http://www.claysoccer.org/soccer-skills-maradona/
soccer skills maradona
Is soccer the most egalitarian of team sports?
When you compare soccer to other popular team sports like football, basketball, baseball, and hockey, it’s clear that having a genetically-predisposed size advantage in soccer is not that big a deal when compared to those other sports. For example, Diego Maradona is considered by some to be the greatest player who ever lived, and he was a stocky guy who stood at a measly 5’5″. Can you imagine a stocky 5’5″ becoming a football, basketball, hockey, or baseball legend?
And it’s not as if Maradona is an exemplary case. Paul Scholes, Lionel Messi, Aaron Lennon, Alessandro del Piero, Theo Walcott, Fabio Cannavaro, Roberto Carlos, Joe Cole, Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney… All of these players are world-class superstars who would be considered “small and undersized” in all the other aforementioned sports. But their size isn’t really an issue in soccer because soccer is more about technique and skill than raw physical advantage.
In most other team sports your position is decided by your size and build. If you’re quite small playing rugby you’re a scrum half, if you’re very tall – second row and so on. It’s the same in others but in soccer it’s mostly about skill.
However, there are some exceptions. The fastest guy on the team isn’t ever going to be a goalkeeper and probably not even a center half. He’ll be a winger or striker. The big strong guy won’t be a winger or full back but depending on his skills there are still a few different options available (goalkeeper, center half, center forward).
There’s only one thing I disagree with you on and that’s putting Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon in that list. They’re good and they’ll get better but they’re nowhere near any of those other players.