COMMENT: Casillas, Higuain and Balotelli are among
the other stars who have damaged their
reputations with poor performances in Brazil By Greg Stobart in Brazil It has been one of the best World Cups ever,
packed with goals, drama and quality. Yet for all the entertainment, not everyone can be a
star. Spain, England and Italy are among the big hitters
dumped out of the tournament early, and naturally
there has been finger pointing and recriminations. Some players have returned from Brazil with lower
reputations than when they arrived. Steven Gerrard is the Liverpool and England
captain, Diego Costa has just cost Chelsea €44
million and Iker Casillas has 156 caps to his name. Yet they are among the leading stars who have
failed to produce in the World Cup. DIEGO COSTA Diego Costa dominated the build-up to Spain’s
World Cup defence, from the moment he chose to
play for the Europeans rather than his native Brazil
to his selection for the opening game against the
Netherlands amid fitness concerns. In fact, he probably shouldn’t have gone to the
World Cup because of the hamstring problem that
affected him towards the end of his 36-goal season
for Atletico Madrid. His introduction into the Spain
squad coincided with the downfall of a team that
won their previous three tournaments. Costa never appeared to develop an understanding
with his team-mates and was virtually anonymous
in a clumsy competitive debut as Spain were
smashed 5-1 by the Netherlands. In La Roja’s
second group game, the new Chelsea man missed a
golden opportunity early in the second-half to get his side back in the game. STEVEN GERRARD Steven Gerrard has a habit of digging his side out of
trouble when they need him. He also has a habit of
making costly mistakes. The latter was the case during a disastrous World
Cup campaign that is likely to prompt the Liverpool
midfielder's retirement from international football. Still reeling from the slip against Chelsea in May that
may have cost his club the Premier League title,
Gerrard's mistakes against Uruguay ensured that
England's World Cup ended in the group stage for
the first time since 1958. After a poor display in the defeat to Italy in which
he was outpassed and overrun, Gerrard's made
errors in the build-up to both Uruguay goals in the
2-1 defeat in Sao Paulo. He blundered on the halfway line with a weak
challenge in the lead up to Luis Suarez's opener and
then headed the ball straight to Suarez late on to
allow his Liverpool team-mate to slam home the
winner. IKER CASILLAS Vicente Del Bosque’s sentimentality damaged Spain
when he chose to stick with Casillas as his captain
and goalkeeper despite the fact he played second
fiddle to Diego Lopez in La Liga. Four years after lifting the World Cup in South
Africa, Casillas was the embodiment of a shambolic
tournament for the reigning champions. Fresh from almost costing Real Madrid the
Champions League final, he produced a horrible
performance in the humiliating 5-1 defeat to the
Netherlands. He was caught under the ball for
Stefan de Vrij to put Holland 3-1 ahead before his
heavy touch gifted Robin van Persie the fourth. Casillas remains a World Cup-winning captain and a
legend with 156 caps, but this tournament should
signal the end of his international career. GONZALO HIGUAIN Much was made before the start of the World Cup of
Argentina’s deadly front three of Lionel Messi,
Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain. While Messi has been doing his part, it certainly
hasn’t panned out as expected for Higuain. The
Napoli man came into the tournament on the back
of an ankle problem and he has played as though
he has six other injuries at the same time. Higuain’s plodding movement and lack of
sharpness has been a theme of Argentina’s
matches, with the 26-year-old failing to get in
dangerous positions and badly missing the few
chances that have fallen his way. It says a lot that,
when drawing 0-0 with Iran and struggling to break their opponents down, Higuain was
substituted in the 76th minute. He has been more of a hindrance than a help at
times and the net effect is that, with Aguero out
through injury, Messi must be feeling he has to do it
all alone. MARIO BALOTELLI It started well enough for Balotelli when he headed
home the winner in Italy’s 2-1 victory over England
in their opener in Manaus. Yet that was the last goal the Azzurri scored at the
World Cup and Balotelli ended the tournament
watching helplessly from the bench as they were
eliminated following a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay. Balotelli had been substituted at half-time in that
game, having failed to do anything of note in the
first 45 minutes other than pick up a booking to
run the risk of a red card. The Milan striker had been equally out of sorts in
the 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica. Cesare Prandelli
resigned as Italy coach after the tournament, and
he may well reflect that he should have picked Ciro
Immobile over a player with an attitude problem
who offered virtually nothing.