If you examine the history of football for groundbreaking, "game-changing" innovations, you realize they have been scarce; by and large the game hasn't changed much. Some innovations resulted from a changing of the rules (on the macro-innovation level, if you will). Most of them, however, were truly driven by either organizational or individual excellence: for example, the position of the "Libero," the "sweeper" before the goal-keeper, who, freed from marking a direct opponent, was mandated with opening a team's game from deep in its own territory (German legend Franz Beckenbauer perfected this role in the '70s); the allure of the "playmaker" (personified by the French Michel Platini in the '80s); the introduction of a three-man defense row in the '90s; the "Sweeper-Keeper" performing the defensive actions of a libero; the increased importance of the "6," the defensive holding midfielder; and the Dutch "Total Football" concept with its fluid, attacking 4-5-1 and 3-2-5 formations.
The New York Times calls the relationship between Argentina’s national coach and legendary player Diego Maradona and his star player Lionel Messi a “complicated tango,” but, hey, a tango it is! Just take a look at the breathtaking resemblance of these two famous goals and the synchronicity of the players’ movements (Maradona’s goal against England at the World Cup 1986 – still considered the best goal of all times – and Messi’s goal in a Primera Division game against Getafe in 2007).
