The World Cup, which is called ‘hot’ and ‘dream stage’ before signing big clubs due to unrivaled performances such as Hakpo in the Netherlands and Bellingham in England,
has always been a contest for new stars. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which ended with Argentina’s victory on the 19th, was no exception.
Lionel Messi (35, Paris Saint-Germain)’s last dance was beautiful, but European big clubs pay attention to young blood who have proven their worth rather than Messi.
Cody Hakpo (23, Eindhoven), who led the Netherlands to the quarterfinals, is the representative runner in the middle of the competition to recruit big clubs. Hakpo, who honed his talent in Eredi Vichy in the Netherlands, raised his stock price in this tournament. Hakpo scored one goal each against Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar in the group stage, making him the first player in Dutch football history to score in all three group matches.
Hakpo, who is 187 cm tall, freely performs breakthrough play using quick feet. It is also a strength that he has a multiplayer ability that can take on his target-type goalscorer, side wing, and even midfielder. In fact, Hakpo recorded 17 assists (13 goals) in 24 games this season.
As Spain’s strong Real Madrid and England’s Manchester United competed over Hakpo’s recruitment, his ransom, which was valued at 45 million euros (about 61.6 billion won) before the World Cup, doubled (90 million euros, about 123.2 billion won).
England’s Jude Bellingham (19, Dortmund), who played an unrivaled role in midfield, where experience is important, is also a rising star. Bellingham, the only member of the England national team not from the English Premier League (EPL), helped England advance to the quarterfinals with his vigorous activity as a weapon. In particular, in the first match of the group stage against Iran, he scored his A match and his World Cup debut goal at the same time. The title of the first World Cup scorer born in the 2000s was also his share.
Bellingham did not score in the remaining games, but performed a satisfactory performance, recording a pass success rate of over 90% in each game. In particular, in the round of 16 against Senegal, he dominated the midfield, including tackling (4 times), interception (2 times), and winning the ball contest (11 times), becoming the main player in the 3-0 victory. The German transfer media ‘TransferMarkt’ set Bellingham’s ransom at 100 million euros (approximately 136.9 billion won), the highest in the German Bundesliga. 안전놀이터
The presence of Argentine midfielder Enso Fernandez (21, Benfica) was also dazzling. After Messi, he got the chance to start at the youngest age (21 years, 317 days), and he coordinated the match by playing full-time in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands, the semifinals against Croatia, and the final against France. In particular, in the match against France, he made 10 successful tackles and tied up the opponent’s attack. You can guess how highly he is rated by winning the Young Player Award given to a 21-year-old player.
Among the defenders who did not mind the dirty work, there were players who made impressive performances. Croatia’s rookie defender Yoshko Gbardiol (20, Leipzig) is the main character. Gbardiol was called the central defender who performed the best in this tournament, although he played with a face shield like Son Heung-min (Tottenham) as he injured his nose just before the World Cup. His true value is clearly shown in the way he blocked the opponent’s offensive with quick feet in the round of 16 match against Japan and in catching Brazil in the round of 8 match. If he was in jail, he would have conceded a key goal in the semi-final match against Argentina as he failed to block Messi’s breakthrough, but if the opponent is Messi, this mistake is understandable.