Have the Big Names Forgotten to Show up?

  

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite arrived in South Africa after an unimpressive season at Real Madrid where even before his injury there were questions asked by fans and pundits alike following his costly transfer from Milan. A good world cup, the experts contemplated, would see Kaka´ set the event alive in South Africa and earn his place amongst the legendary names of Brazilian football  – Pele, Rivelino, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Zico, Socrates, Paulo Cesar to mention but a few.

Set it a blaze he did this week when he earned a red card in the match against Ivory Coast at Soccer City in Johannesburg – albeit rather unfairly the video replay would suggest. But like the handful of big names coming into this event few have lived up to their reputations so far.

Least of all Wayne Rooney who despite being the focal point of the England team throughout qualification and in all the commercial sponsorship deals surrounding the team, he has more than failed so far carrying the appearance of  someone not engaged with what the world cup is really about. As England face their final group game – which is a must win – there is every likelihood, if the news reports are to be believed, that Rooney could be dropped by Manager Fabio Capello for the all or nothing encounter.

As Rooney thaws out from his anger at the booing fans after the Algeria game his former team-mate, Cristiano Ronaldo, or C7 as the advertising billboards identify him, struggled in the first twenty minutes of the match between Portugal and North Korea. Again in danger of doing what he has inevitably done in many big encounters for his club, albeit Manchester United or Real Madrid, and go missing for about 90 minutes.

At Green Point Stadium in Cape Town he finally came alive after Raul Meireles scored the first goal for Portugal.  But up until that point no one could be sure he would leave a memorable mark on this tournament notwithstanding all the pre world cup hype. In the end North Korea went down by 7 goals to nil and Ronaldo was everywhere earning himself the FIFA Man of the Match Award as well as getting on the score sheet in the 87th minute.

 After some frustration in the first match against Ivory Coast, in which he got a yellow card, the goal and performance on Monday was welcome. Hopefully he can deliver on the expectations that he failed on in Germany four years ago.

The fist match for Lionel Messi showed his ability even though he did not score in the game against Nigeria in Ellis Park. In the second game of the group it was Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain who took all the plaudits following his hat-trick against Korea when they lost four goals to one.

Given Barcelona’s competitive season there had been concerns about Messi's fatigue and with Argentina having won both those games to establish a three-point lead at the top of Group B heading into the final round of fixtures Maradona might have considered leaving him out of the match against Greece. However, at a pre match press conference Maradona insisted that the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year would feature in match in Polokwane. 

Maybe the match against Greece will be the one in which Lionel Messi shows his magic.

If he does so he might want to send a message to Spain's Fernando Torres who since he cropped his flaying blondes locks prior to the tournament seems to have also lost his goal touch – at least if the match against Honduras in Johannesburg on Monday night was anything to go by. Un-typically he fluffed his lines on a number of occasions in front of goal at Ellis Park and it is clear he is far from the confident goal machine so familiar at Anfield.  Perhaps not even at full fitness with his co-star David Villa stealing the limelight so far.

With a game that is all about poise, balance and speed Torres has been a fresh addition to the Premier League with his deft skills and this world cup was the stage in which he was to exhibit those abilities amongst the world's best. At least, that was how it was written ahead of the tournament and so far he has failed to play to script. But it is early days yet with Spain still not guaranteed a place in the round of last sixteen until they address their match against Chile with a win – or a draw at best.

Of the African Nations tipped to make an impact at this tournament there were also a handful of strikers deemed to do their bit as well. But one of them, Didier Drogba, is playing with an broken elbow and so has been limited in his impact. With the destiny of Ivory Coast no longer in their own hands, as Sven Goran Ericsson's side now need Brazil to beat Portugal and to win against North Korea to be in with chance, the reality is that Drogba has made as much impact as he likely to do in the 2010 tournament.

On the other hand Samuel Eto’o is already got his bags packed as he will not outdo the world cup feats, at least at world cup level, of his countryman Roger Milla, with whom he continues to have an ongoing feud. With no points from two games Eto’o can take some consolation from his goal against Denmark in the tenth minute with a chance to add more in the last game against Holland in Cape Town on Thursday.

In that game Arjen Robben will be looking to make the kind of impact a host of his countrymen -  Johan Cruyff, Johan Neeskens, Denis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluijvert - have made at bygone world cup finals. But having arrived late due to injury he may struggle in the end as his underrated countryman, Wesley Sneijder, has already got on the score sheet with his goal against Japan.

Robben has yet to play a part in the 2010 World Cup.

For the most part in past tournaments the players or teams that have made the most noise at have been no surprise. As far back as Brazil in Sweden in 1958 or again in 1970 in Mexico where the tournament went to script. And so did the big name players. On a numerous occasions the home nation has been the catalyst for some sort of surprise as in Argentina in 1978, France in 1998 and less so, Germany in 1974.

In 2006 Germany rode the momentum reaching the semi-final when few had predicted they had sufficient talent to cause an upset in their home event at any level. But in Korea and Japan in 2002 the South Korean's reached the semi- finals and surprised many experts only to see the footballing world order restored with Germany and Brazil in the final.

The top scorer then was Ronaldo, with eight goals, which was predictable following the talent we had all glimpsed in France in 1998 and he still remains the second highest scorer since Gerd Mueller notched up ten in Mexico in 1970. Every World Cup since that time the top scorer has not exceeded seven goals with the final count normally five. With the expected stars already not meeting their pre-tournament billing, and some perhaps heading home early than planned, it could be left to Gonzalo Higuain to take the Adidas Golden Boot – emulating Mario Kempes in ‘78

But surely there is a surprise player out there who will make an impact that will baffle the pundits. Is it Mesut Oezil of Germany Or Simon Kjaer of Denmark? Eljero Elia of the Netherlands? Or will it be Maicon of Brazil?

Rossa McDermott ©