Text by Pedro Chagas Freitas (a Portuguese writer) “Rafael Leão has joined Galatasaray, and the comment sections immediately filled up with phrases that seem to be about football, but are really about us. 1. “So much wasted talent.” Wasted by whose standards? If someone could earn 10 million but chooses to earn 5 in order to live a life they enjoy, have they wasted 5 million? If a writer could write 10 books but writes 5 because he would rather spend his afternoons with his children, has he wasted 5 books? I don’t know. We count goals; we don’t count happy afternoons, or laughter, or dinners, or the value of actually enjoying our lives. If there were a Ballon d’Or for the happiest man, I suspect Leão would be a contender. 2. “He’s going nowhere.” Where exactly is this place? The Ballon d’Or? A hundred goals for his country? Where is this mysterious destination we are all supposed to reach before we can say that we have actually got somewhere? We are pathologically addicted to the idea that everyone has to climb, progress, grow, improve, earn, achieve. We are all trapped in a sick elevator: we keep going up without even knowing what is on the floor above. And when someone comes along who doesn’t seem all that interested in climbing every single step, we get furious. That person is dangerous to us, because they force us to ask ourselves: what if it isn’t compulsory? More. There’s a destructive word for so many of us. More money, more titles, more followers, more recognition, more productivity, more wealth, more status, more goals, more awards. More, more, always more, stupidly more. More. But what if it meant more joy? More time with friends? More dancing, more orgasms, more samba, more freedom? What if it meant more nothing? Leão was born with a gift. Who said talent is a debt? A gift can be freedom; it doesn’t have to be a mortgage. He strikes me as a happy guy, someone who knows how to live. That’s why I like him. Who the hell cares about the rest when you’re happy? I know of nothing above happiness. The best life isn’t the one with the best awards; it’s the one with the best days. Do whatever makes you feel good, Rafael. Enjoy yourself. If you can, entertain us too — God knows we need it. Let us argue about what you could have been. You’ll be too busy being what you chose to be. — Pedro Chagas Freitas