ÉRIC ABIDAL: I AM NOT AFRAID

THE SCAR OF THE WARRIOR

by Riccardo Romani, photos by Antoine Doyen shamelessly downloaded from tumblr cos my scanner sucks



Two months ago at Wembley stadium he lifted the Champions League trophy while wearing his Barcelona shirt and the captain’s armband his teammates gave him. Two months before that, he was diagnosed with liver cancer.

The great champion-that-should-have-been, and Puel had lost interest 13 minutes into the first half: his eye caught sight of a 19-year-old kid whose grandparents came from Martinique.

Éric, Éric Abidal

Two months ago at Wembley stadium he lifted the Champions League trophy while wearing his Barcelona shirt and the captain’s armband his teammates gave him. Two months before that, he was diagnosed with liver cancer.

WHY ME?

INSHALLAH

“Éric, the important thing is that you are a good person

WEMBLEY

From Totti to Beckham, from Eto’o to Rooney. Four months full of messages, whispering in the streets, hope, and finally joy, happiness.

The thing that really surprised me, was the ones who should have called, visited, texted me, but didn’t. I’m not gonna name names, that person knows who they are

“My dear Éric, see you at Wembley. I’m gonna be there, and I know you’re going to be there, too.” I thought he was crazy.”

CAPTAIN

Do you have any idea what a fucking badass we have as captain? Do you? Champions League final, they tell him he’ll be warming the bench, and he’s the one comforting me! This is Barcelona.

I had cancer, I had surgery, I played the CL final, and I lifted the cup, all in the span of three months. What more could I ask?

From an ou

tsider’s point of view, it’s hard to tell what’s gluing them all together. There is something in the basic philosophy of the Catalan club, of which Guardiola is a perfect incarnation. “The club, the team, our teammates come before everything else. We earn a lot of money, but we still train with the eagerness we had as kids. I’ve seen so many footballers who become rich and every sentence they utter begins with “I, I, me..”. Well, no one at Barça is like that. We make sure we remind each other this: it’s a game, they’re paying us to do something beautiful, let’s do it seriously but without taking each other too seriously

BERLIN, 2006

When you have cancer, it’s kind of the same. It’s not a one-man game, it’s teamwork. Without the support of my family

FAREWELL ASTON MARTIN

are of my body. Maybe I even learned how to live. I sold my race cars, even my beloved Aston Martin: you can do better things with your money. There are lots of people who have cancer or AIDS who need it, and I try to give my part because I’m a privileged. But I do it quietly

. I see things differently now, I’ve matured. Life is full of paths and you have to follow them, accept them

which my beloved sister kindly purchased for me alkdjhfklajhdkfl.