World Cup 2018: Tournament's 5 Most Unexpected Stars

#3 Marouane Fellaini

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Before a ball was kicked, many a casual football fan were hoping that the Belgium national team would finally live up to their huge potential and go all the way in the tournament. But let’s be honest, how many of those would have had Marouane Fellaini down as a driving force behind any Belgian success?

For Roberto Martinez’s Red Devils, their tournament would ultimately come to a crashing halt after being dispatched 1-0 by France at the semi-final stage. Still, Belgium had done themselves proud, and their decimation of Brazil in the quarter-finals stands as a true highlight of the competition.

Where Manchester Untied’s oft-lambasted Fellaini particularly stood out was in how much his substitute appearance against Japan in the last 16 pulled victory from the jaws of defeat for Martinez’s men as they turned a 0-2 deficit into a last-minute 3-2 win. For that, Martinez rewarded Fellaini and his all-encompassing hair with a starting place against Brazil. Again, Fellaini rewarded that show of faith with a fantastic performance that saw the Brazilian midfield barely get a sniff of the ball.

He may be an easy target to poke fun at for some, but there’s no doubting that Marouane Fellaini can be a true force of nature when utilized in the right way and playing at the top of this game.