I was never really a football fan.
For most of my life, football was simply something happening in the background. I knew that millions of people loved it, I knew the big clubs and some of the famous players, but I never felt the need to follow matches, learn the teams or discuss football with anyone.
Until the 106th minute.
It was during a game between Spain and Argentina.
It was late at night, which is actually quite normal for me. Because I have worked night shifts for many years, my sleeping hours have always been a little… different. 😄
I wasn’t even planning to become interested in football that night.
What first caught my attention was the terrible fight involving the Argentina team. Something about what I saw affected me more than I expected. I got goosebumps.
That surprised me.
So I decided to go back and watch the entire game.
And then came the 106th minute.
The moment that changed everything.
Suddenly, there it was.
The goal.
I remember the feeling more than anything else. It wasn’t simply a football goal to me. Something about the moment, the atmosphere and the emotion reached me in a way I hadn’t expected.
And the funny thing is that, before that game, I had never even heard the name Ferran Torres.
Not once.
Yet there I was, watching him score, and getting goosebumps all over again.
I didn’t know it at the time, but that was the beginning of a completely unexpected journey.
I started following Ferran. Then Pedri. Then the Spanish team. Then other teams. Then the games. Then the news.
And somehow, without ever planning it, I had become interested in football.
Me.
A person who had never really been a football fan.
Discovering the person behind the footballer.
But something else happened along the way.
The more I followed football, the more I discovered that there was much more to it than what happens on the pitch.
There is passion, loyalty, excitement and an incredible connection between players and supporters.
But there is also another side.
The negativity.
I started seeing messages from people attacking players, clubs and other supporters. Sometimes the criticism was understandable — everyone is entitled to an opinion — but sometimes it went much further than that.
And that part made me think.
Why do people feel the need to be cruel simply because they don’t like a player or disagree with something?
Why not just move on?
You don’t have to admire everyone. You don’t have to support every team. You don’t even have to like a particular player.
But surely we can disagree without trying to hurt someone.
That made me look beyond the footballer and start thinking about the person behind the football shirt.
More than football.
I began noticing things that had nothing to do with goals, championships or statistics.
I saw someone who seems to genuinely care about fans, children through his summer camp, and dogs.
And that last one definitely caught my attention.
Because I have a lovely dog myself.
So suddenly, the footballer I had discovered because of one extraordinary moment on a football pitch became, in my mind, something more human.
It reminded me that behind every famous name there is still a person.
Someone who has feelings.
Someone who has good days and bad days.
Someone who can be affected by the things people say.
Perhaps that is something we sometimes forget when we see people through a screen.
What animals can teach us.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that some of the simplest lessons about life can be found in the animals around us.
Not because animals are perfect teachers, but because we can recognise something of ourselves in the qualities we associate with them.
The Shark: Keep moving. Whatever happens, don’t stop swimming.
The Wolf: Stay loyal to your pack — but never lose yourself.
The Bird: Look beyond where you are today. There is always another horizon.
The Phoenix: You can begin again. Falling is not the end of your story.
Four different symbols.
Four different strengths.
But perhaps they all say something about being a good person.
Be strong without becoming cruel.
Stay loyal without losing yourself.
Keep looking beyond the place where you are standing today.
And when life knocks you down, remember that you can begin again.
And then came the debut.
Then came yesterday.
I watched the debut.
And once again, football surprised me.
Two goals.
Another moment that made me smile.
But this time I wasn’t watching as the person who knew nothing about football anymore. I was watching as someone who had somehow become part of this strange little journey.
And suddenly the shark metaphor made sense to me.
A shark never stops swimming.
Whatever happens.
It keeps moving.
It doesn’t stop because the water gets rough. It doesn’t stop because something is chasing it. It doesn’t stop because someone is watching.
It simply keeps swimming.
What football unexpectedly taught me.
Maybe that’s what football has taught me.
Not how to understand every formation.
Not how to analyse every player.
Not even how to support a particular team.
Something much simpler.
Sometimes you don’t choose the thing that changes you.
Sometimes it simply finds you.
A single moment can open a door you didn’t even know was there.
A goal can lead you to a player.
A player can lead you to a sport.
A sport can lead you to people.
And people can make you think about something much bigger than the game itself.
About kindness.
About criticism.
About staying true to yourself.
About continuing when things become difficult.
And perhaps, most importantly, about remembering that there is always a human being behind the name we see on the screen.
So yes, I was never really a football fan.
Until the 106th minute.
And I’m still discovering where that moment will take me.
For now, I’ll keep watching.
I’ll keep learning.
I’ll keep moving forward.
Like a shark.
And perhaps, along the way, I’ll try to live a little more like the wolf, look a little further like the bird, and remember the phoenix whenever I need a new beginning.
Because sometimes the most unexpected stories teach us the lessons we weren’t looking for.
**Sometimes you don’t choose the thing that changes you.
Sometimes it simply finds you.** ❤️