Every four years a few players come out of the shadows of their decent, but not amazing, club teams and show the world that they belong on the biggest of stages. During the 2010 World Cup, one of the biggest names to come out of the tournament was Thomas Müller, who scored five goals1 and notched three assists at the age of 20. Yes, he was already playing for Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga and recording goals in the Champion’s League, but this certainly helped.

I’ll try not to include players that are already at the highest stages, eliminating the likes of André Schürrle and Xherdan Shaqiri unfortunately. Here are the five players that emerged either because of age or obscurity.

5. Guillermo Ochoa

The oldest player on this list by a wide margin, Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa burst onto the scene with his performance against Brazil in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup. Keep in mind, this was no Tim Howard vs. Belgium performance, but that was mind bendingly amazing.

The Liverpool transfer target2 made seven saves in his breakout performance against the World Cup host nation, some having been the saves of the tournament at the time.

At 29 years old, Ochoa may be looking to make his move to a club that will feature in the Champion’s League next season. Ochoa has been with AC Ajaccio of Ligue 1 since 2010-11 and tied for the most saves in the league with 110 stops.3 At the World Cup, Ochoa finished seventh in goals conceded per game with 0.75.4

4. DeAndre Yedlin

Most expected Julian Green to be the super sub wunderkind for the United States. Though he scored a goal, it turned out to be DeAndre Yedlin that made the biggest difference off the bench for the U.S. Playing a hard pushing, fast style of outside back (yes, he came on as a midfielder as well) exhibited his skills as a pacey super sub extremely well.

Plays like the one below truly show Yedlin’s strengths. He uses his speed to get up the field and deliver a great bending cross into the box. It may not have connected in this instance, but it wasn’t the fault of Yedlin.

After his great performances coming off the bench,5 Yedlin has been linked with several big clubs in Europe, including Roma and Liverpool.6 It is certainly possible that his pace and possible deficiencies on defense could lead the 21 year old into a midfield conversion some day, much like Gareth Bale; for now, Yedlin is being courted as an offensive minded right back.

3. Juan Cuadrado

No player notched more assists in the World Cup than Colombia’s Juan Cuadrado. Despite playing two less games and recording more than 100 less total passes (more than 400 less in the case of Kroos), Cuadrado notched four assists, beating out Thomas Müller, Daley Blind and Toni Kroos with three assists each.

It helped that he was on the team with the eventual golden boot winner, but Cuadrado did a fantastic job the whole tournament of getting himself open and finding the most talented player on the pitch. This is a headed pass for a goal below.

Since his team’s elimination from the tournament, the 26-year-old winger has been linked with Barcelona and Arsenal for a transfer away from Fiorentina.7

2. Memphis Depay

The apple of many Netherlands, and possibly Manchester United, fans’ eyes is the young winger Memphis Depay. With speed that rivals his older Dutch counterpart Arjen Robben, Depay showcased himself to the world. Coming off the bench hurt his production of course, he only played 177 minutes in the tournament and recorded two goals with one assist.

Though not an advisable way to use statistics, Depay was the fourth best player in the whole tournament according to Squawka’s Performance Score if you neutralize playing time by stretching it to a per 90 minute scale.8 This is obviously flawed because the 20 year old used his speed as a major weapon, allowing him to take advantage of a more tired set of defenders.

Though his current team, PSV Eindhoven, is urging him to stay, Depay is receiving heavy interest from team’s around Europe that can offer him Champion’s League play. One team (Manchester United) will be coached by his national team coach, Louis Van Gaal.

1. James Rodríguez

This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, James Rodríguez was given the Golden Boot award for most goals scored during the tournament with six after all. He also likely scored the single best goal of the tournament with the one below.

Goals and moment like that are the reason that Rodríguez was the phenom of the tournament. Unfortunately for Colombia, it took an injury to Radamel Falcao for Rodríguez to take the next step in his development.

Dubbed the next Ronaldo, almost assuredly hyperbolic, Rodríguez is slated for a move from AS Monaco to Spanish giants, Real Madrid. Without Rodríguez, Colombia would have likely missed out on the knock out stages all together. Instead, they were the toast of the tournament and one of the most exciting teams to watch.