Rebellious gestures in football are not part of a great heritage in this sport. When they appear, many times, it becomes feasible (and even necessary) to go back to them and remember those who knew how to say no. Reconstruct the steps of those attitudes or plays that deviated from spectacularity, just to defend the purest fun or expose an assembly line that expresses a single pretension: the show must go on.
Behind these wayward traces, one can postulate at least 10 iconic expressions – surely in this selection there will be many left out – of players whom the press and the world of baseball have baptized as “rebels”. In these names presented below, what is visible is a countercultural feat and a symbolic world that is intertwined with an often reviled phrase: every act is political.
Diego Maradona
Only player who faced FIFA. “He was the first rebel in the world of professional football,” postulated Eduardo Galeano. Maradona’s statements towards the entity known as “the home of football” are historic. His battle with Joseph Blatter, whom he called “corrupt”, among other things, revealed details of something that no one dared to say and anticipated what would later end up unmasked in the famous “FIFA Gate” scandal (the plot of corruption behind the awarding of the World Cups to Russia and Qatar). “Blatter is a dictator for life. He lacks the inspiration and passion that are found at the very heart of football,” the Ten knew how to say.
Juan roman riquelme
The current president of Boca, in April 2001, in a match against River, made it clear that “he sleeps on the side of the bed,” as Alejandro Dolina told Pablo Ladaga in a recent interview. The former 10 Xeneixe, that day celebrated his penalty goal in a very particular way. He stood in the middle of the court, put his hands behind his ears, stared at his goal and “Topo Gigio” was born. “The celebration is for my daughter because she loves Topo Gigio,” he said in an ironic tone to the media, but the truth is that it was dedicated to Mauricio Macri, at that time president of the club, who was celebrating in the presidential box. Riquelme had broken off relations with the leadership because they did not accept his request for a salary increase and his response was that insurgent gesture that remained for posterity.
Lionel Messi
The biggest star of world football emulated Riquelme’s celebration in the match that the Argentine National Team played against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. His decision to celebrate as the former Xeneixe did goes back to the sayings by Louis Van Gaal in the pre-match. “Of course Messi is his most dangerous and creative player. On the other hand, it must be said that he does not participate much in the game when the opponent has the ball. There is our opportunity.” The current Inter Miami figure, after converting the penalty, broke away from his usual political correctness and placed his hands behind his ears. Two decades later, Topo Gigio returned to the courts as a rebellious date.
Eric Cantona
The French forward wore the Manchester United shirt in 1995. In a match against Crystal Palace, while he was retreating to the locker room due to an expulsion, a Palace fan shouted at him: “go back to your fucking bastard country, go back to France.” Cantona jumped the signs on the playing field with a karate kick that went straight to that fan. That action spread around the world and aroused indignation among football authorities, who, far from disapproving of the xenophobia of those statements, sought forgiveness from the French player. His response was clear: “Kicking a fascist was the best thing I did in my entire career.”
Socrates
He faced the fierce Brazilian dictatorship that silenced his country for two decades. The exquisite midfielder, also a doctor – he was not nicknamed “doctor” for nothing – during his time as a Corinthians player, in the midst of tyranny, created a democratic system to make decisions, the famous Corinthian Democracy. In this way, the players took power and everything was decided through a vote. From the work method, the game systems, the training schedules, to the distribution of money. “Win or lose, but always in democracy,” was the phrase on the flag.
Didier Drogba
The former Ivorian striker who shone for Chelsea, a historic scorer for his National Team, used football as a tool to stop a civil war in his country. After years of living together in a bloody raid, peace came. After Ivory Coast’s historic qualification for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Drogba gave a message that would unblock the conflict. “You already saw today that the entire Ivory Coast can live in community and can play together with the same objective: to qualify for the World Cup. We had promised you that this party was going to bring the people together. Today we ask you on your knees to forgive each other. the others. Forgive each other, forgive each other.”
Johan Cruyff
The greatest figure of Dutch football (now the Netherlands), in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, played with a shirt with two stripes on its sleeve. Because? At that time Adidas was the brand that made the orange designs, but Cruyff had an exclusive agreement with Puma and refused to wear other clothing. The marketing rebellion concluded with his number 14 shirt sporting two stripes, instead of three. “The Federation, at that time, negotiated with Adidas. They wanted us to wear their shirt, and I asked for my share. They denied it to me saying that the shirt was theirs, and I told them that the head was mine,” he told the newspaper El País.
Paul Breitner
In the ’70s he shone for two great European teams, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, and in the ’80s he was nominated for the Ballon d’Or for his performance as a defender. But his sporting life was not what generated a stir, but what was extra-football: his political thinking. A confessed admirer of Che Guevara and Ho Chi Minh, his readings were focused on Mao, leader of Chinese communism. That was not well received by the clubs and caused some problems in hiring.
Fernando Redondo
He said no to Daniel Passarella, when he asked him to cut his hair to be part of the National Team. The refusal left him out of the ’98 World Cup. “I understand and respect it but hair is part of my personality. I am a soccer player, but before that I am a person and I feel good that way,” was what the former Real Madrid midfielder argued. The football world took sides for the midfielder. Ángel Cappa defined El Kaiser’s decision as “banal” and Maradona as “stupid.”
Dario Dubois
Defender who grew up in La Matanza, representative of Argentine promotion. He wore the shirts of Yupanqui, Lugano, Midland and Laferrere, among others. Remembered for playing with his face painted due to his Black Metal fanaticism – “I’m a clown who paints his face, but kills himself for his shirt” – and admired for his madness in delivering justice. For example, covering the advertising of a t-shirt with mud because the sponsor never paid what he promised or accusing a referee of corruption who had 1,500 pesos fall out of his pocket as soon as he got a red card. Dubois grabbed that money and ran. They all chased him, until he returned the money and said: “this is the reward you give me for kicking me out, son of a bitch.”
2024-04-10 03:01:00
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