Football is a game that has become just as much about the game as the players, and it’s hard not to fall in love with the players when they’re akin to modern celebrities. Millions of people around the world follow every step that these players take, from the time they spend out on the field playing against their rivals, to their more personal home lives and what they get up to in their free time.
Along with being extremely talented and well known, most professional football players make a decent living from the game, with the amount of money they make directly tied to how successful they are on the field. But how does one go from being an average Joe to becoming a world-famous football player? We will explore that process here.
Starting Out Young
There is a big emphasis on finding young kids that have a very apparent knack for the game, which is fairly easy thanks to the amount of school establishments around the world that offer football as a game that the children can play. And while starting as young as possible does help things a great deal, it isn’t always necessary, as many famous players only discovered their talents later on in their lives. Practice is absolutely key, and many talent scouts will actively seek out a player that spends as much time on the field practising as they possibly can. The more time they invest in the game, the better at it they will be.
The Chances of Making It
But all the practice in the world does not mean that the potential player will make it to the big leagues. In fact, they will need to do everything they can to stand out from the crowd because the chances of actually making it professional are incredibly low. Of all the younger kids that enter football academies around the age of nine, only about half a percent of them will actually make it, and even a smaller percentage of these people will go on to become professionals.
The harsh stats don’t stop there, however – as it’s believed of the 1.5 million children that are playing officially organised football through youth clubs, only 180 of them will go on to become international football superstars, a fraction so low that it almost seems impossible to get through,
Willingness To Sacrifice
One of the biggest reasons that this number is so low is due to the personal sacrifices that a player will need to make in order to get through and whether they are always ready to make the time to play here and now. This can mean turning down relationships, avoiding social events, never drinking, smoking, or participating in drug use; the player needs to devote their existence to the game, and becoming as good as they possibly can. It also means always staying in the best shape possible, spending time at the gym, avoiding processed foods almost entirely, and even giving up on other dreams.
