Something that stirs emotions is memorable. Something strikingly different is memorable. Scoring a winning goal is memorable. Winning in itself is simply not enough.

Which modern players will not stick in the collective memory despite all the success they had? Which ones will?

Destined to be forgotten

Michael Ballack
Born smack in the middle of Germany’s crappy generation and while coming awfully close, did not ever win an international title, which tickled a certain type of mean-spirited fan. This disqualifies him from being remembered.
Ballack was not unbearably arrogant, nor particularly dirty. Just unlucky.

David Beckham
Beckham’s football image suffers from two things. One is that he was too ubiquitous in non-football settings. Two is that English football culture of the time was not tactically adept enough to realise that he was more a central, passing midfielder playing wide than a winger as such.

Why did Manchester United win the 1999 Champions League? Ryan Giggs, Beckham, Dwight Yorke, and luck. But the last three have been severely undervalued in the success.

Meanwhile Beckham did not end a one-club man like Paul Scholes and Giggs, so Man United diehards don’t care about him. For five years Beckham was absolutely everywhere in England. Then he was immediately gone, and 100 per cent forgotten in a football sense.

His direct replacement in Cristiano Ronaldo also became the greatest player of all time to regularly grace English soil, which doesn’t help.

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Thierry Henry
I am shocked by how few footprints Thierry Henry left behind. He defined the 2000s in the Premier League and was one of Europe’s best forwards of the era, but was all but burnt out aged 28, left Europe at 32 and was gone.

Henry was never rewarded with a Ballon d’Or he clearly deserved, let down by Arsene Wenger’s (in hindsight) flimsy grasp of tactics in Europe.

Nor did Henry score in any finals. With two missed one-on-ones he blew his one chance to win the Champions League as the main man with Arsenal in 2006. He was not quite the main man when he did win certain major trophies (1998 World Cup, 2009 Champions League).

Like Cristiano Ronaldo, Henry’s movement was thrilling but perhaps not quite balletically ‘beautiful’. He was surface-level charismatic but perhaps not charismatic enough below the surface, and his memory with the French team has already been eclipsed by the similarly-styled but slightly more effective Kylian Mbappe.

Oliver Kahn
As an unbeatable goalkeeper for crappy teams, Kahn dominated football for four seasons between 1999-2002, to the extent that he unexpectedly won the 2002 World Cup Golden Ball. But he elevated a Bayern Munich team who were the absolute nadir of defensive play for the sport, and did the same for Germany in 2002.

He personified the unlovability of German football before its 2006 reboot, so people were not sorry to see him fall and tried hard to forget this era. The fall began, of course, by Kahn coughing up the 2002 World Cup final.

Kaka
Yet another Brazilian who burned brightly for a bit and then was gone. The others all won World Cups, though, which excuses them. Kaka didn’t, except as a young’un along for the ride, and otherwise didn’t even come close.

Alessandro Nesta
“Nesta and Cannavaro”, a byword for classic Italian defending. So why was Fabio Cannavaro’s twin forgotten in comparison?

It was mostly because Nesta was injured during Italy’s successful 2006 World Cup, and his messy replacement Marco Materazzi left his fingerprints smeared over the 2006 World Cup in amazingly numerous ways, for someone who only played three and a half games in it.

Materazzi and other star Italian defenders also have a habit of scoring memorable key goals (Nesta only scored one in his entire career), downgrading Nesta in the consciousness, although Nesta did score a key penalty in the 2003 Champions League final.

Nesta had a long career and did not chase limelight. But name some classic Italian defenders: Gaetano Scirea, Giuseppe Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Cannavaro… and then perhaps Nesta comes next. Even the inferior Giorgio Chiellini captained Italy to a trophy later on.

Raul
Another player perhaps brought down a peg because of his arrogance. He was the star forward and figurehead of three Champions League titles, yet Real Madrid achieved even more a decade later, so 1998-2002 slips from memory.

Raul became the forgotten galáctico once Real became the Harlem Globetrotter All-Stars, and seemingly lost all of his previous footballing ability after 2003.

As the man who monopolised power with Real and Spain, he was also held accountable for Spain’s continued failings. Spain, in fact, became the greatest team of all time literally the moment they cut him. Not good for the CV.

Rivaldo
Spent the 1998-2002 period as the world’s best player and then was a lynchpin in winning the 2002 World Cup. So, what the hell happened? He was never thought about again once he failed with Milan a year later. Was also eclipsed in the memory by the goofy, joyful personifications of Brazilianness, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

Arjen Robben
The downside of Lionel Messi-Ronaldo is that they ate up everything else around them. For a decade Robben was the best player in the world – besides those two. He was the main man for Bayern’s 2013 Champions League win, and took Holland to silver and bronze placings in consecutive World Cups.

But for some reason fans like to jeer players who fall just short. Robben missed his one-on-one in the 2010 World Cup final, and a penalty in the humiliating 2012 Champions League final loss.

I think currently people still remember him but it won’t last.

Roberto Carlos
The most decorated player of his era: a World Cup title and three Champions Leagues back when they were harder to win than today, all as an undisputed star of his teams. Absolute gun player.

Yet Brazil itself always had more lovable, iconic forwards attracting attention, and his Real Madrid always had more classic, handsome Spanish-nationality figureheads.

Perhaps the crux: Roberto Carlos was a disrespectful player and person. The football world laughed uproariously at some of his late-career mistakes.

Though Roberto Carlos was absolutely unique, style-wise Dani Alves did similar things with a touch more class, and Marcelo won even more Champions Leagues as an iconic (though fallible) attacking Brazilian left-back with Real Madrid.

