Fabregas Embodies the Spirit of a Captain

Wednesday night, at the end of the Champions League Quarterfinal First Leg match between Arsenal and Barcelona, I learned what it meant to be a captain.

It was so clear that I didn't have to be the one playing football to learn it. All it took was  watching one man on the beautiful Emirates pitch, and it was clear.

You know who it was who showed it to me.

Cesc Fabregas' performance as a player against Barcelona was not his best. It was not on par with what we know he can do, and what we've consistently seen him do for the past three or so years now.

His performance as a captain, however, was second to none.

He was absolutely inspirational.

The fact that he even played exemplifies this. He was experiencing discomfort throughout the entire game, discomfort borne of a "fair" (according to the English media) tackle by Birmingham's Craig Gardner last Saturday. He left the Emirates on Wednesday with a cracked fibula, and the reports that are surfacing in the wake of the injury say that his leg was damaged the day of the Barca match.

There is no way the medical staff of a top club such as Arsenal did not know this. He went into this match knowing full well the risk involved, and I'm sure his teammates knew this. That alone shows them the commitment their captain has to the team, and consequently, to them.

The mark of a great leader is powering through adversity.

Whether one decides to take the Tony Adams route and scream your lungs out or not, the one thing that a leader must do is make an example for his charges. This is the style of Fabregas.

Cesc leads through his actions rather than his words, and though he was more vocal than usual Wednesday night, he was still making an example all across the pitch. Arsenal was denied possession for the majority of the match but when they did have it, Fabregas did his damnedest to make a difference.

He passed with the inside of his boot, the outside of his boot, dribbled and kept possession for as long as he could amid Barcelona pressure. He was lacking sharpness but was still efficient.

This transferred to his players, as they got themselves back into the match. Nasri started thinking more forward and Bendtner was exceptional up front. It all stemmed from Fabregas' dogged persistence in the heart of Arsenal's midfield.

He showed extreme strength of character to continue to plug away after he was condemned to miss the second leg, a match he has certainly been anticipating for the longest time. Still, he persevered.

And then came his ultimate act of leadership, of pure selflessness.

As we all know, Barcelona captain Carles Puyol gave away a penalty after fouling Fabregas just as he was about to volley home an Arsenal equalizer. Fabregas stepped up to the spot, readied himself, and emphatically, powerfully, and almost symbolically rifled the penalty in the Victor Valdes' net, earning the Gunners a deserved draw (deserved after an hour of play that is).

The penalty, struck with such power and venom, aggravated his injury further, but he still opted to stay on the pitch and see out the rest of the match.

By the time the whistle was blown, the definition of a captain was Francesc Fabregas.

He had led his team to a battling 2-2 draw against a team that rang rings around them for the first 60 minutes of play.

He came out of it battered and bruised, and when he faced the media, he reassured me and the rest of the Gooners that he is fully committed to this club. He was asked what it felt like to score against Barcelona, his old club. Fabregas responded by saying that it was nothing special, he scores for Arsenal, and that's that.

If that doesn't show his commitment to lead this club, you'd be hard-pressed to find what will. Cesc Fabregas: the true embodiment of a captain.