Gary Lineker (Leicester, 1960), communicator and former FC Barcelona player, received the Vázquez Montalbán prize for sports journalism, an award granted by the Barça entity and which this 2022 celebrated its fifteenth edition. "I'm very happy, it's a very important award. I don't have many opportunities to practice Spanish, time passes very quickly. It's been 33 years since I passed through Barcelona..." Lineker said that he was unable to witness FC Barcelona's victory against Athletic Club because their flight from London could not take off due to weather problems.
Lineker played for FC Barcelona between 1986 and 1989. "I was very happy. I have many good memories," said the former soccer player who entered the world of communication after hanging up his boots. He has established himself at the BBC, where he has fronted shows like 'Gary Lineker's Golden Boots' and especially 'Match of the day'. Lineker is currently an ambassador for LaLiga, commentating and analyzing the Spanish championship for viewers in the UK and Ireland on LaLiga TV. "For me, the League is still one of the best competitions in the world," he claimed. He doesn't think the same way with the Super League. "A competition with three clubs at the moment is unfeasible. And I don't see English teams entering a Super League in the near future," he later explained in a talk with journalists asked by La Vanguardia.
The president of the Barça club, Joan Laporta, presented the award at the 1899 Auditori of the Spotify Camp Nou. "Journalism has given us a lot. Lineker is not a journalist but he has a professional career in the world of communication and is a reference in European sports and Barcelona. One of the best scorers. Now we remembered how Johan Cruyff placed you at the end of despite being a center forward," said Laporta, who explained that the jury's decision is based on "his personal, friendly, ironic but also rigorous gaze. Without missing the truth. Just like Manuel Vázquez Montalbán." Laporta, for agenda reasons, left the event accompanied by his advisers.
"Cruyff is one of the best coaches of all time," Lineker added minutes later in a conversation led by journalist Jordi Basté, presenter of El Món a Rac 1 and member of the jury. "I've been very lucky. I really like talking about football and sports, I feel real passion. I feel comfortable in front of the cameras, now I understand much better and empathize with journalists," he said. The ex-soccer player also acknowledged having had "some communication problems with the coaches because they have a lot of pressure. And if you say something negative it affects them more than the footballers." Asked for the specific names of the technicians with whom he has suffered a communication mishap, Lineker named Ferguson. Also to Mourinho. "She no longer speaks to me, before she wrote to me every day and now nothing. It's as if she were my ex-wife, although she speaks to me more than Mourinho," he joked.
Regarding the current situation of FC Barcelona, Lineker explained that "Xavi is doing very well. He is improving little by little. It is difficult to win everything at once. When he arrived there were many financial problems with the players and now he is very close to winning the League. In the Champions League they have had problems but they have Gavi, Pedri, Ansu Fati, Araújo... there are many talented youngsters. Personally I love Pedri. I think he is exceptional, he is different, he has almost everything. He is the best youngster in the world", he added without forgetting Leo Messi. "Everyone thinks that he will play in the United States but maybe he could return to Barcelona. I would love it. It would be something very special. The way Messi was fired was very sad for everyone, but especially for him. I am a big fan," he said. . Asked about his level and how it would affect his return to Xavi's Barça structure, Lineker stressed that "last year it was difficult for him to adapt. But if you look at Leo this season he is playing like before."
To the list of favorite Barcelona players, Lineker added Robert Lewandowski, whom he defined as "a brilliant player with a lot of goals" and also spoke about the role of Ousmane Dembélé, an essential figure to beat Valverde's Athletic Club. "Dembélé doesn't make me nervous. He's fast, he's dangerous and he's improving. Football is like that. Sometimes you play better and sometimes worse. Dembélé has a lot of skill and is very dangerous. Now he needs to consolidate himself, he's improving a lot with Xavi", he stated about the French winger.
The phrase he said after losing to England against Germany in the World Cup 90 semifinal has remained in history: "Football is a simple game: 22 run after a ball for 90 minutes and, in the end, the Germans always win." Will you go to the World Cup? asked Jordi Baste. "Yes. But I'm not very satisfied that a World Cup will be played in Qatar. But when the ball starts to roll it will be very powerful. I think France is one of the favorites but also Brazil or Argentina who haven't won it for a long time", Lineker predicted.
