They come as substitutes and change the face of the game, taking their teams to victory.

Francesco Totti, the ‘Prince’ of Italian football, was surprisingly left on the bench for the start of Italy’s Round of 16 clash with Australia. Italy coach Marcello Lippi later explained his thinking: “Totti had trouble going the distance against the Czechs, and that’s why I gave him a breather today. I intended to bring him on when the match had settled down and that’s what I did.”

Totti expressed understanding at his coach’s decision: “Lippi came to see me at two this afternoon and explained why he was leaving me out. I have no problem with him. He showed faith in me and picked me for the squad, and I respect his decisions.”

As it was, the Roma captain came on for Alessandro Del Piero in the 75th minute with the match still scoreless. Yet a quarter of an hour was plenty of time for the 29-year-old to stamp his authority on the game as he calmly put away a stoppage-time penalty to send Italy through to the quarter-finals.

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, unable to stand the tension, averted his eyes at the moment when Totti decided Italy’s fate, but there was no need to worry. After grabbing the headlines with his cool finish, the Totti declared confidently: “I’m fit and ready for the next matches.”

Australia midfielder Tim Cahill is not someone Japanese supporters will forget in a hurry. Joining the action in the 53rd minute with Australia trailing Japan 1-0, the Everton player dealt a body blow to Japan’s hopes with strikes on 84 and 89 minutes, before another substitute, John Aloisi, made sure with a third in added time.

The collapse prompted Yomiuri Shimbun, a leading Japanese daily, to question the system and substitutions of national team coach Zico and declare: “The way the two coaches marshalled their teams was as different as night and day.” The paper praised Australia’s coach Guus Hiddink, saying: “He showed his magic once again, with all the goals scored by the substitutes he brought on.” Interestingly enough, even though Cahill started the next three matches he failed to score again.

Appearing at his fourth FIFA World Cup™, Saudi Arabia’s veteran striker Sami Al Jaber also performed outstandingly. After starting on the bench in his team’s opening game against Tunisia, the 33-year-old joined the fray in the 82nd minute and took just two minutes to show just why he is considered one of Asian football’s all-time greats. Running into space in the box, the Al Hilal front man found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat and calmly slid the ball home to put the Saudis 2-1 up. His goal-scoring instincts had served him well with his very first touch of the ball.

“Playing at the World Cup has always been a dream,” the striker reflected afterwards. “I felt very proud to have scored.” However, the game itself ended on a low note: Tunisia’s Radhi Jaidi fired in an equaliser in stoppage time, and Saudi Arabia were left still seeking their first victory at a finals since USA 94.

Even though Shaka Hislop, the 37-year-old Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper, started his team’s first group game against Sweden, in a sense he too was a substitute. Kelvin Jack was supposed to be wearing the No.1 jersey for that match, but he told coach Leo Beenhakker shortly before kick-off that he was unfit to play. It was a bolt from the blue for Hislop, but this true professional responded magnificently in his country’s hour of need.

Although Sweden threatened the Trinidad and Tobago goal from the word go, Hislop produced a string of outstanding saves to keep his goal intact as the Caribbean newcomers battled on to earn a historic first point in their inaugural appearance at a FIFA World Cup. “I don’t know about unbeatable,” Hislop commented after the game, “but I certainly enjoyed myself today. I didn’t have any really good saves to make because the team defended very well.” Modesty is all very well, but there is little doubt that Hislop was a hero for the Soca Warriors.

Substitutes were first used at a FIFA World Cup in 1970 and football is now more of a squad game than ever before. “Starters? Subs? What are those? All I know is I have the best 23 men in my squad,” Czech Republic coach Karel Bruckner once observed. However, no coach can deny that seeing a player come off the bench and turn the course of a game is satisfying. For the players themselves, the thrill must be even greater.

Source: WCoffsite