As the saying goes, “You're Only As Good As Who You Surround Yourself With”. Well, it’s not always true. Some players, despite being surrounded by great players don’t ever get used to their teammates or club, and the supporters a tore left rue and read stories of ‘what might have been…’
Barcelona, as big as they are now, had players who despite their talent didn’t perform to their capabilities in the famous maroon stripes. The reasons are as varied as the terrain of the Himalayas, so hence, without further ado we look at five players who performed better for their country than their club Barcelona.
Trending
#5 Emmanuel Petit
Emanuel Petit in his three seasons at Arsenal earned cult status among the fans thanks to his escapades beside a certain Patrick Vieira in central midfield. In the summer of 2000, he went and won the UEFA Euro 2000 title with France.
Then came the ill-fated move to Barcelona, then managed by Lorenzo Serra Ferrer. In his autobiography, ‘A Fleur de Peau’ he spoke about how Ferrer never knew his best position. At Barcelona, the French midfielder was moved back into defence and had possibly the worst year in his career (during his prime). He left the Catalan giants after a year and joined Chelsea.
However, he continued his brilliant form for his country. He probably had the best year in the famous Les Blues shirt, with 14 appearances in the calendar year of 2000. The most he had in a single year, in his illustrious career which saw him make 63 appearances. Talk about square pegs in round holes.
#4 Claudio Bravo
When Victor Valdes decided to leave Barcelona, there was a huge void left at the goalkeeping position at Camp Nou. Victor Valdes had been the number one at the home of the Catalan giants for the best part of the decade.
The Barcelona management decided to go with two keepers to two keepers to fill the void, a seasoned pro in Claudio Bravo and a goalkeeper with great potential in Andre ter Stegen.
Just before signing for Barcelona, Claudio was brilliant for Chile in the FIFA World Cup and was probably the best goalkeeper in the tournament till the last 16 stage. His Barcelona career though was inconsistent at best, which didn’t help the fact that Luis Enrique decided to rotate his goalkeepers for the Cup competitions and the League.
But, when at Barcelona, he won two Copa America titles with Chile and now has the 111 caps for his country. Eventually, Barcelona were more than happy to sell when Manchester City came calling.
#3 Cesc Fabregas
This is the classic story of the right player at the wrong time for Barcelona. Cesc Fabregas was the prodigal son returning to the hallowed ground, and was supposed to be the long-term replacement for Xavi.
But, the former Arsenal man found it hard to get into the team in midfield with Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, and Sergio Busquets as the first choice and was instead played in the false nine position for most of his career at Barcelona. Finally, he left Barcelona after three seasons for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
However, despite the same three players in the Spain squad, he was much better for Spain, being one of the standout players as the Spaniards picked up their third international trophy in a row at European Championships in 2012.
#2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
In perhaps the most curious of transfer moves, Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Barcelona after one season Camp Nou. ONE. He scored 22 goals in the season, but as we know so well now, things didn’t go too well with the ‘Mister’.
Anyway, comparing his performances with other clubs, his Barcelona season is like a drop in the ocean. However, what kept the other big boys interested was his form for Sweden despite the underperformance with Barcelona. He scored 8 goals and guided Sweden to finals of Euro 2012, a feat which they had achieved only four times in their country’s history. Given, they have not qualified for a tournament since then is also an attestation to the Manchester United man’s contribution.
#1 Neymar
I know, I know. But mind you the name of the article ‘players from Barcelona who were better for their country’. So now the statistics, in his 176 appearances in the Les Clues shirt, he has scored 99 goals, that is a strike rate of around a goal in every two games. Comparing that to the famous yellow and blue of Brazil, the now Brazil captain has scored a staggering 51 goals in 76 international caps.
To put things into perspective, out of active players only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Clint Dempsey (erm), Wayne Rooney and Sunil Chhetri (of India) are above him in the list of international goalscorers. Mind you, he is just bloody 25 years old.
Also Read: 5 unbelievable records Lionel Messi can still break at Barcelona
Moving away from the statistics, he is the blue eyed boy for a football crazy country of 200 million people, and he has delivered every time of asking. Be it in the FIFA World Cup, as he single-handedly guided them to a semi-final or the Olympics Gold Medal.
Also Read: 5 reasons why Barcelona will win the Champions League trophy this season
Recently in an interview, one of English Premier League’s best players Philippe Coutinho said “He is the guy that decides a lot of games, we give the ball to him and he sorts it out”. That is the impact he has for his national team.
It can even be argued that he is as important to Brazil as a certain Lionel Messi is to Barcelona.
