#TheHindu #Editorial Individual brilliance, derivative success

Argentine and FC Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi has reclaimed the billing as the best footballer in the world by winning his fifth Ballon d’Or award in the last eight years, a stupendous record considering no other player has won more than three such awards. Portuguese and FC Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo finished second after having won in the previous two years. That both players have finished in the top two in the award nominations since 2011 suggests that they are the best two footballers in the world by some margin. Messi is the better player, combining the highest form of three important qualities — dribbling, passing and goal-scoring — in one footballer. Ronaldo is as much and perhaps even more a sure finisher. But having them in the Argentina and Portugal national teams is no guarantee for success. The fact that neither of them has experienced the highest form of international success for their respective countries — Messi’s Argentina lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final and Ronaldo’s Portugal reached the 2004 Euro final before the player reached his peak — suggests that their respective awards were a function of their clubs’ overall success. Messi’s Ballon d’Or, for example, followed FC Barcelona’s three victories in the UEFA Champions League, the Spanish La Liga and the Copa Del Rey in 2015.

Indeed, Messi’s Barcelona and Ronaldo’s Real Madrid have dominated club football in the past few years, the former more so. These clubs have also designed their pattern and style of play in such a way that the abilities and output of their two key players and goal-scorers in Messi and Ronaldo have been maximised. Real Madrid’s strategy of buying the most attack-minded players in the world and Barcelona’s nearly two-decades-long approach of building a squad based on a particular style of play and combining home-grown and bought talent has complemented the strengths of Ronaldo and Messi, respectively. These advantages are lacking in a national set-up, where the team squads are drawn from a more limited pool and their frequency of playing and training together is limited compared to the almost perennial club football. Consequently, the individual successes and strengths of both Messi and Ronaldo have not translated into national glory. Ronaldo’s goal-scoring record for Real Madrid of 338 goals in 325 games and Messi’s 430 goals in 503 games and a record 26 trophies tower over their respective national team outputs. These numbers re-emphasise the team nature of the sport. Ronaldo must thank his colleagues Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema and others for consistently putting him in a position to deliver for his club; Messi’s success is predicated upon the cohesion of Barcelona and the brilliance of Neymar, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.