France miss Zidane

Days before their big clash with Italy to decide which team will go through to the next round of Euro 2008, France Goalkeeper Gregory Coupet commented on the void left in the team by the retirement of the great Zinedine Zidane:

"We lost a great captain like Zidane... It's not easy to replace the best player in the world."

This comment and this reminder of Zidane's one-time status as The Best Player in the World, causes us to reflect on more possible criteria for this title.

And a question emerges: is Ronaldo any less The Best Player in the World than Zidane if his team is any less dependent on him than France were?

In other words, would Portugal miss Ronaldo as much as France are now missing Zidane's genius?

I don't think so.

Portugal just might play as well and be as successful without Ronaldo. But France? Even with that great team of players? France miss Zidane badly.

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Bilic says Modric is best player in Europe

The Croatian manager, Bilic, is then saying that Modric is better than Cristiano Ronaldo - The Best Player in the World:

"Luca is already a star even without this tournament...I keep saying to him every day that he's the best player in Europe...But he's not the only great player on our team, we have world class players and they prove it day in, day out, every day in training and in every match in each part of the pitch."

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Black Pearl votes for Ronaldo

Portugal legend Eusebio has no doubts that Cristiano Ronaldo will become The Best Player in the World:

"He has proved it by winning the Premier League, by winning the Champions League, with Manchester United...Now he is here in the national team but it is different. He is part of the group, it's not Cristiano plus 10, it's not about him, it's about the team of 11 players...That group mentality is good and good for him. He can concentrate on the football and it helps keep his feet on the ground...He can become the best player in the world."

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Bruckner votes for Cristiano Ronaldo

Czech manager Karel Bruckner has been impressed by Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2008:

"He is probably the best player in the entire tournament... Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world. He is a very dangerous weapon."

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Simplicity

UEFA technical delegate and former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has come out to praise The Best Player in the World's performance against Turkey:

“In 2004 he was a very young player, now he has acquired experience through the Champions League and Premier League...He looked sometimes as if he was overdoing it but it looks now as if he has simplified his game...The most difficult thing in football is to keep things simple and it seems that with maturity he’s learned to do that and has become more and more effective for his team...He can beat players, he can run, he can make goals he can score. You have international players, then world class player and he definitely belongs among them.”

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Scolari insists The Best Player in the World must deliver at Euros

"He's one of the five best players in the world. I can't say if he's the best...He's one of the best players I've worked with. Cristiano has shown that he is a player who can decide matches. Now he has all the potential to be one of the leading figures of world football...I hope he is not only the best player in the world playing for Manchester United, but also with the national team during Euro 2008."

Many people this year have already annoited CR7 as the best player in the world but Scolari either means what he's saying - that Ronaldo is not the best yet - or he is trying to use Ronaldo's quest for the Ballon d'or and FIFA's Player of the Year award to give as much to the Portugese national team as possible.

So this story is more about Portugal and Scolari than it is about CR7.

But you know how we feel here: if Portugal wins the Euros that may or may not cement Ronaldo's TBPITW status. What matters more than anything is the player's individual performance. Sometimes outstanding individual performances result in team wins, sometimes they do not...

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