How to pick a World Cup roster? Coaches want men hungry for competition — who don’t complain when they’re benched. They want self-confident, decisive individualists with gumption — who always obey the coach. They want a collection of choirboys who fight like warriors. World Cup coaches dream about their players exchanging fine passes and scoring beautiful goals, but they have nightmares about bad apples. They dread the creation of cliques that can divide teams when unity is precious. They fear the player who challenges their authority. During a World Cup camp that can last more than two months, the coach wants harmony. West Germany’s legendary coach Sepp Herberger said that the players who don’t see action are the ones who determine the team’s mood. As many as seven on a World Cup roster may not play. You know that when Steve Sampson made his list, he rated players on how they handled playing time and bench time. Is that why promising youngster Jovan Kirovski was omitted while gentlemanly geriatric Roy Wegerle made it? Casey Stengel said the manager’s main job is to separate the players who hated him from the players who weren’t sure yet. The World Cup coach hopes he can manipulate the players’ hierarchy. Sampson said: “[It’s] critical that there be good team chemistry and I’ve said all along I wanted to select a team — not necessarily the best individuals — but the [best] team.” Sampson’s surprise came three weeks earlier, when he dropped decade-long mainstay John Harkes, who must have fallen under the bad-apple category. In 1990, the controversial omission was Hugo Perez. In 1994, it was Kasey Keller, who is now a team leader. Sampson is best qualified to know which players will create a happy camp. If that leads to an effective team, we’ll know in June.