World Cup 2018: Top 10 Players From The Tournament
A month of nonstop football is sadly over. It's been a fun ride with great goals, controversial moments and moments we will never ever forget. And during this month we've seen players stand up and be counted for when their country needed them the most.
Some of the players who competed in Russia will never play like they did during this month, while others are just continuing from where they left off with their club. We’ve seen some truly special performances in Russia.
Here are the top 10 players at the 2018 World Cup:
#10 Denis Cheryshev
Russia surprised the world as the hosts. Many predicted them to be one of the worst World Cup hosts ever, but with an amazing run to the quarterfinals, Russia were only a penalty shootout away from the semifinals. During this surprising run, there was one player who also surprised the world, Denis Cheryshev.
Before the start of the World Cup Cheryshev only had 11 caps to his name and until earlier this year spent two years away from the national team. But an injury to Alan Dzagoev in the opening game against Saudi Arabia gave Cheryshev the chance he needed. 20 minutes after his introduction Cheryshev scored his first international goal to put the hosts 2-0 up. Cheryshev tore the Saudi defence to pieces and in the 90th minute scored his second with an absolute screamer. In just less than 2 hours an underachieving average player turned into a nation's hero.
With his fantastic performance, Cheryshev earned a start in the next game against Egypt, where he found the back of the net yet again. Cheryshev continued to impress against Uruguay and Spain where he played a key role in helping his side shockingly eliminate Spain on penalties to earn the hosts' first ever win in the knockout rounds.
The quarterfinals was a task too difficult but Cheryshev had a great game scoring another amazing potential goal of the tournament.
Cheryshev earned 31% of his caps in this tournament and scored 100% of his international goals. The man who once claimed he felt more Spanish than Russia entered the World Cup as an outcast, but left it a hero.