Once upon a time, according to Greek mythology, there was a hunter named Narcissus. He was a very handsome man, but so proud of it that he disdained the people that cared about him. One day, to teach him a lesson, Goddess Nemesis lured him towards a river.
On the reflection provided by the water, he saw himself and instantly fell in love with the image. He wanted to embrace the image, and so when he tried to do it, he drowned in the pool. And this is how the term ‘narcissism’ came into existence.
Narcissism is when a person loves himself more than anyone else. In some cases, this is good. In others, where a superiority complex develops, not so much.
In the footballing fraternity, there are some players and managers who ooze narcissism. They love themselves so much that they can’t stop showering themselves with praise.
And here are 5 such characters…
Nicklas Bendtner
“If you ask me if I am one of the best strikers in the world, I would say ‘yes’ because I believe it.”
On the field, he enrages fans with his horrible displays of incompetency; missing easy goals every now and then. Off it, he makes them laugh with outrageously hilarious claims about himself.
There is delusion and then there is Nicklas Bendtner. At one point of time, Bendtner actually showed a lot of promise. He might as well have gone on to become one of the best players in the world had he emphasized more on working hard instead of gloating about himself to the media.
The grandeur of his delusions were so high that he actually believed that he deserved to play every minute of every game every week during his time at Arsenal and that playing for only clubs like “Real Madrid and Barcelona” could make him happy.
Mario Balotelli
“Only Lionel Messi is better than me.”
Mario Balotelli is a funny character. One could write an entire book about his (mis)deeds and yet not be able to fully cover it. He is remembered more for his off-field controversies than his time on the playing field.
And yet, he had the audacity to claim that only the Argentine Ballon d’Or holder, Lionel Messi, is better than him. Back when he made this claim, he was at Manchester City and was causing more problems for his own team than the opposition since every other week he was on the news for either being invisible in games or doing something crazy like burning down his own home.
“I am different. If you can find another like me, I will buy you dinner.” Yes, indeed. You are different. And narcissistic.
“I believe that I am more intelligent than the average person.” No, sir, you are not.
Cristiano Ronaldo
“I am booed because I’m rich, handsome, and a great player.”
Cristiano Ronaldo is a phenomenon. Unlike the two other aforementioned players on this list, the Portuguese is actually an elite player who can brag about his superiority simply because he is one hell of a player.
His outspoken and sometimes petulant nature results in him being disliked by many fans. It is for this reason that he has been booed in almost every stadium that he has played. However, the best about him is that he walks the talk—he channels his arrogance in the correct direction and, hence, yields the proper results.
But that doesn’t change the fact that he is among the most narcissistic footballers on this planet, only second to…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
“Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.”
“I can’t help but laugh at how perfect I am.”
“A World Cup without me is not worth watching.”
“What did I gift my wife on her birthday? Nothing. She already has Zlatan.”
If it was possible, he would have worshipped his own image, but Zlatan bowing to anyone, even himself, is too uncharacteristic of the man. We can fill out this entire slide with quotes by this great man, and yet we would miss out on a few of them at least.
Like Cristiano Ronaldo, however, he is a legendary player whose arrogance to be the best actually took him to the top, instead of just making noise like an empty vessel made of metal. He has won trophies for every club that he has played with, inflating his narcissistic complex even further.
Jose Mourinho
“Please don’t call me arrogant, but I am a European champion and I think I am a Special one.”
And we conclude our piece with the self-proclaimed Special One. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny the fact that he is one of the best tacticians of the modern era. He might be disliked more than he is liked—and that is thanks to his self-centered personality—but there are only a few managers better than him for a club that wish for quick success.
After winning the league with Real Madrid, Mourinho became the only manager in history to win league titles in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain. This prompted him to ask the press to no longer call him the Special One, but the Only One.
He has never been shy to make statements that inflated his own ego, something which also has been a reason for his downfall in his last two clubs.
