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KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia -- Benjamin Raich has reached a World Cup podium for the 91st -- and probably last -- time in his career at the same resort where he earned his first top-three finish 15 years ago. The 36-year-old Austrian, who is considering retirement after the season, came runner-up to Olympic champion Ted Ligety in a giant slalom on the Podkoren course on Saturday. As a 21-year-old, Raich finished third in a slalom here on Jan. 6, 1999. Raich was only 17th after the opening leg but posted the fastest time in a blistering second run to get his first World Cup podium since winning a super-G in Crans Montana Switzerland, in February 2012. Raich said he never lost faith in his skiing despite failing to reach a podium for the last two years. Even his persistent back problems getting worse in January didnt hit his confidence. "I knew I still have a fast turn but, if youre not in good health, you cant race that good," Raich said. "Ive always had back problems in my career. Three, four days, then it was gone. This year it was more than a month." The injury hampered his buildup to the Sochi Olympics, and finally forced him to skip the super-combined race in Sochi. It wasnt Raichs first mishap in the Olympic season. He needed weeks to recover following an accident while riding his off-road motorbike in early August. The 80-kilogram bike rolled over on steep terrain and landed on his right leg, but Raich escaped with a torn muscle in his thigh. "I had a really tough season," Raich said. "It was not easy, it was not fun. But after preparing for the Olympics, I had a really good feeling. I was in good health. And now I am back on the podium -- as I believed." Raich won the overall title in 2006 and finished runner-up five times, including in the 2008-09 season when Aksel Lund Svindal edged him by two points. Raich also won 11 medals at major championships, including two golds at the 2006 Turin Olympics. Not having to prove anything to anybody, Raich can compete without pressure -- just like in the early days of his career. "My first podium in Kranjska Gora, I felt very free," Raich said. "Afterward you have big goals and you know everyone wants to see you on the podium. So there was more pressure then but I handled that always very well." Austria mens head coach Mathias Berthold said he wasnt taken aback by Raichs podium finish. "I was only surprised by the way he did it, coming from 17th with a sensational second run," Berthold said. "Since his back problems are gone, he has progressed extremely well." Berthold said he will speak with Raich about next season -- but not before the current campaign is over. "We let the World Cup finals go by," Berthold said. "Its not good to discuss long-term plans while your focus should be on a race the next day." Raich has said before that he will take his decision regardless of the career plans of longterm girlfriend Marlies Schild. The 32-year-old slalom specialist won a record 35th slalom race in December, and she is also yet to decide whether shell remain on the World Cup. Norways Henrik Kristoffersen, who trailed the 17-year-older Raich in third for his first career GS podium, said Raich was his idol when following ski racing as a kid. "I think today Benni was the most impressive skier," Kristoffersen said. "I watched him when I grew up and I remember my dad (Lars Kristoffersen) telling me that Benni had the cleanest turn and he was the best in GS." Raich smiled when hearing Kristoffersens words. "Its nice to be on the podium next to him," Raich said. "Because he is the future and I am the past." Roberto Clemente Jersey . -- Andy Granatelli, the former CEO of STP motor oil company who made a mark on motorsports as a car owner, innovator and entrepreneur, has died. Starling Marte Jersey . -- Omar Infante walked past the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, where he dressed so many times as a member of the Detroit Tigers, and slipped on a crisp, new Kansas City Royals jersey. http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us/Customized/.ca MLB Power Rankings, the third consecutive week that the As have held top spot and the third straight week that they have been one ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays. Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys . PAUL, Minn. Bill Mazeroski Jersey .A. Happs hold on a spot in the Blue Jays starting rotation is in question.Watching the Montreal Canadiens lose goaltender Carey Price to injury this week reminded me of what I often think is the great weakness of North American sports. The reliance of individuals in team sports. Hockey is obsessed with goaltenders. A team loses and the first place people look at for blame is in between the pipes. Baseball? As they say, momentum is all about the next days starting pitcher. NFL? Find an elite quarterback if you want to win the Super Bowl and stop using Trent Dilfer as an example (unless you can find one of the greatest defences to go alongside him). Basketball? You wont find many NBA championship teams that doesnt feature a current or future hall of famer. The global game of soccer is often very different, as the achievements of Atletico Madrid this week have shown. A sport that is so reliant on teamwork rarely allows a figurehead to rise to such prominence to make a championship be about them. Sure, domestic leagues have outstanding players who take over games, weeks, even months of a campaign, but without their teammates they are just one man with a ball at their feet. Even the greatest players in the world today are surrounded by players close to