FIFA World Cup 2010: Top Five Flops Of The Tournament
The World Cup has been littered with failures so far. As the final match approaches, it is safe to say that most of the flops have risen to lime light and with only one match left, it is finally safe to conclude, and make a list of the top five flops of the tournament who failed to deliver.
The first flop on the list is, Julio Caesar from Brazil. Caesar, who plays for Inter Milan came to the World Cup with the reputation of the best goalkeeper in the world. In the game against Holland, his shocking display from a Sneijder free kick caused panic in the Brazilian penalty area and led towards Holland’s equalizer. Julio Caesar failed to reproduce his club form for his country and as a consequence, favorites Brazil exited the World Cup at the quarterfinal stage after a 2-1 loss to Holland.
One of the biggest flops of the World Cup has to be Jonas Gutierrez. Jonas, who was probably the only player in the Argentinean squad to play in the second division of English football with Newcastle, had a terrible time playing at right back for his country. Originally a right winger with loads of energy, Maradona played Jonas at right back and as a result Jonas had a terrible time against the likes of Nigeria and South Africa. His flawed displays during the group stages pushed Maradona to replace him with the equally unimpressive Otamendi.
It would have been appropriate for the former World Player of the year and perhaps one of the best defenders in the world; Fabio Cannavaro to call it a day after the 2006 World Cup as far as international football was concerned. However, he didn’t and his displays for Italy in their group stage matches were abysmal. His lack of defensive awareness and reactions were exposed and his team failed to make it past the group stages despite being the defending champions.
Wayne Rooney came to the world cup as one of the best players in the World, but if someone was watching him play for the first time in the FIFA World Cup 2010, Rooney appeared as a below average footballer with an extremely bad first touch. He also appeared to be short of fitness and lacked the hunger that one expects from an international footballer. Everyone was expecting Wayne to challenge his fellow stars for the FIFA World player of the year award for the year 2010 because of his brilliant displays for Manchester United. Wayne failed to capitalize on these expectations as England were knocked out of the tournament by rivals Germany, at the round of sixteen stage.
Perhaps in a similar fashion to Wayne Rooney’s self destruction, his former team mate Cristiano Ronaldo also imploded. Ronaldo, who captained Portugal throughout the World Cup, looked isolated in attack and his desperation to make an impact was there for everyone to see. Nothing came off for the talented real Madrid winger as his heel flicks resulted in miss placed passes, his free kicks appeared to be way off target and his outrageous shots on target from as far as the half way line failed to impress.
When things are not going Cristiano’s way, he did what he does best i.e. whining to referees, throwing dangerous looks at his team mates, diving to attract fouls and to top it all off he even managed to spit at the feet of a camera man. It was a terrible World Cup for Ronaldo and it was worsened by the fact that everyone was expecting him to light the event on fire with his excellent displays that he showcased during the normal season for his club Real Madrid.
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