Winning the World Cup is, of course, the most important and significant achievement in the career of any professional football player. Despite the huge popularity of club competitions, the World Cup for national teams, held every four years, is not only incredibly popular, but also the most anticipated event for fans, players, coaches and, of course, sponsors.

But sometimes it’s not necessary to make a super effort to become a world champion. Sometimes it is enough just to apply for the final of the tournament, then you do not even need to appear on the field … And this did not happen only in the careers of mid-level football players (Eric Durm from Germany the national team at the 2014 World Cup or Jeronimo Rugli from the Argentina national team at the 2022 World Cup) , in the past performance of much brighter personalities who can also be safely called football stars…

Pepe (1958, 1962)

Brazilian José Macia, better known as Pepe, is a long-established Santos legend. In this team, the left midfielder spent his entire professional career and is remembered for his excellent performance, as well as for his five wins in the Brazilian championship. So far, in terms of goals for Santos, Pepe is second only to the phenomenal Pele, but all other Pisces scorers are far behind this legendary pair.

It is not surprising that such a talented and qualified player is also in demand in the ranks of the national team. Pepe applied for the triumphant world championship for Brazil in 1958 and 1962. But in both cases the midfielder was not lucky enough to spend at least a minute at the world championships … The reasons for both times were injuries – first Pepe injured his ankle, and four years later, literally at the last moment, he began to have problems with his knee.

As a result, other players played for Brazil in the World Cups, but Pepe took two golds and is one of the most decorated players in history. In total, he played 34 matches for Selesao, where he scored 16 goals. After completing his football career, he worked as a coach for a long time, mainly at home. Although not as bright as in the acting period, he had successes in this field as well. He retired from active football in 2004.

Now Pepe is 87 years old and quietly lives the time allotted to him in the world and periodically receives the absolutely deserved respect from modern football players and officials.

Franco Baresi (1982)

Italian Franco Baresi is one of the most famous and respected defenders in football history. He can boast of having a dizzying career in his hometown of Milan, where he played from his youth until the decision to hang his boots. A six-time Italian champion with the Red-Blacks, Baresi has become an absolute legend in continental football, winning the European Cup three times.

In 1982, Baresi became the world champion with the Italian team. However, Squadra Azzurra’s mentor at the time, Enzo Bearzot, preferred to entrust his place in the composition to other players, leaving the young Franco on the bench from time to time. As a result, the Italians reached the final, where they defeated the German national team (3: 1), but Baresi did not spend a single minute victorious for his team at that world championship …

Baresi had no relationship with Bearzot, so the defender never made it to the 1986 World Cup, but after the change of coach, he became one of the key players in the national team. However, neither at the 1990 World Cup nor at the 1994 World Cup in which Franco participated, Italy did not win, but Squadra Azzurra came quite close to victory both times – at their own world championship they took bronze and took second place. Tournament held in the USA. It is also interesting that at the 1994 World Cup, Baresi was the captain of the Italian national team and was one of the three players who did not notice his attempt in the Squadra Azzurra in the penalty shootout in the final …

Now Baresi is 62 years old. Since 2020, he has been vice-president of his hometown of Milan.

Daniel Passarella (1986)

Centre-back Daniel Passarella was captain of the Argentina national team when he won his first home world title in 1978. Passarella became the first Argentinean in history to win the World Cup, which has a certain symbolic meaning for the fans in blue and white.

At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, which also became a victory for the Argentines and is remembered for the excellent play of Diego Maradona, Passarella was also selected by the coaching staff, but due to an unfortunate accident, he did not play for a minute. at that tournament … The fact is that Passarella suffered an attack of enterocolitis because she spent the World Cup not on the field, but in bed.

True, in 1986 Passarella had an extremely difficult relationship with Maradona and head coach Carlos Bilardo. The defender accused them both of doing everything to keep Daniel from playing. Regardless, Passarella still took the gold medal as the winner of the 1986 World Cup, making him the only Argentine to win the world championship twice. Later, the defender often joked about this topic – they say that Argentina has 43 football players who are world champions and 44 gold medalists. Naturally, Passarella said these words long before the Blue-Whites’ third victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Passarella is currently 69 years old. After completing his career as a football player, Daniel worked as a coach for several teams and was president of his hometown River Plate from 2009 to 2013.

