Ballon d'Or 2018: 6 players who should have been nominated

#4 Denis Cheryshev

Cheryshev had a great World Cup campaign with Russia

The 27-year-old spent over 14 years of his football career with Real Madrid from his formative stage to the main team, but the only notable thing about his Bernabeu spell was being the subject of controversy, having been fielded in a Copa del Rey match by Rafa Benitez despite being ineligible which led to the team's automatic elimination.

This fiasco signalled the end of his Real stay, and the Russian has been something of a journeyman since then, turning up at Sevilla, Valencia and Villarreal.

He was shockingly included in the Russian squad for the 2018 World Cup after almost a two-year absence from international football, and not much was expected from either the national team who had flattered to deceive in World Cup tune-up games or Cheryshev himself.

Going against everything the form book predicted, Russia shocked the world with her performance, led by Denis and a dedicated group of players united by belief.

The hosts tore apart Saudi Arabia in the opening match with a 5-0 demolition, and Cheryshev was the star of the show, despite starting the game from the bench.

An injury to the main striker Alan Dzagoev gave Cheryshev his opportunity, and he grabbed it with both hands.

He scored a brace and registered an assist, announcing himself as a new national hero in the process.

He contributed another goal in the 3-2 victory over Egypt, also notching another assist, before scoring one of the goals of the tournament when he curled a shot past Croatia's Danijel Subasic to open the scoring in the quarterfinal in an eventual 4-3 loss on penalties.

Though Russia exited the tournament, they had captured the hearts of millions of their compatriots, with Cheryshev high in their eyes.

Every World Cup always has its surprise story of a player who rose above the odds to give a lifetime performance, and Cheryshev was one of those.

Even though not much could be said about his domestic campaign with Villarreal, then again, neither Eden Hazard nor Paul Pogba had a great season with their clubs, but were nominated on the strength of their World Cup performance, and so should Cheryshev have been.