Five ex-footballers who shine in movies and series

Superhero movies, movie classics and Netflix series, there is not a space in which soccer people like Pelé, Neymar, and Eric Cantona do not stop dazzling.

It is not a new matter, it is only a matter of curiosity. And how, sometimes, the people who play and becomes an idol for football fans, try your luck at the movies.

In that step from footballer to actor it happens that sometimes he is right. That careers are ending, that others are born. Regardless of the type of greatness.

For example in November 1948, in full strike of players in Argentina for improvements in salaries, a producer approached Alfredo Di Stéfano and offered him a role in a movie.

In the absence of work and income, the soccer great accepted the offer.

In 1949 it was released With the same colors, in which Di Stéfano faces two of his friends, also players, played by Mario Boyé and Norberto Méndez, for the love of a woman. The film was a box office success in Argentina.

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Of course, Di Stéfano’s was always football.

This is not the case with Sean Connery. Who at 23 was about to sign for Manchester United. But he won the performance, so the world lost a footballer and won a James Bond.

There are many such stories. But these are the five soccer players who shine in performance. Three of them firmly and two, then, through cameos that are still important.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Skin, has a long history in film and tv. This started in 1969, with the science fiction series Strangers.

He has been an actor, producer and even scriptwriter in dozens of productions in Brazil.

But it was his role in Victory (Escape to victory) from 1981, the most striking. Being a movie by Hollywood, directed by the great John Houston. In it he shares a poster with Sylvester Stallone, Max Von Sydow y Michael Caine.

He is part of a team of allied soldiers in a prison camp in the Second World War, who find a literal escape through football.

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Tough man on the English courts and in the movies. After 15 years of football career -in teams such as Leeds United and Chelsea, among others-, Vincent Peter Jones decided to enter the realm of movies.

At the invitation of his friend Guy Ritchie, Jones performed in Lock, Stock and two smoking barrells, playing the role of a bully. Perfect space for him, with that face of few friends.

Vinnie Jones has appeared in dozens of movies in important roles; as well as in supporting roles in series. One of the most remembered is when he made it into Juggernaut, in the terrible X-men III: The Last Stand, in 2006.

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The case of Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is unique. The “King Eric” of Manchester United. The guy who gave her a patada de kung-fu a rival team’s fan for insulting him after being sent off from a game.

Cantona is one of the greats of football 90s. When he left in 1997, he began to appear in films. In 2009 he made the wonderful Looking for Eric, directed by Ken Loach.

On Netflix you can the miniseries that he stars, Inhuman resources (2020). There it is as wonderful as watching him play.

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David Beckham. The handsome guy who had a 20-year career in soccer, in teams such as Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, among others.

The one who kicked that free kick that left Ecuador out of the round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup.

He is not exactly an actor who stands out, but his appearances attract attention, because there is no way not to identify it. Especially in the films of the saga Goal!, especially in the second.

And the spaces that Guy Ritchie has given him in his movies The man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017).

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Neymar is another well-known name of which nothing more needs to be said about his role in football. With or without problems with the Spanish treasury. Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior He is 29 years old and is one of the best.

In acting he is not the best, undoubtedly. But it gets noticed. Either because in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage (2017) seems to have been killed along with Samuel L. Jackson.

Or because he makes a monk in the third season of The Money Heist. His name is Joao and he says he doesn’t like football or parties. That, at least, is funny.

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