Flops of the tournament
12 Jul | 23:40
© Reuters
Fred © Gallo Images
Flops of the tournament as selected by Reuters journalists
(4-3-3):
Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Spain)
Defenders: Dani Alves (Brazil), Sergio Ramos (Spain),
Pepe (Portugal), Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Cameroon)
Midfielders: Eden Hazard (Belgium), Shinji Kagawa
(Japan), Alex Song (Cameroon)
Forwards: Fred (Brazil), Mario Balotelli (Italy), Cristiano
Ronaldo (Portugal)
Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Spain). Kept his place ahead
of Pepe Reina and David de Gea despite no longer being
automatic first choice at Real Madrid. He began with a
nightmare performance in the 5-1 defeat by the
Netherlands and produced another blunder in the 2-0 loss
to Chile when he punched a free kick straight to Charles
Aranguiz who scored the South Americans' second goal.
Left Brazil with his reputation in ruins.
Right back: Dani Alves (Brazil). The Barcelona player
left so much space down Brazil's right flank that it was
dubbed "Dani Alves Avenue" by local media. Coach Luiz
Felipe Scolari eventually lost patience and brought in
Maicon to try and plug the gaping hole in the
quarterfinals and semifinals, but with no success.
Centre back: Pepe (Portugal). The controversial Real
Madrid defender got himself sent off before halftime in the
opening 4-0 defeat by Germany for pushing his head into
Thomas Mueller as the forward sat on the ground.
Banned for the next game against the United States, Pepe
returned for the final match against Ghana but the
damage was done and although Portugal beat the African
side 2-1, their star-studded team failed to make the last 16.
Centre back: Sergio Ramos (Spain). The World Cup
seemed to be a bridge too far for Ramos after his exertions
in helping Real Madrid win the Champions League. Sank
without trace as Spain were utterly overrun and
humiliated in their 5-1 defeat against the Netherlands,
from which they never recovered.
Left back; Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Cameroon). Made
headlines when he incredibly attempted to heat-butt team
mate Benjamin Moukandjo late in the 4-0 defeat by
Croatia. French sports daily L'Equipe reported that the
bust-up continued in the tunnel after the game with
Assou-Ekotto throwing a water bottle at his team mate.
He was dropped for the following game against Brazil.
Midfield: Eden Hazard (Belgium). Supposedly the pick
of Belgium's so-called "golden generation", Hazard
performed one of the most impressive disappearing acts at
the tournament. The low point was his utterly ineffective
performance in the quarterfinal defeat by Argentina which
led him to being hauled off near the end.
Midfield: Shinji Kagawa (Japan). A shadow of the
livewire player who helped Borussia Dortmund win two
successive Bundesliga titles, Kagawa was substituted late in
the game against Ivory Coast and dropped altogether
against Greece. He said he had "lost the battle with myself"
against the Ivorians.
Midfield: Alex Song (Cameroon). After his uncle
Rigobert Song was sent off in both the 1994 and 1998, Song
kept up the family tradition when a senseless elbow in the
back of Mario Mandzukic earned him a first-half sending
off against Croatia. Trailing 1-0 at the time, Cameroon
crashed to a 4-0 defeat and were eliminated after two
games. Song, who apologised for what he described as a
blunder, was banned for three internationals by Fifa.
Centre forward: Fred (Brazil). Following in the footsteps
of Jairzinho, Careca, Romario, Bebeto and Ronaldo was
never going to be easy, and Fred never came close.
Arguably the least effective Brazil striker since Serginho in
1982, he managed a meagre one goal and was singled out
for vicious jeering by the crowd during the semifinal
drubbing by Germany.
Forward: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal). Suffered
tendonitis in his left knee shortly before the tournament
and never lived up to his world player of the year status.
Although he got precious little support from a thoroughly
mediocre Portugal team, Ronaldo did not help his cause
by the manner in which he continually remonstrated with
his team mates. He scored the winner in their final match
against Ghana but Portugal's hopes of getting the big win
they needed to qualify had already been scuppered when
Ronaldo missed a sequence of excellent chances in the
second half.
Centre forward: Mario Balotelli (Italy). Having scored
the winner against England, "Supermario" followed up with
two ineffective performances in losses to Costa Rica and
Uruguay. He missed two good early chances against the
Central Americans which could have sent Italy's campaign
in a completely different direction. The maverick striker
did not help his cause by filling a Panini album with
stickers of himself after the England game and posting a
photograph of it on his Facebook page. Daniele De Rossi
said after Italy's elimination: "We need real men, not
Panini stickers or characters."
mobi.supersport.com/football/world-cup-2014/news/140712/Flops_of_the_tournament

ur article is not neat. modify it

where is mikel?

mencade5: where is mikel?

mikel is in d 3rd eleven(11)