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When we talk about autohistorias we used to think that is related to telling the story of someone... my story since that person was born. But here I advise you that in thi space I'm going to talk to youabout FOOTBALL (not soccer) and how it changed my life and helped me a lot in defining who I am.

However, dear reader, I show you a video summarizing me.

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And like every story or most of them, it is important to start from the beginning.

Now, in this story, we need to use our time machine and travel to a point between 2005 and 2006 when I was just a baby.

My father, a great man had a big love for football, he followed a lot the Premier League (The main football league in England), his Colombian team, Atlético Huila because it is where he is from, and strangely, the German National between and until today he has his football fantasy team in a online website.

All this is to tell you, dear reader, that he used to play the videogame FIFA 2002 on the PC. When I was in charge of him, I used to accompany him when he was playing as a hobby.

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For each fan around the world, it is mandatory to have at least one football shirt from his or her favorite team, which could be your national team, a club from your country, or even a club from Europe or another country around the world.

The problem was that when I was 4 or 5 years old I didn't have any idea about teams or players further the teams followed by my father... Chelsea from England, Huila, and the German national team... Imagine, I didn't know about the existence of a Colombian national team.

At that moment appears my uncle, my father's brother, who was carrying a similar process with my cousin (spoiler: it hasn't the same result as me), brought me a fake shirt, the one that appears in the photo. Since that moment, I only got one more because my school gave some shirts to the students.

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At this moment, the most common thing in many fans is that they have chosen their favorite team. In my case was different, I knew Chelsea because of my father, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Barcelona because of their popularity around the world. Talking about Colombian teams, of course, Huila and Santa Fe because my mom and my grandfather preferred them. But for that specific moment, I didn't have a favorite football team.

I was in that situation for some months until 2010 when the FIFA World Cup arrived. My father bought the official sticker album and he gave me the duty to fill it by exchanging the stickers in my school, especially with my best friend... another person who helped me in this world.

Of course, the World Cup was the main topic in familiar meetings, at school and work, and everywhere. I remember that my first match was Argentina vs Nigeria and I saw a player who in few time will be my idol until today.

To be honest I didn't watch all the games but I followed the entire tournament, I filled the sticker album and piece by piece football began to take part of my life. It is important to mention that I still have the sticker album.

Another thing is that at that time, my cousin mentioned previously had an XBOX 360 videogame console with FIFA videogame, and on each visit, we played a lot.

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After the fever of the World Cup, many people (including me) continued to link to football. So, for that reason I began to search, to read, to research... And I found 1. The Argentinian player was a Barcelona player, and 2. Barcelona was one of the best teams including many world champion players in their list. Why I am saying this? This is how I linked myself with my first favorite team, Barcelona from Spain.

Likes can be subjective, but most football fans, including me, consider Guardiola's Barcelona to be the team that played the best football ever and using that argument is why I became a big fan, and of course, it was when I began to follow Messi, consider at that moment the best football player in the world.

The first years were easy because the team won all the cups and tournaments, with the best coach, the best players... Everything was perfect.

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Being a football fan, I made things differently. I mean, regular fans began to follow a team in their countries. Before I want to tell you how fans choose their teams. Here we find some aspects or conditions that determine the team, can be the team of the city or the region where are you from, can be a heritage given by a parent or the entire family, also can be the fact that is the most winner or the best team at the moment or in some cases is related to your ideology. For example, we have people with leftist ideologies who are St. Pauli fans or some Italian fascists who are SSC Lazio fans.

In my case, was a little heritage provided by my mother, my aunt (my mother's sister), and my grandfather (my mother's father) combined with a specific moment.

In Santa Fe world we have something called "El día más felíz de mi vida" referring to the day when the team broke up a bad strike without a league title.

In my specific case, that day I was at home when I decided to turn the TV on and put on the game, specifically the second half, and watch how the team won the cup after a long long time.

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Maybe at this moment, you are wondering yourself how much could cost a football shirt and my answer is: it depends.

Depending on what? Well, let me show you. Nowadays you can find in the market different types of football shirts; the fake or called Thai or Chinese that are similar in many things to the original but are not the same. Then we have the official divided into 2: the authentics and replicas.

In a few words, the authentic is the one that professional players use on the pitch, using different materials and technology, this is more expensive, and the replica is cheaper and is that you can find in stores and the majority buys.

The prices vary depending on the team, the brand, the season, or is a historical shirt (for example if that year they won something relevant), if it's printed, if is used in condition, and one of the most important... If it was used in a game or as we call it, match worn shirt.

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For every football fan worldwide, owning at least one football shirt representing their favorite team is almost a prerequisite. However, my journey into this tradition had an unconventional start. When I was merely 4 or 5 years old, my understanding of football extended only to the teams my father followed: Chelsea from England, Huila, and the German national team. It's hard to believe now, but I was completely unaware of the existence of the Colombian national team at that time.

It was during this phase of blissful ignorance that my uncle, my father's brother, stepped in. He was going through a similar football initiation process with my cousin, albeit with different outcomes. In a pivotal moment, he presented me with a fake football shirt, one that is now immortalized in a photograph. This gesture marked my official introduction to the Colombian national team, an event that would shape my football fandom for years to come.

