When you talk football outside of a match day buzz, you will often see a trend of topics – There is controversy, there’s the inadvertent debate on the world’s best player and then, there are generations of footballers who have given their all for the sake of entertainment. Footballers, who have transcended being household names, touched our hearts and captured our imaginations. From the flying Magyars that never won a major trophy, to the latest and most boisterous Real Madrid – there is a great team for every era. Spain has had a parade of insane talent in the last couple of years, and so have Germany. Brazil is all about spicy mad football which looks like dancing and then there’s France.
France’s midfield is one to envy – even today, when they have many troubles and their players may not be cohesive (shoots glances at Nasri), they can call upon the services of Franck Ribery, Paul Pogba, Mathieu Valbuena, Blaise Matuidi, Morgan Schneiderlin and the like. A lot of people tend to think that Spain and Germany are the best ball players in the world but I sometimes like to disagree. See, I personally feel that France has had not just one or two – but three or more generations of fantastic midfielders; Midfielders that could bastardize the opposition or hypnotize them. Players of such technique and quality that they inevitably became legends, household names that touched hearts and warmed the cockles of football fanatics all the world over.
Leading the pack across generations would be Michel Platini. Looking at him now, the head of UEFA looks like he’s never kicked a ball in his lifetime – but the truth couldn’t be further away from that. A fantastic player with oodles of skill and a stinging shot, Platini is best remembered for his years of loyal service to the French national team and with Juventus as well. Then, there’s the mad defensive talent of Didier Deschamps – a man who currently leads the French national team. He was an intimidating presence in the center of the park and has the trophies with Chelsea and Juventus to show for it. Keeping on the theme of destroyers – we have the man who arguably re-shaped the role of a defensive midfielder in the modern game – Claude Makelele. The former Chelsea star was a player who redefined the role of the defensive midfielder and to this day, we are yet to see another in his mould. Then there were the children of controversy – Eric Cantona and Zinedine Zidane. The former had a well-documented mean streak and the latter had a meltdown at just the moment his team needed him most.
