Have Boots, Will Travel
story by Ma Fan
photos by Wei Tong & Hu Jinxi
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| Name: Remco Torken Age:27 |
They inspire tens of millions, enjoy reputations far beyond their abilities. They are the cream of young white European manhood, the athletic imports of Beijing Guo'an soccer club.
They communicate through grunts and gesticulations, occasional interpreters. But face-pulling antics and wild hand gestures translate into something instantly comprehensible ?the language of football, perhaps the greatest international language of them all.
Dutch destroyer
Dutchman Remco Torken is articulate in both football and
English. He expresses himself very nicely, thank you, with regular goals since he came to Worker's Stadium from Beveren in Belgium March 9.
"It's important for a striker to score goals," says Torken. "The people always look to the front players. If you don't score, it's tough because the people will shout at you."
If Guo'an fans do shout, Torken doesn't understand. He doesn't really know what they think and avoids asking his translator.
"I have a lot of newspapers, but I can't read them. I just cut out the pictures, you know, send them to my father. He puts them in a big book, so maybe one day if I have a son I can say ÔLook, your daddy was a pretty good footballer once upon a time.'"
As he finishes speaking, Torken playfully nudges the pool cue butt of Han Xu, who had been trying to line up a shot in the recreation room of the relaxed Guo'an dormitory. Teammates in towels wander past the door, glancing in occasionally at the press attention.
"You know in this game one day you are the star," he says. "The next day they bury you."
Torken recoils at the suggestion he came to China to be a big fish in a small pond. "People can say that if they want. That's their right. It's not my problem, or my place to criticize them. I am here to do a job."
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| Name: Petar Cestic Age: 25 Hometown: Ruma, Yugoslavia Previous Clubs: Partizan Belgrade (Yugoslavia), Antwerp (Belgium), Servet (Switzerland), Zemun (Yugoslavia) |
So far, so good. Few would dispute his work performance. But inevitably, as summer follows spring, the dry spells must come. He remembers a torrid time in Merida.
"I didn't like Spain. For me, it was tough. The coach never talked with me. I felt very isolated.
"But here at Guo'an they speak English and I can speak English. Here they try to speak with you. Most of the Spanish players didn't try. Here they really try to do their best."
Yugoslav diplomat
"Look, I'm here to play football," says Torken. "I don't want to talk politics. For him, it's terrible. It's no problem between us, I think. We talk every day. You know, I sleep in the same room after we go out sometimes.
"Sometimes I think it's too difficult to really talk about this because his English is not so good. I worry about him. Maybe he doesn't have somebody to talk about it with. I think it's very important for him to talk about it."
Petar Cestic of Ruma, Yugoslavia, says it's "no problem" communicating. Language is not necessary for football. But, he adds, "I sometimes feel a certain sadness that I can't joke with my teammates properly. I do miss that."
Other lines of communication are even less reliable. Since the Nato action against Yugoslavia began, Cestic has had rare conversations with his father Patko Cestic, 57, mother Vinka Cestic, 62, brother Vojislav, 38, sisters Cuijeta, 35 and Mirka, 33, all in Ruma, about 25 kilometers from Belgrade.
Plans to return home in April and marry girlfriend Zorica, 25, had to be shelved. They have not spoken since the bombing began. This is no time for wedding parties, he mutters.
Unshaven,
subdued, Cestic is a man of few gestures. He talks through an interpreter in soft,
measured tones.
The only time he sparks into animation is when he describes the destruction of a "purely civilian" factory in Ruma.
"I must admit that all this does impact upon me. I have had interviews with other TV and media people and I always said in these interviews that I am grateful for their support of our country and our people.
"But also I want to say the Yugoslavian people are very much connected to our own country and have this strong feeling for our home. So I still feel my heart and mind is in Yugoslavia."
Cestic came here March 9 to play football. After topping the physical test, he was injured in his first game. The bombing began days later. One month on, the footballer fields complex political questions in his new role as a representative of a besieged people, a peace advocate, a diplomat, a spokesman, a militant, an apologist, a politician, just about anything but a footballer.
"I am almost 100 percent physically. But these days, I find I can't be 100 percent concentration during training," he admits. "But I have to play football. I came here to play football. I am paid for this. I should do this 100 percent, especially for all the Chinese supporters and for my people back home. I have this responsibility to them. I will be 100 percent for the next match."
Guo'an have already told him not to worry, to take his time.
