The prelude to just about every major soccer tournament focuses on who was left off a certain team more than who was included.
At next month's tournament in Austria and Switzerland, there will again be several top players missing, including Raul Gonzalez and David Trezeguet.
Although Raul, Spain's all-time leading scorer with 44 goals in 102 appearances, has never won a major international title, Trezeguet scored the Golden Goal that gave France the Euro 2000 title.
"It's an organizational choice," France coach Raymond Domenech said of Trezeguet after announcing his squad.
If club soccer is any gauge, both Raul and Trezeguet would be assured of places in their teams. Raul scored 18 goals and helped Real Madrid win its record 31st Spanish league title, and Trezeguet scored 20 goals for Juventus.
"I look at players, not if their clubs are first, second or third in the standings," Spain coach Luis Aragones said of his selection process. "There are other players who, in terms of the minutes they have played, have scored more goals and they're not going either."
Raul last played for Spain in a 3-2 qualifying loss at Northern Ireland in September 2006. Trezeguet, who has scored 34 goals for France, has been replaced by more athletic players such as Djibril Cisse and Bafetimbi Gomis.
Two years ago in the World Cup final, Trezeguet missed France's opening penalty kick in the shootout loss to Italy.
Other big-name players missing for the tournament include Italy forward Filippo Inzaghi, Czech Republic midfielder Pavel Nedved, Portugal midfielder Maniche, Turkey forward Hakan Sukur and Netherlands midfielder Clarence Seedorf.
The 34-year-old Inzaghi scored 11 goals in the Italian league this season, and has scored 25 in 57 appearances for Italy.
"The choice doesn't have to do with his age," Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said. "It was exclusively a technical choice."
Nedved played on the Czech Republic team that reached the 1996 final, but he refused an offer from coach Karel Bruckner to return for this event. The 35-year-old Nedved retired from the national team after the 2006 World Cup.
Seedorf, who has scored 11 goals in 87 appearances for the Netherlands, ruled himself out of the tournament and criticized coach Marco van Basten for not giving him room to fulfill his potential.
"Since my return to the national team, the right conditions have not been created to let me perform at my best and to effectively excel as the team member I always strive to be," the 32-year-old Seedorf said. "We have seen from the past that some negative issues with the national team and players are recurring."
The 30-year-old Maniche played a central role in Portugal's run to the Euro 2004 final and the 2006 World Cup semifinals. However, he has mostly been on the bench at Italian champion Inter Milan since moving from Spain four months ago.
Sukur is Turkey's all-time leading scorer with 51 goals, but coach Fatih Terim left the 37-year-old midfielder off the team despite helping the country in the qualifying tournament.
But that's just another example that playing well and helping your team doesn't come with any guarantees.
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