Rilwan
@Real1_balogun • 10,230 subscribers
Writer, Storyteller; Public Health, football and Community
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“For a long time, I was a guest in our house” Thierry Henry speaks from his soul. He has depth. He’s a man in touch with himself. I recall some years ago, he spoke about how much he wanted to please his father on Steven Bartlett Diary of a CEO podcast. Everything he aimed to achieve was to please the voice that rang in his head, telling him to do it better. His father stood behind him while he built a career, probably saw the good many never saw. As a father, he also mentioned how COVID-19 changed his life. It was the point he chose his family. That was probably why he said at some point, he became a guest in his house. Men become guests in their house. There was a Reminisce Alaga interview I saw. I think it was on ISaidWhatISaidPod. He said there was a point he went into his daughter(s) room and asked when they painted the wall pink. His wife told him it’s been there for two years. He said that was the point he thought it important to rest on the tours and be with his children. At that point, he probably was a guest in his house. Men’s lives are not easy. Footballers especially — elite footballers most especially are like tour musicians. They’re often on the road. You’re playing away games round the country, spending three days or more away from home when you have continental away games. Gabriel Jesus spoke about the same thing in his recent interview with The Players’ Tribune titled “A Letter to My Family and my Arsenal Family”. He said football made him distant but his ACL injury brought him closer. “I wasn’t the husband and father that I needed to be,” he said. When his wife gave birth to his daughter, he said he only held her for one day. Brazil called and he had to go. And he was a guy who grew up without a father. For his child at the time, he was there now but wasn’t there too. “I always promised myself: When I become a father, I will always be there for my kids. “When Helena was born, I was not living up to that. I was there, but I was always distracted, you know? Always catching a flight.” That’s the tough decisions men have to make sometimes. At the point of growth and ascent, life will ask questions, and difficult decisions will need to be made. Hopefully, it will be one that won’t damage the future. The future one is securing.
Rilwan206,533 views • 5 months ago
Brilliant, layered guy. Leon Balogun’s point about being distant from Nigerian culture as a German-born player is quite understandable. It’s far easier for the UK-born guys to settle into the squad, in comparison with others who probably grew up in environments that didn’t have as many Nigerians. His point about the pressure of playing for the Super Eagles preparing him for a club like Rangers is also very good. For all of the Super Eagles’ struggles, that team and the pressures that come with it is the reason many players understand the enormity of the responsibility of professional football. You have to give your best always to even stand a chance of getting respected. Leon Balogun is always a brilliant man to listen to and this interview with Joe Hart on Footballers Unfiltered wasn’t an exception.
Rilwan Balogun121,279 views • 5 months ago
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