Mmasekepe Matsebane
They remain two of the best captains international football
has ever seen.
Astounding leaders, great professionals, driving forces,
immensely gifted and above all, they delivered the World Cup trophy to South
America twice. One is the Argentinean great, the man who set the 1986 World Cup
alight, transferred to two different teams with record transfer fees at the
time and he is regarded as the best footballer of all time, Diego Armando Maradona.
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| Former Brazil Coach Dunga. |
The other is a Brazilian, a perfect explanation of what a
defensive midfielder should be, revered for his no nonsense approach, a leader,
a complete player, the man who guided Brazil to the 1994 World Cup victory, he
is Carlos Dunga.
Both former players, now managers have so many similarities
in the beautiful game that one might think they were in a secret competition. One
more similarity that extends for both of them is that their coaches, Carlos
Alberto Perreira of Brazil, and Carlos Bilardo who was in the dugout for
Argentina, gave the two men freedom to do whatever they wanted on the field as
the two highly experienced and respected mentors knew that it was the only way
to get the best out of this legends.
It is public knowledge that during Dunga’s time with the
national team, more especially in 1994, he was the main man, the player who was
the centre of the Selecao’s game plan. Yes, Brazil had stars like Romario and
Bebeto, but Dunga was the face of their campaign.
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| Fromer Argentina coach Maradona. |
It was the same for Maradona. Great players like Jorge
Valdano made the team, but the spotlight was always on Maradona, a man who had
the ability to make the ball talk to him. He was a menace on any day, and on
his day, he was just magical.
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| Maradona during the 1986 WC against Italy. |
With the two players’ success very well documented, it is
useless for one to continue with this, but now for the crux of the matter,
their disgraced tenures as coaches of the Selecao and the Albiceleste.
As
if it was indeed a competition, the two men were appointed to guide their
national teams at the 2010 Fifa World Cup organized in South Africa and their
mandate was simple, bring the cup home. With their managerial experience a
talking point, it was believed that the two men knew how the World Cup could be
won and what it really takes for a team to win it, but that was a far ask for
the young inexperienced managers.
Apart
from lacking the experience, it can also be argued that the players had not
fully evolved from being players into coaches, but that was the risk that
Argentina and Brazil were willing to take, it was their favourite sons after all.
Now
for the reasons why they failed dismally.
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| Dunga controlled the pace of the game. |
Starting
first with Argentina. Going into the World Cup always excite the Argentineans.
The World Cup coincided with the rise to stardom for Lionel Messi, the young
man thought to be Maradona’s successor, the man whom Maradona has also tipped
to eclipse him. There were also great players, but because Maradona centered
the game on himself and Messi, he \overlooked the players that were going to
hand him the biggest trophy in the world as a manager. Instead, Maradona picked
players like Juan Sebastian Veron, Messi and Javier Mascherano. Yes, Messi is
great, Veron still had something to offer to the Albiceleste, but he was losing
his touch bit by bit, and Mascherano has not fully developed to lead such a
mission.
There
was a man, or rather men who would make Messi a star any day, players who could
have ensured that Maradona’s praises were sang once more.
Juan
Roman Requelme and Javier Saviola.
 |
| Unlucky Argentina great Juan Roman Requelme. |
The
man who could have won the World Cup for Argentina is none other than Requelme,
but Maradona could not risk being overshadowed by the former Villareal great.
Maradona wanted the triumph in South Africa to be his and Messi’s, and the
thought of Requelme being a star in the team, a driving force did not sit well
with the former great. He decided to leave out Requelme and Saviola citing
discipline problems as if him, Teves and Veron were saints. Requelme was well
at his prime, he could have easily complemented Messi and the young Barcelona
mentor stood to gain a wealth of football knowledge from the master, but
Maradona could not stand it, and that cost him his glittering coaching job and
the World Cup as well.
For
Dunga, the reasons are simple, no wonder the assertion that both men must have
been in a competition.
Dunga
left the only man who could have made him one of the few coaches after Franz
Backenbauer to win the World Cup as a player and a coach.
Ronaldinho.
Dubbed
the one man show, the phenomenon, Ronaldinho was well in his prime and he was
well placed to deliver the World Cup for Brazil just like Dunga and Romario did
in 1994, Ronaldo and Rivaldo did in 2002 and this was Ronaldinho and Kaka’s
time, but Dunga could not have half of that. He trusted players like Elano and Ramirez
at the expense of the best player even known to man, the man who announced his
rise to the big stage with one of the best free kicks ever scored at the World
Cup against England. He had done it all, he had the pichichi, the Ballon d’Or,
the Uefa Champions League medal, the World Cup medal, he had done it all, all that was missing was his own World Cup
medal.
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| Ronaldinho dishes out one of his pinpoint passes. |
The
2002 medals were dully delivered by Rivaldo and Ronaldo, with the help of
iconic manager Luiz Phillipe Scolari. Ronaldinho has his own mission as well,
too deliver the biggest medals of them all so his name can be called in the
same sentence with that of Pele, Jairzinho, Dunga, Romario, Rivaldo, Cafu, and
Ronaldo, but Dunga could not let him and in the process, he could not let
Brazil celebrate yet another World Cup victory.
Requelme and Ronaldinho, the two men who could have given
more weight to the names Dunga and Maradona, but the love for the spotlight by
the two coaches proved to be costly. They were both fired after the World Cup,
they are yet to enjoy coaching careers and right now no one wants to hear their
opinions regarding the national team. They too know why they failed dismally,
the problem is that they will never be men enough to admit it.
mmmasekepe@yahoo.com
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