Morocco fans celebrate in Antwerp after qualifying for the 2022 World Cup semi-finals (Twitter)
The players who made the disappointing XI for the 2022 World Cup are not bad by any means.
These are stars, some even superstars, so there were high expectations of them, which were not fulfilled.
It says nothing about their abilities, except for the mental drain they experienced in the strange winter World Cup in Qatar.
Diego Costa
Portugal coach Fernando Santos sidelined veteran Roy Patricio and gambled on Porto's young goalkeeper, who has stepped up to the level of a big star this year and left a bright impression in the Champions League as well.
It was an unusual decision, and it is very possible that it will pay off in the long run because Costa is an upstart who is capable of developing into one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
However, in the short term it did not necessarily work in Portugal's favor, because a serious mistake by Costa in going for a routine high ball resulted in a goal by the Moroccan Youssef An-Nasiri and elimination in the quarterfinals.
In addition, Costa also messed up in the game against Ghana, but then it didn't have far-reaching consequences.
He will hope that the next tournaments will be much better and more stable.
More in Walla!
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Danilo
It was clear in advance that the defensive positions would be a weak point for Brazil, and the fact that the team was able to overcome this weakness throughout most of the tournament is to its credit.
It would not be correct to claim that Danilo experienced a weak World Cup, and he was even required to fill most of the time precisely the left defender slot, and not play in his optimal position as a right defender.
However, Croatia's equalizing goal in the 117th minute in the quarter-finals was mainly due to his mistake, just after he was moved from left to right in place of Ader Militau who showed stable ability.
And the bottom line, this error cost Selção relegation.
Niklas Zola
Germany presented a very good offensive game in this World Cup, and was eliminated in the group stage due to a low percentage of opportunity utilization (especially against Japan), and due to defensive mistakes.
In the critical loss to Japan, Zola was largely responsible for conceding the first goal, and did not assist in the closing even when the opponent completed the turnaround.
Additionally, he watched from the sidelines as Costa Rica scored both of their goals.
Not all the blame falls on his shoulders, of course, and the decision to play him at right back against Japan was not ideal to say the least, but he is the German who most deserves to be in the disappointing team.
Raphael van der Vaart, from the commentator's chair, defined him as "the German Harry Maguire", but the original Harry Maguire had a much better World Cup.
The most deserving German for this team.
Cheap, late, in front of Venegas (Photo: Reuters)
Nikola Milankovic
The Serbian national team arrived at the World Cup with a very positive momentum and with great offensive potential.
In the end it really worked reasonably, except for the loss to Brazil, but the talented team went home with only one point due to a lack of discipline in the defense that led to a 3:3 draw against Cameroon and a 3:2 loss to Switzerland.
Milankovic was supposed to be the leader in the rear, and was not always up to the task.
The fact that his bad position prevented the Serbs from trapping the Cameroonians in the trap twice, and caused the absorption of two quick goals in the second half, stood out in particular.
Milankovic is considered a promise, and was interested in making a step forward from Fiorentina, but this tournament will not help him in that.
Federico Valverde
It is not easy to think of a player who reached the World Cup with better momentum.
Valverde has upgraded in recent months to a very dominant player and leader in Real Madrid, scored important and spectacular goals, and some have already defined him as one of the best players in the world.
One could, therefore, expect that he would bring momentum to the team, where he was supposed to create, together with Rodrigo Bentancourt, a wonderful duo in the center of the field.
Bentancourt was good, but Valverde was not, and even the shameful defensive formation imposed on him does not absolve him of responsibility.
His first World Cup was supposed to be a million times better, and not end in the group stage.
Christian Eriksen
Denmark may have been overrated after qualifying for the semi-finals of Euro 2020, and being classified as the dark horse of the tournament was unrealistic, but also finishing with one point, one right goal and zero pleasant memories is excessive - only in the other direction.
Eriksen, who recovered from a heart attack at the beginning of the European Championship and returned to lead the team, could have been one of the most exciting and magical stories of the current World Cup.
Instead, no one remembers getting there at all.
The Manchester United midfielder didn't have a single decent creative pass, and he evaporated when the team needed him.
