The best players, manager, referee, goal, and game of this World Cup
Well!
That was quite the semifinal yesterday, wasn’t it? Men against boys.
And now here are my awards for the World Cup as a whole.
First XI
Goalkeeper: Lloris (France)
Left defender: Vertonghen (Belgium)
Right defender: Trippier (England)
Central defender: Godín (Uruguay)
Central defender: Varane (France)
Defending midfielder: Kanté (France)
Attacking midfielder: Hazard (Belgium)
Volante mixto: Modrić (Croatia)
Volante mixto: Moses (Nigeria)
First striker: Lukaku (Belgium)
Second striker: Cavani (Uruguay)
Second XI
Goalkeeper: Subašić (Croatia)
Left defender: Marcelo (Brazil)
Right defender: Pavard (France)
Central defender: Granqvist (Sweden)
Central defender: Vida (Croatia)
Defending midfielder: Casemiro (Brazil)
Attacking midfielder: Coutinho (Brazil)
Volante mixto: De Bruyne (Belgium)
Volante mixto: Golovin (Russia)
First striker: Dyuba (Russia)
Second striker: Griezmann (France)
Third XI
Goalkeeper: Courtois (Belgium)
Left defender: Laxalt (Uruguay)
Right defender: Vrsaljko (Croatia)
Central defender: Kompany (Belgium)
Central defender: Mina (Colombia)
Defending midfielder: Witsel (Belgium)
Attacking midfielder: Iniesta (Spain)
Volante mixto: Pogba (France)
Volante mixto: Rakitić (Croatia)
First striker: Kane (England)
Second striker: Mbappé (France)
Nigeria’s Victor Moses didn’t advance past the tourney’s first round, but I consider him to have had a tremendous World Cup. He would’ve improved any of the top teams. (What if he, rather than the decent but unspectacular Nacer Chadli, had covered the Belgian right flank against the French?)
Two other players – Vincent Kompany and Diego Laxalt – came into the tourney rather late. I thought their performances lifted their respective teams.
Now, a few special awards.
Most valuable player: N’Golo Kanté (France)
Best-all-around player: Luka Modrić (Croatia)
Outstanding young player: Kylian Mbappé (France), with 19 years
Outstanding old player: Sergei Ignashevich (Russia), with 38 years
Best manager: Óscar Tabárez (Uruguay)
Best referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)
Best goal: Uruguay’s first goal against Portugal (in the first knockout stage)
Best game: Belgium 3, Japan 2 (in the first knockout stage)
That was quite the semifinal yesterday, wasn’t it? Men against boys.
And now here are my awards for the World Cup as a whole.
First XI
Goalkeeper: Lloris (France)
Left defender: Vertonghen (Belgium)
Right defender: Trippier (England)
Central defender: Godín (Uruguay)
Central defender: Varane (France)
Defending midfielder: Kanté (France)
Attacking midfielder: Hazard (Belgium)
Volante mixto: Modrić (Croatia)
Volante mixto: Moses (Nigeria)
First striker: Lukaku (Belgium)
Second striker: Cavani (Uruguay)
Second XI
Goalkeeper: Subašić (Croatia)
Left defender: Marcelo (Brazil)
Right defender: Pavard (France)
Central defender: Granqvist (Sweden)
Central defender: Vida (Croatia)
Defending midfielder: Casemiro (Brazil)
Attacking midfielder: Coutinho (Brazil)
Volante mixto: De Bruyne (Belgium)
Volante mixto: Golovin (Russia)
First striker: Dyuba (Russia)
Second striker: Griezmann (France)
Third XI
Goalkeeper: Courtois (Belgium)
Left defender: Laxalt (Uruguay)
Right defender: Vrsaljko (Croatia)
Central defender: Kompany (Belgium)
Central defender: Mina (Colombia)
Defending midfielder: Witsel (Belgium)
Attacking midfielder: Iniesta (Spain)
Volante mixto: Pogba (France)
Volante mixto: Rakitić (Croatia)
First striker: Kane (England)
Second striker: Mbappé (France)
Nigeria’s Victor Moses didn’t advance past the tourney’s first round, but I consider him to have had a tremendous World Cup. He would’ve improved any of the top teams. (What if he, rather than the decent but unspectacular Nacer Chadli, had covered the Belgian right flank against the French?)
Two other players – Vincent Kompany and Diego Laxalt – came into the tourney rather late. I thought their performances lifted their respective teams.
Now, a few special awards.
Most valuable player: N’Golo Kanté (France)
Best-all-around player: Luka Modrić (Croatia)
Outstanding young player: Kylian Mbappé (France), with 19 years
Outstanding old player: Sergei Ignashevich (Russia), with 38 years
Best manager: Óscar Tabárez (Uruguay)
Best referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)
Best goal: Uruguay’s first goal against Portugal (in the first knockout stage)
Best game: Belgium 3, Japan 2 (in the first knockout stage)