Highs and lows for Newcastle players at World Cup

[Getty Images] It is always dangerous to read too much into a World Cup, but there have been some encouraging signs for Newcastle United. Although Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa have bowed out, with Sweden and DR Congo, the pair looked more like the players Newcastle were convinced to spend £110m on last summer. They even scored a combined five goals at the tournament - as many as they managed during their first season in the North East. Head coach Eddie Howe had backed Elanga and Wissa to be better for the experience of a challenging first season on Tyneside and he will hope they can take this renewed form back to St James' Park. He will also hope captain Bruno Guimaraes will be front and centre come the start of the season. Guimaraes has been subject of interest from Arsenal and has served a timely reminder of the qualities Newcastle know all about with four assists for Brazil at the World Cup. But it has not been quite such a positive experience for others. Nick Woltemade's World Cup debut ended with the Germany forward missing a penalty in the shootout as he and Malick Thiaw were knocked out by Paraguay. Tino Livramento's dream of representing England on this grand stage was ended before it even began after he suffered a calf injury three days before their group opener against Croatia. Livramento, as a result, will miss the start of pre-season, after having surgery, but it was always the plan for the club's internationals to have an additional break regardless. Each of those who were involved at the World Cup will be given about three weeks off so they will return to Newcastle later than the club's non-internationals, who are due back to the training ground on 13 July. A huge season lies ahead.