Back when Umbro helped set the standard in global soccer culture, and back when print ads still mattered, there was a memorable one produced by the English outfitter that featured four children playing pickup on a street bathed in shadows created by a highway overpass. It looked like a dirty, dangerous place for kids to play but a poignant place to live their love for the game.
The tagline read, “99.99997% of the world plays without a contract.”
Going pro, becoming a star, or reaching a World Cup is, almost by definition, about beating the odds. Every player who takes the field in Qatar this month has defied probability. And many surely can identify with those young athletes in the ad. But Canada’s Jonathan David may be unique, because his story is about more than just beating the odds. It’s about embracing them, lengthening them and then betting big on himself to triumph, anyway.
