Rafael Márquez & Others In The Football World Are Mocking Trump’s Border Wall
Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Soccer News
Earlier this week, our Glorious Cheeto King President Donald Trump signed preliminary papers to begin the process of erecting a massive, expensive, and morally shameful wall along the US’ southern border with Mexico. After spending most of his campaign promising that Mexico would pay for the wall (which, lol), the announcement also came with the completely-and-utterly-shocking news that US taxpayers would be footing the bill, with vague assurances that they would be reimbursed at some indeterminate point in the future. The whole thing is a farce and, whatever ultimately happens with the plan, it will be an indelible stain on this country for generations to come.
In response to the announcement, some within the football world, in defiance of the ancient and sacred decree of Stick To Sports, are making their voices heard.
Former Barcelona, Monaco, and New York Red Bulls defender Rafael Márquez took to Twitter to mock the wall. The former El Tri captain posted video of himself scoring from a free kick while playing for Barça and commenting that “no wall can hold us back if we believe in ourselves.”
No hay #muro capaz de detenernos si creemos en nosotros mismos. #4ctitud. pic.twitter.com/gMZPMj1m1G
— Rafa Marquez (@RafaMarquezMX) January 25, 2017
Mmmm that’s good political commentary.
Márquez’s Tweet was reminiscent of one sent by Club América forward and former Mexico teammate Oribe Peralta soon after Trump’s election last November. The Tweet, which has since been deleted, read: “There is no wall that can stop us.”
Let you think it’s only Mexican footballers speaking up, here’s what Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund thinks of Trump’s plan:
The only #wall we believe in. ???? pic.twitter.com/nIL4ws0UY1
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) January 26, 2017
Good stuff good stuff.
Reactions to Trump’s presidency among USMNT folks has been somewhat mixed so far. Omar Gonzalez held serious reservations about the direction the country is going in as recently as last week. Meanwhile, back in November, captain and Toronto FC midfielder Michael Bradley said that “[we] have no choice but to have total faith in our system and the new president, that he’s going to make the best decisions for everybody in this country.” It’s unclear whether Bradley still feels that way a week into the new administration.
As Trump’s White House spirals further into belligerency, and as more and more individuals and organizations in the soccer world come to the realization that the sport isn’t a protective bubble from the rest of the world, expect more of these stories to filter out.