Jamie Vardy, o goleador que veio do nada

[Sumudica by Night]

Jamie Vardy, o goleador que veio do nada

O avançado do Leicester City, actualmente o melhor marcador da Premier League, jogava na quinta divisão há três temporadas.

 

 

Fazer um turno de 12 horas na fábrica e jogar futebol à noite com uma pulseira electrónica. Rejeição precoce e vontade de desistir. Segunda oportunidade, redenção e glória. Podia ser matéria para uma canção de Bruce Springsteen, a remeter para um início de vida cinzento, numa rotina proletária sem futuro, mas que se transforma numa história de perseverança e final feliz. Esta é a história de Jamie Vardy, o avançado do Leicester City que há três anos jogava na quinta divisão de Inglaterra e que é, actualmente, o melhor marcador da Premier League e já com quatro internacionalizações pela selecção inglesa.

 

Histórias como a de Jamie Vardy são cada vez mais raras numa altura em que o talento precoce, pelo desenvolvimento do “scouting”, dificilmente passa despercebido. Como tantos rapazes, Vardy tinha um sonho, mas, aos 16 anos, deixou de o ter quando o seu clube do coração, o Sheffield Wednesday, o dispensou aos 16 anos por ser demasiado baixo. “Foi um momento difícil e deixei de jogar durante uns tempos porque pensava que nunca iria ser profissional”, conta o avançado. Na altura, calcula Vardy, teria cerca de 1,40m de altura, mas, um mês depois de ter sido dispensado, teve um surto de crescimento. “De repente, cresci cerca de 20 centímetros.”

 

Vardy continuou a estudar e foi trabalhar para uma fábrica de próteses de fibra de carbono. Não demorou muito até voltar a jogar futebol, numa equipa de amigos, e, pouco depois, foi parar às reservas do Stocksbridge Park Steels, uma equipa amadora de Sheffield do oitavo escalão. E aqui Vardy começou a marcar golos. E a ganhar dinheiro com o futebol. Trinta libras por semana foi o seu primeiro ordenado como futebolista para complementar o ordenado que ganhava a trabalhar 12 horas por dia na fábrica de próteses.

 

Durante seis meses, teve uma dificuldade suplementar. Usou uma pulseira electrónica no tornozelo por se ter envolvido num confronto num pub, conta o futebolista, a defender um amigo com deficiência auditiva. Tinha de cumprir um horário de recolher obrigatório, o que fazia com que, por vezes não pudesse treinar, e, nos jogos fora de casa, tinha de sair ao intervalo para cumprir o horário. Com todas estas limitações, Vardy conseguiu destacar-se e, em 2010, deu o salto para o Halifax, da Northern Premier League (sétima divisão), subindo para a Conference North (quinta divisão) no ano seguinte, para representar o Fleetwood Town.

 

Vardy ia subindo degraus e a sua eficiência goleadora mantinha-se. Uma época no Town foi o suficiente para chamar a atenção do Leicester City, da segunda divisão inglesa, que pagou por ele um milhão de libras, verba recorde para um jogador amador. Duas épocas depois, os seus golos foram instrumentais para a promoção da equipa da Midlands à Premier League.

 

O seu primeiro ano entre os grandes do futebol inglês foi relativamente discreto, mas suficiente para lhe valer uma chamada à selecção inglesa. É na segunda época de Premier Leagu que Vardy está a fazer história, já com 12 golos marcados, a alimentarem a excelente carreira do Leicester de Claudio Ranieri, terceiro classificado apenas com menos um ponto que os dois primeiros, Manchester City e Arsenal. Se marcar na próxima jornada frente ao Manchester United, será o décimo jogo consecutivo de Vardy a fazer golos, o que igualaria o recorde estabelecido por Ruud van Nistelrooy em em 2002-03.

 

Aos 28 anos, 12 depois de ter sido rejeitado pelo Wednesday, Vardy continua a não ser um avançado muito alto (1,78m de altura), mas faz da sua rapidez e capacidade de trabalho as suas grandes armas. Talvez não chegue para ser um avançado de referência numa grande equipa europeia – os tablóides ingleses já o puseram na lista de desejos do Real Madrid – mas é muito provável que seja um dos eleitos de Roy Hodgson para o Euro 2016. Jamie Vardy, o “working class hero”, nasceu para correr, como canta Bruce Springsteen num dos seus maiores êxitos. “Born to run”.

 

Público

Editado 28 Novembro 2015 por Sumudica by Night

[Che]

Ainda vi um par de turnos dele, lá naquela fábrica. Via-se o potencial a léguas.