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| Name: Mihaly Mracsko Age: 30 Hometown: GYoR, Hungary Previous Clubs: ETO CPOR (HUNGARY) |
Hungarian for hire
"No English." Mihaly Mracsko of Gyšr , Hungary, pulls a frustrated face and gestures apologetically.
How to speak to a Hungarian:
First, jot down questions, hand them to linguistically gifted colleague. Watch her translate questions into Chinese. Now see her walk out next door.
She makes a phone call, comes back, fetches Mr. Mracsko. Colleague now reads questions to embassy interpreter over the phone. Mracsko takes phone from aforementioned colleague. Replies in fluent Hungarian. Hands phone back to colleague. Colleague notes down interpreter's reply in Chinese. Later, assemble imaginary quotes with colleague.
For integrity, go find the BBC World Service. Stay tuned for Mracsko.
"I think Chinese fans are far more enthusiastic than I imagined. In Hungary, we have far less spectators. I am very excited about this change," he says.
His weekly opportunity for adult conversation comes through young students of Beijing Foreign Language University. Despite Guo'an's best efforts and teammates' obvious concern, Mracsko comes across as maybe the most isolated foreigner in Beijing.
"I haven't had a proper chance to go out. But I do feel this deep impression that Beijing has an enormous population," he says. "It's quite different from what I read in books when I was in Hungary. Beijing is much bigger than I expected and much more modern."
He will not be alone forever. The club goes to great pains to please the foreign players and arranges monthly visits from relatives as part of contract packages. All four players mention it excitedly. Cestic of course cannot see anyone, but Mracsko expects wife Gyor and 16-month-old daughter Laura in a week. So far, he has made an encouraging start in his defensive midfield position at Guo'an. "I don't know much about the quality level of Chinese football. I feel it's a very physical game," he says.
Portuguese joker
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| Name: RUI ESTEVES AGE: 32 Hometown:LISBON, PROGUGAL PREVIOUS CLUBS: FARENSE (PORTUGAL), V.SETUBAL (PROTUGAL), BENFICA(PROTUGAL), BENFICA (PROTUGAL), BIRMINGHAM CITY (ENGLAND), DAEWO (SOUTH KOREA) |
Rui Esteves picked up his injury playing for Guo'an on the club's spring tour to Spain. Struggling through training with painkilling injections, he talks while his colleagues are put through a series of sprints.
As a spectacle, Chinese football sorely disappoints. Raw pace, clumsiness is king. Like English football?
"No it's nothing like English football. You know, the English know..." Words fail him. Instead, Esteves whistles through his teeth as he choreographs a series of hand and foot movements like a demented Country & Western line dancer. Translation: Passing, vision and control.
These are qualities the Portuguese star possesses in abundance, according to scouts. One of Beijing's coaches says Esteves may have the smartest football brain on the team. Before his injury, his views of the Chinese game were reported by Shenghuo Daily (Feb 21).
"Chinese football is not at a very high level," he said. "The thing that troubles me most is the 12 minutes running at Kunming."
He was referring to the notorious Chinese FA physical test, a bi-annual exercise aimed at ensuring only the most gifted athletes get to play professional football. Players from all over the country go to Kunming and must run 3,200 mountain-air meters within 12 minutes. Otherwise, they are ineligible to play.
"You know, Dunga (aging Brazilian World Cup star) was playing in Japan and considered coming to China. But after hearing about all the running laps, he decided against it," Esteves said.
"Previously in Guo'an, there was an Argentine and he was very good, but he was kicked out because he failed the physical. If Maradona wanted to come here, it wouldn't work. He wouldn't be accepted."
Since the injury, Esteves has taken up cycling. He and wife Susana can often be seen circling the stadium with Pepas, their Portuguese pup. Every morning he's out riding, working off the fluid in his knee. Susana says lately he's been a bit edgy around the house. "He is anxious to play," she says. Pepas barks.
"She's a very good - how you say - doctor?" Esteves jokes.
"Nurse."
"Yes, nurse."
Sitting on the coffee table in their comfortable Guo'an Hotel apartment, Susana apologizes for not having any tea. She makes espressos. Rui shows how he can make Pepas bark just by moving the ironing board by the fridge a certain way.
"The first time when I played in China, I couldn't understand what the fans were shouting at me about. I thought they must be cheering for me, so I gave them this friendly, polite wave," Esteves told the Beijing daily.
"Then I realized they were actually jeering at me and you know, since then, the joke's always been on me."