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The World Cup has long been a breeding ground for talent, as well as an arena for the best players on the planet to show off their skill, but not all of them managed to thrive in Qatar.
The Premier League was highly represented in the Middle East with 133 stars from 26 different nations and was a memorable tournament for the likes of Manchester United trio Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Bruno Fernandes.
However, the same can’t be said for a handful of stars who crashed in groups or struggled to comply.
sports mail have gone through the list of top-tier players who underperformed at the World Cup and will therefore have a big point to prove when they return to Premier League action this month.
Youri Tielemans of Belgium struggled to show his quality in Qatar, as did Kevin De Bruyne
Son Heung-min – South Korea and Tottenham
Son was expected to be one of South Korea’s stars in Qatar this winter, and although he played all four games to help his team reach the round of 16, he failed to score in a frustrating tournament.
He played every minute of the World Cup as the team captain and a very influential figure, but he didn’t have the impact they might have expected from him when he saw Paik Seung-ho, Kim Yong-gwon, Hwang Hee-chan and Cho Gue. -seung enters the minutes in his place.
The Tottenham man grabbed an assist in South Korea’s best result of the competition, a 2-1 win over Portugal, when he set up Wolves star Hwang to score a last-minute winner .
Tottenham’s Son Heung-min will have a big point to prove after failing to score in Qatar
Son is a huge celebrity in South Korea and is revered as a hero by fans, who showed their solidarity by wearing the same goggles after the eye injury he suffered while playing for Tottenham last month.
In truth, he was lucky to participate in the World Cup, and perhaps his injury meant he was unable to perform at his best for his country.
Son has had a difficult season overall and hasn’t had the best of luck in the Premier League either, scoring just three times and providing two assists for Spurs this campaign.
When he returns to north London, all eyes will be on him to see if he can recapture his incredible form from last season.
Darwin Núñez – Uruguay and Liverpool
A lot of pressure has fallen on the shoulders of Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez since he completed an £85m move to Liverpool from Benfica in the summer, and it’s fair to say that paying that fee has been a challenge so far.
Flying out to join his Uruguay team-mates was a chance to put a slow start to the season behind him as he has only netted five times in the league so far while rival Erling Haaland has gone on 18 since. who joined Man City.
But he couldn’t find the kind of form that turned heads while at Benfica last season when he scored 26 goals in the Portuguese top flight.
Liverpool’s £85m signing Darwin Nunez endured a World Cup to forget for Uruguay
Núñez returned to action in the Reds’ 3-2 defeat at Manchester City on Thursday night.
He started all of Uruguay’s games but was largely anonymous: manager Diego Alonso opted to substitute him in the team’s last two matches against Portugal and Ghana after he failed to deliver goods.
On both occasions, Núñez was replaced by Maximiliano Gómez, with Uruguay eliminated in the group stage after losing to South Korea on goals scored.
Unfortunately, there weren’t enough goals scored by Núñez, who returned to Liverpool to prove his huge price tag wasn’t a mistake.
And his home side Liverpool need a regular supply of goals from him too, with Jurgen Klopp’s side currently seven points shy of a top four place, now held by Tottenham.
Núñez returned to action for the Reds on Thursday night, playing out the entirety of their 3-2 loss at Manchester City and failing to score when they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup.
Kevin De Bruyne – Belgium and Manchester City
Arguably one of the biggest surprises of this World Cup was that we didn’t see the magic that we know De Bruyne can produce.
Belgium’s dismal group stage exit was a huge shock and the whole team was plagued by infighting, and it seems the Man City wizard was one of those hampered because he couldn’t get his creativity flowing. .
He didn’t score or provide any assists in Belgium’s three group stage matches against Croatia, Morocco and Canada, but really none of the team seemed to be on the same page throughout the tournament.
It seems almost a guarantee that when De Bruyne returns to Manchester City and is lifted up by his superstar teammates – and connection with striker Erling Haaland – he will be back at his best, lobbing amazing balls over the top and splitting defenses down the middle. half. with the fantastic vision of him.
Kevin de Bruyne’s slow tournament was one of the biggest upsets of the World Cup.
Youri Tielemans – Belgium and Leicester City
The midfielder was another star who failed to shine in Belgium’s divided squad and received much comment from his country’s media for his poor performance.
Like De Bruyne, Tielemans, one of Belgium’s most important players for the future as his age group begins to decline, played in all three games but also missed the tournament.
It didn’t help the 25-year-old that his club Leicester didn’t start the season well either, as the Foxes initially had to fight their way out of the relegation zone after picking up eight defeats and with Brendan Rodgers under pressure.
Youri Tielemans also struggled to show his best quality in Qatar amid a divided Belgian team.
Tielemans managed to score three times and grab an assist, but the topsy-turvy campaign can’t have done his confidence heading into the World Cup any favors.
He will now put his full focus on Leicester’s season and making sure they continue their upward trajectory after two straight wins before the World Cup.
Christian Eriksen – Denmark and Manchester United
It was an emotional return to the national team at a major tournament for Eriksen as he made his incredible comeback after going into cardiac arrest during the first game of Euro 2020.
However, while he has excelled since returning to football with Brentford and Manchester United, Eriksen was unable to translate that form to the domestic stage as the Danes failed to win a game, with the playmaker unable to work his magic.
He played all three games, and all 90 minutes, but was unable to influence the games the way he would like as they drew 0-0 with Tunisia and then lost 2-1 to France and 1-0 to Australia to fall in the group stages.
Now he’s back at United, where he’s tasked with boosting Erik ten Hag’s men and helping them get more results as they try to turn their fortunes around.
Eriksen has scored two goals and six assists in all competitions for the Red Devils since signing on a free transfer and will be keen to show he can go far beyond his effort in Qatar.
Christian Eriksen was unable to work his usual magic as Denmark failed to reach the round of 16.
Kai Havertz – Germany and Chelsea
He finally appeared at the World Cup with two goals in Germany’s 4–2 win over Costa Rica in their final group game, but Havertz left him too late as Die Mannschaft missed out on goals scored in the round of 16.
The Chelsea playmaker only played 24 minutes of that game, but scored twice in 12 minutes to level the score and then put his team in front before Niclas Fullkrug added a fourth for Germany.
Havertz had been dropped after starting their 2-1 loss to Japan, but played no role in the 1-1 draw against Spain.
It was not quite the impact the former Leverkusen star had hoped for, having started the season with four goals for Chelsea: three in the Premier League and one in the Champions League.
Kai Havertz scored a late brace for Germany against Costa Rica, but it was too late