In general, when football players talk about their childhood, we are used to saying that they have a difficult childhood, marked by poverty, lack, war, crime, etc...and that football became his exit to all those situations.
However, there is a player whose childhood lacks such tragic nuances, but despite being born into an economically well-off family, he lived experiences that marked his life and his personality forever. This is the Swedish John Guidetti, a footballer with a more than peculiar life.
To be more specific, his full name John Alberto Fernando Andres Luigi Olof Guidetti. With that name could easily be a monarch of some European kingdom, but decided to devote himself to football. Within the field, Guidetti has always stood out for being a scorer, with an extraordinary physique, associative capacity and a distinctive touch of quality. When it began to break out in his country, the comparisons with Zlatan Ibrahimovic soon came out.
But beyond his footballing qualities, what is most striking about this "Viking" is his curious history, because his short 26 years have a lot of experiences that have forged his particular character, both on and off the field.
Out of Africa.
The love developed by the character of Meryl Streep for Kenya and its people in this film, is only surpassed by the connection that exists between John Guidetti and this African country. When John was only 3 years old, his family decided to move to Kenya. His father, who was a former rugby player of Italian origin, was appointed director of a Swedish school in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. It was there that Guidetti had his first contact with football. After spending a season back in Sweden, the Guidetti family decided to return to Kenya due to the immense passion they felt for the country.
He was the only white-skinned child in the area, but that did not stop him from joining the rest of the children behind the ball. It was on a dirt court, with two stones as goals and playing with bare feet where Guidetti discovered his love for football. Little John, in the midst of his innocence, just wanted to play with the rest of the children, ignoring the immense racial and social differences that distinguished him from the rest. Playing there, with his feet full of dirt, John learned one or two life lessons that marked him forever.
His father decided to found an equipment called Impala Bromma Boys, a subsidiary team of the Swedish Brommpojkarma so that his son could play. His coaches in Kenya always said there were other guys who played better than him, but that no one was as hardworking as John. In total there were 5 years spent John Guidetti and his family in Africa, a stage that helped him decisively to develop as a player and as a person.
In 2006 Guidetti returns to his native Sweden with his family. There he began his professional career with the IF Brommapojkarna where he quickly began to attract the attention of the great clubs of Europe due to his innate talent. Finally it was Manchester City who took over the services of the Swede, who at that time was only 15 years old. His signing responded to the request of his compatriot Sven-Göran Eriksson, who was the coach of the citizen team.
A career truncated by a hamburger.
Due to his youth, Manchester City began looking for assignments so that Guidetti could count on the minutes he needed to continue developing as a footballer. From a transfer to his former team in Sweden to a step through Burnley; until he arrived on loan to Netherlands and exploited all his talent.
In 2011, Guidetti was transferred to Feyenoord by Ronald Koeman. The Swede coined a dream season where with only 19 years he made all Europe sigh with his undeniable skills as a scorer. In just one season he left a mark by scoring 20 goals in 23 games, becoming the star of the Dutch team and confirming the bright future that awaited him.
However, the day of his twentieth birthday everything changed. He went to have hamburgers with his girlfriend and his friends and then discover the surprise party they had put together for him at a nightclub. But despite the joy of the moment, John began to feel bad and had to go home. The intense vomiting did not let him sleep that night.
Ten days later he returned to training with the club, but when he tried to put on his pants, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. He was taken to the hospital emergency. After examining it, they discovered that a piece of chicken in poor condition of the hamburger that he ate had caused an infection and the antibodies generated by his organism had affected his nervous system, in addition to evaporating the muscles of his legs.
It was two full years that John Guidetti had to stay out of the field due to this nightmare that he lived and that caused many to give his promising career for dead. However, Guidetti never gave up. He began to fight and work and little by little the results began to arrive, until he was able to play football again professionally.
Super Guidetti.
The reality is that this incident significantly marked Guidetti's career and never became the same again. It was cession in assignment without being able to recover its best level. But I do not think we can say that it is another young promise that never fulfilled the expectations that had been placed on him. The truth is that if not for the incident he suffered in the Netherlands, today could be treated without any problem by one of the best strikers in Europe.
Also, what we can not say about him is that he is a failure. He has managed to play in great clubs in Europe such as Manchester City, Celtic, Feyenoord, Celta de Vigo; and wherever he went he scored goals becoming an idol of the fans. All this without mentioning that he was crowned U21 European Champion with Sweden in 2015 and represented his country at EURO 2016 and the World Cup Russia 2018. And let's not forget that he is only 26 years old, that is to say he has a long career still ahead that can continue to fill with successes.
But beyond his achievements as a footballer, I think his most important title is the kind of person he is. His charisma is undeniable and it is no coincidence that in every club he goes to, he steals the hearts of fans. From songs in his honor in the Netherlands to musical hits that won platinum records that resonated every time he scored in Balaídos and in all the clubs in Vigo.
And even in the midst of success he does not forget his origins. His immense love for Kenya and the experience he lived there motivated him to found the Guidetti Foundation, a foundation that helps through football the most underprivileged children of the slums of Nairobi (Kenya). In fact, each one of the goals that he marks dedicates to this foundation, to celebrate by making a heart symbol.
There is no doubt that the life of John Guidetti is more than curious, escapes almost all the stereotypes related to football players. The Swede has never lost the perspective and is always considered an amateur of this beautiful sport. From being unable to deny something to a fan to being a showman without remedy and learning to speak Spanish watching movies, going through his more charitable and human side; John Guidetti represents an endangered species in the world of football in which he strives above all things to be a better person every day. The reality is that this Swedish giant has never left behind the child inside him.
"If you ask me what I was like when I was three years old, I think it was exactly the same. Okay, now I'm a little bigger, I have a beard and some responsibility; But nothing more".
Comments