Despite this meaningful beginning, my collection of football shirts remained sparse. Over the years, I only managed to add one more shirt to my collection, courtesy of my school, which distributed shirts to its students. Yet, each shirt holds a significant place in my heart, not just as a representation of a team, but as a reminder of cherished memories and the bonds shared with family and schoolmates.

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In hindsight, I realize that while I initially embarked on this project in late 2019, it wasn't until the following year, in 2020, that things truly began to take shape. As I sit here writing, I'm surrounded by a collection of 137 football shirts, each holding its own story and significance.

The majority of these shirts are authentic, representing a diverse array of 11 national teams and clubs spanning across North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Among them, my collection boasts prized jerseys from iconic teams such as Barcelona and Santa Fe.

Reflecting on my journey, I recall a time when my wardrobe consisted primarily of counterfeit shirts, acquired for casual outings, travel, or playing football. However, the turning point came at the end of 2019 when I made the decision to kickstart my collection in earnest. Back then, I started with a modest inventory of approximately 20 or 25 football shirts, the majority of which were replicas.

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Nowadays, many things can cause a conflict, from a free seat on public transport to a clash of geopolitical ideas. Now, add to that the fact that I joke about everything, and if in some way they attack something I like or care about, I don't stay silent. And when it came to football, this was no exception.

During my school years, I could say I had friends and classmates with whom I could easily talk about local and international football. The problem arose when each person said which team was their favorite. There were few of us who supported Santa Fe against the majority who supported Millonarios, and the occasional outsider who was a fan of the team from their hometown, be it Nacional, Junior, Deportivo Cali, or América. And let's not forget the global rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona fans or, by default, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Overall, the discussions were very friendly when arguments for or against were presented, and it didn't go beyond a casual joke from classmates that was forgotten as soon as it was our break, and we went to play football with the ball that your writer here was in charge of bringing.

Everything changed when I left this bubble and faced the real world upon entering university. As I started going out alone more often, I became braver and began to wear my favorite team's gear. I went from receiving the occasional joke to insults and threats just for wearing said item. By now, I've lost count of those fans of a certain blue team who have insulted me, but I do remember two specific instances.

The first was while waiting for the bus to go to class. Usually, a line forms of those who are going to board, and thus between each bus, there's always a good number of people waiting on the sidewalk, visible to all. At that moment, I was wearing a beautiful, perfect, and red jersey of my team when a homeless person (perhaps annoyed for not having received any alms by then) walked by me and started insulting me for the aforementioned reason. I didn't stay silent; I defended myself verbally, and before anything else could happen—either the person's reaction or mine in my fury—the bus arrived.

The second instance occurred in this year, 2024. I was at a well-known station in downtown Bogotá, waiting at the entrance for my girlfriend, who was arriving to meet up while I was checking for any messages from her. At that moment, a guy around 40 or 50 years old, somewhat upset with his own existence—understandable, being a fan of that blue team can't be easy—showed up. Without me noticing his presence until that moment, he began to insult me just for standing there wearing a jacket with my team's logo. As in the previous anecdote, I couldn't stay silent, and out of anger, I began to defend myself (without insulting him) because I was minding my own business, and as the saying goes, "what's calm should be left calm." My girlfriend arrived, and although we were already on our way out, I was still heated from the argument until we walked far enough for her to calm me down and everyone went on with their lives."

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"In a previous entry on this blog, I mentioned a footballer who influenced my interest in the sport, and now I want to talk about how he motivates me.

That's right, I'm talking about Faustino Asprilla... no, just kidding. The person I'm really talking about is the 8-time Ballon d'Or winner, 4-time Champions League winner, Olympic medalist, multi-champion with every team he's played for, Copa América champion, and most importantly, World Cup champion less than a year and a half ago from the moment of writing this.

I still remember that 2010 World Cup, and with my limited football knowledge, recognizing the two historical icons, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, in that Argentinian team. It wasn't a good tournament for them, but somehow a connection was made.

Everything made more sense in the following months when I started following Barcelona, where Messi played. Yes, the famous Guardiola's Barcelona, and how this man did whatever he wanted on the pitch. He dribbled, ran, dribbled past 3 or 4 players before scoring a stunning goal, and scored over 40 goals per season.

On top of that, less than two years later, thanks to an aunt, I had the opportunity to see him live at the El Campin stadium. Yes, it was a friendly match, but the excitement of that moment still lingers every time I remember having him so close. For me, Leo had become more than just a role model.

Years went by, and he kept performing magic on the pitch, but not everything was good since the successes he had at Barcelona didn't carry over when he played for Argentina, receiving a lot of criticism and mockery that personally affected me a lot. However, I knew all of that would eventually change for the better. At what cost? Leaving Barcelona and being mistreated in Paris, but he never bowed his head, and you don't need to know much about football to know what happened in the hot winter of Qatar at the end of 2022.

But that inspiration of resilience, endurance, and fighting for goals and what you want isn't limited to football. Messi suffered a lot due to a growth hormone deficiency in his childhood, and although I didn't go through the same thing, I identified with being short-statured for much of my life. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that he is a family man who respects his partner above all and cares for his children as the most valuable, prioritizing their well-being and tranquility.

Yes, maybe we shouldn't idealize people, but after learning about his story, his greatest sin was neglecting to pay taxes. He doesn't smoke, doesn't do drugs, doesn't cause scandals, and being a gentleman on and off the pitch makes him someone admirable."

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