their level that allows them to perform brilliantly so often. For some reason, however, every four years many forget the common sense around this belief and two words are the reason for it. World Cup. There have only been nineteen of these in history and, specifically for the last 16 of them, it has been considered as the ultimate thing in the sport to win. However, the World Cup is not without its failings. Many games produce predictable, sterile games dominated by defensive-minded teams, unable to replicate the teamwork earned by club teams over long periods of time, who, subsequently, know its far easier to stop than score. It is a tournament that lasts one month every four years. The best team plays seven games and does not even have to win them all. Yet, because it is so short in time and so infrequent on the games calendar, the World Cup cares little for reputations, instead choosing to make them. This allows the sport to be much more North American in terms of individuals stamping their authority on it. With this in mind, collectively, we owe it to future generations to be extremely careful with the evidence provided (and this is not always easy with the lack of video available to us once the tournament ends). First of all we must remember that players can have excellent tournaments without actually winning it. This rule is for all, not just for those you didnt expect to win it anyway. Take Lionel Messis 2010 World Cup. Many adjectives have been used to describe this including poor and disappointing. What nonsense. Messi was excellent in South Africa but because he didnt score a goal some thought he was disappointing. When his out-of-his-depth manager, Diego Maradona, decided to play without a central midfield, Argentina were sent home packing in the quarterfinals. They never had a chance of winning the World Cup and none of that fell on the shoulders of Messi. Since leaving South Africa, Messi, with Barcelona, has won everything there is to win in club football, and added three more Ballon DOr awards. He has consistently succeeded in the most competitive tournament, the Champions League, the sport has to offer. He is described by many as one of the greatest players to play the game but suddenly he is removed from such a camp, by some, the closer a World Cup gets to starting, when a new hurdle is put in his path to reach the pantheon of greatness; a hurdle he simply cannot jump himself.dddddddddddd Messis countryman, Ossie Ardiles, who won the World Cup in 1978, hit the headlines last week with this gem of a quote: "To be considered alongside the top, top guys like Pele and Diego Maradona and so on, Messi not only needs to be in the World Cup but to win it." Mr Ardiles isnt the only one who feels this way, of course, and in fact there is an alarming chance he is in the majority rather than the minority when it comes to this topic. What a pity. And while we are on this quote, who is so on exactly? When Pele played, the World Cup was everything. He changed the sport and is arguably the greatest player to play the game. The World Cup made him the global star that he simply couldnt reach himself at Santos. Maradona graced four World Cups and is forever remembered as the face of Mexico 1986. It is fitting for a man so talented that he had that event to catapult him towards the legends of the game but many who celebrate Maradonas greatness, because of those 30 days in Mexico, often, conveniently, forget his 1982 and 1994 World Cups ended in disgrace. 1990? Dont let their runner-up spot fool you. His team was even worse than Messis 2010 side and his performances werent even close to the ones shown by Barcelonas current star in South Africa. There is no disputing Maradonas greatness on the field but if the guardians of football history and, subsequently, the makers of reputations are going to base so much on what happens at World Cups then they need to be fair about it. In a sport that cares so often about who wins and loses this seems like an impossible task. Only one team can lift the trophy when it all finishes on July 11. Of course, Messi will be considered as one of the true greats if that team proves to be Argentina but why should we wait to find out what some of his flawed teammates can do for him before we give him such an honour? Just because Maradona, Pele and so on won the World Cup? The game is full of true, elite greats who never did. Pele and Maradona call Alfredo Di Stefano the most complete player ever and what of Johan Cruyff, who was magnificent in the 1974 World Cup and did everything but win the tournament? Rather than holding the World Cup to a higher standard that some cannot reach, those who lean on individual quality, should enjoy its beauty at producing other stars whose solo acts can carry their teams far. Garrincha, Eusebio, Cruyff, Paolo Rossi, Toto Schillaci, Roberto Baggio, Romario, Davor Sukur, Ronaldo, Oliver Kahn, Fabio Cannavaro, Diego Forlan and David Villa are just some examples of that. Some won, some didnt. Some are true greats, some arent. Their reputations were enhanced by their World Cup play but also because their team was able to get to the final week of the event. Neither Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo needs to win a World Cup to be graced amongst the greatest ever. It appears, before the tournament already starts, that Ronaldo doesnt have the team to get him to the trophy, and if the tournament proves the same for Argentina why should Messi be judged differently to Ronaldo? This special group, created by the likes of Ardiles, that features Maradona, Pele and so on is a hindrance to football history and an ignorance to the game itself. ' ' '