A universal game, soccer is played from the refugee camps of North Africa to the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro and onwards to the private schools of Eton and Hilton College.
It’s a sport that transcends social classes and religions, uniting all that play the beautiful game – jumpers for goalposts is an international staple; for some, it’s their World Cup.
According to FIFA, 240 million play soccer worldwide, the most of any sport, but only the one per cent make it to the elite stage, and within that talent pool, only a few become household names, raking in millions, if not billions, of Rands through salaries and endorsements.
So, who are the highest-paid soccer players? With the help of the BBC, let’s find out.
Top 10
- Cristiano Ronaldo – R5,000,000,000
- Lionel Messi – R2,370,000,000
- Neymar – R1,900,000,000
- Benzema – R1,800,000,000
- Kylian Mbappe – R1,600,000,000
- Erling Haaland – R1,059,197,380
- Vinicius Junior – R966,649,320
- Mohamed Salah – R943,423,120
- Sadio Mané – R920,412,800
- Kevin de Bruyne – R690,309,600
(Figures are per season.)
Velebayi labels soccer goals
In other news, PSL winger Asenele Velebayi, who is becoming one of South Africa most promising soccer stars, relayed his intentions for the future:
“My peers, the likes of (Rushwin) Dortley, have done well. I don’t see what will stop me from reaching those levels or surpassing them. At the moment, I’m focused on my job at Cape Town Spurs, but that does not mean I don’t think about the future,” Velebayi told FARPost.
“What I just avoid is losing focus and affecting my game. I can only pray that we emerge successful as a team. As an individual, I aim to break into Bafana Bafana. Seeing Dortley and Relebohile Mofokeng makes me feel that as youngsters, we are not far.
“I believe that is a big platform for me. We all want to rise, but it’s a process. As a player, the goal is to grow and be a Bafana player. But when interests from bigger teams come, we must be able to deal with the level of attention,” he added.
“I envy what they (Mofokeng and Dortley) are doing at club and national team, and it is something that I also hope to do.”
Who is your favourite soccer player?
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