As I think we are all fed up hearing about the World Cup final itself by now, I will get this bit out of the way quickly: congratulations to Argentina and Lionel Messi for what was an overall deserved victory in a very memorable final.
Enough said.
Now on to what I think is a significant and important debate that has been prompted by Argentina’s triumph in Qatar: does the fact that Messi inspired his country to success mean he should now be crowned the greatest player of all time?
After all, the World Cup was the one significant honour that the diminutive footballing genius was missing from a collection that includes countless titles, trophies and personal awards. Now he has the full set. The fact that he has finally achieved his last remaining ambition has led many to say he is now the GOAT. Confirmed, signed, sealed and delivered.
I’m still not convinced though. One of the greatest, undoubtedly. But the greatest?
I may, just may, be able to concede that Messi has now surpassed Diego Maradona in terms of footballing excellence. And I feel he was probably a considerable distance ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo even before last Sunday’s match.
But crowning him the GOAT means we have to take a certain Brazilian superstar out of the discussion. And are we really ready to eliminate Pelé from any serious debate about who is the greatest player of all time? Sorry, but I can’t bring myself to do that.
One of the problems the Brazilian faces in this argument is that he barely kicked a ball outside Brazil during his entire career, spending 19 seasons at Santos and never succumbing to the bright lights of the European leagues. Had he been blasting in the goals for Real Madrid, Juventus or Manchester United, then his incredible talents would have been exposed to a much wider audience and subsequently more ingrained in the collective psyche of us Europeans. And this lack of mainstream exposure is also accentuated by the fact that he was demonstrating his brilliance in the days before live TV, social media and constant exposure to the masses.
When he dribbled around six players before back-heeling into the goal, most of the time it was only the people in the stadium who got to witness the genius at work. Far from being blasted all over Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok, many of Pelé’s best moments were not even captured on camera. In fact, the goal he describes as his most memorable – against Sao Paolo rivals Clube Atletico Juventus in 1959 – has never been seen again. No footage of it exists. When Messi scores a cracker it racks up more views than an Instagram egg.
Many of Pelé’s best moments were not even captured on camera. When Messi scores a cracker it racks up more views than an Instagram egg
Like it or not, that simple truth is enough to keep Pelé in the running for the title of GOAT. And when you combine it with the fact that Pelé has not kicked a ball in anger in nearly half a century, it means we are now seeing a rush to crown Messi as the best because he happens to be freshest.
I’m not saying Pelé is the GOAT. And I’m not saying Messi isn’t. Just that it is a debate that needs to run a lot deeper.
I suggest everyone thinks long and hard about stampeding to hand Messi the throne when there is a player out there who scored 1,279 goals in 1,363 games and led his country to three World Cups…
The King of Woke reigns on
As expected, Gareth Southgate has confirmed he is staying on in the England job until 2024. I will try to contain my excitement...
It’s okay, I managed.
Still, I suppose we can look forward to England scooping another prestigious Fair Play trophy at the next tournament to go with the one they got in Qatar. (Somehow these insignificant trophies don’t seem to be easing the years of hurt)
If ever an award reflected a team’s manager, it’s got to be this one. A nice trophy for a nice manager who runs a nice team that is too nice to win anything of substance.
Talking of years of hurt…
When David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds first sang about football coming home back in 1996, the theme of their song was that the “30 years of hurt” would be ended by England lifting the trophy.
Well, the song caught the imagination of England fans to an extent the comic duo could scarcely have imagined, and the ‘years of hurt’ saying has since been adopted – and subsequently adapted – by supporters every time a tournament rolls around. The period without success has rolled on and on, and, should the song be re-released in 2024, we will be up to 58 years of hurt, and counting. In theory.
But here’s the thing that blows that theory right out of the water – it has just occurred to me that Frank and David were mathematically wrong from the word go, and we have all been equally wrong ever since. Why? Because I don’t think it is vaguely sensible to suggest that the ‘hurt’ started the very minute England won the 1966 World Cup. Surely that was a time for joy and celebration, not sadness and misery, wasn’t it?
Between 1996 and 1970, England were the reigning world champions and, if that is how we define ‘hurt’ then I am all for it. However, if we are suggesting ‘hurt’ is a period of time without a tournament victory, then the very earliest starting point we can identify must surely be 1968 when England lost in the semi-final of Euro ’68. That 1-0 defeat to Yugoslavia must have caused a few tears to be shed, and the flow has been pretty consistent since.
The reality is that, in 1996, we should all have been singing that 28 years of hurt wouldn’t stop us dreaming. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, I admit, but it would have been considerably more accurate.
E-mail: James@quizando.com
Twitter: @Maltablade