Abel Resino and Javier Arizmendi analyse what the day after football is like

The last summer of the footballer

photo_camera Abel Resino and Javier Arizmendi

"There is a summer that never comes back for a footballer. A month of August that you have to return home. You have left the routine of training, trips, matches...". These are the words of Abel Resino. One of the best goalkeepers of Atletico de Madrid. He defended his goal between 1986 and 1995 and went 1,275 minutes without conceding a goal. An unbeaten record that has still not been broken and which was broken by Luis Enrique, at that time in the ranks of Sporting de Gijón. 

Abel and Wilfred

Abel's last summer began on May 5, 1996 in Vallecas. Valladolid won 0-2 with goals from Quevedo and Peternac, both from penalties. The goalkeeper from Toledo was sent off by Carmona Méndez in the 88th minute and never returned to the goal. The late Wilfred Agbonavbare would take over for many years at Rayo Vallecano. 

At that moment the lights went out for Abel Resino. Two Copa del Rey, international with Spain and a strong personality in an Atlético led by Jesús Gil were left behind to start a new life. 

"You arrive home and see that your bank account is full, but no more money is coming in. You start to evaluate your income and expenses. You wonder what you're depriving your family of and you end up working," he reveals in a video call organised by BestMatch. The agency that she set up with lawyer Raúl Mayoral to advise footballers in the last years of their careers. 

Arizmendi

Javier Arizmendi also had one last summer. His time in football began at Atletico Madrid, passed through Zaragoza, Koeman's controversial Valencia where he won a Copa del Rey, continued at Getafe, at Swiss Neuchâtel and ended at Deportivo de la Coruña in 2014. Old Trafford witnessed his only international match in 2007 from another illustrious athlete like Luis Aragonés. He was able to train while playing football and is now dedicated to asset management in the Tressis stock company.

Arizmendi talks about retirement, about what football players take away with them and about reality: "You have an important baggage to continue being linked to football, but the reality is that not all of us can fit in"; and he continues to value what was his profession "football is a separate sport, far from reality and society". 

Abel and Gil

"When I started there were no representatives, there were intermediaries," says Abel. He adds something that could be intuited about his relationship with Jesús Gil, "I negotiated all my contracts personally with Atlético de Madrid". Something that is inconceivable nowadays where players live surrounded by agencies that advise them on all aspects of their professional and personal lives from the time they are youngsters.

Abel spent ten years training in First and Second Division clubs. In Levante, Castellón, Celta, Granada, Valladolid or in his beloved Atlético he has seen the profile of the new youngsters. "The footballers of today have less contact with reality than those of before. They live with their agents who run their whole lives. They live in a bubble that does not let them see what is going on in society".

Travelling with Benzema 

Arizmendi's eyes light up when talking about young people. He knows that the situation of the quarry is also different from that of his beginnings and he wants to put the focus on the responsibility of the clubs. "Professionalism comes sooner and sooner. The youngsters travel with the older ones in Champions. If the kids get on a plane with Benzema, how can they not think that they will be Benzema tomorrow? There is a problem of frustration. There are already teams of psychologists in the clubs managing expectations. 

"You are young, you earn money, you are famous, recognized and you have to leave your family environment... it is an explosive cocktail and what surrounds you is not the best. Without an important degree of maturity the kids end up lost," Arizmendi assures us, recalling his first trip out of Madrid to Santander to play for Racing. 

Ruined

"When professional life is over, footballers are divided into two: those who have their lives sorted out and those who have not earned enough and have to keep on making a living," explains Abel. But there are many more of the second case than the first. "In my time people were ruined much more than they are now. Today the representation agencies give more advice. When a footballer earning an average salary does not have an agency to represent them, he must learn to walk and find his place in life. Making those decisions that can mark the future of an athlete is what Abel Resino has focused his business life on.

Javier Arizmendi knows the figures in professional sport and they are tough. "In the NFL, 78% of players go bankrupt or end up in financial trouble. In the NBA, 60% go bankrupt within five years of retirement. In the Premier League three out of five declare bankruptcy after leaving their lives as professional players". These are statistics that the active professional must know in order to learn to make decisions.   

Retirement

Footballers do not usually see the end of their career. They don't talk about it publicly or at times of renewal because they want to go on for another year and then another. There are very few who retire and do not need to work anymore. Normally they have a good mattress, but knowing how to manage it is basic to survival.   

The professional life of a footballer is relatively short compared to other professions. They also earn more money in comparison, but their risk of everything coming to an end through injury is high. They live in insecurity because their body is their tool and they have to respond every day. "I have signed contracts for three or four seasons and have completed one or two. The usual thing is uncertainty about your future. There's no predictable income, there can be injuries, falls... you have to be prepared for that. It's a volatile race that is influenced by too many factors," he says, recalling his arrival at Getafe from Zaragoza to sign a six-season contract that ended up with three seasons and two transfers included.

Abel and Arizmendi are two retired footballers. They represent two different moments in football and have been concerned to know how the new player's present is so that his retirement is bearable. That moment when the sportsman goes from working to earn money to having his money work for him. 

After this talk we can no longer think about the withdrawal of Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi. We already know what they have and what they will have when they hang up their boots. But there are more, many more between the ages of 35 and 40 who have almost 20 years more of working age ahead of them. Ball workers who will see how there is a summer that does not come back.

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