When Alan
Shearer scored his 5th goal at Euro 1996, I was an undergraduate
student. The Manchester United era was still to come, and I dreamt of Blackburn
Rovers fighting for many years against the future Sir Alex. In the end, I supposed,
the battle was at its very beginning, three Premier Leagues for Manchester
United vs one for Rovers.
At that
time I was not so prepared about football, English football and dreams (indeed,
today it is the same story); but an unrevealed force was pulling me towards
English football, leading me to discover one of my first football idols. In
short, I was fascinated by Shearer: understatement, tons of goals, jubilant
after scoring simply with an arm raised towards his supporters. A simple man, a
working-class hero, who brought the Rovers to win its third Premier League, eighty
years after the previous one.
All heroes
have a dream, and are idealistic to a certain extent. Martin Luther King is the
easiest to remember. Alan’s dream was inspired
by his father, who influenced his choice to regret the Manchester United and join
the Newcastle United: “It doesn't matter that I
didn't win a trophy because I did it my way and I lived the dream”.
Although
statistics do not describe Shearer’s greatness, it is worth mentioning only one
number: he scored approximatively 100 goals more than Rooney, yes Wayne Rooney.
[Despite my
bad English, this post is written in English, as Mr. Shearer could read it by
chance]
