An artist on the pitch, a gentleman off it: Former Man Utd star Juan Mata opens up about a whole new ball game
When I was given a phone number to call former Manchester United star Juan Mata in his native Spain, I confess many years of jaundiced experience rather got the better of me and I imagined an annoying PR would answer the phone, tell me what I could and couldn't ask and, once the interview had started, keep interrupting to make sure I was on message.
The seeds of the collaboration were first sown when Juan met Berlin-based artist Hans Ulrich Obrist at the aforementioned Whitworth in Manchester, which it turns out is one of Mata's favourite places. The result is a two-year project titled 'The Trequartista - Art and Football United' in which 11 as-yet unnamed footballers are 'paired' with artists to interpret the theme for themselves. Juan won't say, yet, who they are but he reveals that all have one thing in common.
He reels off a list of such players, although he stresses these aren't necessarily among the collaborators: Zinedine Zidane, Dennis Bergkamp, Roberto Baggio. He's far too modest to mention himself. But Mata the footballer had that bit of magic too on the pitch.
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