The two R's-Ronaldo, Rooney falling apart
This world cup brought the reality into display. It was expected that it will be an easy task for the top teams to go through the semis with the presence of their star players. The whole world was depending on them, particularly of the lavishing performance they displayed in the English Premier League(EPL). Each player brought millions of fans to South Africa and they were desperate to see their heroes in action even if they have to hear the buzzing of “wozillllasss” which sounds more than that of a space jet.
The most star-studded side of the world, England, with players like Wayne Rooney, Lampard, Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard left their fans in dismay. Even their Prince Harry came to see their group matches which show what this means to them and their country as they were expected to go through the semis by looking at their performances in the qualifying round as they burst out with a tornado of goals. Though the picture was entirely different in the world cup finals. They only managed to score 3 goals in the 4 matches they played. Rooney, a much hyped player I must say failed to even get a grip on “jabolani” in any of the matches. His dull performance worried his coach so much who eventually accepted that there is a psychological problem with Rooney in the big matches. The consequence was that he failed to register a single goal in the 8 matches he played in the world cup finals.
Similarly, let’s talk about the most wanted, cared and loved baby of the world, Christiano Ronaldo. This 94 million euro baby lacked the final touch its team wanted the most. Before he entered the world cup finals he was unable to score a single goal in the last two years. This paid them off as Ronaldo’s inability to put the ball in the net was crucial for them at crunch situations. He missed many goal-scoring opportunities in the group match against Brazil and similarly in the knock-out stage of pre-quarter finals against Spain when his team was desperate to get a move on. They lost by 1-0 and this deficit looks quite small if the master striker is leading his team. He himself acknowledged it after the dreadful performance against Spain. The Portugal media called that match as the worst performance of C. Ronaldo. He even spitted on the cameraman after the match to show his breathtaking and disheartening emotions.
Kaka who is regarded as the second best footballer, Brazillians master striker, failed to impress his fans at all. His ability to shoot the net from long ranges was no more to be seen. Not only that but he never managed to trouble his opponents at any stage of the match. He was twice yellow carded in the opening group matches and sat behind the lines in the second last match. He not only failed to put his name in the goal scorers but he never looked liked scoring one. Brazillian team rose to the occasion with Luis Fabiano and Robinho leading their side however it always appeared that they were playing with ten players on the field with kaka with them and later they were reduced to 9 in their fateful encounter against Holland. Kaka got an excellent goal scoring opportunity in the last 5 minutes of the match when his team was losing 2-1 but his shot lacked both placement and timing and it was a nothing shot in the end to trouble the Dutch goal keeper.
Messi, the captain of Argentina , tried to deliver for his team but his performance and his status in the world football are far apart. He attempted many times on the goal but sometimes his hits were denied by the goal posts and others by the goalkeeper. He kept pressure on his opponents however never really managed to put the ball in the net and this means that it was a worrying thing for their coach “the great Maradona”. They got to the final 8 stage though Germany blasted them off with a healthy lead of 4-0 displaying their lack of quality on the world stage. Maradona’s expressions show how desperately he was depending on his striker in this do or die match.
Only David Villa is the one who though rose up late but is taking his team through. He is the top goal scorer in these world cup finals with 5 goals with his name and Spain who lost their opening group match to Swiss is now in the semis. All the doubts which were in the mind of their fans changed automatically and dramatically.
The players should concentrate and work on their skills when they are coming up for such a big event when each and everyone is eyeing on them.
