5 Players who won a World Cup despite putting in questionable contributions

Colombia v England: Round of 16 - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

The World Cup is something we all eagerly await with much excitement and expectation. It is one sports event that lets the entire world connect. Many of us have started analyzing the forms and game plans of different teams. Well, we may not play the game, but the strategies involved in the game are something that interests us all.

Truth to be told, World Cup is perhaps the only football competition where we have seen an underdog take away the trophy. But, we cannot deny the fact that there are few teams who made it grand without much expectation. For example, the 1982 World Cup, where everyone believed that Brazil would win the cup. However, it was Italy who beat Brazil and bagged the trophy. Another example is the World Cup 1994, where the Brazil team seemed unsure at the beginning. However, they changed the game plan and grabbed the trophy, creating a much buzz around the fans.

So, if you are a football buff and have taken your long due holidays just to watch World Cup 2018, this article is specially crafted for you. Well, here in this article, we are going to discuss few ‘not very happy’ outcomes of the football World Cup.

We have enlisted 5 players who we believe should not have won the World Cup. However, they were part of the winning team and that makes them acknowledgeable enough. Nevertheless, the winners are the takers, and we can only comment ---


#5 Luizao: Brazil

Luiz Bombonato Goulart, widely known as Luizao was a part of the Brazil team in World Cup 2002. The challenging scenario here is that the team already had ace attackers, and Luizao was somewhat out of place with the whole squad. However, his lucky starts didn’t leave his side while playing twice at the finals in 2002.

Soccer - FIFA World Cup 2002 - Semi Final - Brazil v Turkey

4. Bernard Diomede – France

France has always been one of the aggressive teams. Being a part of the team in 1998 World Cup, Bernard Diomede came out as a very agile, witty and aggressive player. With other players like Zidane, Viera, Thuram, Desailly, Trezeguet, and Henry, the team displayed a very powerful game.

But looking back into the game, we see that Bernard Diomede played only two group games and around sixteen matches for France, and didn’t play any further. France; however, went on to beat Brazil and won their first world title.

'98- Secrets D'Une Victoire' Paris Premiere At Gaumont Champs Elysees

3. Jair Marinho – Brazil

Though Brazil has bagged the World Cup five times, yet we cannot overlook upon the fact that there are few players from Brazil that fits our list. Here, we would like to mention Jair Marinho who was a part of the Brazil squad in World Cup 1962.

In the World Cup, he played as backup right-back to Djalma Santos. Compared to Fluminense and Corinthians, he was pretty average and did not feature in the 1962 World Cup. Thus, we have him on the list.

(From L to R) Brazilian football legends

2. Heinz Kwiatkowski - West Germany

Let’s go back to World Cup 1954. West Germany, at this time, was burdened with despair. Bert Trautmann concealed eight goals as a keeper. The coach Sepp Herberger overlooked the defeat, as that meant that they had to play against Yugoslavia instead of Brazil in the first knockout round. West Germany defeated Hungary and won the World Cup final. However, Kwiatkowski did not have much to offer.

1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden Sepp Herberger *28.03.1897-28.04.1977+ Coach of the German national team Training on the pitch in Malmoe's stadium. From the left: Herberger, Horst Szymaniak, Heinz Wewers, Uwe Seeler, Erich Juskowiak, Helmut Rahn, Alfre

1. Simone Barone – Italy

No one would deny the fact that Simone Barone must have been the worst World Cup winner ever. This Italian player was majorly an add-on player. Barone was very versatile and probably that helped him become, what became of him. He was an Italian squad member for World Cup 2006 and was called off the bench twice.

In fact, Barone is considered as one of the worst internationals by many Italians. The above-mentioned list is one of our compilations. People may have their own version of players who should not have won the World Cup. Let’s hope this list doesn’t change with time, and may only the best players win the game.

Juventus U16 v Torino FC U16

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