Not only was figo in his 30's we may not have scored in the group stage without him and we might have had a repeat of 2002. Yes he missed that chance against france but you're going to take a shot at figo for missing a header? (although yes it was a very open header but still )
CR may well surpass Figo. I got no problem with that. I am all for giving players their due respect when they deserve it. He does however have a way to go before surpassing Figo IMO but he is still young with much to learn. Portugal would only benefit with a strong CR.
On that substitution, I agree that he lost his head and did not handle it well. Im sure if we were to talk to him about it, he wishes he had handled it better but Im not going to discredit all that he has done because of one act. You take out CR close to the end of the game when your team is down by a goal in an important game and see what his reaction is going to be. He would freak. Players that are use to being the go to player when the team needs him do not take well when they are taken off. It is understandable to be disappointed. He simply did not handle it well. Now was it the correct decision to make. Maybe. I dont know. Who is to say that if they had taken another player off (instead of Figo) that Portugal would not have scored ? I do not want to turn this into a Figo vs CR argument because Im not about that. I am against putting one of them down in order to make points for the other though. Figo will go down in history as one of our best players ever. Made a few mistakes? Sure but still one of our best. That is including on our NT. If CR surpasses Figo in achievements one day, great. I dont mind that and Portugal will only benefit from that.
Of course, undisbutable. As a leader though? That is something that is clearly up to debate in my opinion. Rui Costa was more of a leader of that team then Figo. There is someone who led by EXAMPLE.
I will not argue with Rui Costa being a leader on that team. Also one of the most classy Portugal players of all times. An ambassador to Portugal.
Figo was a leader because of his talent and determination. Not all are vocals and half are surely temperamental. I agree that his attitude was disappointing against England but no one would like to be subbed against a great team in a very important match. Especially a guy with an "untouchable" status like Figo. C. Ronaldo is the same thing. Rio Ferdinand would probably go nuts also. He carried us multiples times over the years. It's a different kind of leadership, but perhaps is more important than just enticing the teammates by shouting. Rui Costa could of been a leader if he actually showed up in more games. He's not a vocal one and his contribution had very ups and downs. No influence whatsoever. Plus, it's pretty noticeable who player the squad actually respected and got inspiration from...
Bumping this one up to put a link to a figo wallpaper I made http://img109.imageshack.us/i/figov1.png/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/driving-it-home/ford-figo-takes-on-india/article1494927/ figo lives on!
Growing up Luis Figo was my futbol hero. I vowed that if I ever had a baby boy I would name him Figo. My wife actually liked it until she googled it and found out that F.I.G.O. is International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. I tried making it a middle name, so it's still a no-go. Perhaps I can get away with it as a nickname...