[dafuq]

por acaso no futebol amador lembro-me de ver gajos com uma técnica do crl, punham a bola onde queriam, mas muitos deles tinham os seus 30 e tais :lol:

[P. Chagas Freitas]

JAMIE VARDY'S HAVIN A PARTY

[BartoloSerenity]

Adoro este gajo, nunca para de correr, nunca desiste, é daqueles jogadores que qualquer jogador adora jogar ao seu lado. Um vencedor...

[Lebohang]

Leicester’s Jamie Vardy sets up academy to help non-league talent

 

In-form striker wants to give others chance to emulate his rapid rise

‘I know there are players out there in a similar position to where I was’

 

Jamie Vardy is launching his own academy to give talented non-league players who have slipped under the radar the opportunity to follow in his footsteps. The Leicester City and England striker, who on Saturday could become the first player to score in 11 successive Premier League games, is convinced there are others lower down the pyramid capable of making the step up and he wants to give them every opportunity to emulate him.

 

After being released by Sheffield Wednesday at the age of 16, Vardy had spells with Stocksbridge Park Steels – in the eighth tier of English football – and Halifax Town before joining Leicester from Fleetwood Town, who were a non-league club at the time, as recently as 2012.

 

Vardy’s meteoric rise continued when he was called up to the England squad in May and, remarkably, he has since gone on to equal Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in 10 consecutive Premier League matches. Another goal in Saturday’s top-of-the-table match against Manchester United at the King Power Stadium would give Vardy the record outright.

 

The 28-year-old has not, however, forgotten his football roots and for the past six months he has been working on setting up an academy to give players from a similar background the chance to pursue their dreams. He plans to hold an annual week-long residential camp where 60 non-league players will receive coaching and guidance on all aspects of the game as well as get the chance to perform in front of league clubs.

 

“I know there are players out there in a similar position to where I was, that just need an opportunity,” Vardy said. “More and more players are dropping out of the system early. For me, it was at Sheffield Wednesday when I was 16 because they thought I was too small. I remember how that felt and it’s difficult to come back from or even think about the professional game.

 

“I’ve thought for some time that something could be done about it and after several conversations with my agent, John Morris, and my fiancee, Becky, we decided to set up V9 to unearth talent and give those players a shot – hopefully at earning professional contracts but also to learn and understand what it takes to be a professional at the highest level.”

 

Vardy and Morris will begin taking applications next May and the first intake will start 12 months later, with the England international due to get married next summer and also in with a decent chance of making Roy Hodgson’s squad for the European Championship finals in France.

 

The primary reason for the delay in getting the academy off the ground, however, is to allow enough time to scout and assess the suitability of players to attend an academy that Vardy wants to be run as professionally as possible. While at the academy the players will be evaluated technically, tactically, mentally and physically; Premier League and Football League clubs will be invited to watch training and trial matches with a view to taking a closer look at anyone who stands out.

 

Vardy will be present throughout the camp and the hope is they can uncover a few more rough diamonds. “We believe there are many more Jamie Vardys out there,” said Morris, who works for Key Sports Management. “The V9 Academy aims to find them.”

 

Any player in non-league football can apply to attend the academy via the V9 Academy website. Visit www.V9Academy.co.uk

 

The Guardian

[Grillo]

paul potts do futebol

[Sumudica by Night]

Não percebo esta cena de andarem a desenterrar tópicos. Abram um novo, custa assim tanto?

[Vaart10]

Não percebo esta cena de andarem a desenterrar tópicos. Abram um novo, custa assim tanto?

 

Custar não custa, mas não há necessidade de duplicar a informação sobre um mesmo tema.

[Sumudica by Night]

Era ironia Vaart.

Sim, era ironia Nikel.

[Visitante]

Um remate, um golo, acabou de bater o recorde. Impressionante.

[lastdance]

Não percebo esta cena de andarem a desenterrar tópicos. Abram um novo, custa assim tanto?

Boa comparação, este foi há 2 semanas e tem 1 página. Mesmo assim, não está mau para um bot.

[Sumudica by Night]

Desculpa, tens razão. Editei os sub-títulos para uma maior comodidade. Que nada te falte.

[Simeone]

Impressionante todo o seu percurso futebolístico. E, mais cedo ou mais tarde, está num dos grandes ingleses!

[lastdance]

vlw

[PabloEscobar]

Vardy tinha um sonho, mas, aos 16 anos, deixou de o ter quando o seu clube do coração, o Sheffield Wednesday, o dispensou aos 16 anos por ser demasiado baixo.