Ronaldo (1994)

Former Barcelona, ​​Inter, Real Madrid and Milan striker Ronaldo is one of the best players in the history of the Brazilian national team. In total, for Selesao, the Phenomenon, called the striker, played 98 games in which he scored 62 goals – this is the third indicator in the history of the team after Neymar and Pelé.

Ronaldo became world champion for the first time at the age of 17. The young talent at the 1994 World Cup decided to take the then coach Selesao Carlos Alberto Parreira as an advance, but the coach Ronaldo did not give a chance to prove himself. The striker did not appear once on the pitch, where the Brazilian national team’s coach was subjected to brutal criticism, but Ronaldo became the second player in world football history to win the World before he reached the age of 18. The trophy is gold. The first, as you might guess, was Pele, the legendary citizen of the Phenomenon…

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Ronaldo (right) and Brazil captain Dunga

Later, Ronaldo managed to play a much more important role in the World Cups for the Brazilian national team. In 1998, he helped Selesao reach the final, where the match against France did not go well for the South Americans (0:3). But four years later, in 2002, Brazil won the World Cup with Ronaldo in Japan and South Korea, and his top striker became the tournament’s top scorer (8 goals), among other things putting a double on a stunt. German Oliver Kahn’s goal in the final match.

Ronaldo ended his football career in 2011. Now 46 years old, he owns two football clubs – Spanish Valladolid and Brazilian Cruzeiro, where he once started playing at a professional level.

Dida (2002)

At the 2002 World Cup, mentioned above in Japan and South Korea, the winner’s gold medal was taken by another top football player, goalkeeper Dida, without playing a single match. Marcos, representing Palmeiras, defended Selesao’s doors in that tournament, but Dida, who had a contract with Milan, could not find a place in the squad.

However, we can safely say that Dida played a very important role in Brazil’s victory in the final against Germany. The author of the couple, Ronaldo, later admitted that he could not sleep for a long time before the decisive match, and he described his failure four years ago when he had an attack on the eve of the match with the French and in the main fight of the Tournament, the striker was not like himself. Fearing that something similar would happen again, Ronaldo wandered the corridors of the hotel and saw that Dida was awake too. As a result, the goalkeeper helped the striker restore morale, and in the final he turned out to be completely unstoppable.

“I discovered that our backup goalkeeper, Dida, was awake and we chatted for about an hour. She was very kind to me. It distracted me because she knew I would remember those contractions every time I remembered the 1998 final. The thought of it happening again was my biggest fear,” Ronaldo recalled in 2016.

As for Dida, her career skyrocketed after the victory at the 2002 World Cup. He has been a key goalkeeper for Milan, where he has won two Champions Leagues, the Italian Championship, Coppa Italia, the Italian Super Cup and two UEFA Super Cups. The Brazilian ended his career at home at the end of 2015. Until the summer of 2022, Dida, 49, was part of the Milan coaching staff, where Stefano Pioli helped work with the goalkeepers.

Pepe Reyna (2010)

Barcelona-born Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reino may not be the definitive star of world football, but his career is certainly a role model for many young goalkeepers. Finding herself derelict at her local club, Reina moved to Villarreal, where she proved herself well and deserved a transfer to Liverpool. After that, Pepe played only at the highest level for Napoli, Bayern, Milan, Lazio …

For the Spanish national team, Reina played 36 matches and was twice the European champion and once (in 2010) won the World Cup. Pepe didn’t actually have a chance to play in that World Cup, as his rivals included the great Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and the reliable Victor Valdez of Barcelona, ​​but he didn’t play a single game in the tournament either. South Africa.

It was said that Reina’s role in the dressing room of the Spanish national team is very important. Pepe has always found great words to inspire and support his teammates, and years later they have always remembered the reserve goalkeeper’s fiery speeches as something crucial that contributed to Red Fury’s victories.

Currently, Pepe Reina is 40 years old but continues his active career with a contract with Villarreal. The experienced watchman moved to the Yellow Submarine camp in the summer of 2022 and signed a one-season contract, and it is not yet clear what will be Reina’s decision when her employment contract expires – whether she will decide to hang up her gloves. a nail, consider expanding cooperation with Villarreal or else, as players say, they’d rather find another option to dust the dust off.

Text: meta.ua/sport