When unsung heroes came to the fore

We often wonder about the wonderful talent of Zinedine Zidane or the surgical precision of Dennis Bergkamp or even the explosiveness of Thierry Henry and marvel at a level of skill that seems almost unattainable.

While football is littered with a few of the afore-mentioned stalwarts, it also holds a dear and near place for those who are willing to put in the extra mile. And there is so much to be said of that.

Gary Neville freely admits to not even being the best footballer in his family but history will show him as one of the best right-backs in Premier League while Frank Lampard, who boasts of a goal scoring record that many strikers would be proud to have, will always be ranked beneath his peers, the so-called golden generation of English football, in terms of skill but remains equal if not more in terms of performances and success at the club.

Same goes for the likes of Dirk Kyut or Cesar Azpilicueta.While we want to see the skills, frills and the thrills in the game, these players show the future what hard work and perseverance can do and how success can be achieved in more ways than one.

But perhaps the biggest gift that the fans and an up and coming player can have is the fact that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo slugging it out in the same era. Nowhere across the history of the beautiful game have there been two stars of such calibre ruling the roost at the same time. Successful yet differently so. While the diminutive Argentine was born with a hitherto unseen amount of talent, the Portuguese superstar is a shining example of what hard work can do. While this is not to say that the former hasn’t worked hard to get to where he is or that the latter possesses no talent at all, the fact remains that one can reach the pinnacle in more ways than one. A fact that the younger generation needs to take heart from. There is more than one way to reach success.

As Fort Minor so prudently sings.“Ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, fifteen percent concentrated power of will, five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain, and a hundred percent reason to remember the name.”