The wizardry of Luis Figo. The artistry of Rui Costa. The guile of Dennis Bergkamp. The steel of Jaap Stam. The tenacity of Frank Lampard. The magic of Paul Scholes. The bravery of Vincent Kompany. The trickery of Eden Hazard. The brilliance of Juan Roman Riquelme. The absolute everything of Lionel Messi. All these great players share infamy — they were all part of a 'golden generation' that never really stood up and made themselves count when it mattered the most. And these are just a few of the illustrious names. The who’s who of modern-day football have been unable to shrug off the curse of being tagged as the golden generation. David Beckham, Ashley Cole, Edgar Davids, Sergio Aguero, Wayne Rooney, Javier Mascherano, Carlos Tevez, and Edwin Van der Sar — all collected medals and trophies for fun for their clubs, but never managed to replicate that success on the international level.