|
The World Cup is what creates the Myths of Football
By Nassos Katsochis
The World Cup, more than any other football competition or event, creates
the myths, the real legends of world football. Messi's case so far is a totally different one: he has done so much up to date, be it only
at club level, that, despite the fact that he hasn't yet excelled in the greatest football event, he is considered one of the greatest
footballers ever. But his case is an exception.
Here is the 'crux' of my argument: to shine at the greatest football level, that is, at the World Cup, let alone to win the trophy as a
protagonist, and not as a single member of a national team, adds to your football bio in a much significant way: you are then a rightful
candidate for placing your name near the all-time greats. It is then, additional other trophies, at club level, as well as at the
international one, that can firmly establish your name as belonging to an exceptional league of Top players.
To specify the argument, the important thing about the World Cup is that to win it as a protagonist isn't (always) on its own a
sufficient condition for becoming a myth, but it seems to be a necessary one.
A proof for the necessity is that many important players who didn't win the major football trophy, even if they had it all at club
level, are still considered great, but do not belong in the same league as Pele, Maradona, or Zidane (who made it to the top of
International Football). Platini, Puskas, perhaps Cruyff and Di Stefano, or even Zico, Baggio and Eusebio exemplify such a case.
On the other hand, the proof of 'non-sufficiency' is that there are those that did win the World Cup, all the more as leaders of
their teams, but didn't reach the top of the 'all-time players' list', like Lotthar Matthaus, Paolo Rossi, Bobby Charlton, Mario
Kempes, or even the fabulous Garrincha!
The crucial, though, is the 'necessity factor: to become a football myth, not just a great player, it presupposes that at least once you
had done the most important thing in football, that is to hold aloft the World Cup as a real leader.
There are few exceptions to the thing. Di Stefano, perhaps Cruyff, and Messi. As regards the Argentinian one, he has two more chances
to win it, this year in Brasil and four years later in Russia, provided of course that he stays healthy in both cases. In my opinion,
though, in case he won't win it, it would be precarious, if not wrong at all, to be hailed as the greatest player of all time, ahead
of Pele and Maradona, or Zidane. Otherwise, and especially in case he shines in the way Maradona in 1986 or Pele both in 1958 and 1970
have done, he will deserve to be mentioned as equal to Pele and Maradona, if not superior to both of them (even though personally I
think that Pele's accolades on the whole are unparalleled).
In my opinion, the World Cup is the 'icing on the cake' as far as someone refers to footballers' achievements, and it must always be
considered by anyone the ultimate test for a football player. After all, it isn't so easy to dazzle the world at least once, in an
event held not every year, but every four years. And as such a difficult thing, it must be appreciated accordingly in our evaluations
of the greats of football.
|
[HOME]
BACKGROUND
Info on how
the World Cup was founded and about the trophy as well. |
THE
WORLD CUPS
Detailed info
on every match in every tournament. |
COLUMNISTS
Interesting columns about the past, present and future of the World Cup. |
THE
NATIONS
Every nation
with appearances in the World Cup. Detailed info on every country. |
LEGENDS
Player profiles
of many of the most influential players in history. |
A-Z STORIES
An A-Z collection
of strange and different stories in World Cup history. |
STATISTICS
A big collection
of various statistics and records. |
MASCOTS
Every mascot
since it was introduced in 1966. |
QUIZ
Test your
knowledge about the WC. Three different levels. No prizes, just for fun. |
TOP
10 RANKINGS
Rankings of
lots of stuff. For instance Best Goals, Best Players and Best Matches. |
LINKS
Our collection
of links to other soccer sites with World Cup connection. |
LINK
TO
Some banners
and buttons for you to link to us if you want. |
ABOUT
US
A little information
on who keeps this site available. |
|
