Royston Drenthe: "I was a stupid rebel"

Royston Drenthe in the Racing Murcia dressing room.Alfonso Durán

Roya2Faces

is perplexed to learn that in Spain a judge has ordered the arrest of rapper Pablo Hasél for the lyrics of his songs.

"In the Netherlands we have a thing called freedom of expression," says this musician who as a footballer goes by the name Royston Drenthe and strives to play the

promotion

playoffs

to Second B with Racing Murcia, a third club based in the Lemon.

"My trip to Murcia is totally spiritual," he says.

"I want to feel that I can still show what I am on the field of play."

His voice is deep and harsh on the other end of the phone.

It seems that it was yesterday when they introduced him, a hot afternoon in August 2007 at the Bernabéu.

The pearl who had just won the European Under-21 Championship with the Netherlands caught the ball, unsheathed her left foot and rushed to juggle in front of the joking fans.

His father, a longshoreman of Surinamese origin, murdered when he was three years old, had left him half an orphan in Rotterdam West, a slum divided by gangs and distracted by

freestyling

.

Hailing from Feyenoord, he ended up playing 65 games for Madrid between 2007 and 2010. He scored four goals and became famous for his loose lifestyle.

One night he collided with a patrol car on Calle Alcalá.

In 2010 he was loaned out to Hercules, where he led a strike after the club stopped paying wages.

In 2011 they loaned him out to Everton.

There he sent David Moyes, his coach, for a ride, and in 2012 his contract with Madrid ended and he was left free without anyone signing him during that summer market.

"In 2012 I was free with Madrid and I didn't play for eight months until Spartak Vladikavkaz, from the Russian league, signed me," he recalls.

Since then he also played in Reading and? Sheffield, in England;

the Kayseri Erciyesspor in Turkey;

the Baniyas in the United Arab Emirates;

and the Sparta Rotterdam.

At 25 he was no longer happy in football.

He wanted to show that he could do whatever he wanted.

But my problem was not the parties.

When are you going to party?

With 40 years?

"I wasn't smart about myself," he says, explaining the sharp end to his major league career.

“But the decisions had to be made by me, and I was not happy in football.

He was a rebel.

I can't blame the very talented young people if they want to party every once in a while.

What happens is that some young people are smarter than others.

And some are stupid.

Like me.

He wanted to show that he could do whatever he wanted, and sometimes even when he knew it was bad, he did it anyway.

I was not betrayed by vanity but by impulsiveness.

But my problem was not the parties.

To think that would be stupid.

Like those who say that you should not go out because the years in football are very few.

And what does that mean?

That you are going to party at 40?

"My life is football, the game," he warns.

"The first thing your manager tells you is: 'You just have to focus on football.'

But you discover that professional soccer is not just soccer.

It is something that goes very fast and you have to be a very man to handle it psychologically.

They tell you that to succeed you have to do well on the field, put your talent there.

But day by day you come across different problems.

Players never want to say when they are bad.

That happens a lot and not everyone has had a perfect family, with a father and a mother.

People think that because you earn a lot of money you no longer have reasons to complain about anything.

Things that were happening to me prevented me from playing normally.

I always had problems with someone: if it wasn't the coach, it was someone else.

There came a time when I didn't want to know anything more.

I felt that I had to get out of the way to grow as a person ”.

He was playing for the Kozakken Boys, of the Third Netherlands, when he received the call from Morris Piagnello, the eccentric president who tries to make Racing Murcia a focus of media attention.

Drenthe did not hesitate to sign.

"I love soccer now more than ever," he says;

“Because you see the age approaching when the body will force you to stop.

You depend on taking care of the body, but you know that you will not be able to anymore.

That makes you think a lot on and off the pitch.

You are no longer rushing to make decisions because quick decisions lead to quick mistakes.

At the moment, I feel good.

When I don't feel like that, I'm going to be very honest with myself and say to myself, 'You can't take it anymore, Roy.'

But I can.

I see the strength and the mentality that I have to put myself physically on top.

Why am I leaving it?

Why am I not going to accept the opportunity to play in a city where there is always sun, where the people are so friendly, where there are fresh fruits and vegetables?

The only thing I worried about was leaving my children.

But they have told me: 'Look, dad, you can, go;

we will go to see you ”.

He has seven children by four women with whom he says he gets along wonderfully.

When he does not play football, he continues to record albums, something he was already doing before signing for Madrid.

"I've always thought I wanted to be a footballer," he says.

“But I like to do more things.

I am not a robot that does the same thing every day.

Now that I am older I am more aware of the things that I have to do every day to handle myself on a playing field, but I can make music!

And cook!

Nothing happens!".

In 2020 he was tempted by interpretation.

Nailed the role of a drug dealer in the Dutch series

Mocro Mafia

.

“Do you know what people say about me in Rotterdam?

'Roy, you don't act there, that's very easy for you.'

And I tell them: 'No way!

I had to practice a lot!

I promise it was the first time I picked up a gun! "

Drenthe admits that he knew the codes because he was part of some street gang.

“When they give you a hug and say: 'You are one of us…'.

When one of the greats gives you affection, you already know that you are like a little brother and you feel that no one will ever be able to touch you again ”.

“I love soccer now more than ever because you see the age approaching when the body will force you to stop.

That makes you think a lot on and off the pitch.

You are no longer rushing to make decisions because quick decisions lead to quick mistakes

He belongs to the generation of Sergio Ramos and Marcelo, two players who came to Madrid at their age and ended up winning four Champions.

He could have been one of the multi-champions, but he assures that that never worried him: “I don't regret anything;

I am very happy with what I am, with what my life has been.

I learned a lot.

I became a man thanks to football.

It opened many wonderful doors for me. "

"I love learning," he says.

“There is a prejudice: people think that those who have done a lot of bad things are bad.

I knew the world and learned to adapt without knowing anyone.

I do not have shame.

I met new people.

I am humble.

I'm kind.

I know where I'm from.

I am from Rotterdam.

From a neighborhood where we are always together.

People say, 'What I like about Roy is that he will never change;

He's always been the same boy. '

That is the best gift they can give me, and not that they tell me that I am an arrogant posh because I am a footballer.

I never wanted to be like this.