 

Não sabem escrever bem? Jornalismo péssimo

[Longineu]

Jamie Vardy: ‘A Hollywood movie about me? Wowzers. What’s happening in life?’

 

The news that Jamie Vardy had failed to make the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist, despite bookmakers slashing his odds on winning the award after his record-breaking goal against Manchester United last Saturday, went down surprisingly well with the man himself. “That’s fine by me,” Vardy says. “I hate wearing a suit.”

 

The Leicester City striker shakes his head and smiles at the madness of it all. These are strange times for a former factory worker from Sheffield. He is exchanging tweets with members of One Direction one minute and Ruud van Nistelrooy the next. On Saturday night he returned home from a restaurant, turned on the TV and there was Bastian Schweinsteiger talking about him in the same breath as Miroslav Klose, Germany’s record goalscorer.

 

Little more than 24 hours later Adrian Butchart, the British screenwriter and the man behind the Goal! films, revealed that he was exploring plans to make Vardy’s rags-to-riches tale into a Hollywood movie. “Wowzers. What’s happening in life?” Vardy says, breaking into laughter. “But if that’s what they want to do, then so be it.”

 

Perhaps another story that surfaced was designed to keep his feet on the ground – not that Vardy seems to need any help in that respect. Stocksbridge Park Steels, the non-league club where Vardy rebuilt his career after rejection by Sheffield Wednesday at the age of 16, plan to name a 450-seater stand after him. “The chairman must be crackers,” Vardy says. “And, put it this way, I’d have never seen it coming when I was at Stocksbridge.”

 

Who could have seen any of this coming? John Morris, Vardy’s agent, has long been banging the drum but few people wanted to entertain the idea that a non-league footballer in his mid-20s could go right to the top. As recently as 2012, Vardy was playing for Fleetwood in the Conference. His landmark goal against United came almost four years to the day since he scored in front of 768 people at Gateshead. “I can remember that,” Vardy says. “I managed to take it around the keeper and nick it in to get us a draw.”

 

How times have changed. These days Vardy is an England international, his name is plastered across the back pages as one of the most sought after strikers in the country and, courtesy of that angled shot that flashed past David de Gea at the King Power Stadium, the 28-year-old has gone down in the record books as the first man to score in 11 successive Premier League matches.

 

The celebration that followed that goal was full of raw emotion, although it was difficult to know exactly what Vardy was shouting as he wheeled away. Cringing as he relives the moment, Vardy clears things up. “Because the Man United fans were singing Ruud van Nistelrooy, I said: ‘Me, me, all effing me’ ... Live on Sky. Again. I need to calm down a bit,” he says, smiling and burying his head in his hands. “I was just lost in the moment, that’s what it was. And, to be fair, I saw the replay of the goal and you can actually see a couple of Man U fans clapping.”

 

One record ticked off, now on to the next. If Vardy scores for the 12th successive league game, against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, it will equal Jimmy Dunne’s achievement, which stretches all the way back to 1932. “This is the top-flight all-time record and it’s set by a Sheffield United player, so being a Sheffield Wednesday fan I’d love to beat it,” says Vardy.

 

After Dunne comes Stan Mortensen, who scored in 15 consecutive appearances for Blackpool in the 1950-51 season, although on two separate occasions during that run he missed games through injury. Vardy looks almost weary as Anthony Herlihy, Leicester’s head of media, explains that story. “The records are coming from nowhere,” Vardy says. “I was told this week that Messi scored in 21 successive La Liga games. I was like: ‘Oh for God’s sake.’ Someone will be bringing that up soon.”

 

Vardy, to be clear, is not complaining. He is living the dream and was overwhelmed by all the congratulatory messages, which came from across the sporting spectrum and beyond. “I didn’t even try to look on Saturday night,” he says. “My phone was just vibrating in my pocket constantly. I left it all until Sunday morning and then worked my way through everything, which is not easy when you’ve got Twitter, WhatsApp, text messages, Instagram, etc. But some of the messages were unbelievable.”

 

Roy Hodgson, who was at the United match, left a voicemail and sent a text – “I made sure I replied to him,” Vardy says, smiling – yet it was the gracious response from the man whose achievement he had just eclipsed that meant the most. “With Ruud van Nistelrooy holding the record before, you can’t get much better than that – it was a brilliant message from him.”