Evaporated when Denmark needed him.
Eriksen (Photo: GettyImages, Dean Mouhtaropoulos)
Kevin de Brauna
Belgium's red-hot star simply didn't feel like playing in this World Cup, which is understandable considering the circumstances.
The midfielder who fought above and beyond in all previous tournaments, and even played with torn ankle ligaments in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals, showed no minimal motivation this time, did not believe in his team's chances, and publicly dismissed them in an interview published during the World Cup.
FIFA managed to embarrass him by awarding him the man-of-the-match statuette after a poor performance in Canada's first game, and De Bruyne himself admitted he didn't deserve it. "Maybe I got it because of the name," he said. In the next two games, that didn't hold up either On the agenda, and the atmosphere in the dressing room didn't contribute to his mood either.
Bernardo Silva
Can anyone mention what Bernardo Silva has been doing these weeks?
While Bruno Fernandes gives his maximum at any given moment, and was even considered at one point a possible candidate for the title of player of the tournament, his partner was not felt at all.
Silva left the stage to others, received entirely too much credit from coach Fernando Santos who could have benched him, and spent a terrible 90 minutes on the pitch as Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals.
Manchester City will hope that this "rest" will help him and De Brauna later in the season.
Padre
Spain not only celebrated a seventh against Costa Rica, but also showed a not bad offensive ability at all against Germany, and in general the stigma according to which they must surrender to the width to the death is not always true.
Why was she right against Morocco in the round of 16, in a depressing replay of the round of 16 against Russia in 2018?
It's not easy to answer that, but one quality deep pass could have helped her avoid elimination.
The most important player in this regard is Federico, but the young wizard of Barcelona showed a weaker ability in the current tournament compared to Euro 2020, and was especially dismal against the Moroccans.
Not bad, the whole future is still ahead of him.
We expected more.
Valverde and Silva (Photo: Reuters)
Romelu Lukaku
The Inter striker was on the field for a little more than 50 minutes in total, but it was certainly enough to make the list, because the show of misses against Croatia in the second half was unusual by any standard.
In the expected goals index (xG), which examines the quality of the situations and not their exploitation, Lukaku single-handedly "beat" all of Morocco's players in all of its group stage games - and Morocco still finished first, while Belgium went home.
The scorer arrived at the World Cup in poor condition, and it might have been better to stay at home, given the general ability of his teammates.
It is hoped that the failed game will not leave scars in the long run and will not affect his image.
Gareth Bale
Okay, so Bale fulfilled his biggest dream, marching Wales to the World Cup, even scoring their only goal of the tournament with a penalty to give them the only point, in a 1-1 draw against the United States.
However, one could expect a little more from him in the tournament of his dreams - after all, that's what he extended his career for.
Wales did almost nothing in Qatar, and it's quite unfortunate to think that they advanced to the tournament at the expense of Ukraine who could have contributed much more, in every possible way.
If Bale left such a story out of the picture, he should have at least brought some story of his own - and it really didn't happen.
He didn't bring any stories of his own.
Bale (Photo: Reuters)
Coach: Diego Alonso
He replaced the legendary Oscar Tavares in the middle of the qualifying campaign, seemingly breathed a new spirit into the Uruguayan team and brought it to the World Cup, but was directly responsible for the humiliation and wronged his players.
With such a quality squad, there was no justification for shameful defensive formations against South Korea and Portugal that ended without goals.
Georgian De Arascate's benching was a sporting crime, and the gifted midfielder proved it with a brace in a 2-0 win over Ghana.
The point is that against the broken opponent, Uruguay needed another goal, or to be sure two, in order to secure its place in the round of 16 regardless of the result of the corresponding match.
The coach preferred to make casual substitutions, relegated even Luis Suarez to the bench, and made the legendary striker cry when the Koreans scored a late goal against the Portuguese.
Only then did Uruguay remember to attack, but it was too late.
The players blamed the referee, but they should make claims mainly to the failed coach who ruined the tournament for them.
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World Cup 2022
Kevin de Brauna
Christian Eriksen
Federico Valverde
Romelu Lukaku
Gareth Bale
