ADVERTISEMENT

De Gea and 7 others who flopped in the World Cup

Pulse Sports has compiled the list of players who disappointed in the just ended FIFA World Cup

David De Gea

He was arguably the finest goalkeeper in the world prior to the start of the FIFA World Cup. His saves, agility and reflexes were second to known, but he was a pale shadow of himself in post for the Spaniards.

De Gea gifted Cristiano Ronaldo his second of the hat-trick against the Spain. He could only manage just a save throughout the tournament, making him one of the poorest performers in the just ended Mundial.

Gerrard

ADVERTISEMENT

The Barcelona striker had torrid time in defence for Spain. Pique’s poor defending, played a negative role in La Roja’s defeat against Russia on penalties, because he gave away the penalty that handed Russia the equalizer.

Willy Cabellero

He was not a starter at Chelsea, but Sampaoli kept faith in him and in the end he disappointed. His tournament ended after his mistake gave Ante Rebic the opportunity to score the match opener for Croatia. He wasn’t selected for any of the subsequent games- against Nigeria and France.

Sammi Khedira

The Juventus midfielder’s performance was below par. He found himself wanting in the heart of the German midfield, as he gave away balls and also failed to win balls.

ADVERTISEMENT

He was left on the bench in Germany’s last group game against South Korea.

Olivier Giroud

The French striker made 13 attempts at goal, but none of them went on target to emerge as the first striker from a World Cup winning side to achieve that infamous feat at the Mundial.

Robert Lewandowski

The Bayern Munich striker prior to the start of the FIFA World Cup was considered by many as amongst the top three lethal strikers in the game, yet he struggled throughout the 2018 FIFA World Cup and in the end failed to register his first World Cup goal.

ADVERTISEMENT

Timo Werner

The young German appeared to be the one to continue from where his compatriots Miroslav Klose left it off in terms of World Cup goal scoring, after coming from an impressive domestic and European football campaigns with RB Leipzig.

Werner, was also one of the young talented German team that won the FIFA Confederation Cup. However, he was busy for nothing in all the three full 90 minutes games he played for the Germans in the World Cup.

As the main attacker for the German team, he should have at least hit the back of the net once, but he misfired throughout and it is one of the reasons why Germany faced their early exit.

ADVERTISEMENT

Thomas

The German who has 10 World Cup goals to his name, struggled to find the back of the net. He was ineffective in the Die Mannschaft attack and aside ending the competition without a goal, he failed to give an assist in the tourney.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT