Diego Forlan: For the world’s best this time of year, ‘missing out is just part of being a footballer’

Manchester City fans before a match against Arsenal. Carl Recine / Reuters

Diego Forlan writes a weekly column for The National, appearing each Friday. The former Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid striker has been the top scorer in Europe twice and won the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup. Forlan's column is written with the assistance of European football correspondent Andy Mitten.

Like many footballers, I’m having a break at the end of the year. I’m on holiday with my family in the Indian Ocean after my time in India.

A holiday at this time of the year has been normal throughout most of my career.

I’ve seen other players on holiday in the media this week, too.

My friend Luis Suarez went straight back to Uruguay with his family after Barcelona’s win against Espanyol.

Lionel Messi was also on a private plane back across the Atlantic straight after the game in which he played superbly. He is in his hometown of Rosario.

I have seen photos of some of the Real Madrid players in Dubai, having a good time and probably feeling great about life since they have just been crowned world champions.

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To all those players, the winter break is normal, as it was to me.

There was one notable exception: England.

In the country where football originated, the number of games does not decrease or stop over Christmas. They increase to a game every couple of days.

It was a shock to my system at first when I experienced this at Manchester United, but I like it. My passion is playing football, so being asked to play more of it and train every day was no punishment.

My family came to Manchester one Christmas and they saw snow. They loved it, but I had to train on Christmas Day morning and then I had to leave Manchester soon after for an away game at Middlesbrough the following day.

The roads were really quiet as we headed north and I didn’t even get off the bench, but we won 3-1 and I started another game against Birmingham City two days later at Old Trafford. I had also started a game on December 22 and one on December 17. And I started games on January 1, before being rested on January 4.

United played nine games in a month and Alex Ferguson used his squad well. We won the league and did well in the Uefa Champions League before being knocked out by Real Madrid.

The festive period goes by in a blur. The only real seasonal signs you see are other people enjoying themselves or there will be a party in the training ground canteen where the players and staff sit together.

At United, it’s a tradition for the younger players to put on a show where they get laughs at the expense of the senior players. The humour can be near the bone, but it’s a great afternoon. We also visited kids in hospitals, which was enjoyable and important. Most of the players saw none or very little of their friends, even the guys from Manchester.

By the start of January they probably wanted to go out when their friends were going back to work, but you get used to the calendar of being a football.

When everyone else is on holiday, players in Europe are in their pre-season training or at the start of the season.

Missing out is part of being a footballer, but you make many sacrifices to be a player from a very early age.

When you’re 16 and your friends are going out, you have to be focused on training, playing or even living away from home.

When I was in England, of course, part of me wanted to be on the beach with family and friends in Uruguay as normal, but the English games had a novelty value and it’s not like I will never be able to spend time on a beach again at Christmas.

While it was fine for me I don’t always think it’s good for English football.

There are so many games that clubs could do with a break, if not over the Christmas period then soon after it. The schedule is tight, and I think it’s a reason why the English clubs are struggling in Europe. They are up against Spanish, German and Italian sides who have all had a break, teams who are playing in leagues which are also less intense than the Premier League. The most demanding league is the one which has no break, but some players do need time out.

A young South American player in England would really appreciate a few days back home. Ferguson used to allow players to go back, but not me because he thought I was fine and never homesick.

The idea of a winter break is suggested every year in England. If there is to be one then it should not go against the tradition of the holiday matches, where huge crowds come to watch football at every level.

It’s when people go back to their home towns and maybe the only opportunity for them to watch games.

English people have done this for years, they even used to play games on Christmas Day. That tradition should be respected.

Maybe a solution is for the team who are playing in Europe to join the FA Cup at a later round. Or don’t have replays, because the fixture list can be too chaotic, but no organisation wants to lose fixtures.

The English FA is already successful and doesn’t want to give up games for Uefa. The FA Cup doesn’t want to lose its best teams either, so the cycle continues year after year.

There’s another advantage for England. While the rest of the world relaxes, they also turn their attention to watch some football, yet the only top league playing is the Premier League.

It’s like a free advert for the Premier League around the world, which is another reason why it’s unlikely to stop.

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