Pofessional players who did not like to watch soccer

Even though it may be the dream of many fans, some professional soccer players ended up hating their job .

Neymar Jr

Some professional footballers admitted that this is a sport that they play only as a job. / Photo: Reuters

LatinAmerican Post | Ariel Cipolla

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Leer en español: Futbolistas que no les gustaba ver fútbol

Soccer is a sport that awakens different emotions: love, anger and even sadness. It is a discipline that brings together millions of fans throughout the planet , who pay their tickets to see their favorite teams and players. Many even dreamed with the possibility of being professionals.

Precisely, on the Marca website they asked “who has never dreamed of being a professional soccer player?”. They do this in reference to Halilovic, a player who appeared as a child prodigy, but who ended up disenchanted with soccer by making it his job . Here are some cases of professional soccer players who admitted that soccer is not a sport that arouses special interest in them, beyond being a job.

Gabriel Omar Batistuta

Perhaps one of the most important strikers of the Argentine Soccer Team, as well as one of the best in history. Despite the fact that his talent and scoring power led him to become one of the stars in the sport, the former AS Roma player admitted that, in reality, he has no passion for the it.

On TNT Sports he commented that soccer was never fun for him. Although he achieved enormous results in Italy, he was not having fun competing. Rather, he saw it as a job, in which he achieved his goals due to effort and skill.

Carlos Vela

One of the most iconic cases. One more crack who does not like soccer, that is, where his own problems or personal tastes prevented him from being a much better player than he ever was. The Mexican even refused to attend a FIFA World Cup, in Brazil 2014 .

Basically, the striker had asked not to be called up for personal reasons, but it is also true that he had admitted that soccer had never been so passionate to him. That is why he recognized when he just arrived at LA FC that he prefers to watch a basketball game a thousand times more than a soccer match.

Also read: The 5 most expensive Latin American transfers in soccer history


One of the best players on the planet, in addition to the figure of the Brazilian National Team. So far, it seems that many of the best soccer players on the planet, figures in their clubs and national teams, seem to have a common denominator: that they do not like the sport in which they work too much.

During his stancy in Barcelona, the Brazilian winger recognized, according to the Marcado Rint website, that he does not like to watch the games in which his club does not play. He had even admitted that he did not even watch those of Madrid (his club's biggest rival), because he does not like to watch any game in general , although that does not mean that he does not like to practice them.


In this case, we have a Spanish left-back who is a Red Bull Leipzig sensation. Despite being one of the future diamond of the Spanish National Soccer Team, the defender admitted that he does not "consume" soccer. On the contrary, he prefers to watch series and movies, since he regards the sports as a job .

Actually, according to the ES24 media, he gets bored watching games. He only pays attention to those who are very special, but sometimes he doesn't even know who is playing. Therefore, we have seen cases of very talented soccer players on the field, but they prefer to do something else.