<p>Arshavin, 28, and his Russian teammates dazzled at Euro 2008 for a place in the semi-finals, but were caught out cold by Slovenia in a World Cup play-off tie.<br /><br />"I cannot say that this is the deciding moment in my career - only after years will people usually realise it. But, in any case, to stay out of the World Cup means to be on the sidelines of world football for a time," Arshavin was quoted as saying when elimination was already looming after the first game in Moscow.<br /><br />As a result, the Arsenal forward Arshavin will not be in South Africa, and neither will Barcelona striker Ibrahimovic, whose Sweden team were eliminated as well.<br />The exit prompted Ibrahimovic, 28, one of the world's best paid footballers, to reconsider his national team future.<br /><br />Given his age of 32, Ukraine's Shavchenko will most likely never appear on the global stage again as the next World Cup is not until 2014.<br />The former AC Milan and Chelsea forward only managed to qualify for one big event, the 2006 World Cup, as Ukraine went out for the fourth time in a big event play-off series.<br />The Ukrainian defeat against Greece also means that none of the Euro 2012 hosts will be playing in South Africa as Poland missed out in the group stage.<br /><br />Also missing from the showpiece of international football are African champions Egypt, who were beaten in a play-off by north African rivals Algeria after they both finished their group equal on points, goals scored and conceded.<br />2002 World Cup semi-finalists Turkey and Croatia, who managed the same feat in 1998 will also not be in South Africa.<br />The history of the World Cup is full of prominent players and teams which have failed to qualify.<br />The best-known players are George Best, who starred for Manchester United but failed to lift Northern Ireland to a big event and George Weah, who won just about everything in an illustrious club career, but had the bad luck of being born in Liberia.<br />Big teams like England and Italy have missed out in the past as well, and so did the Dutch who were the most prominent no-show at the 2002 World Cup.<br /><br />This time around the Dutch were the first European team to qualify, while World Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo had to sweat until the end before his Portugal side beat Bosnia-Herzegovina in the playoffs.<br />The possible 2009 World Player Lionel Messi was also given a fright before his Argentina team squeezed through.<br /></p>
<p>Arshavin, 28, and his Russian teammates dazzled at Euro 2008 for a place in the semi-finals, but were caught out cold by Slovenia in a World Cup play-off tie.<br /><br />"I cannot say that this is the deciding moment in my career - only after years will people usually realise it. But, in any case, to stay out of the World Cup means to be on the sidelines of world football for a time," Arshavin was quoted as saying when elimination was already looming after the first game in Moscow.<br /><br />As a result, the Arsenal forward Arshavin will not be in South Africa, and neither will Barcelona striker Ibrahimovic, whose Sweden team were eliminated as well.<br />The exit prompted Ibrahimovic, 28, one of the world's best paid footballers, to reconsider his national team future.<br /><br />Given his age of 32, Ukraine's Shavchenko will most likely never appear on the global stage again as the next World Cup is not until 2014.<br />The former AC Milan and Chelsea forward only managed to qualify for one big event, the 2006 World Cup, as Ukraine went out for the fourth time in a big event play-off series.<br />The Ukrainian defeat against Greece also means that none of the Euro 2012 hosts will be playing in South Africa as Poland missed out in the group stage.<br /><br />Also missing from the showpiece of international football are African champions Egypt, who were beaten in a play-off by north African rivals Algeria after they both finished their group equal on points, goals scored and conceded.<br />2002 World Cup semi-finalists Turkey and Croatia, who managed the same feat in 1998 will also not be in South Africa.<br />The history of the World Cup is full of prominent players and teams which have failed to qualify.<br />The best-known players are George Best, who starred for Manchester United but failed to lift Northern Ireland to a big event and George Weah, who won just about everything in an illustrious club career, but had the bad luck of being born in Liberia.<br />Big teams like England and Italy have missed out in the past as well, and so did the Dutch who were the most prominent no-show at the 2002 World Cup.<br /><br />This time around the Dutch were the first European team to qualify, while World Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo had to sweat until the end before his Portugal side beat Bosnia-Herzegovina in the playoffs.<br />The possible 2009 World Player Lionel Messi was also given a fright before his Argentina team squeezed through.<br /></p>