We’ve taken a look at our best lineup from the World Cup, but now we turn our attention to the players that let their country down the most. That’s right people, even during what many consider the greatest World Cup of all-time, there were players and nations that fell flat. Here are our five biggest disappointments of the World Cup.
The 2018 World Cup came to a stunning conclusion on Sunday with France emerging victorious over Croatia 4-2. It was a hotly contested match with both sides going blow for blow in order to finish with the Cup. Now that the dust has settled on what many fanatics have labelled the best World Cup ever, it’s time to review the month-long festival.
Fresh off his holiday in Greece following Portugal’s Round of 16 elimination at the hands of Uruguay, Cristiano Ronaldo has sauntered into Turin with fans baying for some “Siiuuu!” and a first Champions League crown since 1996.
19-year-old France forward Kylian Mbappe put the finishing touches on a blistering World Cup campaign Sunday after scoring his fourth goal of the tournament — the PSG phenom entered the competition with just four international goals to his name.
With his strike long-range strike against Croatia in the 65th minute, Mbappe joined Pele as the only teenager to have scored in a World Cup final. Pele, at the age of 17, scored a brace as Brazil defeated Sweden 5-2 in the final of the 1958 World Cup.
Here’s the goal from Mbappe that effectively buried Croatia today.
With France nursing a 2-1 lead at halftime of the 2018 World Cup Final, Croatia was forced to go in search of an equalizer against the planet’s premier counter attacking side.
Before today’s main event at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, World Cup final spectators were treated to the closing ceremony on the pitch. Around 80,000 got to watch 49-year-old Will Smith lip sync a pretty bad song and Ronaldinho slap a drum while a cohort of attractive women danced around him.
So just another day in the life of Ronaldinho, I guess.
DC United opened Audi Field Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps, and marquee signing Wayne Rooney was handed his debut in the 58th minute. Rooney assisted USMNT winger Paul Arriola on DC’s third, but special mention to Vancouver’s conciliatory strike in the 94th minute — 17-year-old Canadian international Alphonso Davies ruined United’s backline before curling in a shot from distance.
Neymar has been out of the World Cup for a while now, Brazil having lost to Belgium in the quarterfinals. But that doesn’t mean he’s done being mocked. This Neymar Wimbledon video is proof.
Neymar earned a reputation as a diver, flopper, embellisher and general bad sport during the 2018 World Cup. To be fair, teams targeted him with constant fouls and physical play. But the PSG forward didn’t do himself any favors with his rolling around time after time.
After Cristiano Ronaldo’s $117 million transfer to Juventus FC on July 10 and with the constant meme flow of Neymar “Flop Master Crash” Jr. during the World Cup, the Portuguese and Brazilian are no strangers to harsh criticism. So in lieu of that, let’s pit the two buggers against each other and see who survives the fan warfare. This is Ronaldo vs Neymar.
For those of you who think this is unfair, other than crying us a river, what’s wrong with a little playing with fire every now and then? Metaphorically, please don’t play with actual fire.