Football Greats - Or Are They?
Like many other sports, football has seen a recent trend whereby, based on a spectacular finish or a single match winning performance or a good season, the pundits and experts and fans would instantly give a player the status of the greatest player in the history and would equate his skill with the might of Zeus.
It is a norm to create lot of hype about a few stars and then within a matter of few years they are finished and the world forgets. The important thing to decide here is who actually is a great. Let us analyze what Diego Maradona achieved and then compare the ‘greats of today’ with the Argentine legend. In his 21 year long club career and during his stay from Argentinos Juniors to Boca to Barca to Napoli to Sevilla, there is nothing the Argentine did not win. Back in the day, there were not any big guns in those clubs who performed and Maradona reaped the benefits. Maradona himself was in the thick of things.
After ‘the world’s most controversial darling’ severed ties with Barcelona, he was made an offer from Napoli which he instantly accepted. Later Maradona revealed that he did not even know the club’s standing in the league and only when he became part of the Naples club, he found out that the team was fighting a relegation battle. How often do you see a team that is lifted from survival battle to reach the summit of the league in a matter of 38 league games?
In Naples, Maradona was hailed as a legend and after winning the 1986 World Cup for Argentina singlehandedly, Maradona defeated the host nation and powerhouse Italy in the semi final of 1990 World Cup which took place in Naples. To date many people believe that the reason Italy lost to Argentina was that the Naples crowd cheered for Maradona instead of Italy.
Take Maradona out and we have a 21 year long fairytale missing from the beautiful game.
Let us focus our attention now to the new generation of fans who think that Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney, Kaka, Torres and Ribery are the best things that ever happened to football. Kaka, the only player out of our ‘prestigious’ list, knows what holding a World Cup trophy feels like and even this is not saying much because while Kaka was an onlooker from bench during Brazil’s domination of the world eight years ago, it was Ronaldos and Rivaldos delivering the goods in the field. When we talk about Ronaldo, of course we are referring to the Brazilian hit man and not the Hollywood peacock.
In today’s football, when each big league is a duopoly or monopoly, with top two or three richest clubs running the show, the setting is relatively relaxed and performing well over the course of about 50 games is a lot easier than making your mark on the World Cup.
The World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi, who scored 34 goals for Barcelona in La Liga was good only for the 18th league title as the mighty Catalans crushed themselves against the defensive wall of Inter Milan in Champions League. Messi, having neutralized by the Italians, did not have a plan B. Messi is an awesome footballer, no doubt, but he will have to continue his performance for another 5 to 6 years to be a great, and on the way he will need some titles that will be attributed to his genius only.
Ronaldo, who scored 26 goals for Madrid in his opening season, continued his good run of scoring against small teams from Manchester days. The world’s most expensive player is yet to make a mark on bigger games. Missed penalties in the Champions League final and semi final, failure to contribute against arch rivals Barcelona and claiming to become player of World Cup but instead making an exit like a shell of a player does not make you great. We are sure Ronaldo will realize that soon after his World Cup failure.
When Rooney appeared in the Nike Future ad before the World Cup, he did not know his World Cup would be mayhem and the ad would turn out to be true. The bubble of greatness has burst yet again. The recent contributions of Liverpool hit man Torres, former world best Kaka and most sought after midfielder Ribery, are no secret either and the players that set out to conquer the world will now watch Real Madrid rejects Robben and Sneijder playing in the World Cup final on Sunday.
FIFA World Cup 2010 was heartbreak for millions and millions of football followers across the planet. Some of the events at this World Cup were more of a shock, more so than any other edition of the competition in the past, as favourite teams and the likes of these big names were shot down left, right and centre.
A lot more needs to be achieved by these ‘potential’ greats before they are hailed as legends in every sense of the word. They need to have Maradona’s class, Zidane’s composure and Ronaldo’s instinct if they do not want to pass into oblivion.
Tags: