World Cup 2022 has come and gone. We sit here on January 2nd, a few weeks removed to take in all that has transpired and properly review the winners and losers of this World Cup, from a Serie A perspective.
We all know who won, as Argentina beat France in an epic finale, winning on penalty kicks. We are going to look at all the winners and losers from the finals first, and then the whole tournament.
World Cup Finals
Not many Serie A players are involved in the finals, and they're all winners of such an epic game. Even Lautaro Martinez. Okay almost everyone. We had one player who was a loser for me and surprisingly it was one of the better players in the tournament, Olivier Giroud.
Giroud started the match but was pulled rather quickly in the 41st minute. It is not a good sign from the coach when you are pulled before halftime. Ever. At this point in the match, Argentina was already winning comfortably at 2-0 and Giroud was not helping any comeback efforts. Giroud only had 12 touches and 56% passing accuracy.
Olivier Giroud was HIGHLY ineffective and subsequently pulled to try and ignite the French attack. Giroud does not get the blame for France's poor start to the World Cup finals, but the experienced striker was expected to help ease the pain, which he could not. Olivier Giroud gets a rating of 5/10 for me in the finals.
And if I had to pick a winner for the finals, it would be Angel Di Maria of Juventus. A strong game including a goal in the first half. The Argentine player was dangerous from beginning to end and outside of Leo Messi and Kylian Mbappe, was the best player of the match. Di Maria earned an overall rating of 9/10. The Juventus player was strong all tournament long and got better as the stakes got higher. Overall, for the tournament, he earned a rating of 8/10.
The Big Losers
Now looking holistically at the tournament as a whole, several key players stuck out for good and bad reasons. Let's start with the losers.
Overall, the Inter Milan strikers were the biggest losers. "LuLa" as Interisti like to refer to Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez, looked more like Lululemon this tournament. Both players were expected to do big things and both left Serie A fans mocking the talismanic duo for Inter.
Starting with Lukaku, played a total of 54 minutes in this tournament. Yes, he was coming off an injury, but the minutes he did play were unimpressive. In particular the match vs Croatia where his team needed him most, Lukaku came up empty. He missed four great openings that could have saved the Red Devils from a premature exit from the competition. Lukaku struck the post and missed from close range on a frustrating night for the forward after he was introduced at half-time.
We will give him a break from coming back from injury, but only slightly. Lukaku earned an overall rating of 6/10 at the World Cup.
His teammate and World Cup winner, Lautaro Martinez, was not much better with a bigger sample size. Lautaro began the tournament as the wingman to Leo Messi and get him his long-awaited trophy. Martinez was a fixture in Lionel Scaloni's starting lineup and fans expected big things from him. After two starts and a plethora of missed scoring chances,
After two disappointing games against Saudi Arabia and Mexico, Lautaro was benched for upstart Julian Alvarez. The youngster took his opportunity and ran with it. What we saw is Martinez perched up on the bench and called upon for clean-up duty. Even at this moment, Lautaro had an opportunity to redeem himself as a super-sub. What we saw was him being completely non-existent in his next three appearances and ultimately did not feature in the semifinal matchup against Croatia. Leo Scaloni had no choice but to use him in extra time in the finals and Lautaro did play well finally and aided Argentina to their first World Cup title in 36 years. I'm sure he's not too worried about his performance this tournament but Interisti sure are. I give him a rating of 6/10 for the competition as a whole.
A few other noteworthy losers in this tournament were Charles De Ketelaere from AC Milan, Mario Pasalic of Atalanta, and Nikola Vlasic of Torino. The former had an opportunity to show off all the buzz that has been around him yet failed to display for his club team. The experienced Pasalic had an opportunity to continue his fine form from last season where he brought goals and assists to La Dea. The latter had an opportunity to show his bright start to this season was no fluke and could make a dent in the Croatian lineup with a volatile Ante Rebic not called up. What we saw from all three were poor displays of ball retention and an inability to provide any sort of offensive attacking prowess. Hopefully, they all brush off their World Cup performances because they were all woefully poor.
