Spotting a fan wearing my No.8 shirt is still huge thrill – far bigger than any medal
JUAN MATA’S biggest achievement is not winning the Champions League with Chelsea. Or the Europa League at Manchester United.
It isn’t even the World Cup or European Championship medals he collected during a 41- cap international career with Spain.
For Old Trafford star Mata, it is only when he spots a young supporter wearing a replica shirt with his name and number on the back that he appreciates the joy that can be generated by the game he loves.
“One thing that I’m very proud of every time I experience it is when we are on the bus, going from the hotel to the stadium, and I see a kid wearing my shirt, and wearing the number eight with my name on it,” said Mata.
“It always feels like the first time I’ve seen it – and it always gives me that excitement for football as a game.
“So rather than trophies or important goals, seeing a kid or a couple of kids with my shirt makes me feel very proud and happy and excited. It makes me keep going to achieve more things in my career because those people are spending their money on me.
“Sport has the power to change so many millions of people’s lives.
“For me, football is a professional sport in which I win or lose or I can win trophies or not.
“But I know that for many millions of kids around the world it’s an escape. It’s a way of living, it’s a way of trying to make their life better and be in charge of their future.”
At the age of 32, Mata has enjoyed something of a renaissance under Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer this season. He turned down the e opportunity of a mega-money move to the Middle East in the summer because he felt he had unfinished business at United after almost a year spent playing through the coronavirus crisis.
Mata doesn’t need a global pandemic to show he cares.
Since 2017 he has been a prime mover in the Common Goal charity which enables players to pledge a percentage of their sala salaries into a central fu fund for good causes.
More than 200 of his peers now help to finance good causes around the world. Mata also takes pride in the work he does as an ambassador for Laureus, an organisation that uses the power of sport to change young people’s lives.
When Premier League stars like Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford (left, top), Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling (middle) and Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson (bottom) reacted to the Covid-19 outbreak by doing their bit for hungry school children and NHS staff, he wasn’t surprised.
Mata said: “I see Marcus, my friend, my team-mate, doing what he’s doing for a lot of kids in this country.
“There’s Raheem and Jordan with the players’ fund to help fight Covid.
“Hector Bellerin of Arsenal, my fellow Spaniard, and also a friend, is doing a lot of things for the planet.
“I think that there is now a situation in which football players understand our privi leged position, our platform, and we know that we can help.
“We all have the same core values, and the important thing is that we go from inspiration to activity – from ‘talking the talk’ to actually ‘ walking the walk’.”
He added: “I don’t think we needed a pandemic to realise that we could all work together to make this world a better place.
“But, we are living in this situation now. And I think the reaction has been great.”