14 DAY TRIAL // I was searching the internet for an article about Wayne Rooney and I discovered a troubling fact. The Manchester United striker is releasing his first out-of-5 autobiographies. From the start, I want to admit that I'm not really a Rooney fan. Still, the news got me thinking: how much the world of football changed for the last 30 years?
I mean, where on earth would you have seen a football player releasing autobiographies after only 3 or 4 years of playing professional football? Or great European clubs traveling abroad and not giving a s? about their own player's fatigue just so they can sell more and more tie shirts?
Did you ever hear about a player making photo shoots between practice sessions? Or staying half-an-hour to 45 minutes just to give autographs? Have you ever heard about a player leaving his team just so he can shoot another Pepsi, Adidas, Nike, etc commercial?
I personally didn't. I only remember footballers playing because they love the game and that was that. It didn't matter the money from advertising or the women screaming when seeing your face. Playing football seemed to be enough. While in that green rectangular, nothing ever mattered. The players weren't coming into the game with tens of rings on their fingers or bottles of styling gel on their hair. Touching the ball was magic and ritual.
If you look at what football has become now, very few players feel the same joy when playing football. Even Ronaldinho, one of the greatest talents in the history of football, entered this monster world. Commercials after commercials, Tours after Tours, deals with Nike, Pepsi, etc etc etc.
No wonder the players come into the World Cup tournaments or European, African, Asian or American Championships with no power and pleasure for football whatsoever. Take for example the biggest clubs in the world right now. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United. They all started the season sooner than expected because of advertising tours.
Instead letting the players enjoy at least one month of vacation, they have to come into practice and play ridiculous matches, just so that the club benefits from it. Because we all know that the main reason for all this is not giving the fans all over the world the possibility to see Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo, Sheva, Lampard of Beckam in flesh and blood, but for the money.
Who in the world is not convinced that football is now a business? When 18 of the most important clubs in the world are trying to make a league of their own just because they want to make more money out of it, what can you hope for the future? Almost every start of the season I am relieved when hearing that the Champions League format is the same.
And that's not because it's right. After all, the Champions League is supposed to be the league in which only the champs should play, not number 2, 3 and 4 from all the "strong" and rich domestic leagues. But again, money dictate the order of football as well.
And that's why Greece winning the European Championship and Senegal beating the World Cup holder - in the 2002 World Cup - are such great surprises and have such a wonderful story behind them. Because these examples are getting fewer and fewer, and the story behind them has to be an extraordinary one.
That's basically what keeps the "poor football" still in touch with the "rich football". Stories like Middlesbrough's, Greece's, FC Porto's or Senegal's are the ones who keep the magic alive. Because their story isn't based on money, fame, world tours or shooting commercials, but on hard work and pure love for the game.
