World Cup 2018: 5 World Class Players Who Have Flopped Badly

Nicolas Otamendi

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To be honest, you could likely include several of Argentina’s big-name players in this article. But for now, we’re going to focus on Manchester City’s centre-back, Nicolas Otamendi.

Despite having impressed for the Citizens as they romped to the Premier League title last season, Otamendi often looked like he was never far away from a costly mistake. And in this summer’s World Cup, he put in some outright disastrous displays for Jorge Sampaoli’s men. In fact, the only Argentine defender to leave the tournament with any sort of credit is Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo.

With the international-level inexperienced Nicolas Tagliafico at left-back, right winger Eduardo Salvio at right-back, and a trio of calamitous goalkeeper options available following the pre-competition injury to regular stopper Sergio Romero, many were looking at Otamendi and Rojo to guide a shaky backline. Unfortunately for the Man City man, he was left wanting in every single game for Argentina – leaving him to revert to kicking and lashing out at the opposition in the games against both Croatia and France.