Why Rooney, Messi, Kaka and Ronaldo are not true greats yet?
The word great and the word legend are thrown around quite often these days. But when we talk about football greats and legends, what names do we see in lights? Usually Maradona, Pele, Beckenbauer, Eusebio, Cruyff, Bobby Charlton, Zidane and the Brazilian Ronaldo to name a few.
What exactly makes these players what they are? Why do we think so highly of them and how do we determine what the criteria are for certain players being “greater” than others? Well, for starters all these players performed when their teams needed them the most. They stepped up to the mark and led their teams in a moment of need and sometimes in a moment of despair and adversity as well.
Take Maradona for example, his country Argentina had bowed out at the second round in the 1982 World Cup in Spain. In 1986 when Argentina themselves hosted the tournament Maradona made it his own. His dazzling skill and dribbling caught everyone’s eye and he finally led his team to a well deserved world cup, and on the journey towards the title Maradona scored five goals. Four of them were extremely crucial as they were against the likes of England in the quarters and Belgium in the semi finals.
Pele, a true legend of the game won the 1958 world cup when he was just 17 and in doing so became the youngest player to win the world cup. He scored a hat-trick of goals against France in the semi finals and two against Sweden in the final match of the tournament. In the 1970 World Cup, Pele again performed exceptionally well and led his team to another world cup title after scoring against Italy in the final match of the competition.
Beckenbauer was another magnificent player in his own right. He led his team to their second FIFA World Cup title in 1974 when West Germany defeated Netherlands in the final. A game during which he broke down Dutch attacks and performed a remarkable man-marking job on Johan Cruyff.
Eusebio also known as the “Black Panther” because of his speed while running with the ball, simply put Portugal as a team on the foot-balling map. His sheer pace with the ball would threaten defenders, and when he played for Portugal in the 1966 World Cup, he scored a total number of 9 goals and was awarded the golden boot award for his performances at the FIFA World Cup.
Cruyff was another legendary figure. He led the Netherlands to their first ever FIFA World Cup final in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Cruyff was his team’s talisman in implementing their ‘Total Football’ philosophy; an ideology which earned them many fans because of its attractive nature. He was also awarded the European player of the year award in 1974 and he also earned the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball in the same year for his performances at the World Cup.
Similarly Bobby Charlton led the English attack during their win of the 1966 FIFA World Cup and scored two goals against Portugal in the semi-final match. Zinedine Zidane also led his team to two World Cup finals of the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In the 1998 FIFA World Cup final he scored twice against the favorites Brazil, to lead the French to their first World Cup title. In 2006, He captained the team to the World Cup final where he was sent off after a head butt on the Italian defender Marco Materazzi.
The Brazilian Ronaldo was the best striker of his generation and a truly legendary FIFA World Cup competitor. In the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he led his side to the final after scoring four times during the competition and making three assists. In the 2002 World Cup, he was the highest goal scorer of the tournament with 8 goals to his name as Brazil won the World Cup.
All these great players have performed at the highest level of international foot-balling (The FIFA World Cup). They have either led their sides to a FIFA World Cup final match or performed out of their skins. This is why these players are legends and not just greats. Rooney, Messi, Ronaldo and Kaka have a long way to go before becoming legends, their performances at the club level have been superb but have they been able to perform at the international level? Have they out done themselves at a FIFA World Cup stage? The answer is no, at least not yet.
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