By Saj Chowdhury

This year's World Cup will feature some of the biggest stars in football today.

But there will be a handful of familiar names who will not be gracing the turf in Germany.

We have picked the best XI players who will not feature at this summer's tournament.

We asked you to send in some of your picks. Scroll down to the bottom of page to see a selection.

1. SHAY GIVEN, Republic of Ireland, goalkeeper
The shotstopper had a fantastic season with Newcastle and was named in the Premiership team of the year, but he will not be carrying that form into the World Cup after the Republic of Ireland finished fourth in a very tight qualifying Group Four.

2. LAUREN, Cameroon, full-back
Lauren has never had the best of relationships with Cameroon, having refused to play for his country ever since the 2002 finals. Would he have changed his mind if Cameroon had qualified. Who knows?

4. PAOLO MALDINI, Italy, centre-back
One of the best defenders ever seen in world football. The AC Milan legend is still playing at the tender age of 38, although he retired from the Italy national team after the last World Cup.

5. JORGE ANDRADE, Portugal, centre-back
The Deportivo La Coruna star is usually first pick in the heart of Portugal's defence but unfortunately for him, and the national side, knee surgery has meant he will sit out the World Cup.

3. MARIANO PERNIA, Spain, full-back
Popular with football fans in Spain having shone as an attacking left-back for Getafe. Despite suggesting he might be included in the World Cup squad, coach Luis Aragones chose to leave out the Argentine-born player.

11. RICARDO QUARESMA, Portugal, midfielder
Marauding left-winger Quaresma can count himself unlucky not to have been selected by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari having helped Porto win the league and cup this season. Fulham star Luis Boa Morte was picked ahead of him.

6. RUBEN BARAJA, Spain, midfielder
A tough-tackling midfielder who helped Valencia to third in La Liga, but was left out of the Spain squad by coach Aragones. His club team-mate David Albelda said: "It leaves a bad taste in my mouth that Ruben won't be going."

7. ROBERT PIRES, France, midfielder
It did not come as a huge surprise when the former Arsenal star was left out of coach Raymond Domenech's squad after their falling out in late 2004. Pires, now with Villarreal, is still a class act.

8. LUDOVIC GIULY, France, forward
His exclusion was a surprise, having been instrumental in Barcelona's successes both at home and in the Champions League. He must have known what was coming having not been selected in the provisional list of 40.

9. CHRISTIAN VIERI, Italy, forward
The Italian, with a hint of Australian, is one of the best all-round strikers the country has produced. A knee injury meant the Monaco star missed out on a place in Marcello Lippi's squad.

10. SAMUEL ETO'O, Cameroon, forward
Arsenal's Thierry Henry said he did not see Eto'o in the Champions League final. Having scored in Barcelona's 2-1 win over the Gunners, many would disagree. Cameroon's failure to qualify has deprived the public of seeing a great striker on the world's biggest stage.

I don't agree at all, this is how it should have looked: GK. Steve Mildenhall RB. John McDermott LB. Gary Croft CB. Rob Jones CB. Justin Whittle LM. Andy Parkinson RM. Gary Cohen CM. Paul Bolland CM. Curtis Woodhouse CF. Gary Jones CF. Michael Reddy
Ali Mills, an avid Grimsby Town Fan England

what about damien duff?
Trevor Molloy, Ireland

1.given 2.j.zanetti 3.maxwell 4.maldini 5.samuel 6.baraja 7.vicente 8.veron 9.eto'o 10.morientes 11.pires
scott, england

Where is Ryan Giggs?
Calum Jones, Northern Ireland

I would love to see the Libyan captain Tarek Eltayeb playing in the world cup at least once
mo, England

Well... I wouldn't disagree with yout pick, though Pires isn't as good as he used to be -in my opinion- the Dutch haven't selected Seedorf (AC Milan) and Davids (Tottenham Hotspur). It's weird not to have those players, even though they are available... I can understand why they aren't there, but still...
Joost, UK (but Dutch)

i think that it totally stinks that not only scott parker but shaun right phillips have been left out of the england team and jermaine defoe only on the back-up. absolute disgrace!They are three world class players who can turn a game.
aaron o'connor, england

Might I suggest Craig Bellamy who has had an absolutely outstanding Premiership campaign with Blackburn. Had he not been there Rovers would have been a mid table team at best.
Rob, Wales

How is Ledley King not in the side instead of Andrade. What has happened to patriotism? Edgar Davids instead of Quaresma. Apart from that, not bad choices!
Monju, UK

German Lux Lauren, andrade, Maldini, Silvinho, Jesper Gronkjaer, Veron, Gutti, Vincente, Vieri, Tomasson
Romeo Cruz, Jamaica

Shearer???
Rob, England

Victor Valdes Javier Zanetti Walter Samuel Sami Hyypia Riise Vicente Baraja Edgar Davids Duff Sam Eto'o Huntelar
Sam, usa

My team would be: Goalkeeper - Gordon (Scotland). Defenders - Hyypia (Finland) Maldini (Italy) Arruabarrena (Argentina) and Lauren (Cameroon). Midfielders - Basturk (Turkey) Giggs (Wales) and Gravesen (Denmark)Strikers - Forlan (Uruguay) Eto'o (Cameroon) and Huntelaar (Holland).
Kay Datsin, Canada

Where is Christian Dailly, a living legend, with his electric pace, cool as cucumber composure and commanding presence surely he should be the first name on this team sheet. I can only assume his admission was an administrative error.
Richard Patterson, England

given j.zanetti kompany chivu maldini bouba diop obi mikel wright phillips duff eto'o robbie keane
the bigg, england

How about Clarence Seedorf on in this team. Surely he could take Quaresma's place. Bayern Munich's Makaay would also not look bad in this lineup. Veron and Zanetti apparently haven't been invited either.
Hinko, The Netherlands

What about Javier Zanetti and Veron. Both of whom were left out of the Argentina squad after falling out with the coach but would surely walk into pretty much any team in the world and deserve the chance to shine at the world cup.
willy a, england

I think maybe have Phillipe Mexes of Roma and France in there as well, as he has had an excellent season. Also maybe include Klaas Jan Huntelaar who has had an excellent season for Heerenveen and Ajax scoring 33 goals. You could also of included the Agrentine/Inter duo of Walter Samuel and Javier Zanetti who were surprisingly left out of their squad. And Vicente of Spain who unfortunatly misses out due to injury
Ross Elrick, Scotland

Goalkeeper: Victor Valdes (Spain) Right-Back: Javier Zanetti (Argentina) Left-Back: John Arne Riise (Norway) Centre-Back: Paolo Maldini (Italy) Centre-Back: Paolo Montero (Uruguay) Right-Midfield: Denilson (Brazil) Left-Midfield: Ryan Giggs (Wales) Centre-Midfield: Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Mexico) Centre-Midfield: Papa Bouba Diop (Senegal) Striker: Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark) Striker: Obafemi Martins (Nigeria)
pete, Wales

Lux Zanetti/Samuel/Placente Demichelis D'alessandro/Veron/Kily Gonzalez/Solari Aguero/Milito
Max, Canada

GK: Shay Given (Ireland) CB: Lauren (Cameroon) CB: Diego Lugano (Uruguay) CB: Jaap Stam (Netherlands) RM: Jermain Pennant (England - A player I think has been overlooked all season in a relegated side, although he has his problems?) LM: Shaun Wright-Philips (England ? Still been in a sky blue shirt, no problems making Sven?s team) CDM: Edgar Davids ? (Netherlands) CAM: Ariel Recoba (Uruguay) RS: John Carew (Norway) ST: Samuel Eto?o (Cameroon) LS: Darren Bent (England ? An absolute disgrace he wasn't picked for the WC)
Richard, Australia