Many of us have spent the past three weeks watching the World
Cup unfold, rubbing our eyes in disbelief.
A number of players we used to watch in the Premier League have
suddenly exploded to life.
Star man: Giovanni van Bronckhorst celebrates his
wonder goal for Holland in the World Cup semi-final
A number of flops who left under a dark cloud have shone in
South Africa - there are several in the Holland side alone -
Ryan Babel you know who I am
talking about...
So Sportsmail has been
left asking the question - when did this famous five become so
good?
The arrival of Robinho led boss Mark Hughes to gush: ‘I am
absolutely delighted to get the opportunity to work with such an
incredible talent like Robinho’ Sixteen months later, they were
both out of the club.
City fans complained the £32.5m signing from Real Madrid seemed
lethargic and there were off-field distractions too – including his
‘unauthorised trip’ home in January 2009.
Waste of cash? The Manchester City Robinho never
scores away from home or looks like he's trying but with Brazil he
becomes a whole new player
Loaned out to former club Santos in January, Robinho returned to
our screens in June a different player with Brazil. The creative
spark had returned, the cheeky grin was also present - as were
calls from fans and players to bring him back to
Eastlands.
It took Forlan an agonising 27 games to break his scoring duck
after signing for United from Independiente in January 2002. And he
only managed a further nine in his 63 league games for the
club.
He eventually departed for wearing the wrong boots! Sir Alex
Ferguson insisted he wear long studs, when he failed to adhere to
the edict and subsequently slipped in front of goal – he was
out.
Forlan figure: The Old Trafford no-hoper
bloomed into a Uruguayan world beater
His career was resurrected at Villarreal and more recently at
Atletico Madrid and has forced his way into the reckoning for
player of the tournament in South Africa. Oh, and his goal against
Holland wasn’t too shabby, either.
Granted the former Rangers and Feyenoord winger departed north
London with a stack of medals but there’s no denying Arsenal fans
didn’t get to see the best of the Holland captain.
Van Bronckhorst spent three years under Arsene Wenger, picking
up a league title and two FA Cups but his tenure was blighted by
injury. He made just 41 league appearances for the Gunners before
moving to Barcelona.
Take it as red: What Giovanni von Bronckhorst
lacked for Arsenal he has certainly made up for in this World Cup
for Holland
This tournament is his football swansong, and he’s going out
with a bang. Into the final after scoring one of the tournament’s
best goals.
It doesn’t take too much to excite Spurs fans – and the prospect
of bringing one of the hottest talents at Barcelona to White Hart
Lane was no different.
The long-suffering fans thought they had brought the new Cesc
Fabregas to the club but what they got was a Fabregas-lite
version – plenty of tricks and touches but not much end
product.
New man: Stick him in a Mexico shirt and he's great
- stick him in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt and he grates...
Loaned to Ipswich and then to Galatasaray, Tottenham seemed
certain to lose their £4.7m investment in an attempt to off-load
him.
But his performances for Mexico have given Harry Redknapp a clue
as to what Dos Santos is capable of and the playmaker is keen to
return to north London.
He said: 'I can prove myself here with some patience and
opportunities. I need to speak to the club to understand how they
look at me - but ideally I want to stay.'
There’s no doubt that Veron arrived at Old Trafford with an
impeccable CV but things couldn’t have gone much worse for the
holding midfielder.
But for £28.1m – and a further £15m splashed out by Chelsea - we
expected a little more. He managed two years in Manchester and made
just nine appearances for Chelsea before being banished never to be
seen again (or so we thought).
Rose between two thorns: The
World Cup Juan Veron bore little resemblance to the Chelsea or
Manchester United version who looked like he'd won a raffle to
play
Argentina arrived at the finals in South Africa in something of
a mess but with Veron holding the midfield alongside Javier
Mascherano, Maradona’s side excited. Until they met the Germans,
that is. Then they exited.