FIFA World Cup: The Worst Eleven
Through out the course of the World Cup we have laid witness to some breathtaking displays of football. But there has been no shortage of players who have performed just as badly. Here is the team of the worst possible players for every possible position on a team.
To start off with, the worst goal keeper by far has been Robert Green. He gifted USA a crucial equalizer, of a very ordinary shot. He was so bad in fact, that he wasn’t featured in any other match after his shambolic display against the U.S.
Fabio Cannavaro was voted the FIFA World Player of the year in 2006. That same year he led his Italian national team to winning the World Cup. This year has been a completely different story. He was sloppy, all over the place and was terrible at fulfilling his defensive duties.
Partnering Cannavaro in defense we have, Stephane Mbia. Mbia was caught out of position on numerous occasions and was overall the worst defender on the Cameroon squad. A lot of expectations were placed on Mbia’s shoulders but all those expectations were left as nothing more than expectations.
At left back there was a tight contest between two French players, Evra and Abidal. Both the players had terrible tournaments and were almost as good as not being there. They both committed countless errors and displayed some of the worst defending witnessed in World Cup history.
Another Italian who makes the defensive line up is AC Milan right back, Gianluca Zambrotta. The player lacked pace and provided nothing. Zambrotta may be reaching his retirement age sooner rather than later.
In the midfield we have, Steven Pienaar, Claudio Marchisio and Franck Ribery. Pienaar had a whole nations hopes riding on his shoulders, but he failed to deliver. He was mostly anonymous and failed to show any vision or creativity. Marchisio had the opportunity to shine and prove that he was up to the standards of any other world class midfielder. But he failed miserably and now speculation is being raised to consider if he is even qualified to play on an international level. Ribery who is considered to be one of the best play makers in the world failed to stamp his authority on a single game. He lacked the cutting edge and had no product to deliver either.
Fernando Torres was probably the least deserving player on the entire Spanish squad to be holding the World Cup trophy. He had been ineffective and useless in general throughout the tournament. He may still be injured but that’s no excuse for playing so bad on the grandest stage of them all. If he knew he wasn’t fully fit he should have let players who were fully fit play instead of him. Being selfish was excepted from the Liverpool player, but this is an all time low even for him.
Wayne Rooney came into the World Cup after his best ever season with Manchester United. But what happened at the tournament was a different story. He failed to register a single goal and barely managed to get a shot or two away. All of England’s hopes were riding on Rooney but he crumbled under the weight of the nations expectations.
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