Studs and duds of FIFA World Cup 2022 | Football News – Times of India

The World Cup roller-coaster has thrown up heroes – a few predictable ones and a few out of nowhere. Brilliant goals, outstanding assists, courageous defending — we have experienced everything that football has to offer. On the other hand, a few superstars who came to the World Cup with a lot of expectations have fallen by the wayside, failing to make a mark. For some, it will be their last World Cup, while a few will try to overcome the disappointment and look for redemption in the years to come.
TOI takes a look at some of the heroes and zeroes of this World Cup:
STUDS
LEO MESSI (ARGENTINA): The Argentine legend has simply run away with his last World Cup. With 5 goals, 3 assists and 14 shots on target, he has been an unstoppable force for the Latin American giants. Messi has been canny in the way he has operated. He hasn’t exerted too much in the first 20 minutes, gauged his opposition and has detected the weakness before launching into a sudden assault. Starting from Mexico to Croatia, every team has fallen to the guile of the old master and he is now one step away from achieving the ultimate glory.
JULIAN ALVAREZ (ARGENTINA): With 4 goals in the World Cup so far, the Manchester City forward has been to Messi what Jorge Valdano was to Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup. Alvarez has been a revelation in more ways than one. While he has exhibited excellent poacher’s instinct inside the box, the 22-year-old has also shown the ability to carry the ball forward –as he did for the second goal against Croatia on Tuesday. Alvarez has grown a great connection with Messi and it seems he know the spaces to exploit when the captain has the ball.
SOFYAN AMRABAT (MOROCCO): If Morocco have come so far, it has a lot to do with the magnificence of the defensive midfielder. Against teams much stronger on paper –Belgium, Spain or Portugal –Amrabat has been like a wall shielding his defence from the attacking threats. He has won 18 duels in the five games played so far, making 6 interceptions and 8 correct tackles, mostly just outside his own box. During the match against Spain, he suffered an injury but carried on with a strapped thigh, helping the Atlas Lions to notch up an outstanding win in the tie-breaker.
KYLIAN MBAPPE (FRANCE): The French megastar has been a force of nature, just the way he was in the 2018 World Cup. His searing runs down the left have given opposition defenders sleepless nights. Add to that his ability to score goals, 5 in this World Cup so far, which has kept him in the race for the Golden Boot. It is important to mention that Mbappe lost his strike partner Karim Benzema just before the tournament started, but that didn’t stop him from combining superbly with the under-rated Olivier Giroud. Two of the three goals that Giroud has scored have come from Mbappe’s assists.
JOSKO GVARDIOL (CROATIA): The defender was unable to stop Messi’s run down the right on Tuesday which set up Argentina’s third goal, but that doesn’t take anything away from the brilliance of the 20-year-old that has made him a star on the world stage. The RB Leipzig defender, who played the World Cup with a mask due to a broken nose he suffered in Bundesliga, was absolutely outstanding against Brazil and Belgium. It was his crucial intervention in the game against Belgium in the dying moments that helped Croatia make the Round of 16. Top European clubs are after him and a move to EPL looks imminent for the world-class defender.
YASSINE BOUNOU (MOROCCO): For those who follow La Liga, the Sevilla goalkeeper is not unknown quantity. Bounou had won the Best Goalkeeper of Liga last season, even when Real Madrid’s Thibault Courtois was having the season of his life. The keeper carried that form to the World Cup. He was like an immovable object for Morocco in all their crucial games, and the two penalties that he saved against Spain were instrumental in the African team coming so far. His performance against Portugal was outstanding as well, the 31-year-old conceding only one goal so far in the World Cup.

DUDS
NEYMAR (BRAZIL): His fans may feel it’s cruel to dub him as a dud, especially after the brilliant goal that he scored against Croatia in the quarters. But a lot more was expected from the Brazilian superstar, who came into the World Cup in the form of his life. An injury in the first match, which forced him to miss two games, didn’t help. Neymar seemed to be in his element in the knock-outs, but what makes him a failure is his inability to inspire an extremely talented side when it mattered the most. Neymar could still have redeemed his World Cup by scoring in the penalty shootout against Croatia but he, strangely, was held back by coach Tite for the last shot. By then, it was all over.
CRISTIANO RONALDO (PORTUGAL): Comfortably the biggest flop of this World Cup. Much like Messi, it was his last World Cup, but he had come into the event with his focus all over the place following fights with his club Manchester United’s coach Erik Ten Hag. His false celebration claiming a goal against Uruguay which he didn’t score led to a lot of social media ridicule. It was followed up by a disastrous performance against South Korea, which led to him being subbed, and a consequent exchange of words with coach Fernando Santos. He was benched in the two knock-out games, and even though he got half-an hour to redeem himself against Morocco, the 37-year-old couldn’t make any difference.
KEVIN DE BRUYNE (BELGIUM): On current form, the best midfielder in the world couldn’t recreate the club magic for his national team. It’s true that he didn’t get the support that he gets from his clubmates, but De Bruyne failed to create moments of magic against Morocco and Croatia which could have turned things around for the European giants. The fact that he sparked off a controversy with a “team is too old” comment in the media added fuel to the fire, as Belgium imploded spectacularly to crash out in the group stages.
HARRY KANE (ENGLAND): The line between a hero and a villain in football is a fine one which Kane understands very well. He was leading the England team well, even though not at his usual prolific self, setting up the likes of Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden. But a blunder in a crunch moment against France in the quarters took all the sheen away from his performances till then. The second penalty that England got in the game was blown by the skipper, leading to the ouster of arguably the most talented European team in this World Cup.
VINICIUS JUNIOR (BRAZIL): He was the man who was supposed to be the X-factor for Brazil. But the Real Madrid left-winger, despite a few flashes of brilliance, couldn’t create the mayhem that he generally does for his club. It didn’t help that the Brazilian coach Tite failed to keep the confidence in him in the quarterfinal match against Croatia. He was subbed off in the 65th minute against Croatia, which didn’t allow Vinicius to weave his late magic against tiring legs, something that he does as a matter of routine for his club.
MANUEL NEUER (GERMANY): The goalkeeper who defined his craft for Bayern Munich and Germany in the last decade was a pale shadow of his former self. He conceded goals on the near post against Japan and Spain that led to his team getting knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages. A broken left hand while skiing after the World Cup has ruled him out of the season. It will be surprising if Germany don’t look ahead and play Marc Andre Ter Stegen in the leadup to the next Euros at home.