The Underachievers of the World Cup
Another World Cup has come and gone and now that we’ve had a chance to digest what we saw over the last month we can see who answered the call of the world stage and who fell short of expectations.
Yes, the teams who underachieved have been talked about endlessly, so let’s get to who those footballers of the tournament were.
Certainly some players really showed what they were all about. Diego Forlan proved to be the tournament’s best player as he won the Golden Ball award and was the master of the Jabulani ball. While many of the game’s greats struggled with the much criticised ball, Forlan mastered it and it gave him an edge over all the others.
Other players who stood out were, of course, Wesley Sneijder, David Villa, Thomas Muller, and Asamoah Gyan, among others. There were also some young men who made their names famous. For instance, Muller is only 20 years-old, yet he won the golden boot for the top scorer of the tournament.
Luis Suarez was incredible for Uruguay as well and was a huge compliment to Forlan. The duo carried Uruguay to the semi-final.
Now, there were certain players who may want to have another shot at this World Cup. There were also certain players who had such high expectations heading into this tournament but who could not quite deliver for their country.
Lionel Messi has to top that list. Not to be misunderstood, he did do some great things for Argentina. He was a force to be reckoned with on every possession and took the attention of many defenders while his teammates were able to profit off their chances.
The bottom line is though, when you’re regarded as the best footballer in the world at forward, you’ve got to score some goals on the grand stage. Zidane did it, Ronaldo did it, Klose did it, and Maradona certainly did it, so Messi has to do it too if he is the greatest in the world, right?
Messi did create chances for this teammates and he made Argentina a better team for it, but the fact is, he scored no goals and it caught up with the Albiceleste when they faced a much smarter, much stronger German side in the quarter-final. If you’re the “successor” to Maradona, you’ll have to score goals in World Cup matches. Luckily for Messi, he's only 23 years-old so he’ll have two or three more opportunities to cement his legacy in international football and he’ll want to start doing what he does so often for FC Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most talented footballers in the world, as well as one of the most expensive as we all remember what Real Madrid spent to get him last summer.
Ronaldo has always lit up teams during qualifying, but he seems to have trouble truly finding his rhythm on the biggest stage. In this World Cup, Ronaldo was seen as Portugal’s only hope of going far as they were in the "Group of Death" with Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea.
After a 0-0 draw with Ivory Coast, Portugal stormed to a 7-0 victory over North Korea. Those seven goals though would be Portugal’s only ones of the tournament. They drew with Brazil 0-0 then lost to eventual champions Spain in the Round of 16. While Ronaldo is not to blame, as Portugal was clearly over-matched, he still must do more next time around as you don’t get too many opportunities at a World Cup.
Perhaps the most disappointing was Wayne Rooney of England. The Manchester United striker never appeared to be in form for the Three Lions.
England struggled to score goals all tournament. They drew with the United States 1-1, tied Algeria 0-0, and barely beat Slovenia 1-0. They then were crushed by Germany 4-1, albeit they were wrongly denied of an equalizer that would have brought the game to 2-2 late in the first half.
Rooney didn’t score a goal and rarely looked threatening to the opposition as his World Cup ended with a whimper. His disappointing performance reflected the performance of his team as England once again underachieved when it mattered the most.
In four years time in Brazil, these players will get another chance to live up to expectations in the World Cup and they’ll have to. In football, regardless of what you achieve with your club, you’re always remembered for what you do in the World Cup finals.
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