Brought to you by Incredibles 2, in cinemas now
The festivities in Russia are done and dusted for another four years
Sad as that may be, it’s undeniably been a brilliant month or so. Nobody can deny that we’ve well and truly had our fill of utterly brilliant football.
But instead of longing for it to return, let’s appreciate some of the things that have happened throughout the tournament, as 32 teams were reduced to one winner.
With the release of Incredibles 2, we’ve taken a look back at some of the action to single out four men who have displayed superhuman ability – or, at the very least, something closely resembling it.
Strongest
Samuel Umtiti
Samuel Umtiti was very much France’s answer to Mr Incredible over the past four weeks, using his strength to help power his country through to final at the expense of some very strong teams.
He stood up to the physical challenge posed by Marouane Fellaini and Romelu Lukaku in the semi-final while bagging himself a goal to put the iceing on the cake, as well as Mario Mandžukić in the final. His explosive strength and excellent composure on the ball made him fundamental to France’s defensive wall at this tournament.
Fastest
Ivan Perišić
As tempting as it would have been to just give this to Kylian Mbappé again, we’ve decided to award it to Ivan Perišić for the Dash-esque runs both on and off the ball from day one until the final.
He was a constant threat for Croatia down the left flank as he burned full-backs with his pace and quick change of direction. His best moment came in the semi-final, when he ghosted past Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker to prod home a cross. Nobody saw him coming before England’s defenders could react, the ball was in their net.
Most Flexible
Jordan Pickford
Yeah, yeah we know. As those of you who read last week’s piece will recall, this isn’t the first time Mr Pickford has been commended for his flexibility. But it is fully merited. He has consistently been England’s hero throughout the tournament, pulling off spectacular saves that made England’s wins look much more comfortable than they might have been.
Most defensive-minded
Didier Deschamps
Sure, Thibaut Courtois might call it “anti-football”, but we’re going with “defensive-mindedness”.
Much like Violet, Didier Deschamps knows that sometimes, it’s a matter of simply getting a job done with minimal fuss.
And that’s exactly what he did against Croatia in the final. France only had 33% possession, as they set up to counter Croatia when the opportunity presented itself. And boy did it work.
