Didn't he used to be rubbish? Ignacio González of Uruguay

Many players at this World Cup have been poor when they played in England. Few, however, have caused demonstrations in the street and the burning of effigies before they even arrived. An attacking midfielder whose best position is playing "in the hole", Ignacio González was considered so rubbish by one member of the current ITV punditry team, Kevin Keegan, that in September 2008 he resigned from his managerial position at Newcastle in protest at his signing. • Follow the Guardian's World Cup team on Twitter • Sign up to play our daily Fantasy Football game • Stats centre: Get the lowdown on every player • The latest team-by-team news, features and more The Uruguayan had been brought in on loan from Valencia by St James' Park's favourite diminutive cockney, Dennis Wise, who apparently reacted to Keegan's complaints that he had never heard of the South American by advising him to watch some clips on YouTube . Following Keegan's departure González managed two unimpressive games in black-and-white before being sidelined by an achilles injury. He never played for the club again and cost them £1m in wages, plus a £2m settlement of the damages case Keegan brought over the whole business. González played for the first hour in his nation's bore-draw with France and will surely emerge tomorrow as a talent who more than vindicates Wise's judgment. Or not.