‘Hits and flops of Qatar 2022’ News

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‘Hits and flops of Qatar 2022’

By Daily Sports Nigeria on December 20, 2022

After a nail-biting final where Argentina emerged victorious in the world’s biggest football tournament on Sunday, JOHNNY EDWARD writes about the players who starred at the tournament and those that failed to sparkle in Qatar

HITS

Kylian Mbappe (France)

What more is there to say about Mbappe? At just the age of 23, the Frenchman won the Golden Boot at this year’s tournament after scoring eight goals and two assists. The PSG forward proved he is destined for greatness after he notched a stunning hat-trick in the World Cup final.

Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Messi finally won the FIFA World Cup – a trophy that eluded him in the last four editions. His final tournament on the world stage ended in his greatest-ever success as he was the catalyst for Argentina’s run to the title. At 35, the Paris Saint Germain forward scored twice and made an assist in the final as Argentina defeated France on penalties to end their long wait for the World Cup title. The brace took his tally to seven in the tournament.

Antoine Griezmann (France)

For all of Mbappe’s dominance, no French player has been as crucial to the team’s run as Antoine Griezmann. It might not show in the goals or assists columns but Griezmann has created the most chances (21) among all World Cup players. Even if you subtract the set pieces, the numbers from open play are still unbelievably good. Griezmann was also defensively diligent and played several roles, from No. 10 to the base of the midfield when France has bunkered down.

Josko Gvardiol (Croatia)

It was a rough outing for Josko Gvardiol against Argentina but everybody falls victim to Lionel Messi. It was a contrast to Gvardiol’s immense performance against Brazil in the quarter-final when he didn’t put a foot wrong.

Gvardiol’s combination of defensive acuity and comfort on the ball has turned the 20-year-old into one of the world’s most coveted young players. He is expected to join a top club next summer.

Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)

Where would Morocco be without Sofyan Amrabat? From the opening game against Croatia, Amrabat turned heads with his stalwart displays in the base of Morocco’s midfield. Comb over the stats from any of the Moroccan matches and the 26-year-old will likely top every category.

Jamal Musiala (Germany)

If Germany wasn’t eliminated in the group stage, we’d probably be talking about Jamal Musiala being the breakout star of this World Cup.

At 19, Musiala ran the show for Germany in all three group games. He registered 12 shots, created eight chances in open play, six shot-ending carries and was among the leaders in attempted take-ons, per Opta. If Germany had progressed to the knockout stage, Musiala would be pushing the top five, never mind the top 10.

Jude Bellingham (England)

It took a couple of minutes for Jude Bellingham to settle into the World Cup but once he did, there was no stopping him. Only Mbappe was involved in more goal-creating actions than Bellingham, plus he was a defensive stalwart. Bellingham won more tackles (15) than any other player at the World Cup, per FBRef.com, further bolstering his already sky-high transfer valuation.

FLOPS

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Considering his pedigree, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo damaged his legacy with his poor tournament despite becoming the first man to score at five different World Cups. Nothing else went right for Ronaldo as he was underwhelming in Qatar.

While one does not expect Ronaldo to be at his brilliant best at this point of his career, he was dreadful every time he started.

His finishing and link-up play was as poor as it has been for Manchester United before his contract was terminated. Portugal looked like a completely different side in his absence. A horrendous World Cup for one of the greatest players of all time.

He also showed a bad attitude after being substituted against South Korea to the annoyance of his coach, then was benched against Switzerland and Morocco in the knockout stage.

Kevin De Bruyne – (Belgium)

Even De Bruyne himself knew that he didn’t deserve the Man of the Match award following Belgium’s undeserved 1-0 win over a vastly-superior Canada side.

Belgium arrived the tournament as the second-ranked team and with some of the most famous players in the world and were banking on De Bruyne’s usually crisp and razor-sharp passes to surpass their feat of 2018 but they were off the mark and he struggled to impose himself on games as Belgium could only score one goal exiting the tournament in the group stage. It was a shocking tournament as a whole for arguably the best midfielder in world football.

Federico Valverde (Uruguay)

As brilliant as Federico Valverde has been this season for Real Madrid, he was nowhere near his all-encompassing best for Uruguay, who were expected to do some real damage in Qatar. The dynamic Real Madrid midfield dynamo, has thrived as a right-winger-cum-midfielder operated in the middle of the park for Uruguay but looked anonymous throughout the tournament. While Valverde remains a sensational footballer, he was far from his best at the World Cup.

Thomas Partey (Ghana)

Partey whose impressive form in midfield dominated Premier League midfields in the red and white of Arsenal was nowhere to be seen during Ghana’s group-stage campaign. The 28-year-old was a pale shadow of himself as Mohammed Kudu stole the spotlight in the Blacks Stars midfield. He was nowhere near his usual pass completion rate of 83 per cent for the Gunners.

Darwin Nunez (Uruguay)

Heading into the tournament in a rich vein of form, Darwin Nunez was expected to make headlines for all the right reasons in Qatar following his big money move from Benfica to Liverpool in the summer. Instead, the Liverpool striker’s technical deficiencies were laid bare, as he also managed not to score a single goal at the tournament.

Source Punch Ng

Posted December 20, 2022