Human Things
🪄 Friendships, football, faith, and a little magic
Previously on The Good Football
January & February Favourites
The Good Stuff - Vol VII
“Es que te veo volviendo a ser tú misma”
These were more or less the words (loosely translated to “I see you coming back to yourself”) said to me by a dear friend the other day. Not coincidentally, these were the same words I had thought to myself a couple of days earlier, when I did something very mundane, but also very me.
During the time that preceded this, I lost myself a bit in a whirlwind of tasks, changes, decisions, and things that blurred my sense of self for a bit. In those days, what actually kept me was people. I leaned on those closest to me to be reminded of myself.
When I pull the human thread that helped me through this, I get back to the days spent in Brazil earlier this year, where I could feel myself held by the places and people I knew first in the world.
And when I look at what else inspired and motivated me these past weeks, I see more humans doing human things. Turns out that's still where it’s at, even with all the AI talk going around (not you, Claude, thank you for all your assistance).
Berlin Indie Football Festival
I’m super excited to be in Berlin this summer to take part in the Indie Football Festival, created and brought to life by the great Andrew J. Weber. Watching Andrew brew this idea from scratch and pull it off with such excellence has been truly inspiring and motivating. I feel honoured to be a part of this project, and can’t wait to connect with great people out there who also dream, imagine and work for a better football and a better world through football.
You can join us there — grab your tickets here! If you can’t make it for any reason, consider buying the cool merch or donating just because, to support indie football!
Fulham Lillies’ Game Changers
Speaking of feeling honoured and grateful, turns out there are more people who want to hear what I have to say about football (!), and I will be in London in August to join the Fulham Lillies’ Game Changers event. I looove to share the room with fellow women who love and/or work in football, and I could not be more excited for this chat. Thanks to my dear and die-hard Fulham friend Hayley Davinson, for talking me up and opening doors for me.
If you’re in town, get your free tickets here.
Identidad en Juego, Thaylor Aldama’s book
I met Thaylor through my work with Fútbol Más, and since I learned he was finishing a book, I started counting the days until I could read it. It did not disappoint. I learned about perspective, identity, belonging, racism in Spanish football, and fragments of human history that led us to this moment right now. Thaylor is a Basque footballer who, by telling his story, is telling us about the journey of countless others, and rising as a leader to speak up about and change this reality. Here’s a list of where you can find Thaylor’s book in Spain (in Spanish).
La cuarta, Ewa, and Alexia 🏆
After barely making it to the end of the first half alive, I got to celebrate Barça Femení’s fourth UWCL title! This was the cherry on top of a perfect season for these ladies, but especially for Ewa Pajor. It’s impossible not to be happy for her and inspired by her story once you learn that this was actually her sixth UWCL final, and first title! I would love to learn more about the inner dialogue, work, and strength behind all that we know and see on the outside. I loved Alexia Putellas’ take on it; she said, “The fact that she's always there isn't luck". Her perspective is set on the other side of where our eyes tend to land first, which are the losses. But, truly, the fact that this woman was present in SIX Champions League finals with different teams speaks loudly about her talent. Well deserved, Pajor, hats off.
That inevitably leads me to think of Alexia’s farewell. I don’t think I have big enough words to fit the meaning of her importance to the club, talent, and legacy. In many ways, Alexia transformed football, and I always knew I was watching history. Every game, I'd quietly thank God for giving me eyes to see it this close, and the Johan Cruyff stands are my witness.
Fútbol Más winning the Laureus Sport For Good award
My friends, who became my clients and, because they are who they are, became a team I feel a part of, won the most relevant Sport for Good award! The Laureus award recognises the impact of the work they’ve been doing for years in different countries, including here in Spain. In their hands, football becomes a tool to truly transform lives and communities. How? They developed their own methodology that connects a person's inner emotions with their everyday social relationships, and allows them to promote inclusion, values, mental health, and more through sport.
Being able to closely watch them working has been so incredible; the more I learn about the day-to-day of each person in there, from educators to project managers, the more in awe I am of the amount of effort, care, and soul they put into this. No wonder the world is now recognising it all. Seeing them get their flowers was like a breath of fresh air and extra motivation to remind me why I am where I am and do what I do.
Follow them to get a better glimpse of what I’m talking about.
Birthday, goals, and love at Camp Nou
The second leg of the semifinals against Bayern Munich fell right on my birthday, and at the Camp Nou. How dare you not believe in magic?
I was gifted with an amazing game, four goals, Aitana’s return and, most importantly, the life of these amazing friends I’ve got who make anywhere feel like home, and love me so well. May this love find and keep finding you, too.
Pioneras (Another League)
I didn’t really know what to expect when I went to a screening of Pioneras and, well, I laughed, cried, and left the theatre determined to change the world and football and start a female revolution. This movie is inspired by the story of the first unrecognised, unofficial Spanish women's national football team, and it’s truly a gem. Five stars and a heart on my Letterboxd.
The eternal love story of Brazilians & the World Cup
One of the several unfinished drafts I’ve got in my Substack dashboard was all about how I was struggling to find the spirit of the World Cup this time. What can I tell you, it has found me, and struck me right on the heart, and now I’m daring to believe we’re going to win this.
It’s been too long since I’ve been in Brazil during a World Cup, and I so wish I were there. The shared sentiment and collective experience that happens there every four years is a kind of wonder that is hard to explain to those who aren’t Brazilian and a symptom of the hopeful stubbornness of our people who, as the incomparable Milton Nascimento would say, “have the strange habit of having faith in life”.
How dare I not believe in magic when I grew up in a country that every four years rallies around a squad and sends them off as if they were going to fight the most important battle of their lives; that paints and decorates streets, malls, bars, and homes, shuts down entire cities just to stare at a screen together, all in hopes of that cathartic feeling of being, again, the best nation at the art of football?
I'm only human. Here we go again.
Oh, and one more thing that held me through: this song.
THE GOOD LINKS
🪩 This illustration.
😮💨 Furacão’s classy new away kit (also, our new mascot is completely insane and I love him.)
🔥 Excuse me, Damson Idris, WHAT?
💅 Borja Iglesias making it to the World Cup for the first time at 33.
🇧🇷 This brilliant work of art.
✨ Her.
😍 More incredible illustrations.
🤌 This IKEA ad ahead of the UWCL final in Oslo.
👏 LFC Foundation’s programme supporting Black and marginalised women and girls in sport.
COMPLETELY OFFSIDE
Links that are not football-related but still worth sharing.
This article from Out of the Blue, one of my favourite newsletters.