It goes like this, when you spend the last week just watching semi-finals and the final – the final. You forget about the rest of the competition.
RTÉ announced their World Cup team of the tournament on Sunday evening and there was one man left out who really should not have been left out.
The best way to describe Philippe Coutinho’s performances in Russia were that they were exactly what you’d expect from the Barcelona star.
Across five games, he netted twice – one a beauty, a typical beauty – and he notched up two assists as well but he was the most important, most consistent player for the pre-tournament favourites.
He was measured, he was controlled, he was unlocking defences with deft touches and weighted passes and he had clutch too. It was his 90th minute goal that spared the Brazilians embarrassment against Costa Rica and it was his delightful up-and-down chip that dragged them back into the game against Belgium when they looked all-but-beaten.
Brazil 1-0 Switzerland. That Brazilian lad Countinho might have a decent future ahead of him you know. #rtesoccer #worldcup #BRA #SUI pic.twitter.com/w58alFF12A
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 17, 2018
But the RTÉ panel for the final – which included Dietmar Hamann, Liam Brady and Eamon Dunphy – went for Antoine Griezmann ahead of Philippe Coutinho in their World Cup team of the tournament.
The French star – and now World Cup winner – scored four times to equal the feat of four other players in the 2018 competition but he came up two short of Harry Kane. Griezmann wasn’t half as electrifying as he was in the 2016 European Championships though, nor was he as deserving of a place as Coutinho was.
Harry Kane didn’t make the list either. In fact, no English outfielder did but there was room for Jordan Pickford, who kept just one clean sheet in the whole tournament but he did produce a number of fine stops.
Here's the RTÉ Television panel's team of the tournament. We'll have our on version of that team on the site at about 8pm. #rtesoccer #worldcup pic.twitter.com/785m2LFBcV
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 15, 2018
