The size of a squad at the 2010 World Cup is likely to feature at least 23 players, which means an awful lot of soccer jerseys to wash but it is also more than the amount of players who have won more than one World Cup. At the current count, 21 players have been part of more than one world cup winning squad which only goes to show how difficult it is to achieve. Unsurprisingly, Pele leads the way with three world cup winners medals, although his role in Brazil’s 1962 triumph is massively over-stated. Injury robbed Pele from gracing that tournament but history records his performance in Mexico in 1970 as one of the best. There is no doubt that the Brazil 1970 squad, in their iconic soccer tops and free flowing spirit is one of the most memorable teams of all time and Brazil make up the majority of players who have won the cup more than once.
Aside from Pele, special mention must go to Mario Zagallo, who was part of the Brazil squad that won in 1958 and 1962. Many players from that era did not make it along to the 1970 World Cup but Zagallo can claim to have a key role in that team seeing as he was the manager. Yes, a mere 8 years after lifting his second world cup winners medal, Zagallo returned to the biggest stage in world soccer and led Brazil to their third triumph. Zagallo wasn’t done there as he returned in 1994 when he was assistant manager as Brazil triumphed in the United States of America. Being part of four world cup winning teams is an achievement that will take some beating and Mario Zagallo is rightly afforded a high level of respect.
Whilst most of the Brazil players with more than one winners medal date back to the late 50s and early 60s triumphs, two players of the modern era have been a winner on two occasions as well. Cafu and Ronaldo were both involved in the 1994 and 2002 winning teams but Ronaldo never got his soccer kit dirty at the 1994 event being an unused squad player. He changed all that at the 2002 world cup when his goals, including two in the final were a key inspiration behind Brazil winning the trophy. Cafu therefore had a lot more game time that Ronaldo in achieving this feat but both definitely played their part in ensuring the modern era of Brazilian soccer players had their own tales of glory to match the stories from history.
Four Italian players from their 1934 and 1938 triumphs played in both squads with one name standing out from the rest. You may not know much about the classic Italian sides but if you know about modern Italian soccer, you should recognise the name of Giuseppe Meazza. As a star for both Inter and AC Milan, gracing the world famous soccer tops for both teams, he was th
The last player to have two world cup medals is Daniel Passarella who played for Argentina in their 1978 and 1986 triumph, meaning he has more international glory than even the great Maradona.
0 comments:
Post a Comment