Watching the Montreal Canadiens lose goaltender Carey Price to injury this week reminded me of what I often think is the great weakness of North American sports. Montravius Adams Jersey . The reliance of individuals in team sports. Hockey is obsessed with goaltenders. A team loses and the first place people look at for blame is in between the pipes. Baseball? As they say, momentum is all about the next days starting pitcher. NFL? Find an elite quarterback if you want to win the Super Bowl and stop using Trent Dilfer as an example (unless you can find one of the greatest defences to go alongside him). Basketball? You wont find many NBA championship teams that doesnt feature a current or future hall of famer. The global game of soccer is often very different, as the achievements of Atletico Madrid this week have shown. A sport that is so reliant on teamwork rarely allows a figurehead to rise to such prominence to make a championship be about them. Sure, domestic leagues have outstanding players who take over games, weeks, even months of a campaign, but without their teammates they are just one man with a ball at their feet. Even the greatest players in the world today are surrounded by players close to their level that allows them to perform brilliantly so often. For some reason, however, every four years many forget the common sense around this belief and two words are the reason for it. World Cup. There have only been nineteen of these in history and, specifically for the last 16 of them, it has been considered as the ultimate thing in the sport to win. However, the World Cup is not without its failings. Many games produce predictable, sterile games dominated by defensive-minded teams, unable to replicate the teamwork earned by club teams over long periods of time, who, subsequently, know its far easier to stop than score. It is a tournament that lasts one month every four years. The best team plays seven games and does not even have to win them all. Yet, because it is so short in time and so infrequent on the games calendar, the World Cup cares little for reputations, instead choosing to make them. This allows the sport to be much more North American in terms of individuals stamping their authority on it. With this in mind, collectively, we owe it to future generations to be extremely careful with the evidence provided (and this is not always easy with the lack of video available to us once the tournament ends). First of all we must remember that players can have excellent tournaments without actually winning it. This rule is for all, not just for those you didnt expect to win it anyway. Take Lionel Messis 2010 World Cup. Many adjectives have been used to describe this including poor and disappointing. What nonsense. Messi was excellent in South Africa but because he didnt score a goal some thought he was disappointing. When his out-of-his-depth manager, Diego Maradona, decided to play without a central midfield, Argentina were sent home packing in the quarterfinals. They never had a chance of winning the World Cup and none of that fell on the shoulders of Messi. Since leaving South Africa, Messi, with Barcelona, has won everything there is to win in club football, and added three more Ballon DOr awards. He has consistently succeeded in the most competitive tournament, the Champions League, the sport has to offer. He is described by many as one of the greatest players to play the game but suddenly he is removed from such a camp, by some, the closer a World Cup gets to starting, when a new hurdle is put in his path to reach the pantheon of greatness; a hurdle he simply cannot jump himself. Messis countryman, Ossie Ardiles, who won the World Cup in 1978, hit the headlines last week with this gem of a quote: "To be considered alongside the top, top guys like Pele and Diego Maradona and so on, Messi not only needs to be in the World Cup but to win it." Mr Ardiles isnt the only one who feels this way, of course, and in fact there is an alarming chance he is in the majority rather than the minority when it comes to this topic. What a pity. And while we are on this quote, who is so on exactly? When Pele played, the World Cup was everything. He changed the sport and is arguably the greatest player to play the game. The World Cup made him the global star that he simply couldnt reach himself at Santos. Maradona graced four World Cups and is forever remembered as the face of Mexico 1986. It is fitting for a man so talented that he had that event to catapult him towards the legends of the game but many who celebrate Maradonas greatness, because of those 30 days in Mexico, often, conveniently, forget his 1982 and 1994 World Cups ended in disgrace. 1990? Dont let their runner-up spot fool you. His team was even worse than Messis 2010 side and his performances werent even close to the ones shown by Barcelonas current star in South Africa. There is no disputing Maradonas greatness on the field but if the guardians of football history and, subsequently, the makers of reputations are going to base so much on what happens at World Cups then they need to be fair about it. In a sport that cares so often about who wins and loses this seems like an impossible task. Only one team can lift the trophy when it all finishes on July 11. Of course, Messi will be considered as one of the true greats if that team proves to be Argentina but why should we wait to find out what some of his flawed teammates can do for him before we give him such an honour? Just because Maradona, Pele and so on won the World Cup? The game is full of true, elite greats who never did. Pele and Maradona call Alfredo Di Stefano the most complete player ever and what of Johan Cruyff, who was magnificent in the 1974 World Cup and did everything but win the tournament? Rather than holding the World Cup to a higher standard that some cannot reach, those who lean on individual quality, should enjoy its beauty at producing other stars whose solo acts can carry their teams