Goalless Giroud has last laugh
whenever he came close. The Manchester City forward was occasionally lively but continues to threaten without delivering.
11. JAMIE VARDY
Matches 4, Mins 157, Goals 0, Assists 0, Yellow 0 Another who only got a limited chance, and was not helped by a groin injury. The Leicester striker struggled to make presence felt in a team ill-suited to his style of play.
BEST MATCH 5
Matches 6, Mins 580, Goals 1, Assists 1, Yellow 0 Quite simply the discovery of the tournament. Joins Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker as the only Englishmen to score in a World Cup semi-final.
14. DANNY WELBECK
Matches 1, Mins 11, Goals 0, Assists 0, Yellow 0 11 minutes! Having used him so little, it is hard to understand why Gareth
MY HIGHS AND LOWS BEST MATCH 5
Matches 5, Mins 364, Goals 1, Assists 0, Yellow 0 In one word: ‘Aaargh!’ He is so frustrating because, while he worked hard, he was nowhere near his best.
21. RUBEN LOFTUS-CHEEK
Matches 4, Mins 274, Goals 0, Assists 0, Yellow 1
6
Mature, solid performances when called on but seemed a little too restrained.
22. TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD 7
Matches 1, Mins 79, Goals 0, Assists 0, Yellow 0 Promising World Cup debut against Belgium. Unlucky to be deputising for the outstanding Trippier.
MY HIGHS AND LOWS
JOY for Olivier Giroud, despair for Dejan Lovren. The World Cup final was a game of mixed fortunes for two of the Premier League’s stars.
Chelsea striker Giroud did not manage to break his scoring duck, going 546 minutes without even a single shot on target in the tournament. But he has the one thing Liverpool defender Lovren craved – a World Cup winners’ medal.
Despite being criticised in France for his goalless tournament, it was Giroud, above, who was celebrating the hardest after the 4-2 win over Croatia.
“It’s a great feeling. It’s coming home!” he said. “It’s a dream come true. I’m very proud for all the supporters. It’s a privilege to be part of this team. I’ve been criticised in France because I didn’t score in the World Cup. But I also received a lot of messages from people who know their football. They see the work I do for the team. Our strength is we all play for each other.”
Lovren, meanwhile, insisted the better team had lost, before admitting it could be the end of an era for some of Croatia’s older stars such as Golden Ball winner Luka Modric, now 32. Lovren, 29, said: “I am pleased I did well but it hurts me because I lost the Champions League final and now this final. It’s not easy to accept.
“We are disappointed because we lost even though we played much better football than France.
“I just hope Luka will play on. He showed he deserved to be the World Cup’s top player.”