As good as it gets? Walcott, Rooney, Hansen, Kaka and other one-tournament-wonders
Theo Walcott’s horrific ACL injury could see him miss out on the forthcoming World Cup in Brazil, meaning that despite having gone to his first World Cup aged 17, the Englishman faces the prospect of never playing on the biggest stage of all.
Some players burst on to the international scene with the world at their feet, only for the future to pan out differently.
talkSPORT looks at players in whose early international breakthrough proved to be as good as it got…
Kaka
For a multiple Champions League winner and former World Player of the Year (not to mention one with Brazilian nationality), Ricardo Kaka’s international career has been underwhelming.
The playmaker was part of the last Brazil squad to win a World Cup back in 2002, but despite making his World Cup debut at the tournament, with only around 25 minutes played he was no major part of his nation’s success.
Since then, it has been disappointment after disappointment for the former Real Madrid man. At the 2006 World Cup, he peaked in his first game of the tournament, scoring his only goal of the competition in Brazil’s opener against Croatia, before hitting a dry spell and eventually crashing out in the quarter-finals against France.
Exhaustion then ruled him out of Brazil’s 2007 Copa America squad, with the Seleçao going on to win the trophy.
At the 2010 World Cup things got even worse, with the playmaker picking up a red card in the group stage against the Ivory Coast then going on to finish the tournament without scoring a single goal.
Admittedly, he does have a pair of Confederations Cup winner's medals to show for his international career, but considering he was once the finest player in the Europe, and arguably the world, that will be little consolation.
He may yet have a final chance to show up for his nation at the 2014 World Cup, but with the Milan man now long past his best, he isn’t expected to be a key player for Brazil.
Eric Cantona
Known as 'The King' at Old Trafford, Cantona may be considered one of the classiest players to ever grace the Premier League, but his record for France was unspectacular.
France were World Cup semi-finalists in 1982 and 1986, as well as European champions in 1984, but Cantona emerged as a bright young thing just as the French missed out on qualifying for the 1988 Euros.
Banned from international football for the first time in 1988 after publicly criticising coach Henri Michel, he was recalled by Michel Platini for Euro 1992, as the French entered the tournament among the favourites.
At the championship, Cantona started every game for France, but failed to score a single goal as they crashed out at the group stage.
Amazingly, that proved the peak of his international career. France failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup with Cantona in the team, and though expected to captain France at Euro 96, he was eventually stripped of his captaincy and omitted from the squad entirely following the infamous Selhurst Park incident and his subsequent ban.
In Cantona’s absence, France went on a 20-match unbeaten run in the build up to the 1996 European Championship, showing he wouldn’t be missed. He was soon displaced by Zinedine Zidane as his nation’s playmaker, as France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
Alan Hansen
Three European Cups, eight First Division titles and two FA Cups are just some of the trophies Alan Hansen won with as part of an incredibly successful Liverpool side, yet the centre-back’s Scotland career was only a blip in comparison to most players of his quality.
The defender played his first and only World Cup for Scotland in 1982, with his only moment of note a now infamous collision with Willie Miller against the Soviet Union, and after exiting in the group stage, incredibly, it proved to be the high point of his international career.
Unable to displace the regular defensive partnership of Miller and Alex McLeish who had the advantage of playing together for Aberdeen, Alex Ferguson dropped him entirely from the Scotland squad for the 1986 World Cup.
By the time Scotland reached the 1990 World Cup, Hansen was out of the picture, despite captaining Liverpool to yet another title that year, meaning he only featured in one edition of the famous tournament.
Bryan Robson
Bryan Robson may have been nicknamed 'Captain Marvel', but the England skipper had little luck at major tournaments after bursting on to the scene.
The midfielder’s World Cup experience started with a bang, when he scored the fastest goal in the history of the tournament, within 27 seconds of England’s opener against France at the 1982 edition of the tournament.
It was a record that would stand for 20 years, yet with Robson playing four games for England as they exited at the second group stage, undefeated, his first World Cup proved to be his best.
In the 1986 tournament a shoulder injury put him out of action only two games into the group stage, during which England lost to Portugal and drew 0-0 with Morocco. Without Robson, England recovered to make the last eight.
At the 1988 European Championship, Robson did score against Holland, but it was scant consolation as England lost all three group games to make a miserable early exit.
He then had a chance to make amends at the 1990 World Cup, but England were poor in their first group game, only to pick up again when Robson was forced off with injury in the second match against Holland.
A revamped Three Lions thrived in his absence, as Paul Gascoigne and David Platt emerged as heroes in midfield, helping England to the last four, while Captain Marvel would never grace a major tournament again.
Wayne Rooney
The Manchester United man’s international career is not yet over, but he has struggled to match the heady heights of his first summer competition.
Making his senior tournament debut as a precocious teenager at Euro 2004, he scored four goals in four games before being forced out with injury, and was named in UEFA’s team of the tournament.
After making such an impact at the age of 18, it seemed Rooney would push on and light up international tournaments in the coming years, but since then a mixture of injuries and suspensions have damaged his performances at World Cups and European Championships.
At the 2006 World Cup a niggling foot injury nearly ruled him out entirely and prevented him from performing at his peak, while at the 2010 tournament he was still struggling to find form after an injury against Bayern Munich in the 2009/10 Champions League derailed him during one of the best individual spells of his career.
At Euro 2012, meanwhile, a red card picked up in qualifying kept Rooney out of action until England’s final group game, and the striker never had time to build up the head of steam he requires to perform at an optimum level, with England eliminated by Italy in the quarter-finals.
At 28, and with some claiming he is already fading, the 2014 World Cup may be his last chance to produce another top tournament display. Otherwise, Euro 2004 will remain his peak.
Ruben Moran
Undoubtedly the greatest example of a one-tournament-wonder, Ruben Moran made his Uruguay debut in the famous 2-1 Maracanazo victory over Brazil that would hand his nation the 1950 World Cup.
Starting on the left wing in front of what is widely cited as the largest ever crowd to assemble for a football match, the 19-year-old made his first and only World Cup appearance.
His only other international appearance at all came as a substitute in the Copa America in 1953. Probably impossible to beat!
Do you think Theo Walcott still has a great tournament display in him, or is he destined to look back regretfully on the way things have panned out? Let us know below...