Jamal Musiala was the very best of a bad bunch for Germany. And Al-Hilal’s No.1 must be bloody brilliant if Saudi Arabia’s stopper can’t get a game.
Here are five players who graced the World Cup stage, albeit too briefly…
Jamal Musiala
There is plenty of blame to go around for another early dart on Germany’s part but little of it should fall at the rapid feet of their best player in Qatar.
“What Jamal showed against Costa Rica – it’s just unfortunate that such a player can’t continue to play in the tournament. He is fantastic,” said Hansi Flick as he began to process his side’s group stage exit. It came in spite of Musiala’s best efforts in the must-win final game.
The teenager completed a ridiculous 12 dribbles against Costa Rica as, once again, he carried by far the biggest threat for a side woefully missing a top-class goalscorer. His end product was lacking – Musiala hit the woodwork twice – but the 19-year-old has plenty of time to fine-tune his finishing.
His performance offers a crumb of comfort for the Germans as they embark upon another root and branch review. But with Musiala spearheading a group of up-and-comers, including Florian Wirtz and Youssoufa Moukoko, things may not be so bad after all.
If Jamal Musiala were a sovereign country he”d be top ten for successful dribbles pic.twitter.com/v9tvp8hqR2
— John Muller (@johnspacemuller) December 1, 2022
Enner Valencia
While Musiala has many more tournaments ahead of him, we’ve almost certainly seen the last of Valencia on the biggest stage. In which case, the Ecuador striker signed off in style.
Valencia will have been home for a few days now but he still remains one of the joint-top scorers in Qatar with three goals in three Group A matches. If that was the 33-year-old’s final World Cup, Ecuador need to find a replacement for his goals. Moises Caicedo’s strike against Senegal represented the first World Cup finals goal scored by an Ecuadorian other than Valencia since 2006.
The ex-West Ham striker outperformed his xG of 2.27 and rated as Ecuador’s best player in Qatar, according to Whoscored. His international performances have been an extension of his club form, with Valencia scoring 15 goals and creating four more in 22 games for Fenerbahce this season.
Luis Chavez
Edson Alvarez was impressive for Mexico but, as the just-axed Gerardo Martino commented after their win over Saudi Arabia, which wasn’t enough to qualify from Group B, the Ajax…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…