The World Cup playoffs begin this afternoon. The Peoples Person looks back at the group stages to select players who shone in Qatar, and a number of Manchester United players impressed.
In goal, Wojciech Szczensny is the undisputed first player to deflect two penalties: one to prevent Saudi Arabia from equalizing the score, and the other against none other than Lionel Messi. If he had conceded at least one of them, now we would be talking about the fact that Poland was knocked out due to the fact that it received fewer cards than Mexico.
Ashraf Hakimi was an outstanding right-back for the Moroccan team, from whom few expected progress in the group. He helped Yussuf El-Neisri score a goal against Canada and take first place, and his work in defense — hardly a characteristic feature of his game at club level — helped the Atlas Lions draw against Belgium and Croatia.
Maligned and often despised, Harry Maguire enjoys playing for England. He gave an assist against Iran, which may be a sign that the Three Lions are one of the most dangerous teams of the tournament from standard positions. His partnership with John Stones proves fruitful, as the disappointment of conceding two goals in the aforementioned 6-2 victory pushed the pair to ensure clean results in the next two matches. He may never be the first player at Manchester United again, but it’s hard to argue with the fact that Gareth Southgate relies on him in the England national team.
Frankie de Jong played in front of three defenders for the Netherlands national team, and no team in the tournament has a better defensive result than at this stage (why is he in the center of defense in this team? Well, if that’s enough for Javi…). De Jong scored and assisted from deep in midfield, and he was at the center of absolutely everything that Orange excelled at both ends of the field. An exciting dribbler and astute passer, the Barcelona playmaker makes an average of 3.7 ball selections per game and wins 78% of duels. He does the dirty work well in this tournament to prove his silky skills.
Eight key assists in two matches sounds like an achievement worthy of world number ten, but these are the statistics of Milan and French left-back Theo Hernandez. His performances in Qatar only prove why many consider him one of the best attacking defenders in world football, and his speed and transmission quality are a fantastic weapon for the French national team. Unfortunately, it may be a weapon they will have to do without against Poland, and Hernandez is in doubt after an ankle injury.
The term “volante” is often translated directly as “midfielder” when referring to Brazilian football, but it actually means “steering wheel”. Casemiro was just that for Brazil, which prompted their mascot to hail him as the best volante in the world. The United player was the driving force behind Selecao’s first two wins, guiding his teammates, defending his defense and making a decisive contribution when needed, just as he was against Switzerland when his surprise volley brought three points at the end of the day. .
Two goals and two assists in two matches make Bruno Fernandes almost the most productive player in Qatar at the moment. These statistics also mean that he was directly involved in two-thirds of the goals scored by Portugal in this tournament, even taking into account the match in which he did not participate. The fact that he was one of the few players who rested during the entire game with South Korea only shows that Fernando Santos finally realized the vital role of Bruno.
Perhaps the outstanding player in a group that included Portugal, Uruguay and a heroic team from South Korea, Mohamed Kudus gave the lowest-ranked team going into the tournament a chance to get into the last sixteen. His technical abilities made him the talisman of their 3-2 victory over the Republic of Korea, and his tough attitude and willingness to interfere in defense made the 22-year-old the leader of the Ghanaians. Kudus, the only player who got into these eleven without qualification from his group, can certainly hold his head high after his performances.
Marcus Rashford had to make his way into the starting line-up of the England national team, which was sharply criticized after he missed a penalty against Italy at Euro 2020. Wales. And yet he claims the Golden Boot, scoring three goals – one for every 36 minutes on the field. Gareth Southgate may have stumbled upon the winning formula during the group stage when Rashford played right-winger. Who would have thought that playing a fast forward who likes to fall behind with Harry Kane would be a good idea?
Kylian Mbappe claims to be the best player in the world, and some even wonder if he is already the best Frenchman playing this game. Three goals and an assist in the first two games of Le Bleus ensured that they reached the next round, and so far it has really been nice to watch him in Qatar. There were many candidates for the position of central striker in this team, including Spaniard Alvaro Morata, South Korean Cho Kyo-sun, Ecuadorian Enner Valencia and even Argentinian Lionel Messi — all of them outstanding performers, but in the end Mbappe failed to win.
Cody Gakpo, a long-time Manchester United target, scored the first goal in all three of the Netherlands’ matches. He accounts for 60% of the Orange’s goals, which is the second highest score ever scored by any player in the tournament. If that wasn’t enough, his goals in the group stage represent a perfect hat-trick, scored with a left, right and head — he doesn’t care how the chance comes, he just scores it. His lethal form proves that he is being talked about in European football, and certainly justifies Eric ten Haga’s long-term interest in the player.
The stages of the playoffs will begin today at 15:00. The Netherlands will play the USA, and tonight Argentina will play Australia.
