off the mighty Italy and sparked one of the most memorable nights in Ireland's football history. Click to continue reading...

Shay Given ,who left Newcastle last January, because he just couldn't stand the stupid antics of owner Mike Ashley is pleased to see his former club of 11 years at the top of the Championship. Shay Given - when at Newcastle Shay talked today about how pleased he is to see Newcastle doing so well [. Click to continue reading...

Which one of these people will be at Thomond Park, Limerick, tonight? Someone in the FAI marketing team has been watching re-runs of Bullseye because *clears throat* this is what you could have won... if you had bought tickets to a World Cup qualifier instead of a friendly. Republic of Ireland fans who print off the FAI's [. Click to continue reading...

1. Everton must be getting to the stage now where they would consider paying Joleon Lescott to leave and get back to some sort of normality. 2. Another convincing Arsenal win seems to have announced their return as a major title race contender. Roll on next week when we see how they cope with the reigning [. Click to continue reading...

European champions Barcelona ended their dominant pre-season with a frustrating 1-0 defeat at the hands of a defiant Manchester City side in front of around 90,000 fans at Catalonia's huge Camp Nou Stadium. While I will stay consistent with one of my previous articles by conceding that pre-season results carry little materiality, tonight's game should go a long way in demonstrating just how foolish it is to write off Mark Hughes' flamboyant, new-look Sky Blues.

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1. Arsene Wenger definitely saw that! 2. Some beautiful goals to ring in the new season. Take a bow Hugo Rodallega, Denilson, Didier Drogba and Mark Noble. 3. Didier Drogba's last-gasp winner for Chelsea against Hull put paid to any musings on whether Stephen Hunt likes kicking Chelsea when they are down. Click to continue reading...

For as many times as Richard Dunne and Shay Given collided today, you might have guessed that they had never played together before in their lives.

Dunne's defensive woes today nearly overshadowed the lightning-quick start to Manchester City's season. In the third minute, Emmanuel Adebayor served up a through ball from the center circle that released Shawn Wright-Phillips far down the right wing.

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Thomond Park hosted Ireland and the Socceroos last night in a game that Ireland should have taken in their stride. Cahill got the Aussies in front after 38 mins. Giovanni Trapattoni had obviously given a good pre match speech because Ireland did give it all they had , but with so many premiership players on the pitch it was definitely a night of "Could have done better".

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It's not often that another team in England, let alone in Manchester, hogs the headlines more than Manchester United. But it's not often that a British team gets bought over by an Abu Dhabi investment group, although football clubs are starting to replace private islands and super-yachts as the new playthings for the filthy rich.

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If I was an Arsenal fan, I'd be fed up already listening to people saying that Manchester City were obviously going to usurp them as one of the "Big Four" sides. It's amazing what spending money does to peoples judgement when it comes to football and Manchester City have certainly caught more than their fair share of attention over the summer.

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Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, has named a 24- man squad to face Australia in Thomond Park on Wednesday, 12 August
Goalkeepers
Shay Given Manchester City
Kieren Westwood Coventry City
Joe Murphy Scunthorpe United
Defenders
John O'Shea Manchester United
Kevin Foley Wolves
Richard Dunne Manchester City
Stephen Kelly Fullham
Kevin Kilbane Hull City
Eddie Nolan Preston North End
Sean St. Click to continue reading...

Shay Given, our great ex-goalkeeper, has given a few statements on the current state of the club-a club he still has affection for. Shay Given-Would still be at Newcastle if not for Ashley Shay Given commented on current state of Newcastle United, "I know the players are determined to get back [. Click to continue reading...

Shay Given is yet another former great player at the Newcastle club, who has today urged Mike Ashley sort out the complete mess he has made at Newcastle United. Shay Given sell the club and then install Shearer as manager And the first thing he tells the People is that the very first thing any new [. Click to continue reading...

When Mark Hughes agreed to replace Sven Goran Eriksson last summer, no doubt he knew things would be interesting at Manchester City, it very rarely isn't in the sky blue half of Manchester, but I doubt he'd have expected anything like the events that ultimately played out. What with the takeover and the crazy final day of the summer transfer window, with City making 10 bids of over £15 million for players, it was probably the maddest 24 hours the City faithful could remember in years.

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Man United and Man City met at Old Trafford today in what was a clash of two in-form sides. It was expected to be a fairly tight, hotly contested affair with little margin for error. It turned out quite different, in a match in which Carlos Tevez made a huge statement towards Alex Ferguson regarding his future at the club.

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As we near the end of what has been and still is an exciting season in the EPL, the various gongs and awards are being given out. As usual, they create plenty of controversy, particularly in the case of Ryan Giggs, who was named Footballer of the Year despite only starting 12 league games this season.

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Ireland assistant manager Marco Tardelli has played down injury concerns surrounding Shay Given and Aiden McGeady.
The Manchester City keeper and Celtic winger received treatment at their clubs on Monday ahead of Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria.
"I'm sure they will be available for the next training," said Tardelli. Click to continue reading...

Lookalikes are ten-a-penny - anyone can make Dirk Kuyt look like Sloth from the Goonies, or Peter Reid look like a monkey. It takes more to put two people together stylistically and functionally; players who remind you of one another, players with similar styles - players that could be clones of one another. Click to continue reading...

It's surprising that Steve Harper has come out to say that the perception he was happy to be Shay Given's backup, for so many years, is just not true. Harper and Given - together for 11 seasons at Newcastle Harper was speaking at the launch of the Marie Curie Daffodil fund-raising appeal in Newcastle yesterday: "It feels good [. Click to continue reading...

Newcastle keeper compares himself to a low-mileage motor Steve Harper has staked his claim to step out of Shay Given's shadow and hold down the goalkeeper's jersey at Newcastle for a few seasons by comparing himself to a low-mileage car. Given's long-time understudy believes he could be about to reap the rewards of his years of [. Click to continue reading...

Derek Llambias has explained how and why two of our players, Charles N'Zogbia and Shay Given, left the club in January. Zog - joined a more ambitious club at Wigan Llambias told the Evening Chronicle today about Charles N'Zogbia: "Since I've been here Charles was always trying to get out of the club. Click to continue reading...

The Sunday Mirror is reporting this morning that Newcastle owner Mike Ashley personally intervened in the final week of the transfer window, to offer Shay Given a new six year contract to remain at Newcastle United. Steve Harper - will not let Newcastle United down That contract was worth £50K/week, or about £2. Click to continue reading...

The past couple of days have been busy for the presentation of new Premier League signings to the press. Here are first looks at Robbie Keane's return to Tottenham, Ricadro Quaresma's Chelsea loan and Shay Given at Manchester City. Check out all of the latest world soccer / football transfers and signings in the Football Fashion [. Click to continue reading...

Fans of football banter across the country have been physically unable to ignore the sheer hilarity of Newcastle Boss Joe Kinnear's inexplicable pronunciation of his former Winger Charles Nzogbia as "Charles Insomnia" in a press conference last week, but it seems the latest spat between the Newcastle manager and his former employee has now taken another twist. Click to continue reading...