World Cup Watch: High profile rejects

In anticipation of the World Cup, The Independent will be running down the key people and factors to keep an eye out for in South Africa with our World Cup Watch series.

From free-kick takers to WAGs, blasts from the past to the youngsters, we'll have it all covered before things kick-off in Johannesburg.

For this instalment, we take a change of direction to bring you the players you won't be seeing at the 2010 World Cup.

Talented players such as David Beckham, Michael Essien and Michael Ballack were already ruled out due to injury, but following yesterday's squad deadline, they find themselves joined by a host of other big name players.