👎 The 4 flops of the World Cup group stage: Uruguay, Turkey and...🌍

👎 The 4 flops of the World Cup group stage: Uruguay, Turkey and...🌍 The World Cup round of 32 has already begun, but there is still time to take one last look at the group stage that has just come to an end.  After looking at the best young surprises , it is now time to list the biggest disappointments of this group stage. Uruguay Uruguay have been the biggest flop of this World Cup : a team now drained in attack, missing Ronald Araujo in defense and — surprisingly — one that failed to rally around its coach, Marcelo Bielsa. The opening match against Saudi Arabia had already offered some warning signs: a deeply underwhelming first half redeemed by a late onslaught that only produced a draw. Then came the 2-2 against Cape Verde, who even took the lead and fought back in the second half, helped by a terrible Muslera. Then came the famous meeting between the "senators" and Bielsa which, apparently, produced no result. Or at least, no positive turning point. Because against Spain all the tension spilled over into a flat performance , in which the symbols of this team collapsed: an anonymous Valverde, Muslera once again gifting a howler on Baena’s goal, and Canobbio’s red card, an example of "garra" but badly channeled. Scotland Scotland had the toughest group, but they are still a huge disappointment because of the way they were eliminated: the 1-0 win over Haiti was at times embarrassing, because after McTominay hit the post and McGinn scored, the Scots handed control of the game to Haiti, who came close to equalizing late on and even had 64% possession in the second half. Then the strategy against Morocco was clear: sit deep and try to make the most of a few moments. A game plan thrown into disarray by Saibari’s goal after 2 minutes and, despite that, coach Steve Clarke never moved away from his idea: a stifled match without ever hitting the target. Then came the collapse in the 3-0 loss to Brazil: glaring defensive mistakes and a more aggressive second half — in vain — while chasing the goals needed to improve a dreadful goal difference, especially considering the opener against Haiti (who then conceded 7 goals in 2 matches).  Turkey They were expected to win their group, and instead they finished bottom: Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey were careless, lacking conviction, and also very unlucky. The first half deficit against Australia could have been overturned, and the team did try in the second half: 20 shots (few truly dangerous) and a goal conceded from distance. A similar script played out against Paraguay: a 1-0 conceded from outside the box and a second half spent charging forward, with plenty of attacking play and little accuracy. In 2 matches they had 62 shots: the number of goals scored was 0. In the final match against the already qualified USA, a different Turkey showed up: less dominant in possession and more clinical through its quality players, especially Guler and Baris Yilmaz. The comeback 3-2 win was a sign of life that probably saved Vincenzo Montella’s job. South Korea Expectations for South Korea were not especially high, but after the deserved comeback win over the Czech Republic, the path to the round of 32 seemed wide open. Instead came the defeat against Mexico: a flat match with a sterile first half, a goal conceded because of a goalkeeper error, and little cutting edge in the late chances. Getting a good result against South Africa seemed almost a given , but instead the Korean attack crashed against the opponents’ physical defense: Son (who came on in the second half) made little impact, and Maseko’s counterattacks caused damage, especially the one in the 63rd minute that sent South Africa into the round of 32. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.