From Serena Williams to Carlos Vela: 10 players who do not enjoy the sport that made them famous
Despite being number 1 in their respective sports, several athletes have accepted that they hated their careers, to the point of waiting with longing for retirement
Leer en español: De Serena Williams a Carlos Vela: 10 jugadores que no disfrutan del deporte que los hizo famosos
These are some of the athletes who have publicly acknowledged their disinterest:
1. Serena Williams (American tennis player)
"Actually, I never liked sports, and I never understood how I became an athlete … I do not like to exercise, I do not like anything that has to do with working physically," said Serena Williams in 2012.
The winner of 39 Grand Slam titles revealed what Williams' observers had always suspected: tennis for her is an inconvenient job she tolerates because it allows her to achieve her real goals, acting and fashion.
2. Víctor Valdés (Spanish footballer)
At 35, the athlete ended his soccer career after a year without playing. Although he was never very likely to appear in the media and hated fame, during an interview, Valdés acknowledged that if he had the opportunity to live his life again, he would not be a goalkeeper. "They made me believe that I was good for it and due to circumstances I ended up being a professional". Today, Victor passes, perhaps, the happiest years of his life, far from the fame that soccerl brought him.
3. David Robinson (American basketball player)
The legend of the Spurs had dreamed to become an engineer at the Naval Academy of Annapolis in the United States. Robinson's childhood was based on gaming machines and science fiction. Basketball was just an eventual hobby. However, when he moved to Osbourn Park High School in Manassas, Virginia, his 6.56 feet attracted the attention of the coach, who called him aside to play basketball. Major basketball programs offered him scholarships that he refused to follow his dream, but eventually ended up yielding and became an NBA legend.
4. Iván René Valenciano (Colombian footballer)
For an interview for the Colombian daily El Tiempo, the player said "He was a goal scorer who got out of bed because of obligation, without passion". Ivan René started competing in football for his father to get out of poverty. The greatest scorer of Colombian soccer (now second) never wanted to be a footballer, but he had the talent and the need to exploit it, if he had followed his dream, he would have played basketball or studied systems engineering.
5. Gabriel Ómar Batistuta (Argentine footballer)
The ever-greater goalscorer of Argentina, surpassed only by Lionel Messi, confessed in an interview that he never liked the sport he exercised and only complied with it because he got money every month from playing soccer. In an interview for TyC Sports, Batistuta said that after leaving soccer, two days after his retirement, he could not walk. He was so much pain that he asked his doctor to cut his legs. "I cannot anymore" assured Batigol, wanting to have the legs that the paralympic athlete Óscar Pistorius used. The Argentine had an operation to fix the ankle of his right leg and this way he has been able to overcome the pain.
6. Gareth Bale (Welsh footballer)
The Real Madrid's player, Gareth Bale revealed that although he enjoys football in the field, he hates to follow it on television and prefers golf in his free time.
7. Christian Vieri (Italian footballer)
Former Atlético de Madrid and Inter Milan striker, who achieved fame in the 90s, confessed in an interview that his greatest passion was not soccer and that he would have liked to play cricket.
8. Nick Kyrgios (Australian tennis player)
The Australian, who reached the top 50 of the Wimbledon ranking at age 19, confessed that he still does not understand how his career in tennis began. "I do not like tennis very much, I do not love it, it was crazy when I was 14. I was all basketball and I decided to play tennis, my parents pushed me and I can still say that I do not love tennis. It's crazy how things are going. "
9. Andre Agassi (American tennis player)
"I was the most unhappy N ° 1 in the world, I would preferred to be number 141", he said about his career. The winner of eight Grand Slam tournaments told in a conference in Mexico how unhappy he was while at the peak of his career. "I did not start tennis by choice, I hated tennis with all my soul and I hated it for most of my career, I had to hit thousands of balls per day because my dad had the idea that nobody was going to win if I hit thousands of balls per day and for years, "Agassi explained.
10. Carlos Vela (Mexican soccer player)
The Mexican striker was accused of treason when he refused to participate in the World Cup with his team in 2014, with which he had previously won the U17 World Cup and two Gold Cups. When the media questioned him about his decision not to attend the World Cup, he responded that he preferred other things: "between a good movie and a good football game, I prefer the movie." While playing in Spain he came to admit that soccer had never been so passionate and that although he enjoys playing, when the time comes when the game ends, he does not feel comfortable talking about him.
Latin American Post | Camila González C.
Translated from "De Serena Williams a Carlos Vela: 10 jugadores que no disfrutan del deporte que los hizo famosos"
