Where money is meaningless

The conclusion of the Euro 2008 football championship has showcased some of the finest football we have witnessed so far.

Spain has shown how attacking football should be played and is truly worthy to be crowned the champion after 44 years with Russia being another team which has demonstrated some exciting football.

For those players who have played well, their value in the transfer market in the top professional leagues will certainly increase greatly.

We can only gawk in awe the amount of money these professional footballers are earning:

Ronaldo currently earns £120,000 a week at Old Trafford, lives in a £4mil mansion, has ordered an £835,000 Bugatti Veyron and is close to agreeing a new £23mil Nike sponsorship deal!(The Star, Sat 12th July)

Player salaries are on the rise in English Premier League.

(From AP Worldstream)

Byline: KADYR TOKTOGULOV

The average English Premier League player will make 676,000 pounds (US$1.2 million; A970,000) this year _ a 65 percent increase from 2000, according to a joint survey released.

List of Top 10 Highest-Paid Soccer Players By Forbes

1. Ronaldinho, Barcelona
Total Earning : $29.5 million eqv £16 million eqv €23.5 million

2. David Beckham, Real Madrid
Total Earning : $29.1 million eqv £15.8 million eqv €23.2 million

3. Ronaldo, AC Milan
Total Earning : $23.4 million eqv £12.7 million eqv €18.6 million

4. Wayne Rooney, Manchester United Total Earning : $17.2 million eqv £9.3 million eqv €13.7 million

5. Michael Ballack, Chelsea
Total Earning : $16.8 million eqv £9.1 million eqv €13.4 million

6. Thierry Henry, Arsenal
Total Earning : $15.8 million eqv £8.6 million eqv €12.6 million

7. Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid
Total Earning : $15.6 million eqv £8.5 million eqv €12.4 million

8. Fabio Cannavaro, Real Madrid
Total Earning : $14.6 million eqv £7.9 million eqv €11.6 million

9. John Terry, Chelsea
Total Earning : $14.3 million eqv £7.7 million eqv €11.4 million

10. Steven Gerrard, Liverpool
Total Earning : $14.2 million eqv £7.7 million eqv €11.3 million

It is incredulous that the wages of the players are astoundingly astronomical.

The players that command the highest pay are usually the strikers.
Isn’t football a team game?
If the strikers do not get the support from the midfielders or the defenders, they will not be able to score goals. Right?

Likewise, if the goalkeeper is not good at saving shots, the team will most likely lose.
Furthermore, the strikers can be good at scoring on one day and ineffective the next day.Remember those missed penalties?

So, why do they need to be so highly paid than the others?

If we are to convert all the top ten players’ wages from pound to ringgit, maybe it can drown a few Malaysian, from pound to rupiah, it can drown hundreds of Indonesians. And from pound to Zimbabwe currency? It can drown thousands of Zimbabwean!

So what do you think?
Do you agree that the wages of the footballers are simply overpaid and just plain silly and stupid?