How do you determine a world class player?

England’s hopes of qualifying for the European championships took a major blow with defeat in Russia. The Russians have gained the upper hand to take second place in Group E and victory in Israel and Andorra will see them through to the European Championships.

Scotland also suffered a miserable setback with defeat in Tbilisi. After their loss to Georgia, only a win against Italy will book their tickets to Austria and Switzerland.

So Scotland still hold qualification hopes in their hands, unlike England who await other results. If Scotland manage to qualify, then on current form, they will become a better team than England. But does this make their individual players better? Are these players world-class? What determines a world-class player?

I heard a Scottish fan comment on how England has no world-class players. But surely Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are world-class players? And what about John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole? Also both Wayne Rooney and Micah Richards have the potential to become world-class.

All these players shine for their clubs, so what makes us, as fans and professionals, label them world-class?

Is a world-class player someone that performs to the best of their ability on the world stage? If so, then this player must consistently play well for his country as well as his club. Somebody like Fabio Cannavaro, who not only led his country to their world cup success, but year-in, year-out performs for his club, Real Madrid, and previous club, Inter Milan.

Or does this player only have to perform, consistently well with his club to gain this status? Somebody like Frank Lampard who has got twenty goals and numerous assists in the past three seasons but has never helped England to a serious international tournament challenge.

Not many players fall into the Fabio Cannavaro bracket. Is the term ‘world-class’ used too lightly? Thierry Henry, we all know is a fantastic striker. But he has never shone whilst playing for his country. Yes France made the final of the world cup but Henry didn’t play a major part. Zinedine Zidane on the other hand, did. He is a player that falls into the ‘world-class’ category.

Maybe we should invent a term for these players like Henry, Lampard, Gerrard. We could call them ‘continent-class’. Players that shine in the Champions League and their respective domestic leagues.

There are players whom we all know that have shed-loads of talent; Kaka, Messi, Rooney. All these players have the potential to be world-class, you could argue that Kaka and Messi already are. But bearing in mind their ages, they have yet to lead their country to a major tournament challenge.

So are we too quick to define a player’s ability? Or should we not take international form into consideration when defining a player? Are the world stage competitions like the Champions League places where ‘world-class’ players are born?

Personally, I believe a ‘world-class’ player is one that performs for both his club and country. This player doesn’t have to lead his country to a major title but he does have to standout when playing in Internationals. So maybe the Scottish fan was right. Maybe England do not have any ‘world-class’ player’s.