FourFourTwo South Africa names the six best performing players at the 2018 World Cup thus far.
1 Alfred Finnbogason
Iceland continue to go from strength to strength, and have long proved that Euro 2016 was no fluke. Just qualifying for that tournament two years ago was an exceptional achievement for a nation with a similar population to Coventry and to reach the quarter-finals was utterly remarkable.
Getting to World Cup 2018 ahead of Croatia, Turkey and Ukraine in qualifying cemented their growing reputation, but in Russia, they face arguably their toughest test yet as they seek to progress from a group featuring Argentina, Croatia and Nigeria.
It’s so far, so good though. While the Argentines boasted 78% possession, out-passed Iceland 752-209 and had 27 shots on goal in the first game, Iceland fought hard for their first point in World Cup history courtesy of Finnbogason’s equaliser.
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2 Alexsander Kolarov
Serbia skipper Kolarov enjoyed an excellent season with Roma and scored the goal that took three points for Serbia in their opener against Costa Rica. Their Central American opposition had only lost twice in 16 qualification matches and took some breaking down, requiring Kolarov’s thunderous free-kick shortly after half-time which gave Serbia the win – vital with Switzerland and Brazil to come in Group E.
3 Guillermo Ochoa
‘Memo’ Ochoa made nine saves against Germany, making him the busiest net-minder in the first round of games. He almost single-handedly thwarted their attack, bringing back memories of his man-of-the-match performance against Brazil in the group stage four years ago ― where he kept the tournament hosts and overwhelming favourites at bay in Fortaleza.
If he’s able to maintain the outstanding form he seems to always find for the national team, Mexico may make the coveted quinto partido (fifth World Cup match) or more in Russia.
4 Harry Kane
In one match, Kane scored twice as many World Cup goals as England’s record goalscorer managed in 11 matches on the biggest stage. Wayne Rooney netted only once at international football’s showpiece event – in defeat to Uruguay four years ago. Not since the final group game of Euro 2012 did Rooney score a tournament goal that delivered victory for England.
The fact that Kane surpassed Rooney’s total means little, of course, but it bodes well for the rest of the tournament and for England going forward. If international football was a step too far for Rooney – or maybe more reasonably, for England at that point – we already know it isn’t the case for England’s new captain who has taken his club form to Russia.
5 Aleksandr Golovin
Russia were written off before the tournament, with few experts – or locals, for that matter – giving them a chance of even making it out of the group. They were one of the two lowest-ranked teams in the competition (partly thanks to a lack of competitive action) – along with opening match opponents Saudi Arabia – and everything pointed to Stanislas Cherchesov’s side becoming only the second host nation to fall at the first hurdle.
They were defensively weak (38-year-old Sergei Ignashevich came out of retirement to bolster a depleted backline) and goals were expected to be thin on the ground (partly because of injury to Aleksandr Kokorin); Russia hadn’t won in their previous seven matches, failing to score in three.
All in all, the World Cup was to be a disaster of previously unseen proportions. But those pre-tournament predictions were made to look pretty silly in the opening two matches thanks to the likes of CSKA Moscow schemer Golovin. The highly rated 22-year-old created two goals and scored another as the home nation ran out 5-0 winners against Saudi Arabia.
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6 Romelu Lukaku
Much has been said and written about the Belgians’ so-called golden generation – mainly questioning their ability to come together as a team and shake off the perception that they’re a group of brilliant individuals rather than a great side.
If Lukaku continues playing as he did against Panama, particularly in the second half, those questions may be silenced. Eden Hazard was quoted as saying that Lukaku was ‘hiding’ in the first half, and that he told him so at half-time. Some may consider this further evidence of disharmony in the Belgian camp, but equally, it could be seen as the opposite: a captain encouraging one of his major players with some tough love. It worked.
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