far. Garrincha, Eusebio, Cruyff, Paolo Rossi, Toto Schillaci, Roberto Baggio, Romario, Davor Sukur, Ronaldo, Oliver Kahn, Fabio Cannavaro, Diego Forlan and David Villa are just some examples of that. Some won, some didnt. Some are true greats, some arent. Their reputations were enhanced by their World Cup play but also because their team was able to get to the final week of the event. Neither Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo needs to win a World Cup to be graced amongst the greatest ever. It appears, before the tournament already starts, that Ronaldo doesnt have the team to get him to the trophy, and if the tournament proves the same for Argentina why should Messi be judged differently to Ronaldo? This special group, created by the likes of Ardiles, that features Maradona, Pele and so on is a hindrance to football history and an ignorance to the game itself. Corey Linsley Jersey . The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are giving it a try, too. Ray Nitschke Jersey .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Colts by 5RECORD VS. SPREAD — Cincinnati 8-8, Indianapolis 11-5SERIES RECORD — Colts lead 18-10LAST MEETING — Colts beat Bengals 27-0, Oct. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/Elite-Mike-Daniels-Packers-Jersey/ . Obasi chested the ball past one defender, prodded it past another and then rounded the keeper before scoring from a tight angle in the 16th minute. Seconds after the restart, Obasi set up Klaas Jan Huntelaar for the Dutchmans 11th goal from 13 games this season.BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona and Atletico Madrid both stumbled to draws on Sunday, tightening the Spanish league title race with Real Madrid now only one point behind the co-leaders. Barcelonas potent attack led by Lionel Messi was held 1-1 at Levante, leaving the door open for Atletico to later claim sole possession of the league lead. But Atletico conceded a second-half penalty at home against Sevilla to also finish 1-1 and squander its chance to rise to the sole lead in the standings for the first time since September 2010. "We had a good opportunity, but this is a long race," said Atletico defender Filipe Luis. "Its very difficult to compete with Real Madrid and Barcelona." Madrid trailed the co-leaders by five points two rounds ago, but while it has kept on winning-- most recently with a 5-0 rout of bottom-side Real Betis on Saturday-- Barcelona and Atletico drew with one another last round and have slipped again just past the seasons midway mark. Levante went ahead through Loukas Vyntras 10th-minute header, and its staunch defence did enough to take a measure of vengeance for the 7-0 thrashing Barcelona dealt the team in the season opener. Gerard Pique levelled for Barcelona in the 19th, but Levante defender Juanfran Garcia saved the visitors two best chances in the second half. "We were unlucky because we created scoring chances," Messi said. "We did everything possible to win." Elsewhere, striker Ikechukwu Uche scored his sixth goal in his last three league games to help Villarreal beat Almeria 2-0, while Getafe erased a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 draw at home with Real Sociedad. Far from the side that Barcelona humiliated in August, Levante lived up to its reputation as one of the leagues best defences by packing its area and largely limiting the visitors to long strikes that either crashed into bodies or sailed harmlessly wide. Joaquin Caparros side claimed the early lead when Vyntra rose up over Pique to head Andreas Ivanschitzs corner kick down and beyond the diving goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Pique made up for his slack marking by scoring an almost exact replica of the opener, jumping higher than a pair of defenders to redireect Xavi Hernandezs corner inside the far post. Quinten Rollins Jersey. . Messi, in his fourth game back after a long injury layoff, worked a one-two passing combination in close quarters with Cesc Fabregas to manufacture Barcelonas best chance in the 59th, but goalkeeper Keylor Navas saved Messis shot. Garcia was well positioned to block Xavis follow-up attempt, and three minutes later the centre back used his foot to turn away Messis goal-bound strike. Barcelonas frustrating night was summed up when Fabregas violently struck the dugout cover after coach Gerardo Martino replaced him with Sergio Roberto in the 73rd. With Neymar and Andres Iniesta both unavailable due to injury, Martino turned to Cristian Tello and B-team forward Jean Dongou as late substitutes. But Navas palmed Tellos late attempt wide to protect the point. "In our first meeting (with Barcelona) it felt like a tribute game to Neymar in his debut," Caparros said. "My team has changed a lot because you cant make a team in a day, not even in two or four months." Atletico started brightly when David Villa rifled in a clearance by Sevilla goalkeeper Antonio "Beto" Bastos in the 18th at Vicente Calderon Stadium. But Atletico didnt seriously threaten to extend its advantage and it was undone when defender Juanfran Torres pulled Sevilla striker Carlos Bacca down by his shirt in the area. Ivan Rakitic fired the spot kick into the corner of the net, just out of the reach of goalie Thibaut Courtois for the 73rd-minute equalizer. Sevilla finished with 10 men when Alberto Moreno was sent off with a straight red card for a low tackle in the 89th. "The draw is a pity," Courtois said. "We knew Barcelonas result before the game. Its too bad. When you go up 1-0 you hope to keep a clean sheet and win the match. Its tough, but thats the way it is." Uches strike against lowly Almeria was his 12th league goal this season, tying him with Sociedads Antoine Griezmann as the competitions third-leading scorers. Villarreal provisionally moved into fourth place with its third straight victory. Athletic Bilbao can reclaim Spains last Champions League spot when it plays Valladolid on Monday. 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