The Round of 16 has just come to an end and now we have eight teams ready to fight it out in the quarterfinals. Croatia, England and hosts Russia ousted their opponents on the basis of penalties. While teams like Belgium, Sweden, France, Uruguay and Brazil needed just the regular time of 90 minutes to seal the deal for themselves.
We had a lot of surprises in the tournament so far. Some players put on a dazzling performance for their nations while some crumbled when they were needed the most.
Players like Aleksandr Golovin, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe put up some stellar performances that helped their teams go the extra mile.
Then, there were players that have been downright awful and disappointed the fans who had huge expectations from them.
In this post, we have picked up the worst of the lot that went to Russia this summer. The post does not focus on the players taking away the cake. It rather focuses on the players that returned empty handed!
So here’s the list of players that were as disappointing as a low budget zombie flick :-
GK – WILLY CABALLERO – ARGENTINA
The Veteran stopper made the biggest blunders in Russia as Argentina lost 3-0 to Croatia. He did not feature for the Sampaoli’s boys ever since as Armani made his debut for the first time. Argentina, however went on to lose to France in the Round of 16 clash.
LB – MILAD MOHAMMADI -IRAN
He is the fastest footballer to switch gears. He became an instant meme after his ludicrous attempt at an acrobatic throw-in in the dying moments of 1-0 defeat to Spain. It gets funnier everytime you watch it.
CB – FIDEL ESCOBAR – PANAMA
He tried to roughen up England and instead ended up conceding a penalty. That was naïve to say the least.
CB – JEROME BOATENG – GERMANY
He got himself sent off in Germany’s win over Sweden and was therefore unavailable for the their humiliating defeat against South Korea.
RB – MICHAEL MURILLO – PANAMA
His defending against both England and Belgium was amateurish and lacked the skill you had expect in a player featuring in a World Cup
CM – JAVIER MASCHERANO -ARGENTINA
Looked dormant for most part of the Argentine campaign and was probably because he is friends with Messi. He lacked the pace and hastiness you had expect in a midfielder.
CM – CARLOS SANCHEZ -COLOMBIA
Picked up the second fastest red card in World Cup history for a deliberate handball in Colombia’s match against Japan. The South Americans eventually lost 1-0.
AM – THOMAS MULLER – GERMANY
If you are a fan of Germany then you will know that he went to Russia. If you are neutral fan then you’d probably think twice. He was anonymous and abysmal during the group stages. He however, is not the only German player who under-performed .
AM – LIONEL MESSI – ARGENTINA
Messi looked like a bird hopping around with it’s wings clipped for most part of the campaign . He lacked the necessary assistance from his teammates and himself looked clueless enough to not be able to display individual brilliance.
ST – LEWANDOWSKI – POLAND
Lewandowski looked like a shadow of his former self in Russia. He was explosive in the qualifiers but did not have the spark at the big stage. It’s areal shame if you are Polish.
ST – AZIZ BOUHADDOUZ -MOROCCO
He scored one of the best headed goal of the tournament when Morocco took on Iran. People would have appreciated it, if it was not scored in his own net.
Honourable mentions-
Mario Gomez (Germany)
Gabriel Jesus (Brazil)
