Theirs is a
fallacy in the tale of the Hero.
Yesterday
was heartbreak for millions of fans across the globe as two giants of the
modern game of football, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, departed from the
biggest international stage imaginable – possibly for one final time. In consistent
failure.
It is hard to
fathom how this could happen to two sportsmen who have won every individual and
club trophy possible. How do they always falter at the International Stage? For
that, we need to delve into their respective teams – Argentina and Portugal.
Both have
had repeated ambitions of golden generations as heroes like Batistuta and Veron
made way for Aguero and Messi, while Figo as a central piece was replaced by Ronaldo.
But the core problem has always been that while you can buy and craft good
teams at Barcelona and Real Madrid, it’s hard to replicate that with a certain
pool as on the International arena.
There is a
question as to whether same club players make a good team, as the Athletico
Madrid and Uruguay central pairing of Gimenez and Godin proved to be too much
for Portugal to break down. Similarly, Spain imported most of their 2010 World
Cup winning team from Barcelona or Real Madrid, with only Capdevilla in the eleven
for the final not having plyed his trade at either. And that is sadly what
Messi and Ronaldo have lacked.
While Messi
was surrounded by masters of the game like Xavi and Iniesta, and in more recent
times the rebellious talents Suarez and Neymar – in Argentina, he has found
isolation where club greats go into their silos and come out once a blue moon.
It’s a statement of great resilience that despite such deep rooted issues in
their domestic game, Brazil had found glory. Exceptions rarely make a rule
though, and in recent years, the same issues plaguing Argentina have made their
way to Brazil. It’s the confusion of too many disparate mentalities that lead
to such terrible tactical blunders by incapable coaches such as Argentina’s,
who find too late that chemistry is the most important element for a team – not
assembling 11 good players on a pitch and expecting them to do the miracles of
their recently concluded seasons. How hard could it be? As it has turned out
for Argentina, very.
On the other
hand, Portugal have mostly gone through not with grandeur but with bullish
force. It was Mourinho’s Porto that gave the first post-Figo generation the
cohesion to reach the 2004 Euro Final and had fading but wise members of it who
helped with the 2016 Euro triumph, built on the dual shoulders of Ronaldo and
Nani and stalwarts like Pepe and Carvalho. Portugal won, but that was more an
end than a beginning.
When age
caught up, as we saw with almost 70 years between the central back pairing of Pepe and West Ham substitute
Jose Fonte, Portugal’s chapter in this World Cup ended. In 2018, Messi buckled
under the expectations and the weight of knowing when the time for heroes came,
he might look around and find half hearted hands raised. Ronaldo intelligently
maneuvered this isolation with his dead ball finesse, but even mortality came
for him and he buckled – first with a penalty miss against Iran and then the
disappearance against Uruguay. Magicians in the wrong way.
The 2016 Euro
win will help soothe some scars for Ronaldo, while Messi who might still play
another World Cup, will have to deal with the torment of underachievement. As
they both become spectators and look onto their club team mates, both now and
former, continuing on in the World Cup and maybe one of them kissing the Trophy
they will never touch – and prepare for what might be the another twilight trophy
laden season with those men, they will be besmirched with the taint of failure if
they ever wear their country colours again.
But please
remember, it was never their fault.
At the least,
not only theirs.
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