Foden & Greenwood’s Iceland incident is a timely lesson for soccer’s bad boys

Footballers are often perceived to be bad boys. With most players, it has not affected their careers. Diego Maradona and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the few live examples that players can be bad boys outside the pitch and still have glorious careers. But modern-day football can tend to be too harsh at times. With social media now dominating perception building in world football, one bad move can lead to years of grilling and trolling.

English young stars Phil Foden and Mason Green- wood were removed from the English side after they were caught breaking Covid-19 protocol and calling two women to their hotel room in Iceland. Some might say that their offence isn’t as big as told to be in the headlines. Fair enough. But one needs to look at the crucial junc- ture in their career when this has happened. Foden and Greenwood both made their debuts for the senior team a night ago.

A day later they had been put under quarantine for a silly misjudgement which no one knows how long will be associated with the two. Bad incidents, unlike the old days, today do affect the career of a player. There are several examples in the modern era, Italian star striker Mario Balotelli and Brazilian sensation Robinho to name a few.

Balotelli, who was said to be the fulcrum of Italy’s future, was involved in too many petty incidents and mischiefs. The result? He switched a lot of clubs throughout his career but completely failed to make his mark. Robinho too was touted to be a Brazilian legend but was convicted for a much serious rape charge and that was it for him.

It’s not just in football, look at what the match-fix- ing charges did to cricketer S. Sreesanth’s career. It’s time for young footballers around the globe to find the right role models and not ruin their careers due to misjudgements. As for Foden and Greenwood, they would hope that the Iceland incident gets brushed off their backs. So that they can move ahead in their promising and exciting careers.