London: Veteran forwards Nwankwo Kanu and Cuauhtemoc Blanco are headed for their third World Cups, 12 years after their first.
Kanu made Nigeria's cut and Blanco was retained in Mexico's 23 when their coaches announced their squads on Monday, a day before the FIFA deadline. But players from England, Germany and Italy look likely to have to wait until late on Tuesday to find out whether they are going to South Africa for the June 11-July 11 competition.
Kanu, who played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, was the biggest star of Nigeria's dramatic Olympic triumph back in 1996, when his goals and performances helped the team beat Brazil and Argentina to capture the gold medal.
He has also won both the Champions League and UEFA Cup, as well as the Premier League and FA Cup in England, in spells with several clubs, including Ajax, Inter Milan, Arsenal and Portsmouth.
But the club future of the 33-year-old striker is in doubt after Portsmouth was relegated from the Premier League in the season just ended.
With a wealth of attacking talent to call on, including Kanu, Obafemi Martins, Yakubu Ayegbeni and Chinedu Obasi, Nigeria's Swedish coach Lars Lagerback cut Everton striker Victor Anichebe.
Lagerback also dropped the only two Nigeria-based players who had been in the provisional squad — goalkeeper Akpan Bassey and defender Peter Suswan.
Now age 37, Blanco is also going to his third World Cup, where Mexico faces host South Africa in the tournament opener on June 11 and then Uruguay and France in Group A. Like Kanu, Blanco played in the 1998 and 2002 competitions.
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre left out Jonathan Dos Santos but kept his older brother Giovani in the squad. Jonathan is a 20-year-old midfielder with Barcelona while Giovani is a Tottenham player but has been on loan at Turkish club Galatasaray.
Meanwhile, manager Fabio Capello says he knows his final England World Cup squad but won't divulge it until Tuesday's deadline. Italy coach Marcelli Lippi still needs to cut five players, while Germany's Joachim Loew has to decide whether or not to take six strikers to South Africa.
Capello revealed after his team's 2-1 victory over fellow qualifier Japan on Sunday that he now knew the 23 he wanted to carry England's hopes. He just wasn't going to say who they were.
"You have to wait until June 1," he said after the game in the Austrian city of Graz. "I know. You have to wait."
That means checking on the fitness of midfielder Gareth Barry, who hasn't kicked a ball since he was injured playing for Manchester City on May 5. But he has also left the likes of Scott Parker, Stephen Warnock, Tom Huddlestone, Darren Bent, Michael Carrick, Michael Dawson, Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips wondering whether they will be going back to England instead of heading for South Africa.
Defending the title his team won four years ago in Berlin, Lippi needs to cut players from his provisional 28 — forwards Marco Borriello, Fabio Quagliarella and Giuseppe Rossi are in the firing line.
But Lippi, who will be replaced by Cesare Prandelli after the World Cup, is not giving any clues.
"Just have some patience and on Tuesday evening you'll know everything," the veteran coach told a news conference Sunday.
Germany has not won the title since before unification, having captured three as West Germany, and wants to make up for failing to win it four years ago on home turf.
"It's going to hurt for two players," Loew said after his team beat Hungary 3-0 in Saturday's warmup game in Budapest, although he has given little indication who will be cut.
"No player knows who is seeded and who has to fear," said Lukas Podolski, who looks sure to make the squad after a solid performance and a goal in the win over Hungary.
Marcell Jansen, who is coming back after a long-term foot injury and played 30 unremarkable minutes against Hungary, is in danger. Although Jansen is valuable to Loew because he can be used as a midfielder or a defender, his fitness is a question mark.
Loew has said he will take six strikers to the World Cup but with injuries restricting his choice of midfielders, he may reconsider.
Already without experienced midfielder and captain Michael Ballack through injury, Germany lost defender Heiko Westermann with a broken bone in his left foot during Saturday's victory in Budapest.
Despite lingering injury problems, Spain has already named its final squad as have other leading contenders such as Brazil, Argentina and the Netherlands. France coach Raymond Domenech has said he is sticking with the provisional 23 he has already named.
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