5 players you won't believe won the World Cup in 2014

Hamburger SV v Borussia Moenchengladbach - Bundesliga
Ginter is in the German squad for this year's World Cup as well

It is a flat circular metallic piece, golden in colour, having a trophy engraved upon it. Arguably every football player in the world craves to be adorned by it. But only a select few are honoured with a FIFA World Cup winners medal.

Each triumphant country has a contingent of 23 players, all of whom receive a medal. However, numerous players don't actually contribute that much on the field as compared to the star players in the squad. In fact, most of the times a couple of players don't even feature in the teamsheet even once.

Germany were crowned as champions in 2014 in Brazil and that squad as well had some individuals who are - no disrespect to them - easy to forget. On that note here are 5 forgotten World Cup winners in 2014.


#5 Erik Durm

SL Benfica v Borussia Dortmund - UEFA Champions League Round of 16: First Leg
Durm has dropped out of the German squad this time

Back in 2014, Erik Durm played for Borussia Dortmund and was a promising young player. Going into the World Cup, the left-back was 22 years of age and had just one cap to his name.

Naturally, no one expected Durm to play a starring role and the tournament was going be to a learning experience for him. In the end, he did not play even for a minute as coach Joachim Low preferred a host of experienced defenders who were at his disposal. Centre-back Benedikt Howedes was preferred to Durm in the left-back spot.

Durm is still a Dortmund player, but he has not been able to cement a starting role. His influence has decreased due to the arrival of Raphael Guerreiro in 2016. His has not able to build on his potential, making just 14 appearances last season.

#4 Kevin Grosskreutz

Borussia Dortmund v Hamburger SV  - Bundesliga
Grosskreutz's most successful period was with Dortmund

Kevin Grosskreutz was another one from the Dortmund camp who was part of the German squad. Capable of playing anywhere on the right flank, he was also chosen as a backup option.

Like Durm, Grosskreutz also did not taste even a minute of action. The likes of Philipp Lahm and Shkodran Mustafi were clear favourites in his position and they did perform admirably.

The success in Brazil was arguably the peak of his career and his path has declined ever since. He left Dortmund for Galatasaray but did not play a single match due to botched contract dealings.

He subsequently signed for VfB Stuttgart but left in unceremonious circumstances after he got into a bar fight. As of now, he is a SV Darmstadt player, hoping to reignite his career.

#3 Christoph Kramer

FBL-WC-2014-MATCH64-GER-ARG
Kramer's World Cup final was shortlived

220 players in the history of football have started and won a World Cup final and believe it or not, Christoph Kramer is one of the names.

Prior to the final, Kramer had just played 12 minutes of football in the tournament. However, in unforeseen circumstances, Sami Khedira injured himself in the warm-up and the 23-year old was thrust into the biggest football game on the planet.

Unbelievably, he does not remember his time on the pitch as he was taken off early on due to a concussion. After the game, he said, "I don’t know anything at all about the first half. In my head, the game starts from the second half." Ah, all's well that ends well.

Kramer continued at Bayer Leverkusen before signing for Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016.

#2 Ron-Robert Zieler

Germany v Australia - International Friendly
Zieler's last international appearance came in 2015

When you are competing with Manuel Neuer for a spot in the team, one may slip into oblivion. Ron-Robert Zieler endured a similar situation. Such was Neuer's dominance in 2014 that no one even knows whether Zieler was second-choice or third-choice.

Zieler was a Hannover 96 player in 2014 and was consistently impressing in the Bundesliga. In 2016 he sought a new challenge and completed his move to Leicester.

However, England did not favour him and he returned to Germany, this time with VfB Stuttgart. He could not make the squad this year, as Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Kevin Trapp will play second fiddle to Neuer this time.

#1 Matthias Ginter

Germany - Southern Tyrol Training Camp Day 9
Ginter has made the squad this time as well

Matthias Ginter is the only man on this list who is close to the national squad currently and he has made it into the 23 for Russia as well.

In 2014, Ginter was playing for SC Freiburg and at 20 years of age, he was the youngest player in the squad. He failed to make an appearance in Brazil but the experience certainly came in handy.

The centre-back has 17 caps for Germany, of which eight came in 2017. Playing time will be difficult to come by in Russia as well, due to the likes of Antonio Rudiger and Niklas Sule.

Ginter is still just 24, and he will definitely hope to star for Germany in the future. Let us hope that he does not feature in a similar list in 2022.


Did we miss out on any player from this list? Sound off in the comments section below!

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Edited by Alan John