So what makes a good public icon?

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"That is inevitable, but in the end he is a good player and a soccer icon, and I think he'll help his team, " said Gulati.

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As the story of Clementi has become a popular parable of teen-age good and evil, that yellow-toned photograph has become an icon of adolescent distress.

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Next to the giant panda, Yao is perhaps China's best known and much loved, icon, in part because exudes a wholesome, feel-good image.

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