This World Cup has been a great leveller. The most watched sporting event on the earth has brought stars down from the stratosphere and elevated unknown players to a pedestal.
South Africa has become a graveyard for quite a few big names. The combined scoring record of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kaka is just one at the 19th World Cup. There is no chance for the quartet to add any more because all of them are either back home or on the way there. The on-going World Cup has flattened egos like no other.
Advertisement campaigns of big brands in the run-up to the World Cup featured these stars prominently. But the money splashed on promos has gone the drain even before the semi-finals.
Rooney will think twice about starring in a video in which he is depicted as a forlorn figure because his status in a hit World Cup ad and on the field of play is one and the same — pitiable. The Manchester United forward also mocked his fans after England’s sterile performance against Algeria in the group stage.
Ronaldo saved the face for the star quartet by scoring a goal against North Korea. But the Real Madrid player left South Africa in a trail of shame after spitting on a cameraman.
Messi and Kaka, both gentler souls, will not look back at the World Cup with any fondness either. Kaka, who received his first red card in a Brazilian jersey in South Africa, wasn’t as bad as Rooney and Ronaldo but his team expected more from him.
Argentinians have always viewed Messi with suspicion and the feeling that he gives his best for Barcelona and not for his country. Messi’s no-goal show here has only sharpened the knives of his critics back home.
South Africa has been a theatre of dreams for the likes of Thomas Mueller, Diego Forlan, Andres Iniesta and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Diego Maradona refused to share the stage with Mueller not long ago, saying he didn’t know who the youngster was. Maradona will never forget the name of Mueller after the Bayern youngster played a key role in Germany’s thrashing of Argentina in the quarterfinal on Saturday.
Forlan, whose father also played in the World Cup 44 years ago, was a butt of all jokes during his time at Manchester United. He was seen as an embodiment of ineffectiveness in front of goal at Old Trafford. The handsome Uruguayan has since redeemed his career with superb spells in Spain. Forlan’s stocks have soared here after a series of impressive performances and his country has pinned its hopes on him to enter the final after 60 years.