On Sunday, the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia reached a grand finale with France hoisting the coveted gold trophy after beating Croatia 4-2. And soon the new season of the English Premier League will start, just like other leagues in Europe. For soccer lovers, these are exciting times!
What interests me more, though, is how all the transnational players plying their trade in these lucrative leagues communicate effectively. I mean, how do your coaches manage to get the message across in training camp to all these players of different nationalities? Could it be that a player who speaks many languages has a better chance of succeeding in these cutthroat competition leagues than those who don’t?
Multilingualism gives one an advantage over others.
Oh yes, multilingualism gives one an advantage over others. Arsene Wenger, who was at the helm of Arsenal FC for 22 years, became a huge success not only because of his coaching but also because of his ability to speak many languages. Monsieur Wenger is fluent in six languages: French, English, Japanese, German, Italian and Spanish. This ability helped him convey his ideas clearly and easily to players who could not speak English. For example, when he signed Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona in 2003, the latter did not speak or understand a word of English. Therefore, Wenger always interacted with him in Spanish. He also encouraged him to learn English and when Fabregas left the club he was bilingual; Very fluent in English and Spanish.
Wenger’s understanding that the ability to speak many languages helps players bond with and better understand the world and the philosophy of football led him to advocate language learning in Arsenal’s youth setup. The benefits of this quickly spread so much that everyone knows “Arsenal mode”, which is basically Arsenal synergy; Arsenal players have a close family-like bond and allow their feet to speak a language of their own on the pitch by playing fast, beautiful and aesthetic football that is difficult to imitate.
Also the fact that soccer coaches and players who are multilingual have been very successful wherever they have doubled their businesses shows that speaking many languages is a huge advantage. For example, Pep Guardiola, who has been very successful in Spain, Germany and England as a manager, speaks German, English, Catalan, Spanish and Italian. Joseph Mourinho who is also one of the most successful soccer coaches, speaks Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and English fluently.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the FIFA Ballon d’Or as the best player in the world four times, speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English, while Manchester United star Romelu Lukaku, born in Belgium but with Congolese roots, speaks six languages with fluency: Dutch, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Swahili.
All of these coaches and players are highly successful because their ability to speak many languages helps them easily receive and internalize messages. It gives them that extra edge and boosts their confidence. They can easily establish themselves in many geographical realms and feel at home, thanks to their ability to easily interact with the natives of those areas.
As people continue to marry and travel, being multilingual becomes a necessary skill that comes with many opportunities. Also, many countries today have more than one official national language, so those that cannot communicate in at least two or more major languages, such as English, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, or Hindi, will soon be left behind in a world which becomes more complex and competitive every day. However, translation companies have also jumped in to save the day with services like Somali translation services, Yoruba translation services, Malagasy translation services, African conference interpreters among many others.