Becoming a footballer in the team of your life and, in addition, being able to do so in the highest category of Spanish football was the dream of any child born in the 80s. That same desire was that of the former player Zuhaitz Gurrutxaga who was able to make his debut in the First Division with the team of his dreams, Real Sociedad, at just 19 years old. However, this period was to be dominated by tragedy rather than comedy.
One of the pressures that athletes have to live with is the expectations generated around their figure. In the world of football, Opinions on the future of players are becoming more and more exaggerated and could mean the end of a career like that of Gurrutxaga himself. A couple of weeks ago, the former player gave an interview to He Country talking about his suffering and how, through comedy, he has overcome it.
«I came to hate football»
The rush, the opinions surrounding him, people's desire for him to stand out… A combination of things that could only form the perfect cocktail for a mental exhaustion. Zuhaitz Gurrutxaga explained to El País that he developed OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). At that stage, intrusive thoughts about the failure were constant: «I had a lot fear of failure in the field and little by little that led me to have problems anxiety, depression and I ended up with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.”
This whole bad stage happened at the beginning of this century, when theMental health was a taboo subject and going to the psychologist was an inconceivable fact and hidden from family or friends: «I didn't know what was happening to me and I didn't ask for help either.Who could I turn to?? To the club? How was I going to tell them what was happening to me? You have achieved your dream, you have had some very good contracts and you want to continue having them. But when the OCD appeared it was impossible to hide.”
Gurrutxaga ended his days as a footballer in a modest club from Vizcaya in the Second Division B. In Lemona, as the club was called, he rediscovered the illusion lost years ago: «That's when I started enjoying football again.something I hadn't done since I was a youth player. I think the Second Division B was my place and that's it.»
Laughter as a refuge
Currently, the former Real Sociedad defender goes on the attack with a solo comedy show, under the name of 'Footballer'. It is not just a monologue about his life. Zuhaitz claims that the Laughter helps us see the world from a better perspective: «I think that the Humor is the most realistic way “Seeing the world and realizing that has helped me move forward,” says the stand-up comedian.
The show, as the protagonist defines it, is mostly comedic, in which he makes jokes about his time as a footballer, with more shades of grey than white. Although laughter predominates the atmosphere during the performance, there is a brief space for dramawhich the protagonist considers to be the most important part of his work.
He spirit of revenge Football is another of the supports to promote the show. Football gave him a bitter period in his life, which he turns around by transforming it into comedy: “I had a lot of unfinished business with football, a lot. It was my passion and I ended up hating it. Now with this monologue I think I am making peace with it.”
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