World Cups and Ballons d’Or – short centre-backs like Martinez can be icons

Manchester United are on the verge of signing Ajax centre-back Lisandro Martinez who stands at 5ft 9in tall.

Some are already taking a look at the deal with surprise especially given on two occasions, at least, he could come up against 6ft 5in man forged from fjord – Erling Haaland.

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Former Man City star Trevor Sinclair has his fears about the match-up, for sure.

“I’m just looking back at when Haaland was signed by Man City, and he said the club he’d most like to play against is Man United…,” he told talkSPORT.

“And I’m looking at Martinez – he’s 5ft 9in. Imagine Haaland, who is a 6ft 5in giant, against him in a one-on-one.

“He’s that tall and he’s a centre-half. I know people say he plays in midfield too, well let’s hope for Man United’s sake he’ll be playing in midfield that day, because I wouldn’t like to see that mismatch.

“Martinez is my height. It’s like me marking Lukaku with a ball into the box!”

Interesting thing is, the one time the two have played against each other was a 4-0 Ajax Champion League win with Martinez putting his enormous opponent into his back pocket.

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Proof, thankfully, football is a game for all heights.

From Peter Crouch’s gangly 6ft 7ins frame to former Barcelona forward Ludovic Giuly, who’s a mere 5ft 3ins, you’ve got a chance if you’re good enough regardless of physical stature.

Lionel Messi being 5ft 5ins shows a smaller frame should never hold you back from achieving greatness, however, you’d never catch the Argentine maestro playing in defence like his compatriot Martinez.

But there have been plenty of defenders who became legends of the game despite being under six feet tall and they will no doubt inspire Martinez at Old Trafford.

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Franco Baresi

Nicknamed ‘Piscinin’, which translates as ‘Little One’, but there’s no doubt Baresi achieved big things in his career.

Baresi was a one-club man, representing AC Milan for 20 years and the Italian national team for 12 years.

In that time he won six Serie A titles, three European Cups/Champions Leagues and was runner-up to former Milan teammate Marco van Basten in the 1989 Ballon d’Or award.

But perhaps Baresi’s biggest honours saw him get voted AC Milan’s ‘Player of the Century’ in 1999 and the Serie A Player of the Century in 2000.

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Fabio Cannavaro

A World Cup always evaded Baresi but Italian compatriot Cannavaro has one of those to his name.

He captained the Azzurri to glory in Germany back in 2006 with one of the finest defensive performances the game has ever witnessed.

In the same year, Cannavaro scooped the Ballon d’Or award, beating the likes of Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane to the prize.

Unlike Baresi, Cannavaro wasn’t a one-club man. He represented seven sides including Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid. He won fewer club trophies than Baresi, winning two LaLiga titles with Real Madrid and three pieces of silverware with Parma.

But they are the same in terms of height, with both 5ft 9ins tall – just like Martinez.

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Carles Puyol

From two of Italy’s best defenders to one of Spain’s in Puyol, who enjoyed a stellar 18-year career with Barcelona.

Puyol, who stands at 5ft 10ins, has countless medals to his name, including six LaLiga titles, two Copa del Reys and three Champions League crowns.

He’s been there, done that and got the t-shirt on the international scene too, playing a key role in Spain’s first World Cup triumph in 2010 and also winning Euro 2012 with La Roja.

His individual accolades are also impressive, Puyol being named in the UEFA Team of the Year six times in the space of nine years and being named in the UEFA Euro All-time XI back in 2016.

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Javier Mascherano

Puyol was entering the twilight years of his career under Pep Guardiola, but he had a more than competent Mascherano to call upon too.

The Argentine was signed as a defensive midfielder but was promptly converted to centre-back in a Barcelona side that won everything.

And he continued winning more after Guardiola left.

His Barca career came to an end in 2018, and he left with 19 trophies in his suitcase before finishing his career two years later.

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Ronald Koeman

It’s testament to Barcelona’s famed philosophy that they’ve had a number of top centre-backs who aren’t tall.

Before the likes of Puyol and Mascherano came Koeman, who captained them to their first European crown in 1992.

As well as winning ten trophies in six years at Barca, Koeman won a number of trophies with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven in his native Netherlands.

Koeman, who stands at 5ft 11ins, was also part of the national team’s Euro 1988 winning campaign and has won Dutch Footballer of the Year twice.

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Bobby Moore

And where better to finish than England legend Moore, who captained England to their, to date, only major trophy.

His height of 5ft 11ins may come as a surprise as he often looked an imposing figure on the pitch.

Although he doesn’t boast the same trophy haul as players above, the former West Ham man was a defender ahead of his time.

Moore would frequently play the ball out from the back or go on a dribble any striker would be proud of during an era where English defenders were encouraged to boot the ball out the ground at the first opportunity.

And like many more after him, Moore was never going to let his height, or lack of it, hold him back.

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