If you do not take into account the position of the goalkeeper, then high growth for a football player is not at all important, although it is still more difficult for small players to fight for the ball. Another plus of growth is running speed and maneuverability, which especially helps flank players.
We decided to make a selection of stunted players starting from 170 cm and below, but consider only those who have achieved some success in their field.
You can find small guys somewhere in Saudi Arabia or China, but their names are unlikely to be familiar to you, and many football fans know our heroes.
10. Lionel Messi
Perhaps the greatest football player in history since childhood was feeble: at the age of 11 he was diagnosed with deviations in the development of the pituitary gland, which is why he grew slower than his peers. His family did not have money for treatment, but the boy’s talent was noticed by the Barcelona scouts, after which the club paid for all expenses.
Lionel managed to grow up to 170 centimetersthat for the player the attack is still not enough. However, this did not stop him from breaking almost all possible records in LaLiga, the club and the Argentine national team, and also forever writing his name in history.
9. Alexis Sanchez
The growth of this football player 169 centimetersthat would not have been so striking if he hadn’t played in the English Premier League, which is considered the most aggressive.
Due to the abundance of struggle on the field, undersized players there basically do not take root there, so the case with Sanchez is a rarity. In the Italian Serie A, which is also famous for its tall and physically strong defenders, the Napoli winger Dris Mertens performs quite well, although the Belgian is also only 169 cm tall.
8. Ngolo Kante
This Frenchman of Malian origin has growth 168 cm, which is incredibly small for his position as a defensive midfielder, especially in the Premier League. Due to his growth, he was not accepted to the children's academy (he was refused several of them), so he trained with amateurs until he came of age.
The real football phenomenon proved to be during the Leicester championship season, and now it is working wonders in the Chelsea T-shirt and the French team, which helped to become world champions at the last world championship.
Of the stars of the past with similar growth, one cannot help but recall Roberto Carlos, whose left leg terrified all the defenders of the world. Its incredible speed and even more incredible cannon strike will forever remain in the hearts of football fans.
7. Mathieu Valbuena
The French midfielder, whose best career years came to perform for the Marseille Olympic, has grown to 167 cm. In France, where there is not much physical struggle, he managed to prove himself well, and many believed that in another league he would have failed.
Nevertheless, subsequent performances for Dynamo Moscow and Istanbul Fenerbahce (where he plays now) proved that a talented football player can play well anywhere and with any height. For his national team, he spent over 50 matches, although he was not called up either in the youth or in the children's team, immediately falling into the adult.
6. Marcelo Diaz
The Chilean midfielder did not become a world star, but nevertheless proved himself worthy during the game for the Swiss “Basel”, the German “Hamburg” and the Spanish “Celta”.
He achieved the greatest success in the national team, in which he was the main one in two Confederate Cups, winning for Chile, where his team left stellar Argentina with Messi at the head. Remember the tears of the Argentine after losing in that finale? Marcelo Diaz is one of the reasons. Marcelo's Growth 166 cm.
5. Marco Verratti
The growth of this Italian is only 165 cmbut despite this he is not lost on the field, playing in the center. Thanks to his high football intelligence, he deserves a comparison with Andrea Pirlo, who, by the way, is the idol of Verratti.
PSG midfielder has been interested in grandees from other top leagues for many years, but Marco has not yet decided on the transition. Given that he is only 26 years old, there is every chance to see him in the shirt of another team. The greatest player with a height of 165 cm was the Argentinean Diego Armando Maradona.
4. Sebastian Jovinko
Italian with growth 164 cm spent the best years of his career in the middle peasant - Parma, but failed to gain a foothold in the top Juventus. For their small stature and high speed, the fans called him the atomic ant, which amused the player himself, but did not offend him at all.
In 2015, after an unsuccessful season with the zebras, he moved to the American Toronto, becoming one of the highest-paid league players with a salary of $ 10 million per season. Having successfully played there for 3 years, he went to finish playing Saudi Arabia by signing a contract with Al-Hilal.
3. Lorenzo Insigne
One of the best players in the Italian Napoli (albeit not so bright in recent seasons) has a growth 163 centimetersthat does not stop him from passing huge defenders.
Pre-match photos look especially funny when teams enter the field accompanied by children. Along with other football players, children look as expected, but Lorenzo is constantly unlucky: children often turn out to be the same height as him, and sometimes even taller.
2. Maxi Morales
Argentinian with growth 160 cm (according to some reports, 159) began a professional career in his homeland, in the club "Racing", where from a couple of years he moved to FC "Moscow".
After a little wandering, he finally got into the Italian “Atalanta”, for which he spent almost 150 matches and scored two dozen goals, which is not so little for the midfielder. Now he defends the colors of New York City, demonstrating a very decent level.
1. Rui Barrosh
Portuguese with growth 159 cm during his career he managed to play for Porto, Monaco, Marseille and Juventus, having won a total of 18 team trophies. During performances for “Porto” he was even recognized as the footballer of the year in Portugal in 1988.
Now his name has already been forgotten, but in the 80-90s he was quite popular, not least due to growth. Fans adored him, sincerely perplexed and admiring his ability to control the ball, covering him even from opponents who are 20-30 centimeters taller than him.