The Bittersweet Realization of Impending Loss
Feelings of loss often set in even before the actual farewell. On a grand scale, it’s the impending loss of a person, whose looming absence one has to confront in advance. On a smaller scale, it’s the bottom of the plastic cup that you can already sense, even though the yogurt is not yet fully eaten. Somewhere in between lies the greatest loss that can befall a football fan: the impending end of the career of your favorite player. In this format, we want to look at players we already miss, even though they are still active. Just like each of us has to die someday and every yogurt is eventually finished, there is this certainty with professional footballers: unless your name is Kazuyoshi Miura, it’s over somewhere in your mid-thirties. Some squeeze out a few more years, but for most, 20 years of professional football is the absolute limit.
A Small Miracle in Football
Our candidate today is a small miracle. Santiago Cazorla González, aptly reintroduced years ago on his return to FC Villarreal, is a magician in every sense. At 40 years old, not a goalkeeper, he is currently playing his 21st season in professional football. And yes, he can do magic. Santi Cazorla is not just a player who dazzles with his skills; he is a player who transforms the game with his presence. The dream goals, both long-range and deftly placed with either foot, highlight his extraordinary talent. His time at FC Arsenal was peppered with such goals, but they are just a part of what makes him magical.
Beyond the Dream Goals
Dream goals alone do not capture the magic of Santi Cazorla. His game has a certain enchantment that goes beyond highlight clips. For Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal, Cazorla was a linchpin, often both the deepest and the highest midfielder within a single attack. In the build-up play, he would receive the ball from the central defenders, orchestrate a few textbook one-twos, and then be the last passer before the goal. Arsenal essentially became Santi Cazorla and the players who received and returned the ball to him. When he was out, a significant void opened in the center of the Gunners. And this happened far too often. During his six years in North London, the Spaniard accumulated an incredible 800 days of absence due to injuries. But Cazorla and his dream goals and passes kept coming back until today.
The Magic of Resilience
Another essential element of his magic lies in his resilience and ability to overcome setbacks. For those who find the previous magic insufficient, they can look at the story of how Santi Cazorla came back from an injury that almost cost him the ability to walk. A seemingly harmless ankle injury in September 2013 led to a routine operation, but the hospital wound became infected with highly resistant germs. "Bacteria ate eight centimeters of my Achilles tendon," he explained to the BBC in 2018 after a nearly two-year injury break. Until he could hardly walk in October 2016, he continued to play under increasing pain, even though his right foot was nearly unusable. Today, the wound is covered with a piece of tattooed forearm skin, a testament to his incredible recovery. The foot, which might not even be there with a bit more bad luck, continues to kick professionally in the second Spanish league, where the now 40-year-old plays for a minimum wage at his youth club Real Oviedo. This resilience and return to the game, even at a lower level, is a story that contains a certain magic.
The Human Side of a Football Legend
But we still haven’t quite captured the true Cazorla magic. It lies in the result of all these magical abilities and stories. The beautiful goals, the elegant style of play, his inspiring comeback story, or the selfless return to the small home club; all these elements conjure up the same goal: a smile on the faces of football fans. Cazorla not only has his equally well-functioning feet or his life story as tools; he also has himself as a person who you just have to love. This is evident in the way he interacts with fans and fellow players. A video showing him entertaining people with his charm alongside a moderately English-speaking Lukas Podolski demonstrates this. He doesn’t even need his feet; all he needs is to be himself to force a smile on people’s faces. The monster long-range dream goals? In comparison, they are almost only bycatch.
Cherishing Every Moment
And yet, we will soak up every one of those dream goals that come before the impending end of his career, as if we were scraping out the cup of the most delicious yogurt in the world. Santi Cazorla’s legacy is not just about his magical skills on the pitch but also about the joy he brings to those who watch him play. His career is a testament to the magic of resilience, skill, and the human spirit. As we watch him in his 21st professional season, we are reminded of the beauty of football and the magic of one of its greatest magicians.
