The Heartbreak of Margo Leos: A Story of Missed Opportunities in Football

In the Bundesliga, in 89 minutes, when Bayern Munich led Cologne again, the hearts of Dortmund fans sank again. The players in yellow and black clothes on the field showed no signs of winning. The more they kicked, the more anxious and chaotic they became.
“Losing yourself” is always the most uncomfortable, and the fans are heartbroken, but probably no one is more sad than Margo Leos.
Sitting on the grass of the West Falen Stadium, “you” with empty eyes, what are you thinking?
Can’t think about it, don’t dare to think about it. I have liked this player for 11 years, and I am no stranger to his distraught look after losing the championship; the most uncomfortable thing is that this time Dortmund lost in the worst way. The Bundesliga title was within reach, but it still slipped away from Leos.
“It’s okay” is really hard to say.

Since Margoleos joined Dortmund 11 years ago, he has always been my favorite player: if you watch him play on the spot, you will feel the “spirit”-has a unique sense of touch, always At the most precise moment, make the most precise position and wedge, the footsteps are light and agile, but subtle movements often become the biggest threat to the opponent.

I still remember seeing a post on the Internet at the beginning of this year, talking about Dortmund’s most representative No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 players in recent years-Roba Liyundowski, Mario Goss and Margo Leo The netizen wrote: “These three players happen to represent three different football careers: Liyundowski transferred at the right time, without major injuries, and was very successful; Gus became famous at a young age , but went downhill early, the highest point of his career was scoring the winning goal in the World Cup, and then doing nothing; Leos’ football talent must be the highest among the three, but luck and injuries made him the one with the lowest achievement .”

When he joined Dortmund, which had just won the double crown, in 2012, probably fans like the author and himself had very good expectations for the future: 23 years old and in full bloom, he is the hottest offense in the Bundesliga The midfielder has both appearance and skills, and also has a “Feel Good” story: Dortmund is his hometown. He joined the Dortmund youth training at the age of 7. At the age of 16, he was considered too thin and gave up. However, he played in the small club Allen (Rot Weiss Ahlen) made his debut to reshape his career, joined Munson Garber at the age of 20, and became a hot star. Finally, in 2012, he was recruited by his mother club as the best player of the year in Germany.

Leos’s name Marco is actually derived from Marco van Basten (Marco van Basten), a generation of Dutch star – his parents themselves wanted to name him Dennis, but in the 1988 European Cup, Van Basten scored against the Soviet Union. The name “Ma Gao” was born in this way. It’s a pity that he failed to live a life full of honors and bright moments like Yunbaston, but was only full of cruel jokes that God played on him one after another.

Leos joined Dortmund in the first season, and helped the team reach the Europa League final, and finally lost the championship. His best friend Gus left the team to join the arch-rival Bayern at the end of the season. Gaopu resigned in 2015, Xiaomus, Gendujian, Liyundowski left one after another, Aubameyang and Mikhdalien came and went, selling stars every year, his frontline comrades Turned and turned; it’s not that he didn’t receive a better invitation, but he never left for various reasons. His status had already been established, and he was called “Prince of Domont” by the fans.

Dortmund fell into the dilemma of not being able to win the league championship. They tried to become the winter champion, but they were still under pressure by Bayern despite being far ahead. Despite winning the DFB-Pokal twice, Rice kissed the trophy with joy when he won the first major trophy of his career in 2017, and will do the same when he wins it again in 2021. However, what he or the club wants most is of course not only the German Cup.

What is even more regrettable is that when Leos was in his prime, he had a great chance to win the highest honor. In 2014, he was at the peak of his form, but he was injured in an international friendly match before the World Cup and left the team sadly. In the end, Germany defeated Argentina to win the championship. In the Hercules Cup, Mario Goss, who scored the winning goal, missed Leos and raised his jersey when receiving the award. In the European Cup two years later, he once again withdrew due to injury; in 2018, he finally participated in the World Cup finals for the first time, but Germany seemed to be haunted by the “curse of defending the title”, and finally even lost to South Korea in the group stage.

In the European Cup held in 2021, he voluntarily announced that he would not participate due to fatigue after the Bundesliga season. In 2022, there is a good chance that it will be his last World Cup. He still missed it due to injury, but Germany is also in the group stage. out. To put it bluntly, he failed to score in the international competition.

Football is a team sport, and one person can drive the success of the whole team. Apart from last year’s World Cup Argentina’s Metz, there may be no one else in the world. Leos always missed the best moments of the team, and always just missed the highest honor, especially the World Cup champion who should have been a part of it; and the Europa League final when he first joined Dortmund, After fighting hard and losing, watching these scenes, as a fan, I want to say to him personally-the fact is to say to myself: “It’s okay, there is still a chance.”

This Bundesliga championship is the moment when he can fight in health and has the greatest opportunity to realize his dream for many years. Given his age, it may also be the last chance; as a fan who has supported Leos for many years, he knows that his luck is not ordinary To be honest, it’s not like “if he can’t get it this time…” thought.

But the moment it actually happened, it was still indescribably heart-wrenching.

This time, it is absolutely impossible to say “it doesn’t matter”. 11 years have passed in a blink of an eye, and a rising star at the age of 23 has become a 33-year-old veteran. With Leos’ injury record, he probably won’t be the kind of star who can still play until he is 35 years old. He has just renewed his contract with Dortmund until next summer, and the next season, there is a high chance that it will be the last season of his 23 years in this club, and it will also be the last season of his career at any time.

The story of Leos always makes fans think: “If he had fewer injuries…”, “If he hadn’t missed the 2014 World Cup…”, “If he hadn’t stayed in Dortmund…maybe…”.

It is a pity that competition is like life, without “if”, it is difficult to beat time.

Leos has a happy family off the court, a beautiful wife and a lovely daughter, which are undoubtedly his greatest support, and perhaps the greatest compensation from God; but the career he has devoted his life to pursue is not satisfactory so far, so what can he do except helplessness?