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Sports Desk: The riches, glamour and glory of playing football in front of packed stadiums attracts the world\u2019s top players across borders but with the European game in lockdown, many have been left isolated from their families.<\/p>\nSports Desk: The riches, glamour and glory of playing football in front of packed stadiums attracts the world\u2019s top players across borders but with the European game in lockdown, many have been left isolated from their families.<\/p>\n
Coronavirus has forced governments across Europe to impose swingeing restrictions on travel and personal freedoms.<\/p>\n
Footballers\u2019 daily routines have been upended with no games to play for the foreseeable future and training sessions now conducted alone at home or via video-conferencing to maintain some semblance of team spirit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a way to keep in contact with each other, to start a little bit of routine because I think that is important,\u201d said Brighton manager Graham Potter, who has his squad doing communal morning sessions via video.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur guys are all here in the UK. That is why it is important for us to keep in contact and regular dialogue and make sure everyone is alright.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are away from families, they are missing families and that is something we understand. We sympathise with that, but we felt it was right to limit international travel and to stay at home and be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other clubs allowed their stars to jet home. Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s Neymar and Thiago Silva returned to Brazil and Edinson Cavani headed to Uruguay before France went into lockdown.<\/p>\n
By contrast, Chelsea\u2019s Spanish winger Pedro Rodriguez was stuck in London as he and the rest of the Blues squad were forced into self-isolation when teammate Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard not to be able to see my children,\u201d Pedro Rodriguez, whose children live in Barcelona, told Spanish radio station Cadena SER. \u201cI imagine there are many people like me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell them to stay in the house and that I miss them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Birmingham boss Pep Clotet sent his family back to Spain before a state of emergency was declared in his homeland, but remained in England to do what work he could.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am caught between two worlds,\u201d said Clotet. \u201cI feel I cannot do my job properly. I keep thinking \u2018Maybe I should go back?\u2019 But I cannot go back because I am working.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018I sleep a lot\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n
For others, the greatest concern is filling time and the void left by no football.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am obviously a little bored since two weeks have passed since the beginning of the quarantine at home,\u201d Juventus\u2019 Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny told Sky Sport Italia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am alone in Turin because my family went to Poland. Having said that, however, I must say that I am having a peaceful time. I sleep a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The unexpected downtime is even allowing some players accustomed to globe-trotting extra quality time with their nearest and dearest.<\/p>\n
Sevilla midfielder Ever Banega has spent the vast majority of his playing career in Spain, but the 65-time capped Argentine international is used to hopping back and forth across the Atlantic to represent his country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s strange because there is always football on. When La Liga stops, there are international games. Even in the summer, there is football with pre-season games,\u201d Banega told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou miss a lot of moments with your loved ones. Now what I am mostly doing is taking advantage of the time with my kids, my wife, enjoying the family time.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one knows how long European football\u2019s unprecedented stoppage will last, with leagues still hoping to complete a truncated season when it is safe to do so.<\/p>\n
When it does, players will return with a fresh appreciation for why they travel far and wide to play the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wake up and you don\u2019t know what to do,\u201d said Celtic\u2019s French defender Christopher Jullien.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now it is just a different life. You realise how life is like every day without football. I miss football.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sports Desk: The riches, glamour and glory of playing football in front of packed stadiums attracts the world\u2019s top players across borders but with the European game in lockdown, many have been left isolated from their families. Coronavirus has forced governments across Europe to impose swingeing restrictions on travel and personal freedoms. Footballers\u2019 daily routines […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":58122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n