The lord of Denmark, Nicklas Bendtner has suffered the ultimate World Cup 2018 heartbreak after missing out on the final squad due to injury. For any international footballer, representing their country at the biggest stage is the pinnacle of their career and the World Cup is, without doubt, the biggest it gets. So Bendtner will be understandably devastated at missing out on what could be his last ever chance to play in the World Cup.
Bendtner sustained a groin injury whilst playing for club team Rosenborg, leaving Denmark manager Age Hareide with the unwanted job of omitting him from the squad going to Russia. Denmark faces Australia, France and Peru in their group games and Bendtner would have added some much-needed firepower to the World Cup 2018 Denmark team. Scoring 22 goals in 40 appearances this season for Rosenborg, the striker has proven he can still find the net several years after leaving Premier League club Arsenal.
The ego has landed
Premier League fans will remember Bendtner for having a huge ego, as conveyed through some bad choices of wording in interviews during his time playing for Arsenal. This lead to the not-so-great Dane being labelled with the title of The Lord, or Lord Bendtner to some. Arsenal fans were frustrated that he couldn’t live up to his own hype and opposition fans took great delight in mocking the man with the big ego. You could say that his remarks were similar to the way Ibrahimovic likes to tell people how great he is, the difference being that Zlatan had the stats and trophies to back his self-confidence up with.
Falling from grace
Source: talksport.com
Bendtner showed signs of supreme self-belief that unfortunately for Arsenal were never fully backed up on the football pitch. He ended up going out on loan to Birmingham City and Sunderland, followed by a largely unsuccessful season at Juventus. He then managed only 3 goals in two seasons for Wolfsburg before being offloaded to Nottingham Forest, where he only scored twice. 2017 saw an upturn in fortune for him at Rosenborg where he was finally starting to play like the player he had talked himself up to be. But his World Cup dream came to an end with an untimely injury.
Who can step into the Lord’s boots?
The Denmark team is not short of great players and Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen is expected to propel Denmark to the knock-out stages. He has had a good season for Tottenham and his free-kicks will no doubt be highlighted as a danger in the opposition’s tactical analysis. Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen has also had a good run of form in the Premier League and his experience this season may help him to keep the French stars at bay. With the likes of Griezmann, Dembele, Lemar and Mbappe pushing for attacking starting berths for the France team, Denmark will really have their work cut out.