Shooting starts: How’s their World Cup performance affecting players’ value?
History had already been made in the World Cup when debutant Iceland drew Messi’s Argentina. Now, add this: for the first ever, Argentina, Brazil, and Germany all failed to win their World Cup openers. After a volatile start to the World Cup, here is a look at which players have boosted their stock in World Cup play and who is trending in the wrong direction.
Two players whose values have increased
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) — It would be a disservice to the Real Madrid danger man’s performance to leave him off our list. Cristiano’s hat trick against one of the favorites to win the World Cup, with a Portuguese supporting cast that was simply outgunned against Spain, was nothing short of world class. Whether it was his free kick that won Portugal a point in the dying embers or his penalty shot that beat De Gea, a player who’s stock seemingly had no room to rise did just that.
2. Valon Behrami (Switzerland)- The 33 year old Swiss holding midfielder who plies his trade for Udinese has been receiving nothing but praise following Switzerland’s shock draw against Brazil. Behrami, who has at least 40 caps each with West Ham, Fiorentina, Napoli, and Watford, contributed massively to the detainment of Neymar Jr. on Sunday evening. Behrami completed 41 of 44 passes while winning six tackles and recording two interceptions. If it were not for Coutinho’s curler, Behrami surely would have taken home Man of the Match honors. Consider his stock up.
Two players whose stock has gone down
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)- Rumors have swirled around Mohamed Salah’s injury in the Champions League Final and his lack of appearance in Egypt’s World Cup opening defeat to Uruguay. Salah’s stock is moving in the wrong direction. Why? Of course a player cannot be blamed for an injury, but the fact that Salah did not set foot on the pitch in a massively important match for his country stirs up questions that need answering. We find it terribly difficult to believe that his fellow Balon D’or competitors, such as Ronaldo or Messi, would not have at least tried to play through an upper body injury. Reports are that the Liverpool forward will be fit for Egypt’s Tuesday clash with the World Cup hosts. For his sake, lets hope that is the case. If Salah does not suit up against Russia on Tuesday night, his stock as well as the Pharaoh’s chances of advancing out of Group A will be on red alert.
Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria)- The hype around the Super Eagles of Nigeria coming into the World Cup has been impossible to ignore. Scores of young talent playing in elite leagues across Europe and across the world. Kelechi Iheanacho, the 21-year old Leicester striker, is no exception. However, Iheanacho’s stock has been shaky over the last 12 months and Nigeria’s World Cup opening match did his status no favors. After being cast away from Manchester City and Pep Guardiola, Iheanacho and all of his potential landed in Leicester. In the 2017–18 Premier League season, the Nigerian forward managed just three league goals in 21 league appearances. Fast forward to Nigeria’s World Cup campaign and Iheanacho finds himself being used as an 80th minute sub in a crushing 2–0 loss. Iheanacho has fallen far from being a highly touted Manchester City up-and-comer and his country desperately needs him to regain that form before taking on Iceland on Friday.
So there you got it: Whether you’ve been aware of it or not, World Cup activity is already affecting the value of footballers from all participating countries.
We sure want to see Ronaldo, Salah and the likes of them perform well over the whole tournament (who wouldn’t like to watch the Egyptian finally lifting a well-deserved trophy?), but Playrs’ algorithm does not rest… So doesn’t our team!
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