South Africa 2010 flops

At the World Cup, though, he had a complete nightmare and was arguably the flop of the tournament. ‘Wazza’ scored no goals and massively underperformed in each of his four games as England crashed out in the second round 4-1 to Germany.

Frank Lampard: Lampard had the most prolific season of his career with Chelsea last term, scoring an incredible 22 goals in 36 league games from midfield as the Londoners romped home to a domestic double of Premier League and FA Cup. But, for the second consecutive World Cup, the 32-year-old struggled on the biggest stage. The ex-West Ham man was dominated by his opponents in the 0-0 draw with Algeria and 4-1 loss to Germany – although he had a goal scandalously not given in the latter – and failed to get on the score-sheet.

Daniele De Rossi: Although not the greatest club season in his career, De Rossi was still a key figure alongside David Pizarro as Roma went so close to snatching the Serie A title from Inter. But for the umpteenth time, the 26-year-old failed to transport his club form to his country and, despite the equaliser in the opener against Paraguay, he endured a shocking World Cup.

De Rossi was at fault for three of the four goals Italy conceded in South Africa as the champions humiliatingly were dumped out in the first round after finishing bottom of a weak group also containing New Zealand and Slovakia.

Cristiano Ronaldo: After his mega-money from Manchester United to Real Madrid, the pressure was well and truly on for Ronaldo to perform at the Santiago Bernabeu. Although the Blancos ended the season trophyless, the Portuguese didn’t disappoint with a series of explosive showings and 33 goals from just 35 appearances in all competitions. With Portugal, though, it all went wrong. Just like at Euro 2008, Ronaldo failed to be a leader and went missing far too often. He scored just the sixth goal in the 7-0 thrashing of North Korea and was like a ghost in the 1-0 exit to Spain in the second phase.

Thierry Henry: There comes a time for every player when the legs go, and 2009/10 was this season for Henry as he scored just four goals for Barcelona. Soon lost his Blaugrana first team place and barely featured in the closing months of the campaign. Internationally, things went wrong too following the infamous handball against Ireland with a catastrophic World Cup.

Franck Ribery: A troubled 2009/10 from beginning until end. Failed in his attempt to leave Bavaria last summer, and was then hampered by injuries, off-field troubles and a lack of form. Missed the Champions League final through suspension, and not even a domestic double could erase his struggles. He flopped at the World Cup too, along with all his France team-mates.

Felipe Melo: A dismal series of performances and a number of subsequent run-ins with the Juventus faithful doesn’t come close to summing up Melo’s horrible season. His £21 million transfer fee and £11m five-year contract have made his rash tackling and misplaced passes all the more difficult for his paymasters to take.

At the World Cup itself he was a key reason for Brazil’s quarter final defeat to Holland, as he scored an own goal and was sent off for stamping on Arjen Robben.

Kaka: Kaka, one-time World Footballer of the year, ranks very high among those stars who failed to shine in South Africa. He had a bad season at Real Madrid, prompting many supporters of the club to question why the Madrid management spent so much money to bring the former AC Millan star to the club. Not only was he unable to find the back of the net in all the five matches he played for Brazil in South Africa, he was nothing but a complete shadow of former self in all the matches. He was unable to inspire Brazil to glory as they were sent packing by the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

Fernando Torres: One of the super stars that many football fans expected much from, prior to the beginning of the World Cup, was Fernando Torres. But, after six matches, the Liverpool’s striker has not shown any sign to justify his inclusion in the Spanish team. Although, Coach Del Bosque had always kept fate with the former Athletico Madrid star, he had to drop him from his first team in the semi final match against Germany.

Nicolas Anelka: Disgraced France striker, Nicolas Anelka, did not only failed to re-enact the Chelsea form in South Africa, he was sent home from the team camp after insulting his coach, Raymond Domenech, for daring to criticize his performance and refusing to apologise. His inclusion in the Les Blue was not felt in all the matches he featured in.

Others

Yakubu Aiyegbeni

Sergio Aguero

Peter Crouch

Patrice Evra