Key Takeaways
- Oleguer Presas played in Lionel Messi’s professional debut and went on to win the Champions League with Barcelona.
- He made a controversial choice to play for Catalonia instead of Spain.
- Oleguer is now involved in a football project against commercialisation after hanging up his boots aged just 31.
Oleguer Presas lived the life that millions have dreamed of. A starting defender for Barcelona, who went on to win the Champions League, Oleguer was a talented player, but his main interests lay elsewhere. Since retiring, at just 31 years old, the defender has decided to move on to a life in politics, aiming to make a bigger impact on society.
Oleguer was on the pitch when Lionel Messi made his Barcelona debut in October 2004, against Espanyol, in a 1-0 win, with Deco striking the winner. They went on to share the pitch 61 times, even winning the Champions League together.
He has a Champions League title to his name
Born in Barcelona, Oleguer began his career with Second Division side Gramenet, where he spent two seasons, before joining Barcelona B in 2001, aged 21.
He spent his first two years with the Barcelona reserve side, before breaking into the first team in 2003. The 2006 Champions League final saw Barcelona take on Arsenal at the Stade de France. The game was tense, and Oleguer had a challenging evening against Freddie Ljunberg, eventually getting booked.
Oleguer was unable to stop the Gunners from taking the lead too, with Sol Campbell heading them in front in the 37th minute. He was taken off in the 71st minute, and replaced by Juliano Belletti, and the game was turned on its head. Samuel Eto’o equalised, and then Belletti struck the winner to give Barcelona their second-ever Champions League trophy.
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In July 2008, after seven years with Barcelona, Oleguer joined Ajax for around €3 million, but was never able to make much of an impact during his three years in Amsterdam. The defender was eventually released in 2011, when he decided to hang up his boots at just 31 years of age.
Internationally, Oleguer opted not to play for the Spanish national team, unlike the majority of his teammates, choosing to play for Catalonia instead. As a proud Catalan, he said “I did not feel this commitment to a national team that does not represent me in any way. On the contrary, it generates rejection and aversion in me for what it represents.” His views were rather controversial, something which didn’t seem to phase the former Barcelona man, who added:
“When you’re in the thick of it, some picked me up as an icon because of what I said and some hated me. I was always quite aware of that.”
Oleguer’s Venture Into Politics
He has been publicly outspoken on several issues
It wasn’t just his stance on the national side that was controversial politically, Oleguer regularly spoke out on a series of issues. “We live in an unjust society, and I try to do what I do to put an end to inequalities,” the defender wrote a book in 2006, which not only covered his football career but also various subjects such as childhood anorexia, the fascist struggle and the Spanish government’s involvement in the Gulf Wars.
Oleguer was more than happy to ruffle the feathers of those who disagreed with him, stating: “Even knowing that it will not change immediately, you have to get wet, because indifference is equivalent to giving up. And we have to dream, whatever the cost, because it is the only way to get closer, even if it is with the slow passage of time, to the utopia. We have to be optimistic. Ithaca is not that far away.”
In 2007, in an article for Berria, Oleguer questioned the validity and independence of the Spanish legal system, which brought him a lot of criticism from both the public and Barcelona, with manager Frank Rijkaard criticising his words. After the article, Oleguer was dropped by his boot sponsor, Kelme, and went on to be booed and heckled in stadiums across the country.
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Now, Oleguer is fighting against the commercialisation of football, describing it as ‘toxic’. He said: “For years, football has been a business, a spectacle, focused on making economic profits. Fans are no longer fans, they are spectators. Members are no longer members, they are consumers of the club. Everything revolves around money.” Oleguer now helps out at a football project, which intends to remove the competitive element from the world’s favourite game, stating:
“I thought training football was the way to go, but I didn’t like the things I saw in traditional training football. In this sense, the project was an opportunity to, from a passionate point of view, hold training sessions where learning was not solely football-related in order to seek the sporting excellence that is usually sought, but with vital learning and where the football aspect was not central.”
In a world where footballers are often reserved and avoid discussing challenging issues, it is interesting to see somebody taking a different stance, and trying to fight for what they believe is right.
Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 19-10-24.
