Is Jamie Vardy the ultimate big-game player?
"I never thought I could make it to the Premier League. I just wanted to keep improving as much as I could and see where that got me.” – Jamie Vardy
It's not often that players emerge out of nowhere and steal the limelight all of a sudden. It's not often that you become everyone's favourite in a trice.
Especially not when you are playing football in England, where each and every move you make is closely monitored and scrutinised.
A man who broke this myth recently and who went on to become the heartthrob of an entire nation is none other than Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy.
He was the principal component when Leicester's fantasy became a reality in 2016 when they won the Premier League title.
There appears to be an apparent criteria players, especially forwards need to fulfil if they are to be termed as "world-class".
A condition which acts as an imaginary yardstick against which the success of a player is measured:
The ability to produce when it matters. The ability to rise to the big occasions and engrave his footprint when the onus is on you to take responsibility.
And, if indeed that is a measure of a quality of a player, then there exists a superstar in English football, who just loves the big stage, and he who goes by the name of Vardy.
The Leicester City Fairytale
Remember when we were young and we often listened to stories about fairies and pixies weaving their magic to make the world a better place?
Well, there is absolutely no question what children in Leicester will listen to in years to come. The fairytale of the 2015-16 season.
Promoted a year before, Leicester had to rely on some late-season form to avoid relegation as they finished six points off the relegation zone.
And, it's the plain pure truth when I say that not a single person in the world would've expected them to claim England's top prize a year later.
Without big names, star players, huge resources or a bountiful transfer budget, Leicester City achieved the seemingly impossible task of winning the league title as they won it by a 10-point margin, losing just three games, having lost 19 games the year before.
For every title-winning team, there needs a ruthless goal-scorer who is prepared to chase down any ball and who is always on his toes, sniffing out scoring chances.
Vardy was exactly one of them. The striker amassed 24 goals and eight assists in the league as he became their go-to man when things got rough.
Vardy's love for the big stage
It's every striker's dream to score goals and doing that against the bigger teams on paper, gives them extra confidence and motivation.
At a time when money was being injected into the Premier League from all directions, it takes something special to beat the "top-six" clubs, for a club of Leicester City's stature.
In their league winning campaign, Vardy scored three goals against Arsenal, a brace against Liverpool, and a goal each against Manchester United and Chelsea.
He also broke Ruud Van Nistelrooy's longstanding record as he scored in 11 consecutive games. Leicester lost just one match in that period which helped them to gain serious ground over their rivals.
This season, he broke another record as he became the first ever player to score against each of the top-six sides which proves the underlying importance of this man on the big stage.
In fact, Vardy has scored 62 goals in the league since 2014-15 and an incredible 26 of them have come against the Premier League's top-six, which is more than any other player. Remarkable, to say the least.
Stepping it up for England
Vardy's incredible rise to stardom co-existed with England's ever continuing worries at the big stage.
England had suffered yet another disgraceful exit from the 2014 FIFA World Cup as they had finished bottom of their group.
Vardy won his first international cap when he substituted the then captain Wayne Rooney against the Republic of Ireland on 7th June 2015.
His first goal for the nation was an equaliser against World Champions Germany, as he expertly implemented a brilliant back-heel to find the back of the net, a match England would go on to win 3-2 after being down 2-0.
His first competitive goal was one to remember as well, as he came off the bench to score another equaliser against Wales in the Euro 2016, another match in which England will come out victorious.
He has slowly evolved to be the big-game player their country needs and has also scored against Spain and Italy in friendlies.
The Verdict
The numbers he has accumulated and the names he has scored against definitely point towards the fact that Vardy is tailor-made to excel at the biggest stage.
Unlike many, who can be fazed about the added impetus to produce the extraordinary when the pressure is on you, Vardy draws an ever resolute and undaunted mien. He also has a work ethic that matches this fighting demeanour.
A big man, for the big occassions indeed. And as the man himself said, “Everything I’m touching is going in. Long may that continue.”