With J Hutcherson -- Shocked looks all around, but Cristiano Ronaldo is now officially the best player on the planet. Well, at least according to France Football Magazine. As good as Ronaldo obviously is, there's still the feeling that we're in an era without enough truly elite players.
There are those who still put up Spain '82 as the height of competition for recent World Cup play, even if we're stretching 'recent' to before Cristiano Ronaldo was born. Switch to the club game, and the time frame pushes up a decade, but also doesn't throw up serious candidates past the Milan era of the early 90's.
Considering the relative disappointment of Real Madrid's galactico teams, and there's something to be said for the age where every major club and player is a superstar in theory. In practice, this continues to be more about image than substance.
Real's galacticos had the last two candidates for greatest of a generation, the other Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane. Both had issues with their exits and neither maintained the mystique of say Eric Cantona.
Cantona had no claim to best in his era because of his National Team issues, but he managed to create an image that he was beyond the pettiness of the sport. When everyone involved was grabbing for money in the mid-90's, he was the one who put himself in a different category, the sportsman for lack of a better term. He did this while being Nike's principle endorser in England and calling himself Eric The King.
As tricks go, that's a pretty good one. Marco van Basten just played better than everyone else. Think where his career would have gone if the tackle from behind rules had been changed earlier. Maradona is simply beyond comparison at this point, a player who could make the game about the individual in a way we seldom see.
Part of the reason why this hasn't continued through the current era is a lack of elite strikers capable of maintaining their game through multiple seasons. It's almost the expectation that elite strikers will tail off badly.
In their place, we get skill players working out of the midfield or on the flank. That's Ronaldo, without question the best of them. That might include the earlier eras of wingers that gave us a player perennially in the argument for greatest of all time, George Best.
Unlike so many run at the defender players at all levels of the game, Ronaldo acts past the beat. You don't see him break free and seem slightly surprised. That's as much a difference as anything else he brings to the game. Right now, it's more than enough. It's the working definition of superstar.
It's just a shame that the current era isn't deeper. Then we could see what Ronaldo would do against the elite by any definition. That includes defenders and keepers. Right now, he needs company.
On TV
Nothing on the schedule for today.
The Wonderful World of Soccer Media: Europe
Ronaldo scoops best player award -- from BBC Sport: "It is one of the most beautiful days of my life."
Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or and says best is yet to come -- from The Telegraph's Mike Norrish: Ronaldo is just the second England-based player to win the award since Best in 1968. Michael Owen, in 2001, is the other.
Messi's maturity the true measure against which Ronaldo falls short -- from The Independent's James Lawton: No doubt the overall weight of Ronaldo's contribution to United's massive success last season made this week's award something of a formality.
Chelsea will be self-sufficient by next year, says Kenyon -- from The Guardian's Dominic Fifield: "What we're doing here is the right and prudent thing to do to make sure Chelsea is in the right position."
Upstart Meets Star Studded in Germany -- from The New York Times' Jack Bell: "But for Hoffenheim, even if we win, it would be a mistake if we would start talking about the championship."
Alex Ferguson forecasts fight to the finish -- from The Times' James Ducker: "I think you saw evidence of that last season and it's continued this year, even more so, in fact."
The Wonderful World of Soccer Media: Americas
Rabid soccer fans mark stadium groundbreaking -- from The Delaware County Times' Amy Brisson: “This takes guts,” said Nick Sakiewicz, CEO and operating partner of the team’s ownership group.
A stadium plan that won't pay off -- from The Philadelphia Inquirer's Karen Heller: "There's a whole lot more people could do for Chester than a soccer stadium."
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