5 Bundesliga players who impressed at the World Cup
After the World Cup has come to an end, we have highlighted five Bundesliga players who impressed us in Russia.
| Ante Rebic. | Photo: Антон Зайцев/Soccer.ru/CC-by-SA 3.0 |
Pretty self-explanatory, really. The young right-back was one of the tournament's major breakthrough players after starting in all but one match for the French World Cup winners. Pavard was generally very impressive although he did show weaknesses defensively in glimpses. Besides, the 22-year old arguably scored the goal of the tournament as he smashed the ball into the net from the edge of the area in the round of 16 game against Argentina. Pavard has now caught the attention of many of Europe's top clubs, and it's easy to see why.
Ante Rebic (Eintracht Frankfurt), Croatia
Just like Pavard, Rebic was one of the main breakthrough players of the World Cup. The Eintracht Frankfurt winger appeared in six of Croatia's seven matches and scored a memorable goal against Argentina as he took advantage of a mistake from Willy Caballero. Although Rebic didn't always make the right decisions, he never stopped running and always looked threatening as he was very involved offensively. The 24-year-old has already been linked with a number of big clubs, and it may be hard for Frankfurt to hold onto him.
Yuya Osako (Werder Bremen), Japan
Japan were one of the positive surprises of the World Cup, and 28-year-old Yuya Osako was vital to their impressive offensive play. The striker, who joined Werder Bremen from FC Köln in May, scored just a single goal, but combined very well with his teammates and did well in the air as well as in the hold-up play.
Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig), Denmark
The Danish international received a lot of negative attention, because he committed two penalties in the first two games and got himself suspended for the third group stage game against France after receiving two yellow cards. So why does he still make this list? Because he actually still had a pretty good World Cup. While the penalty against Peru was a bit clumsy, he could hardly do anything about the ball hitting his arm in the penalty box against Australia. Poulsen scored Denmark's only goal against Peru, giving Denmark a vital win. And while he may not be the best with the ball at his feet, he also showed that he is a very important player for Denmark because of his workrate, speed and incredible strength in the air. In the round of 16 game against Croatia alone, Poulsen won nine aerial duels and took the ball down with his chest several times as he was all over Ivan Strinic.
Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Germany
It can seem hard to find positives when looking at Germany's terrible World Cup. However, Bayer Leverkusen starlet Julian Brandt actually deserves credit although he did not play very much. The 22-year-old was substituted onto the pitch in all three of Germany's games, and he looked an instant threat every time he came on. With a little luck, Brandt could have scored as he hit the post both against Mexico and Sweden. He surely looks like one for the future for 'Die Mannschaft'.
