Beyond Cristiano — My New Book
Life Through the Lens of the Beautiful Game
Survival of the fittest — the game of football is.
Life… Survival…
Kill! In order to live.
Pure tribalism — that football, right?
My tribe against yours.
(We have accepted that we are war creatures, haven’t we?)
So, the essence of football is protection, really.
Protection of your tribe.
But wait a second!
Nobody dies in football.
Everybody survives in the end.
So what do we protect there?
Well, it’s about protection of the crest. Club’s colours. Club’s values. The anthem! The city…
A team that is more identified with the idea of the club stands the best chances.
Therefore, football is the game of identification.
(With the tribe.)
For instance, in England you will never hear football fans saying something like I support Manchester United, or I’m a fan of Man United. English fans are so identified with their clubs they will decisively say I am Man United. I am Liverpool. I am Arsenal.
They are ready to die in the name of the crest. Their identification is complete.
However, modern-day football has come a long way from the mere battle of tribes.
Think Cristiano Ronaldo!
He has never been too identified with the clubs he has played for. He could have never said I am Man United, or I am Real Madrid. God knows he is not Al-Nassr now. He has never sought motivation in protection of the club’s values. But what he has protected is his personal ideal — CR7 — the best in the world. The richest and the prettiest.
That is something Ronaldo is ready to die for. That is the idea he is fully identified with.
(Just as English fans are with the crest.)
Hence, the most determined player to have ever walked the green football fields.
Such identification brought him glory on a scale that a regular man can’t even try to imagine. However, as soon as he couldn’t live up to that idea, CR7 — the best in the world, anymore, there was a huge amount of suffering. For him and people around him. For Manchester United.
(Just as it is when your tribe is defeated. And a bit more painful as well.)
Surely, life wouldn’t be worth living without such a range of emotions. Without experiencing the very best and the very worst of what life offers. Right?
Football — survival of the fittest…
But what if football can be a different kind of game to play?
What if it doesn’t need to be about identification nor about protection of any idea whatsoever — not a club’s one, not a personal one.
What if football doesn’t need to be the game of survival?
Ronaldinho!
You remember Ronaldinho, don’t you? The guy with big teeth. And an even bigger smile.
You see, he didn’t play the game in the name of anything. Maybe only in the name of love, perhaps.
(Not in the name of love for something. But in the name of love. That comprehensive love.)
Ronaldinho played for Paris Saint-Germain, but he was never Paris Saint-Germain. He played for Barcelona, but he was not Barcelona. For Ronaldinho, it wasn’t about prestige either. He rebelled against the primal laws of the game, but reached unbelievable heights nonetheless. And even then, at his peak, when he was awarded Ballon d’Or and got as far as football immortality, he was not the best in the world.
Of course, he was all of that — the best in the world… He was Barcelona… But only on the surface. He didn’t seek meaning in any of that. There was nothing he was ready to die for. Nothing there to protect. He rejected the chains of identification and made space for inspiration to flow through him. He simply played. Free of any labels.
The result was pure art.
He made moves that are still to this day observed in awe. The dribbling nobody after him has managed to repeat.
It is no wonder Ronaldinho got a standing ovation from the full Santiago Bernabéu while wearing the Barcelona shirt. They applauded him for art. There were no colours in his performance, no rivalry, no baggage of the past forged on the crest on his chest. None of that.
Just art — art that defies all logic.
(Just give him the ball, and everything will be alright.)
In victory or in defeat, Ronaldinho’s smile has always stayed the same. That one from ear to ear.
Love…
The book is about these two perspectives of the world, or if you like, about the two states of consciousness.
In these challenging times, can humans find a harmonious balance between Ronaldo’s relentless pursuit of personal excellence and Ronaldinho’s unrestrained love for the game?
If that sounds interesting, the book is available to buy on Amazon on the following links:
For the UK: https://shorturl.at/akosQ
For the US: https://rb.gy/jwm4vw
For Europe: https://shorturl.at/uxT04
The book is available in a print and digital version.
Cheers,
Karlo Tasler
