In team sports, it is not only the interaction between players and their overall level that is crucial but also the presence of a true leader in the team. This is the person who becomes the captain of the club. For each match, one player leads the team with a special armband on his arm. However, his role is not limited to greeting the opposing team and playing the first touch in the match.
Far not always the captain is the best scorer of the team. It should be a true leader of the team, who can help the coach to keep the team afloat even in a situation when the correct score is not achieved on the soccer field. This is the main man on the field and in the locker room, a player who can help turn the game upside down in tough situations. Many top captains have helped to significantly improve mutual understanding in the team and bring success even to those teams whose success was hard to believe in.
What qualities a soccer captain should possess
The right choice of player for this position will help to get the correct score in the game. The captain will not be the most technical or the fastest player. For this role, the team must have many qualities that are lacking individually strong players.
The most common qualities coaches emphasize when choosing a captain are as follows:
- dedication to the team;
- the player understands the coach’s philosophy and can communicate it to the team;
- the player realizes that his words carry weight everywhere;
- cold-bloodedness;
- the ability to quickly resolve a conflict situation.
Some coaches also still emphasize the ability to stand up for their players on the field. But in this case, it is important to understand the line of cold-blooded communication and a reasoned approach from insolence and rudeness. The latter can lead to the removal of a player from the field, and the captain simply has no right to let his team down like that.
The most prominent examples of soccer captains in history
Good captains are those players who can help keep the team afloat. Great captains are those players who can lead their team to victory. Their leadership qualities and skills can be most clearly seen in the example of 5 successful captains in soccer history. Players from different soccer roles are chosen.
Francesco Totti
The attacking midfielder of Italian Roma spent his entire career only in this club. He was loyal to the club and supported the management during the up and down hours. He spent a total of 24 seasons for the team but only managed to become the Italian champion once. The team regularly changed players and coaches, but Totti was irreplaceable.
He knew how to smooth sharp corners and regularly joked with his partners. He was also an extremely humble player and did not allow himself to say “I am the best of the best”. He always spoke well of his partners and supported them in difficult moments. And his selfies after his goal against Lazio have gone down in history as one of the most unusual goal celebrations in Italy.
Oliver Kahn
Many goalkeepers have become captains of their teams. All players in this role should inspire confidence in the team and be a kind of conductor of the orchestra. But Oliver Kahn was a great captain who proudly played this role for Bayern for 6 years.
He was a technical goalkeeper who was always successful in introducing the ball onto the pitch. He also stood out with a very distinctive appearance and very eccentric behavior during the game. With his shouts and arguments, he often gave the team an emotional leap and could turn on even the calmest players. Even in some commercials, his behavior was associated with the roar of a lion.
Today, Oliver Kane is spoken of in the best possible terms by all Bayern players who have encountered him as a manager or a player. Thanks to his skills, the team reached their goal more than once. His leadership qualities allowed Ballack and the company not to worry about scrapping and scoring as many goals as possible for the opponents.
Franz Beckenbauer
At one time he was considered a defender, although he was rather the number six on the field and the so-called “breaker”. It was after his successful actions appeared this position because the Kaiser played in front of the defenders and did everything to ensure that the opponent’s attack ended without starting.
Being a Bayern player Beckerbauer organized a quality defense of the team and did not allow opponents to get closer to their goal. He instilled terror in the opposing attackers and gave Gerd Muller and other players confidence. The attack could show off and score goals, because if they made a mistake, Kaiser would do everything himself.
Therefore, Franz’s decisions were never criticized. Also, his leadership qualities were recognized at the international level, which allowed him to become the European champion three times in a row.
Paolo Maldini
He was not called Il Capitano for nothing. Maldini became the leader of the team only in 1997 when his colleague Franco Baresi finished his career. It seemed that he would not be able to play at a high level for a long time because he was already 29 years old. But Paolo was able to play 12 more incredible seasons.
Maldini could always give advice to his teammates, was one of the first to meet newcomers, and helped them adapt to the team (many Milan players in the “zero years). Paolo played more than 900 matches for the Rossoneri until he finished his soccer career at the age of 42.
Roy Keane
This Irishman was feared by everyone because he spared neither himself nor his opponents in podiatric. He was a rough, temperamental, and very sharp player. But it was thanks to his skills in Manchester United built the whole team of winners. And Roy Keane was the centerpiece of it.
He thoroughly intercepted the opponents’ attacks, prevented them from starting to play the ball in their half, and did everything to ensure that the players of his team also had time to reorganize in time. His leadership qualities helped him to be the first to see the actions of opponents and even moving around the field he had time to give a clue to the players of his team. He was the perfect captain for Sir Alex Fergusson, as they had identical characters and understood the philosophy of the game in the same way.
Conclusion
As can be seen, many captains did not become the top scorers or the most technical players. However, they were the ones who could make the correct score in a game by their actions without being distinguished in the match record. Each captain was a leader and was often loyal only to their team. It was thanks to them that great teams were built that won both club and national team tournaments.
