The sport of soccer has its icons, and their stardom isn’t considered only what they do on the pitch, but how they represent the sport off it as well. These icons can be respected for a variety of reasons, but like a shining light, with it comes the “darkness” and the types of players that don’t care what opinions are held about them, and in this they write themselves into the role of a villain.
These villains, described by Tom Sunderland as, “…the figures who garner more disdain than your average participant, whether it be due to crimes committed in a particular competition, their actions preceding a tournament or just because they’re a generally disliked figure of the game…” often use this fandom full of disdain to their advantage, and sometimes these “villainous” acts become what they are known for despite such a renowned scoring or overall record. This article from Bleacher Report, “Ranking the World Cup’s 25 Biggest Villains of All Time“, has portions that seem to have clear bias or exclusion of certain information to seemingly paint players the author may not like in an “evil-only” fashion.
Take Zinedine Zidane’s situation between himself and Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup. The author describes Zidane as “a hero of the highest order to most”, suggesting that this specific incident seemed out of character for the player. Sunderland ranks Zidane 7th on this list seemingly for this reason alone, and Materazzi ranks just above him in 6th place only for the fact that he caused the situation and wasn’t as liked as Zidane, according to Sunderland. Fan adoration appears to be a very prevalent cause in deciding which players are the heroes or villains, and if a player isn’t adored by the masses the littlest scuffle becomes a deciding factor in how fans view them.
When discussing how fans view players and consider them a “good” representative of their nation, look no further than the opinions of Argentinian fans and what they think about Lionel Messi. In the article “Stepping out of Maradona’s shadow. How Lionel Messi won over the hearts of all of Argentina” written by Matias Grez, the expectations Argentinians had for Messi to live up to the image that was prime Maradona evidently fell through, and these hopes that Messi would bring success to Argentina weren’t lived up too. Throughout his career in FC Barcelona, his early start saw championship win after win, and the craving fans had for the World Cup trophy fueled Messi’s own desires, and before 2022, that was all he was missing in order to “complete” his soccer career. This was the last stop for him after winning the Copa America the previous year with Argentina, their first major win in 28 years. Even through his club wins, it seemed as though fans just wanted a little more from Messi, and the weight, albeit crushing I’m sure, only motivated him further.
Understanding the information, nuances of said information, and the expectations that follow these heroes (or villains) can shed light on the reasons they have the reputation they do. It helps us gain insight into the motives behind players actions and WHY they act the way they do.
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