Romario
Single-handedly won a World Cup, which should guarantee immortality. But Romario became the poster boy of complacency thereafter, which is 50 per cent of the way he’s remembered by posterity. Gave up on a serious club career the moment Roberto Baggio’s penalty cleared the bar, and didn’t even play for Brazil again for another three years after the 1994 World Cup Final. Another player eclipsed by Ronaldo’s charisma.

Wayne Rooney
Rooney didn’t personify his club quite like Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard, nor did he ever find further success for England after Euro 2004. Memorable as a fine No.2 in a great Manchester United team, but as the England national team goes from strength to strength now, I think Rooney’s time will quickly slip away.

Players who will be half-remembered

Roberto Baggio
Baggio was a very moving figure, even by Italian standards. His achievement in single-handedly helping Italy to the brink of World Cup glory, and then fallibly in a human way being unable to take the final step, centres him in one of the greatest stories of Italian football folklore.

He is not too tainted by Juventus-ness, which helps. Like Ronaldinho, his hair helps him be different and memorable too.

Fabio Cannavaro
Cannavaro is a representation of the classic Italian “every defender” – but he is the only one of them who captained Italy to a World Cup title.

Eric Cantona
Look, I don’t like this one at all, but in the English-speaking world we can’t claim Cantona was ever forgotten. He did bugger-all at international and Champions League level and no one on the continent cares about him, but by coming to a robotic English league (featuring no defensive midfielders) and completely redefining it, Cantona single-handedly began the Premier League era. He also oozed charisma.

Samuel Eto’o
I think Eto’o sticks in football’s memory a tad, though this is not a given. He spearheaded two Champions League-winning Barcelona teams (and won a third with Inter), was part of two unforgettable tandems with each of Ronaldinho and Messi, and has cachet as probably the greatest African player of all time.

Stephen Gerrard/Frank Lampard
Only memorable for Premier League followers, not worldwide.

These two are the physical embodiment of their still to this day successful clubs, especially Gerrard. Each was the captain of a Champions League-winning team.

In tandem they also defined an era, albeit a highly unsuccessful, forgettable one with England.

Kylian Mbappe
Paris Saint-Germain are not relevant – without a struggle to win the league, PSG are reduced to 2-4 matches of note per year (which they then often cough up in un-battle-hardened, comical circumstances). That is simply not enough to matter in the scheme of things. Neymar and 2022 Messi are similarly irrelevant.

Mbappe’s place in the half-memory is secure as an iconic World Cup winner and the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pele. To be fully remembered he had better get into gear soon.

Ronaldo Nazario de Lima
In a perfect world the pantheon would be Maradona, Ronaldo (Brazilian) and whoever else. The world is not perfect. It doesn’t help when someone with your exact same name already eclipses you within a decade of your retirement.

Ultimately Ronaldo simply didn’t play enough. Besides some early thrills in Spain, he is only really remembered for the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. I cannot even write his name without having to specify who I really mean.

The modern players who will remain in the collective memory

Ryan Giggs
Remembered as the greatest – and most exciting – British player of the modern era. Like Maldini, his longevity and status as a one-club player make him, after Bobby Charlton, the greatest of all Manchester United players.

Paolo Maldini
Maldini was a dignified representation of Italian defenders and defensive football culture, more so as he did it for longer than any of the others – 20-plus years. He represented himself and Milan well in a dirty industry. Again, sticking with one club creates a pedestal, though when I analyse it I’m not sure why. The human brain likes simplicity.

Leo Messi/Cristiano Ronaldo
Another two who need to be mentioned in tandem. Everyone has their opinions on who to mention first but as a collective: the two greatest ever? Defined a decade/generation of football. Scored too many damn goals to ever be forgotten.

The one thing I’ll add is that Messi’s movement is also aesthetically very beautiful. For legal reasons writers need to always compare such beauty of movement to Nijinsky and Baryshnikov, though I never saw them in action.

I suspect that, but for his longevity and bloody-mindedness, Cristiano Ronaldo would have been forgotten as Messi’s shadow if not for his mid-career, mid-decade serial trophy winning. I’ll never really know how that unphilosophical Real Madrid team won three Champions Leagues in a row, but they did, and he was the lynchpin of it. And as captain he even won the 2016 Euros with Portugal. The mind boggles.

Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho is borderline. He suffers from the warp speed with which he disappeared from the scene (give my regards to Romario and Rivaldo), and from having a name that reminds us of The Simpsons’ take on football: Arriaga, Arriaga II, Barriaga.

But with his flowing hair, bright smiles and joyful play, and his beautifully aesthetic, uncontainable movement, Ronaldinho was surely unique. He had too much otherworldly skill, charisma and happiness to not be remembered. If he hung around for five more years he was a shoo-in for greatest player of all time.

If you’re the type who wants results rather than excuses (or ballet), ultimately Ronaldinho did win both World Cup and Champions League as the main guy on both teams, putting him above literally every single other Brazilian forward in history on that front.

Xavi/Iniesta
These are one single entity, impossible to mention one without the other. They changed the sport and defined an era. They are the titular representatives of the most iconic club team of the modern era and probably the greatest national team of all time, winning trophy after trophy after trophy.

Unlike the others, these are not charismatic people – in fact Barcelona and the Spanish national team’s cultures famously wanted everyone humble through the era, as an antidote to destructive Raul, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo (from a team-balance point of view) and Jose Mourinho types.

Zinedine Zidane
Zidane will end up the most ‘memorable’ footballer post-Maradona. While he was far less consistent a player than he ever gets credit for, Zidane is fascinating for myriad reasons:

Multiple iconic goals in finals. The central figure of two World Cup finals.

Sociologically re-wrote what “being French” could mean.

The beauty of his balletic movement.

The uniqueness and fallibility of his head-butt in 2006.

The inexplicably hyper-successful coaching career.

His bald patch makes him look unlike a classic athlete.

His broodiness and inscrutability.