 

Vardy also received a signed shirt from his team-mates and said in a post-match interview that it would end up in a frame or his wardrobe depending on the messages. “It’s in the wardrobe,” says Vardy, in a manner that suggests it was never in doubt. “The boss gave me another one on Monday, a special one just from him, which will also be going in the wardrobe. I can’t elaborate on that but he’s had it printed out with his nickname for me, which can’t be repeated unfortunately.”

 

Without breaking any confidences, it would be fair to say that Claudio Ranieri thinks Vardy talks rather a lot and that Leicester’s manager prefers, in the nicest possible way, to tune into a different frequency now again. Ranieri knows, however, that Vardy’s background noise is a small price to pay for a man who has scored 14 league goals this season. Or, to put it another way, as many as Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling put together.

 

Vardy points to several reasons behind his red-hot streak, including being deployed as an out-and-out striker. “If I’m played out of position I’ll always give 100%, but everyone knows I would rather play down the middle,” he says. “I also think for myself, and the club as a whole, the year’s experience last season has done us the world of good. The confidence in knowing that we can give teams a game, which showed in the run-in when we pulled away from the relegation zone, helped us all out and we’ve just carried that on.”

 

While the story of Vardy’s emergence from non-league football is well-documented, it is not just how far he has come that is remarkable but that he spent so long playing so far down the pyramid. Vardy had the best part of seven years with Stocksbridge, who were in the eighth tier, and it is a measure of his lack of self-belief in the early days that he once skipped a training session because he was so nervous about moving up from the reserves to the first team.

 

“When I did get into the first team quite a few scouts came, one of them was from Sheffield United and he turned up twice and I got a straight red card both times, so I don’t think that helped,” Vardy says. “But that’s just how I was on the pitch. I was small, so the only way I was going to win challenges was by being aggressive. That’s still what I have to do nowadays. I’m playing against centre-halves who are 6ft 4in and 6ft 5in, so I’m not going to win that many headers. I might as well let them have the ball at their feet and try and nick it off them that way.”

 

Vardy, by his own admission, is a “pest” on the pitch. He tears across the turf chasing lost causes and is one of those rare players blessed with stamina as well as searing pace. “I remember at school we went to an army camp for a day. We did the official army bleep test and I got to level 14.5. I think the closest person to me that day got to level 10. Fitness has always been one of my strengths. I can do all the long-distance runs. When I was at school and we entered the competitions I used to do the 100m, 200m and the 1500m as well, so it’s never just been a pace thing.”

 

Being so lean helps. Vardy weighs 73kg (11st 7lb) and with that wiry frame he looks as if he is not carrying an ounce of fat. “I’ve got hardly anything,” he says. “Luckily I’ve not had to do much gym or anything like that, it’s always been this is how I am. The weight never changes.”

 

His lifestyle has altered, though, and Vardy puts much of that down to Becky, his fiancee, who has “definitely calmed me down”. Vardy has had his problems in the past, including an unsavoury incident in the summer, which he deeply regrets and apologised unreservedly for after he was caught making a racist remark in a casino, but he is determined to stay on the right path now. He talks about the values instilled at their local primary school and also the conversations he has had with Becky about bringing their children up the right way.

 

“She’s changed me. She’s such a calming influence,” Vardy says. “When I was living on my own, for a footballer it’s easy to do the things that you’re not supposed to, or not what the sport science team says. For example, if there’s a packet of crisps, you’re going to eat them. The same with a packet of sweets. Go to bed at a certain time? You’re not going to if you’re on your own. Having Becky and the kids there is brilliant for me.”

 

Their wedding takes place in May, which is earlier than originally planned because of the possibility that Vardy will be in England’s squad for the European Championship finals. His best man is David Nugent, the former Leicester player and a centre-forward whose strike-rate for England – one cap and a 90th-minute goal against Andorra – takes some beating. “He texted me when I got the call up in May, saying: ‘No pressure, one game, one goal!’” says Vardy, chuckling.

 

Listening to Vardy rowing back over his story it is hard not to smile at how much his world has been turned upside down. There is a Bentley parked outside, a goalscoring record that has stood for 83 years in his sights and a place in that England squad firmly within his grasp. Yet he comes across as fiercely proud of his roots – “That’s made me the person I am” – and says that the former Fleetwood team-mate who described him as someone “who doesn’t care whether he’s on two grand or two quid” was spot on.

 

“That’s true,” Vardy adds. “My life has changed, but I’m not money-motivated at all; that’s the last thing on my mind. I just want to play football and that’s how I’ve always been. To be honest with you, that shows in my performances, that I’m in a happy place, knowing that I’m doing the job that I love.”