By Chris Wright
Eric Cantona is not a man to be swayed by the faddy and fickle winds of fashion. He cares little for your zeitgeist. He has his own, merci beaucoup.
Addressing the press ahead of the upcoming Laureus Sports Awards in Shanghai, Cantona was asked who he thought the best player in world football is at this very moment.
Eschewing the usual suspects (Messi, Ronaldo et al), Cantona tousled his wiry beard, took a few moments to compose himself, adjusted his flat cap and proceeded to stride manfully off the beaten path.
“For me, the best player in the world is Javier Pastore,” he replied.
“I watched two PSG games just to see him play. For me, he is the most creative player at the moment.
“Pastore is full of surprises. I love this kind of player.”
Just for the record, Pastore has a grand total of three goals and five assists for PSG so far this season – though of course greatness is not measured in these things alone.
Eric also has some interesting thoughts about Spain’s World Cup victory in 2010, in that they didn’t win it at all:
“Catalonia won that World Cup. Spain won it with 10 Barcelona players in the team.
“Spain did not win the World Cup, Catalonia did. Barcelona won it.”
There you go. Who are we to argue?