Despite Tostao’s pessimistic outlook, other coaches, such as Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini, are of the opposite-opinion and believe that you can still play football with the ball on the ground. “In Italy, more importance is attached to the ball now. Before it was only Milan, now it’s Lazio and Fiorentina as well. Manchester United have also improved their playing style. The Spanish league has set an example,” said the Chilean to a Spanish newspaper.
Argentina coach Alfio Basile shares this philosophy. “Although you have to be balanced to avoid losing to a headet because of a lack of height, I firmly believe that games are won on the ground, ” he says.
Basile has a whole range of pint-sized stars at his disposal and trusts them implicitly. Besides Messi, his squad includes Manchester United’s latest idol, Carlos Tevez (also 1.69m) and Sergio Aguero, who at 1.72m is the face of the new-look Atletico Madrid side that are back among the top sides in the Spanish league for the first time in years.
Another diminutive Argentinian, Maxi Moralez (1.60m) of FC Moscow, was voted second-best player behind Aguero at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada last June following his country’s triumph in the tournament.

These two triumphs come at a time when various players of diminutive stature are making headlines, which suggests that a new trend is taking over.
Dutchman Wesley Sneijder and Brazilian Robinho, who measure in at 1.70m and 1.72m respectively, have become key figures at Real Madrid.
Then there is Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich (1.70m), who was voted France’s footballer of the year in 2007, while the Spanish national team includes midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, neither of whom is over 1.70m.
“I don’t think there was ever a time when people stopped believing in smaller players. They’ve always been around and always will be because the most important thing is individual quality and talent. It’s true that a footballer of shorter stature can dribble better, run faster or be more mobile,” explains Messi.
Although Messi asserts that people have always believed in short players, this is not backed up by the facts, which show that clubs have been very inflexible over the past two decades, rejecting players on grounds of height and giving precedence to taller ones.
Tostao, a player short in stature who won the FIFA World Cup™ in 1970 alongside Pele and Jairzinho, thinks that even in Brazil, more importance has been attached to physique in recent years. “Small players arc rejected by Brazilian junior teams. Romario was the last great forward who was short. The Europeans copied our skill and improvisation and we copied their marking systems, discipline and efficient aerial play, with the result that goals scored by beating opponents arc on the decline and will end up as rarities,” he says.

In a romantic return to times past, diminutive footballers seem to be reclaiming the decisive role once performed by the likes of Pele (1.71m) and Diego Maradona (1.68m), considered by many to be the best players ever.
Standing 1.69m tall and voted the second best player in the world by national team coaches and captains from all over the world, Argentinian forward Lionel Messi is the most obvious figurehead of the pint-sized footballing revolution.
The Barcelona player richly deserved his runners-up spot, despite a barren season at club and international level, and was second only to the Brazilian Kaka, who had won a host of titles with AC Milan, including the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Messi’s rise to fame and recognition, despite ending the season trophyless, may be due to the fact that the media, fans and coaches are keen to honour players blessed with great skill, who also tend to be of smaller stature.
This may go some way towards explaining how Marta, a petite 1.60m, carried off the FIFA Women’s World Player award even though her country, Brazil, lost the FIFA Women’s World Cup final to Germany, a nation with no shortage of powerfully built players.