Star Cast Versus Team Power!

The Greatest Sporting Event on the earth, in the form of 21st FIFIAWorld cup has Got underway in Russia. On and average the countdown leading to this most prestigious show has predicted the possibility of Brazil, Argentina or the Portugal having the chances of lifting the Jules Rimet trophy. And the reasons behind such predictions are the presence of stars like Neymar, Lionel Messi or Christiano Ronaldo in the lineup of these teams. If you go by what has been heavily discussed so far that these stars can change the fortunes of their teams because of their name and fame, you will be only looking the one side of the coin. The marketing Mantra of Soccer holds the key in making the name of stars travel and getting viral across the media platform and you also get involved with it. Meanwhile if you look at what the Brazilian legends said few days back about his own team that Neymar alone cann’t help the great football nation winning the title in Russia, as a team Brazil doesn’t look like so strong to him. So it’s clear that entire world’s football fraternity is going to witness a fierce battle between the star power and team spirit in FIFA 2018.

Though we have the instances of celebrity like Pele, Maradona or Paolo Rossi playing the vital role in their teams winning the crown in past yet this trend is continuously fading in past few editions and the real all-round team spirit has prevailed over the star bound teams. At Russia once again this factor will hold the key as far as winning coveted trophy is concerned. To find the instance of this changing trend you don’t require recalling the memories of many past events. Only looking back to the last world cup will make it crystal clear that the team spirits and team power will be ruling the roost in Russia. Don’t forget the celebrity trio of Neymar, Ronaldo and Messi were present with their teams in last world cup also despite that Germany team as a unit was a cut above rest. The Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was using Neymar as triumph card in its attempts of grabbing the world cup record sixth time as host in 2014, but when Neymar got injured and ruled out of tournament he and Brazil were virtualy left empty handed. It was a great setback for the five time world champions and when they played Germany in the semis it was a huge margin of 1-7 defeat underlined the state of a team which was heavily relying on the shoulders of Neymar. If you remember Neymar despite suffering serious injuries of backbone was brought in the bench to boost the moral or teammates but this trick also didn’t prove helpful. In the play offs for the 3rd and 4th place against Netherland Neymar was again on the bench right from the word go but again the host lost to finish fourth. When the Germans moved to the finals again because of the so called Messi Menia no one was ready to believe the ability of their team power just because of the presence of Lionel Messi in Argentine side. The thinkers and promoter of celebrities had the crushing blow in their faces when the unite German team proved the mettle over the person driven South American side in the finals.

So what is your take now after going through this analysis? Do you still believe in what has been thrust upon you again and again in past few days that celebs are going to hold the key in FIFA 2018 or you will favour the total football and full-fledged attempts of each and every individual as unit to lift the trophy at Luzhniki Stadium Moscow on July 15, 2018?

By Manmohan Harsh