Yesterday The Guardian released a highly-addictive World Cup infographic (photo, below) that allows users to track players competing in the tournament based on what domestic league they play in.
Scrolling over each individual entry in the bar graph reveals the player, his position, nationality and club, and updates his country’s status as the tournament progresses. As teams bow out, down goes the strength of each domestic league.
The infographic is particularly interesting when examining how the stars of the Premier League and Major League Soccer have performed on the world’s biggest stage. So with that, let’s take a look at the studs and duds of the World Cup from each respective leagues.
PREMIER LEAGUE: STUDS
The Premier League put 106 players into the World Cup, 44 of whom are already on vacation and 62 who are either moving on to the Round of 16 or in position to do so.
For the Premier League studs, it’s all about Belgium. The contingent of Vincent Kompany, Romelu Lukaku, Nacer Chadli, Eden Hazard, Moussa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen have all enjoyed strong tournaments while Adnan Januzaj and Kevin Mirallas are reserves destined to contribute. Diables Rouge is a squad clicking on all cylinders, holding onto that dark-horse reputaion bequeathed to them months, even years, ago.
One surprise stud nation is Nigeria, with John Obi Mikel, Peter Odemwingie, Joseph Yobo, Shola Ameobi and Victor Moses all moving on to the Round of 16. Other individual studs out of the Premier League enjoying solid tournaments include Pablo Zabaleta, Tim Howard, Pablo Armero, Hugo Lloris and Per Mertesacker.
PREMIER LEAGUE: DUDS
The Premier League duds are led by the English, who bowed out of the tournament with only two goals to their name, the worst performance ever by an England squad in the World Cup. And while many will point to Roy Hodgson as the primary culprit there were some notably shocking performances from veterans like Steven Gerrard, who appeared burnt out and error prone, Leighton Baines, who looked over-matched and lost, and Joe Hart, whose decision making off the line remains a major problem.
On par with England’s poor display was Spain as Cesc Fabregas, David De Gea, Fernando Torres, Cesar Azpilicueta, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla are all going home early. The real culprits here are the La Liga based players but outside of Fabregas and Mata’s performance against Australia, the Premier League based players were largely ineffective and unimpressive with De Gea being the only one to get a pass due to injury.
Other Premier Leaguers failing to impress include Edin Dzeko, a no-show in Bosnia & Herzegovina’s first two matches, Dejan Lovren, whose center-back partnership with Verdan Corluka failed to prevent Mexico from a late-match walloping, Shinji Kagawa, who is a shell of his former self, Yaya Toure, who’s shoulders simply weren’t big enough to carry the Ivory Coast, and Antonio Valencia, who at the age of 28 has recently acquired a major discipline problem.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER: STUDS
MLS, a league desperate for recognition on the international stage and deserved of much more than it gets, put 21 players into Brazil, seven of whom are going home early and 14 who are either moving on to the Round of 16 or in position to do so.
When talking MLS studs it’s all about Tim Cahill and Clint Dempsey. Scorer of two fantastic goals, one of which was arguably the goal of the tournament, Cahill’s passion and leadership made this Australia team an incredibly tough nut to crack. He and the Socceroos deserved much, much better.
Similarly, Dempsey encompasses everything that is great about the US. His goal against Ghana was sensational while his performance of playing the majority of the match with cotton stuck up his broken nose was heroic. Against Portugal, it was a new position and more of the same story – he was a major disruption, leading brilliantly, scoring a timely goal and flat-out inspiring not just a team but a nation. Other Americans enjoying classy World Cups include Kyle Beckerman, a defensive midfield stalwart, and super-sub Deandre Yedlin, who has the making of a full-back destined for true greatness.
A final MLS stud shout goes out to Julio Cesar, who rediscovered his form while on loan at Toronto FC and has done well so far for the Selecao. If the host nation has any hope of hoisting the cup come July, Cesar’s form will be absolutely crucial.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER: DUDS
For MLS duds look no further than the Honduran four-some of Marvin Chavez, Victor Bernardez, Boniek Garcia and Jerry Bengsten, all of whom played a signficant role in Brazil. To beat up Los Catarachos may feel a bit harsh but it’s difficult not to at least classify Bengtson’s performance as a major let down. A much more clever player than he showed in Brazil, Bengtson is a veteran who needed to step up if Honduras was to have any chance. He didn’t and they suffered.
