W

Piacenza, Italy

[Actu Foot @ActuFoot_]

🚨🚨💣 Ousmane DEMBÉLÉ 🇫🇷 : « COMME J’AI DIT J’AI JAMAIS ÉTÉ "L’ÉLU" MAIS J’AI BOSSÉ ÉNORMÉMENT.

L’année dernière j’ai été récompensé… CETTE ANNÉE ON VERRA, tranquille.

J’ai toujours été AU FOND DE LA CLASSE EN TRAIN DE TRAVAILLER DUR. TOUTE MA CARRIÈRE, J’AI PAS DIT UN MOT, J’AI TRAVAILLÉ DUR !!! »

🎙️ @ligue1plus

[𝑻𝒋 @Tylerjmes_]

Ousmane Dembélé - Chains & Whips

[t7psg @t7psg_]

Ballon D'or

[Amir D @starks_arq]

This picture means something to an entire generation of Dutch people.

I'm one of them.

My parents came to Holland as Moroccan immigrants.
I was born there.

Dutch passport.
Dutch better than my Arabic.
The first 18 years of my life, Holland fed me, schooled me, raised me.

The Moroccans helped rebuild Holland.
Holland gave them roads, schools, a future in return.

Fair trade.

But we never really integrated.

That's not on one side.
That's on everyone.

We learned to speak for our grandparents, because they never got to learn the language.
We brought our food.
We brought our culture. Mosques. Books and humor.

We had fun.
We hung out.
We went to each other's weddings and loved the mix of it.

And still.
We never really became one.

The politicians made sure to categorize us.
They needed us to be outsiders, while we were busy acting like insiders.

So a wall went up between neighbors.

Then yesterday a silly game with a ball put two teams on the same grass.
Two continents.
Two cultures.

Except they're not two teams.

They're teams stitched together by the same life.

The Dutch know the Moroccans. Intimately.
The Moroccans know the Dutch. Intimately.

The Moroccans in Morocco spend every summer selling to the Moroccans from Holland.

The Dutch spend every day next to Moroccans. In School. At The local butcher. The streets.

The Moroccan team is full of Moroccans carrying Dutch passports.

The Dutch team is full of their actual friends, neighbors, and colleagues.

Such a simple game.
Such a complicated story.

When I look at this image I don't see football.

I see high school.
I see pride.
I see distance.
I don't see compassion.
I see resentment.

And that's exactly how we lived in beautiful Holland.

Together. Happily.
And quietly, unconsciously, apart.

I left when I was 18.
I went back to Morocco.

I resented Holland.
For years it was me vs them.

Now I understand what I actually have.

I can read two cultures from the inside.

And I get to choose.
What I carry with me.
What I leave behind.

Because every culture has its gold.
And every culture has its rot.

The trick is knowing which is which.

Love. Be kind to each other.

[Ali Howorth @ahoworth97]

Marco Van Basten in 2016: “These are stupid choices; they are stupid boys who should have had a little patience... How can you be stupid enough to opt for Morocco when you are eligible for the Dutch team?”

10 years on and I think we know who the stupid one was.

[🥷🏼™ @UTDNosa1]

REMIND THEM WHO TF YOU ARE, @Cristiano

[Rising Stars XI @RisingStarXI]

🇵🇹❤️‍🩹 João Neves dedicated his 1st World Cup goal to his mother.

"I can see my dad in the stands, my girlfriend – my mum no, as you know, but I know she’s always with me, and that’s why I pointed to the sky. My first World Cup goal was for her." 🥺

[adidasfr @adidasFR]

On se revoit à Budapest 🗣️
@dembouz

#YouGotThis

[👍 @CLINT419]

So can I.

[VERSUS @vsrsus]

It all worked out.

[VERSUS @vsrsus]

It all worked out.

[433 @433]

João Neves lost his mother last year while at Benfica 😔

At the start of this season, at just 19 years old, he moved to Paris — not knowing anyone, not speaking the language, and completely alone 🇫🇷

On Saturday, the Portuguese maestro made 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 🏆👏

[EuroFoot @eurofootcom]

Moise Kean: "I'm just taking back what's mine, they been sleeping on my name too long." 🥶

[Vini Jr. @vinijr]

Eu farei 10x se for preciso. Eles não estão preparados.

[Trent Alexander-Arnold @TrentAA]

Pressure makes diamonds. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿💎