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Some players left the fields to enter the priesthood, politics, and music

From soccer players to priests

In 1997, Philip Mulryne debuted in the soccer team Manchester United. In the English city of Norwich, he was a figure during the Premier League. From there, he went on to form the Northern Ireland national team for several years, in which he played 27 games and scored three goals, says Infobae. Despite his success, in 2009, at age 31, he decided to change the ball for the cassock. So much, that, in July of 2017, Mulryne was ordained as a priest by the Dominican order of the Catholic Church. "Their change has been radical: the vow of poverty is also part of their new path," the same media highlights.

On his way to the priesthood, Mulryne entered the seminary of St. Malachy in Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland, and began to study philosophy. Years later, he went to the Pontifical Irish College, in Rome, to start his studies in theology, building his way to become a priest.

On the other hand, Chase Hilgenbrinck was a footballer who shined in Chilean teams such as Naval, Huachipato, and Ñublense, in which according to 24 hours of Chile, he achieved the promotion to the first division in 2006. Like Mulryne, Hilgenbrinck did the same in his country, the United States.

In 2013, he wrote a letter explaining his vocation as a priest, which was reproduced by Catholic Post of Illinois: "Many of my friends wondered why God" took me away from soccer ", and what I would do without him. Remember that our Lord does not deny the gifts He has given us, but He asks us to use them in a different way, instead of being a player in a team, now I train, direct and I am the  captain of our football team of the seminar, which plays in an annual tournament against other seminars on the east coast. "

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The footballers who dabbled in politics

Romario and Bebeto, the former strikers of the five times world champion, Brazil, and with which they managed to become champions in the 94th World Cup of the United States, entered politics in 2010.

Romario, gold ball of the aforementioned world cup, made his proposal to become a federal deputy for the Brazilian Socialist Party. "I am counting on you to make another goal for Brazil," he said in one of his speeches, according to Semana magazine.

For his part, Bebeto, he did it for the Trabalhista Democratic Party with which he sought to be a state deputy of Rio de Janeiro. Both achieved their objectives. Currently, both seek to join forces to stand together for the next elections in Brazil, details the Sport newspaper.

From player to the president of his country

The first African player to win the Golden Ball in 1995 was George Weah. He succeeded after spending a year in Paris Saint Germain and AC Milan, details the BBC.

His announcement of the withdrawal of football in 2003 was due, in large part, because he was looking to prepare himself, to be a candidate for the presidency of Liberia, his native country. However, notes the BBC, Weah "could not beat winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the second round."

His second attempt was made in 2017, achieving, according to the National Electoral Commission of Liberia, winning and becoming the new president of his country with 98.1% of the minutes counted.

"His humble beginnings is one of the things that make him a hero for his followers," the BBC highlights. "Weah is a child of the earth, he is a star, but he has the country in his heart," Oliver Myers, a 39-year-old unemployed man in the vicinity of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, told Reuters news agency in 2017. Among his actions, Weah reduced his salary by 24%, due to the crisis in his country and, earlier this year, "announced that he will revise the Constitution to suppress a provision that reserves citizenship to" people of color " by consider it "useless, racist and inappropriate", highlights El Comercio.

Footballers and their love of music

Before being contacted by Diego Simeone, the current coach of Atlético de Madrid, to be his assistant, Germán Burgos, former Argentine goalkeeper, devoted himself to music after retiring from football. The love he felt for The Rolling Stones, led him to form his own band The Garb, in which he was the lead vocalist, review BBC World.

Another footballer who let himself be carried away by music is Álvaro Benito, a former Real Madrid player, who made his retirement very young due to several injuries he had. Benito is a vocalist of Pignoise.

Gaizka Mendieta, the former footballer of Valencia team, that came to play two finals in the Champions League, has participated in television programs and is known in the music industry as DJ Mendieta. "When you are in the field you have to make the decision of where to run or who to pass the ball to. When you're in a nightclub you have a second to think what song you're going to play later, "Mendieta told the Goal channel, because his profession as a DJ, according to BBC Mundo" makes him feel sensations similar to those he experienced in the field".

LatinAmerican Post | Edwin Gustavo Guerrero Nova

Translated from: '¡Absurdo! Futbolistas que cambiaron el balón por estas carreras'