Just a tiny announcement before I begin the feature: Today is the Euro qualifiers, so we will be on Twitter, tweeting Spain-Liechtenstein game live, join us on twitter and discuss with us!
Not sure if it is just me, or people who watch football long enough, sometimes can’t help but wonder, what made a footballer into a football star? Skills? Don’t think so. Achievements? Not really. Luck? More likely. All of above? Well, let’s see.
Ingredients:
-Talents. This is simple isn’t it? It is impossible to get the spot light if you’re not good at the sports itself, although it is not necessary that a better player will be more famous than a less talented player. For example, I don’t think Xavi is less talented than Beckham, but he is apparently not even half as famous as Becks.
- Young. The young here doesn’t mean the player has to be young, but he has to start young. Players who are very famous, they were discovered at a young age, usually before or at early twenty. Messi, C.Ronaldo, Beckham, Rooney, none of them started off after 23. There are players who only started to be known passed 25, or even near 30, like Xavi, Villa, even Scott Parker, and their names never really spread far.
- Achievements. Somehow, I don’t think this really matter, if not, Pique will be far more famous than Messi, as he has won the World Cup, La Liga, many other trophies with Barcelona and achieved quite a lot with the Spain national team too, when Messi never achieve much with the Argentina team. C.Ronaldo has even less achievements, no matter with Real Madrid or Portugal, yet, he is one of the favorite faces, in many commercials.
- Exposure. Playing in a bigger club always help you get famous faster, and people see you higher than others. Javi Hernandez wouldn’t get notice if Ferguson didn’t bring him out of Mexico; people will not have heard of Messi, if he stuck in an Argentine club. You have to be seen, to be famous, to be a star.
- Importance. Although people always emphasize no player is bigger than the team, but we all know how true this statement is. Messi is the key payer in Barcelona; Ronaldo is key player in Real Madrid, and this is what make them stand out from others. Don’t ask me why Landon Donovan is not as famous, or why Tim Cahill is not called a star, as they are both important to their national teams and clubs. This, must has something to do with the last ingredient.
- Luck. I think this occupy quite a large percentage of becoming a star. I am not saying football stars suck at football, but there are so many good players out there, why just a small amount of them can be stars? I don’t think David Villa is any less talented than Torres, or has less achievements, or less important, but apparently, more people know Torres than Villa.
It is not easy, for a player to contain everything I just mentioned above, but from what I have seen, the more ticks you have from above, the more famous you can be. Agree?
Of course, people who watch football long enough, have their own stars, and their own set of system to spot their stars. After all, star is quite a subjective thing, probably in Everton fans’ heart, Cahill is bigger than Messi; the American will think Donovan is bigger than Beckham. But, here, I am talking about star in a general sense, the ‘celebrities’ in football, who you hear his name a lot, who you see on commercials a lot, and so on. So, what is your star ingredients? =)
hahah at the 'luck' category.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, today you need 'good looks' too. Thats the fastest way to attract people to look at you.
And maybe you need a background story to tell too. something people can relate to them.
=P But good looks not necessary...there're more players who are good-looking but not famous than those good-looking and famous..As famous as Rooney, Ronaldino, Zidane, they don't really fall into the good-looking category =)
ReplyDeleteWhat I meant was if you have good looks, it's faster to attract people to look at you. Chewth case is the best example haha
ReplyDelete