World Cup 2018: 3 Flops Who Reached The Semi-Finals
It is no mean feat for a team to reach the last four of any World Cup. This means that you have at least faced five opponents and played a part in eliminating four of them. Being part of the semi-final teams means being regarded as elite in terms of pedigree in the competition.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia has offered many surprises beyond our wildest imagination. Who knew that a team like South Korea could humble defending champions Germany 2-0? More so, who could bet in favour of Germany finishing last in a group that had Sweden, Mexico and minnows South Korea?
People have argued that England has cruised into the last four after tactfully finishing second in the group behind Belgium. They ultimately avoided the route that had teams such as France, Brazil and Argentina in the subsequent rounds.
Belgium, as expected topped the pool that featured the Three Lions as their closest challengers, Tunisia and debutants Panama. After surviving a scare against Japan in the last 16, Belgium showed their class in upsetting Brazil 2-1 in the quarter-final.
The prospect of Belgium and England facing each other in the final fell by the wayside on Monday when France emerged as 1-0 winners. In their first encounter, Belgium and England fielded second-string sides as they had already qualified to the knockout round.
There are players in these two teams who quite simply basked in the glory of their team's success and did not put a good shift. Some of these three players were guilty of not performing even when presented with sumptuous opportunities.
#3 Yannick Carrasco (Belgium)
The Belgium winger had been given many opportunities to impress by manager Roberto Martinez. This was a show of faith by the manager who had a star-studded squad to choose from.
Carrasco took part in Belgium's four out of six matches at the World Cup. His numbers at the tournament were not impressive at all.
He scored zero goals, provided zero assists and as a winger, completed zero crosses into the box from five attempts. All in all, he lost 24 balls in what was a string of below-par performances by the winger.
His poor performance did little to deter Belgium's resolve to win matches. Luckily for him, there were quality players around who shipped in the goals. They scored a whopping 13 goals to become the tournament's top scorers.