Trophies, Silverware, Goals, Wins…
What for?
At the end of the day, what good does it bring? What remains are memories. Seeing our beloved club lift the trophies must be one of the highest pleasures.
But much depends on what we are shown, what we are forced to remember.
At the end of the day, people remember the scorer. They remember the shot that went in, the winner. Next day, newspapers are full of close ups of the shot, from all possible angles… It talks about something important, about what people look for.
They look for heroes. Football has always been a source of joy to millions. They look for the sport to lift them up, for a moment, take them away from the mundane life. That moment is something we have all experienced seeing our club reach the Pinnacle. It’s a moment to cherish. Take van Persie’s header against Spain for example. Remember the picture of him throwing himself and scoring the header? Show it to someone who doesn’t know about the match and he may think it was the winner, when in reality, it was an equaliser.
Now just imagine. What leads to a goal? The image of the winning goal you have in your mind? Just rewind a few seconds.
Football is a game of space. It needs vision, awareness, reading of the game.
The possibility of victory lies in attack. Invincibility lies in defence.
When we see a goal, what happens 2-3 passes before is something that goes unnoticed in the midst of this search for heroes. People see passion when the striker shouts looking up after scoring a goal. They love the loud warrior in him. Some warriors, however are loudest and yet silent.
That’s precisely the case with Mascherano. When we sit down at the end of the day and take a look at his career, what will people remember? Tackles, clearances, own goals, mistakes?
Today, I want you to rewind all those games and just watch El Jefecito aka “Little Boss”. His vision, his awareness of the game, his reading of the game always went unnoticed. When people saw the the players, INCLUDING THE CAPTAIN celebrating, there was Javier, talking to the manager, discussing the next move.
A year ago, a long and illustrious career at Barça came to an end. But today, I ask you to understand it through a different angle, for here we have a man, who lived the game with unparalleled passion, a man who fought for the emblem, and yet what he did the best went unnoticed.
It was a long day. But it was a pleasure watching you chief. Gracias. What more can I say, for you are a Hero in your own right…
