Fairly or unfairly, football players are judged by the number of league titles and cups they amass over their careers. Luminaries like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham have accumulated team honours like most people accumulate tee shirts.
Messi has 33 trophies to his name… and his career is still in full-swing. Beckham has won six Premier League titles and one La Liga, two FA Cups and a Supercopa de Espana to add to two FA Community Shields, one UEFA Champions League and one Intercontinental Cup!
Although Messi, Ronaldo and Beckham are undoubtedly great players, there are men who are as talented but have failed to lift the silverware. Some still have time to reach their full potential, like England captain Harry Kane.
Others like Zambia national team player and incumbent defender for Israeli club Hopoel Ra’anana, Emmanuel Mbola will be hoping to add more prestigious honours to the Armenian Premier League title and Armenian Cup he has etched under his name.
Here are three top football players who have never won a major trophy:
Antonio di Natale
Image Source: goal.com
Star Italian striker Antonio di Natale was one of the best forwards in the Serie A. The precociously talented footballer was known for his speed and agility on the pitch. More importantly, he was enormously adept at scoring goals. At the end of his career he boasted 191 goals in 385 appearances.
Di Natale was one of the key players for Udinese and was largely credited with helping the club to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Although the man known as Toto never lifted a major title, he was the top goal scorer in the Serie A in consecutive years and the sixth highest goal scorer of all-time in the league.
The closest he ever got to glory was at Euro 2012 when the Italian national team reached the final, only to be beaten 4 - 0 by Spain.
Matt Le Tissier
Image Source: joe.ie
Matt Le Tissier was the mainstay of Southampton for his entire career. The attacking midfielder was so revered by fans, he was referred to as ‘Le God’. His creativity on the pitch together with his incomparable technical skills meant he was invaluable to the Saints.
Despite his consistent performances, Le Tissier was part of the Saints team that missed out on silverware by a whisker. Southampton finished as the unlucky runner-up in a Full Members Cup clash against Nottingham Forest, a result that left he and a few of his fellow players in tears.
Le Tissier was the first ever midfielder to score 100 goals in the English Premier League but his overriding claim to fame was his uncanny ability to score penalties. At the end of his career he had an unassailable record of 47 penalty kicks out of 48. Along with his awesome antics at Southampton, Le Tissier earned eight caps for England.
Jermaine Defoe
Image Source: goal.com
Current Bournemouth striker Jermaine Defoe has played for some of the best clubs in the top flight including West Ham, Tottenham Hotspurs and Portsmouth. He also ventured across the Atlantic to ply his trade for Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.
Defoe has been named Spurs Player of the Year, League Player of the Month and has made 57 appearances for England, scoring 20 goals in the process.
Notwithstanding individual honours and 162 goals in 496 league appearances to add to his national tally – a feat that has made him the joint tenth highest goal scorer in Premier League history - Defoe is yet to add a trophy to his cabinet.
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