5 flops at 2014 World Cup

The 2014 World Cup was widely considered one of the best editions in history, but not everyone came away from the event with their reputations enhanced. Here is a look at five players who under-performed in Brazil.

1. Fred (Brazil)

The Fluminense striker didn’t exactly enter the tournament with expectations high, but even his harshest critics would not have expected a sequence of such listless displays as the ones Fred produced.

Roundly jeered in Brazil’s 7-1 humiliation by Germany in the semi-finals, the Estadio Minerao crowd appeared to be expressing frustrations with Fred that had built up over the previous five matches.

Brazil’s dearth of quality strikers – what a shame Alexandre Pato’s once promising career seems to have fallen by the wayside – meant that Fred was given the nod to play as the out-and-out striker, with Neymar in behind.

What Fred produced was a series of slow, ponderous performances, lacking in movement and, at times, desire. While others – notably Hulk and Fernandinho – came in for criticism after Brazil’s exit, Fred was made the main scapegoat and is now likely to be remembered as Brazil’s cart-horse of a striker who scored one goal in six games at a tournament the hosts were favourites to win.

2. Iker Casillas (Spain)

At 33, Casillas should still be in his prime, but he looks to have suffered from being dropped from the Real Madrid team by Jose Mourinho and then Carlo Ancelotti. An ever-present in Real’s successful Champions League campaign, Casillas nonetheless entered the 2014 World Cup lacking regular game time and looked awfully rusty against Holland and Chile.

Casillas flapped badly at a cross leading to Stefan de Vrij knocking in Holland’s third in a 5-1 defeat, and he then conceded possession to Robin van Persie who ran the ball into an empty net. Things did not improve in the 2-0 defeat to Chile as Casillas meekly punched an Alexis Sanchez free-kick right into the path of Charles Aranguiz who hammered the rebound home.

3. Steven Gerrard (England)

The 2014 World Cup only added to the miserable end to Gerrard’s season. His slip against Chelsea proved a pivotal moment in Liverpool surrendering the Premier League title initiative to Manchester City, and things did not get much better for England’s captain in Brazil.

Gerrard failed to produce anything like his best form as England bowed out in the group stages. He conceded possession in midfield leading to Luis Suarez heading in Uruguay’s first goal and then flicked a long Fernando Muslera kick into the path of his Liverpool team-mate who scored to hand the South Americans a 2-1 win that led to England’s group stage elimination.

4. Diego Costa (Spain)

Diego Costa was a pale shadow of the player who tore up La Liga defences and contributed more than most to Atletico Madrid’s first title since 1996. The Brazilian-born striker was a peripheral figure in Spain’s group matches against Holland and Chile, being replaced by Fernando Torres just after the hour-mark in both – hardly a ringing endorsement given Torres’ average form for club and country over the last few years.

A long season with Atletico looked like it had taken its toll, not to mention the injury that Costa was struggling with before the tournament. He was lacking support from an unusually subdued Spain midfield, but La Furia Roja fans would have expected more movement and cunning from one of the most feared strikers in world soccer.

5. Eden Hazard (Belgium)

Not dreadful in the Fred meaning of the word, but an under-whelming contribution at a tournament that promised so much for the Belgium winger. A regular tormentor of Premier League defences, Hazard was a largely anonymous figure in almost all of Belgium’s games.

He did shine briefly against Russia, setting up the only goal for Divock Origi late on. At 23, perhaps the tournament came a little too early for Hazard to dominate, but when Belgium needed inspiration against Argentina in the quarter-finals, he was not there to produce it, even being substituted by Marc Wilmots in the 75th minute.