Juan Mata is far from your average footballer. In a one-of-a-kind interview with BBC Radio Five Live, Manchester United’s 30-12 months-vintage Spain midfielder spoke openly about many stuff. He recited poetry, found out his fascination with psychology, and explained his passion for Common Goal – the charity he helped set up that calls on footballers to help “generate social change and improve lives.” Guillem Balague, host of BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast on Thursdays, masking European football:

We’ve spoken approximately this earlier than that footballers tend to live in a bubble. So wherein does your interest in others, into the broader world, come from? What took you out of the bubble? Juan Mata: I do not know, and I don’t think I am just out of it [laughs]. I have my moments – we all have our moments – when we can get the simplest cognizance of what we have to do in that feel. It’s personal combat you have to have when you have pursuits or pastimes. You ought to be very focused on your priorities and say no to other things.

Right now, I understand the most crucial part of my lifestyle is an expert footballer, and that has needs: taking care of yourself, training properly, resting well, being ready for the games, being capable of taking care of the expectancies, and overall performance. It’s actually that soccer places you in a very privileged area. I’ve said it is a bubble – you may name it something you need. However, it’s no longer real existence.

If we talk approximately how soccer has changed me or what it has given me, there are probably many greater matters than t; however, there are three vital things specifically. The first is making my family glad. My granddad, my dad, and mom, my sister – anyone receives satisfaction after I play a sport and when I score. I feel confident for myself on the route, but I feel happier for them.

The 2nd one has a platform. If I weren’t a footballer, I would not speak to the BBC. It gives you a platform to talk and proportion your ideas with many thousands and thousands of human beings. And the 0.33 one is time. Football has given me time to determine my destiny, which now not many humans can do. Economically football facilitates you plenty. When you finish, when you have had a terrific profession, you have got time to decide what to do. That is the real privilege of football because 99% of human beings don’t have that danger.

They should work because they have got their own family, they must pay for this – but if you already have that solved, you have the time to put your attempt into something you like. I do not suppose we have to forget about that. I think we need to all reflect consideration on how privileged we are. We’re residing the dream, not simplest while playing however probable for the relaxation of our lives. Let’s reflect consideration on it and try and take benefit of all this.

JM: Common Goal gives you an extraordinary feeling of what being a soccer participant is, a one-of-a-kind attitude on the power of soccer inside the world. Football can unite humans like nothing else, and it comes with financial blessings, a substantial monetary force. We created this motion, and we’re so glad about how it’s going. In less than two years extra than 70 players have joined – many huge businesses, clubs, federations, all wanting to help others who do not have the same conditions, to assist them in owning their destiny.

But more crucial than donating is the act of mirrored image on what every one of us ought to do to try to make the world a more balanced place. We created this movement, a validated instance of how we can do it. GB: Is the purpose of getting the whole of football to donate 1% finally? JM: That’s the dream: to get 1% of the whole – allow’s begin with European football – given to help social reasons. And I think it is viable because while you need something, and you get the feeling many humans percentage your concept, you could do it.

Hopefully, in a few years, we can say we have performed that. Still, when humans inquire from me what is the restriction of Common Goal, I surely don’t know because greater effectiveness than more than a few or a discern is the concept if we can make people reflect on consideration on supporting others and having empathy for others, to be the exceptionally viable dream. GB: You’ve diagnosed before a form of ‘negative impact social media has on soccer, in that it has made it extra superficial.

I’ve read you pronouncing that kids occasionally are most effective interested in having a shirt, no longer within the real soccer and that it takes something far from the sport’s essence. JM: When I stated that I was not generalizing – due to the fact you can by no means generalize – however, I get this feeling occasionally there may be this materialistic way of displaying things, a manner this is forgetting the essence of football, the purer meaning of the sport. When I turned into a kid, we considered what occurred on the pitch – the dreams, the crosses, and the control. I cherished speaking about most effectively what happened on the pitch.

The world modifications, and of course, you have to adapt – we speak differently to how we did 25 years ago – but there’s a bit little bit of a chance, I assume. Many children now cognizance of the boots and the shirts, and it is ordinary; it’s understandable from the way the whole lot is proven. But if you keep that route for decades, I suppose soccer will lose its essence, which is no longer accurate for each person. Once that essence is misplaced, the shirts, the boots, the whole thing may be meaningless. Football will not be soccer as we are aware of it.

Speaking from inside the game, I assume we should try to generate conversations about the football, no longer approximately the matters that come from outdoor, like this tweet or this post. No, let’s communicate nearly things that happened in the game, which might be stunning to look at – like a manage, a bypass, a one in opposition to. I love to speak about these things. GB: What turned into the last circulate, or participant, that your concept.

JM: The Real Madrid v Barcelona recreation. I turned into watching it at the same time as talking to Ander [Herrera] and David [de Gea] on WhatsApp; that is what we commonly do. For example, Benzema. You can have individuals who like him or no longer; however, from my factor of view, the way he performs, the way he controls the ball and makes the proper selections, shows with his again to intention, he is fashionable and bright, and you can see he understands the game.

I love that. We spoke approximately how many true gamers there have been in that recreation. Modric, Busquets, Jordi Alba, Pique, Ramos, Benzema, many others. They all played adequately and made the game a high stage sport. I enjoyed that communique, and I experience now telling you this, due to the fact for me, this is the splendor of football.