The Winners Are...
Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan is our first winner. Outside the match against the eventual winners Argentina, Brozovic was flawless. Paired alongside Luka Modric, the duo turned back the years as they dominated most games of the tournament. Whether it was winning tackles, setting up key passes, or defending everything thrown at them. Brozovic lived up to the big game player he has been known for in Serie A. Brozo got better every match up until the semi-finals. Overall, he earned a rating of 7.5/10 despite the flub in his last match.
Next up is Theo Hernandez from AC Milan. The Frenchman stepped up when big brother was injured just 13 minutes into the World Cup. What transpired was performance after performance of stellar offensive and defensive performances from the Milanista. Picking up one goal and two assists, Theo was nothing short of the best left-back in the tournament. He even picked up player of the match performance against Morocco in the semi-finals. The Milan starlet earned a rating of 8.5/10 in this tournament.
Now moving on to the darling of the World Cup. No, not talking about Lionel Messi. I'm talking about Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina. The Moroccan made himself a household name after superb performance after another. Despite being well-known in Serie A, what we saw from Amrabat was a new deep-lying positioning, which transformed him into a star in this tournament. Hopefully his club manager, Vincenzo Italiano was taking notes. Amrabat played a disrupter of passes, a midfield maestro, and a destroyer of opponents' hopes.
Amrabat's stock has risen considerably given his performances for Morocco and will give his owner Rocco Commisso something to think about. Undoubtedly there will be several big-name suitors looking to sign the Viola player this January. Wherever he lands, abroad or stays in Florence, let's hope we see more of this deep-lying, ball-hawking midfielder we saw at the World Cup this winter. Sofyan Amrabat earned a rating of 8/10.
Lastly, our biggest winners are Massimiliano Allegri and Juventus. I already spoke about Angel Di Maria's exploits earlier in the article. Another player, Alex Sandro, turned back the years with his performances for Brazil in the tournament. With strong defensive play and a menace in the opponent's box, Alex Sandro was everywhere for Brazil. The only thing holding him back was an injury. Despite the smaller sample size, Sandro was able to pick up the man-of-the-match performance against Switzerland. He earned a rating of 8/10.
Another Juve player reaping the rewards from strong performances was Wojciech Szczesny. The Polish keeper was simply sensational, even in defeat. Wojciech made a name for himself after stopping a couple of penalty kicks, including one on Leo Messi.
Szczesny was dominant in his box. He marshaled a defense that made a La Spezia and Serie B player look pretty darn competent in front of him. He had to stand on his head to make save after save to keep his team in every match. Whether it was outdueling Mexican goalie Guillermo Ochoa or breaking a World Cup record for saves against Argentina, Szczesny was simply brilliant all tournament long. He earned a rating of 8/10.
Wrapping up the Juventus stars at the World Cup, we of course look at Adrien Rabiot. Yes, you read that right. The Juventino continued where he left off in the league with unreal performances for Les Bleus. He locked himself in as a figurehead in the starting XI for Didier Deschamps, making everyone forget about Paul Pogba. He jumped out of the gates with a goal and assist vs Australia and continued to be strong offensively and defensively in the French midfield.
Adrien played well whilst helping out Theo Hernandez, pulled the strings in the midfield, provided attacking options, and even was a presence in the air in the attacking third. Adrien Rabiot was everywhere. Having a renaissance of his career, some Juventini were shouting "Zizou, Zizou" but we won't discuss how much grappa they were drinking. Nonetheless, Rabiot made his claim that this all is not a fluke and maybe, just maybe, we have a player that PSG saw all those years ago. He earned an overall rating of 8/10.
That wraps ups all our winners and losers from the World Cup. Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments or join us during our podcasts. Catch you on the airwaves, ragazzi!