“I just try to be a good person because if everyone had that mindset then, yeah, you’d have world peace,” Antonee Robinson says as he remembers his response when he comforted Ramin Rezaeian a jiffy after the USA had knocked Iran out of the World Cup final November. The heartfelt embrace between two defenders from very totally different nations went viral as Robinson consoled and hugged a sobbing Rezaeian for a very long time.
In a setting as divisive and discriminatory as Qatar, Robinson’s heat and humanity not solely helped Rezaeian however turned the vitriolic world of social media into a briefly unified haven. His empathy was hanging as a result of, earlier than their opening sport towards England, Rezaeian and his teammates had refused to sing the nationwide anthem in protest towards state oppression and violence in the direction of ladies in Iran.
Their pointed silence was harmful but it surely impressed Iran’s followers to proceed different types of protest all through the match. At the tip, after Iran had misplaced narrowly to the USA and failed to qualify for the final 16, Rezaeian was inconsolable till Robinson pulled him shut.
On a chilly however sunlit day at Fulham’s coaching floor, Robinson, who was born in Milton Keynes and raised in Liverpool earlier than qualifying for the USA via his father, displays on all he and Rezaeian shared: “When you peel back the layers, we’re all very similar as people. We’ve all got loved ones, we’re all just trying to get by, make people proud, provide for the ones we love. Whether or not we have different ideals and ideologies I’d say the majority are good people. And in that moment you don’t even notice cameras. You’re just seeing another guy in a lot of pain.”
Robinson looks up as he remembers the slender 1-0 win over Iran, who had in all probability endured extra exterior political strain than every other nation in World Cup historical past. Iran got here shut to equalising and Robinson shakes his head. “It was nearly me,” he says, evaluating himself to Rezaeian. “If they’d scored he would have been hugging me and I’d have been the one crying.”
He laughs and it’s attainable to see the opposite facet of Robinson – the 25-year-old footballer who nonetheless asks everybody he meets to name him Jedi, as if he actually is a Star Wars warrior, and performs magic tips which amuse his teammates and likewise go viral. But was he conscious of the political backdrop for Iran’s brave gamers? “Vaguely, but we don’t speak too much about politics. It’s all about game preparation because we’re not politicians.”
Robinson additionally provided sympathy to Iran’s Abolfazl Jalali, who was distraught and on his knees on the closing whistle. Christiane Amanpour, the venerable CNN anchor, praised Robinson for displaying “humanity without borders” however the left-back is extra low key. “I knew the efforts those [Iran] lads had put in and so very quickly it came into my head to give my condolences. I had more of an embrace with [Rezaeian] and I was telling him: ‘You’ve made your family, your loved ones and your country proud.’ I didn’t see it that I’m American and he’s Iranian. He was just another lad who had just battled against me for 90 minutes.”
Did Rezaeian say something in reply? “Yeah, he spoke pretty good English. He congratulated me and said: ‘Thank you’ and ‘Good luck’. But it was mainly just crying, to be fair.”
We snigger earlier than Robinson turns into extra critical once more. “After the game he messaged me – which was a nice touch. They obviously took risks [politically] that my players didn’t have to take. We don’t face the same penalties. I’m not going to pretend I know the ins and outs of Iran but I do know they’re standing up against something that gives them far more consequences than I’ve ever faced. I can only commend them for being there for their people.”
Robinson remembers that when he returned to the dressing room “my phone just blew up with it. I became really emotional and the lads were consoling me. I’m not particularly emotional. I’m usually laid-back, chilled, but sometimes it comes out in bursts. The enormity of the situation, our achievement and dealing with injuries culminated in this burst of emotion.”
Robinson describes himself as a “natural pessimist” who has confronted many disappointments and obstacles. And so the realisation he had made an impression on the World Cup felt nearly overwhelming. “One hundred per cent. I’ve had enough setbacks to expect the worst but hope for the best. Even if I’m going on holiday, and I planned it, I don’t believe I’m going to get there until I’ve landed.
“It was the same for the World Cup. I got through the Man United game [Fulham’s last before Qatar] but even on my way to the airport I still didn’t believe I would play in a World Cup. I got to Qatar and it was like: ‘Well, I’ve got a week of training so I don’t know if I’ll play.’ It wasn’t until I’d actually played the first game that I could think: ‘I’m settled now. I’ve played in the World Cup.’”
It has been a lengthy journey for Robinson. He was by no means thought to be a star at Everton’s academy and even when he was shut to being provided a skilled contract, after which on the verge of the first-team squad at Goodison Park, he sustained two critical accidents which sidelined him for a lot of months. He was ultimately loaned to Bolton after which bought to Wigan when, to his utter shock in January 2020, his agent revealed that Paolo Maldini wished to signal him for Milan.
Robinson initially refused to consider him. But when Maldini, one of many biggest defenders in soccer historical past, referred to as him, Robinson lastly understood the curiosity was actual. “I played away at Swansea and the next day I got a call saying: ‘You’re flying to Milan tomorrow to do your deal.’ I then had Maldini on the phone and he was talking me through it. The fact it was Maldini, and he was trying to bring me into the club, was a big compliment. He had seen enough of me to say he was excited to work with me and he really believed that I could develop into a good player.”
Maldini and the primary Milan executives welcomed him and every part was trying brilliant till Robinson started his medical. “I was in hospital doing loads of tests and scans on my knees and back. They gave me a max exertion test on a Wattbike and were asking if I’d ever had any issues with my heart. I said: ‘No’ but then they sent me to another hospital to do another ECG and when they got the results they sent me to Milan’s headquarters. My agent’s there with Maldini and all the higher-ups of Milan and I’m expecting to sign my deal.
“But they said: ‘We can’t do a deal because something’s flagged up with your heart.’ It was deadline day and it would take a minimum of three days to find out the problem, so they couldn’t risk signing me. They were all talking so much but I’m just sat there staring at the floor and thinking: ‘Of course it’s not happened.’”
It was solely later that the broader penalties sank in and Robinson started to fear about his well being. “I was having ectopic heartbeats, which is basically an insufficient heartbeat. Up to 5% is OK but I was having double that. It was making my heart dilate, which means it was overworking and growing in size. It could have approached failure if it hadn’t been caught. So that [Milan] medical gave me the chance to catch something I didn’t even know I had.”
Robinson was due to have surgical procedure in March 2020 however Covid delayed the operation. While he waited Robinson was suggested to cease consuming espresso and, a few months later, “when they went to do the operation they didn’t see any more insufficient heartbeats. They came to the conclusion that my heart’s sensitive to caffeine and I just needed to cut out coffee. Two weeks later I played my first game in six months against Huddersfield and it was a big relief.”
His coronary heart situation was “sorted” and Robinson handed his medical when signing for Fulham in August 2020. His enjoyment of taking part in for a membership who’ve surpassed expectations this season, and are seventh within the Premier League, is clear. An ankle damage and a suspension imply that he has missed simply three of Fulham’s 21 league video games this season.
“We’ve always said from the start of the season that the goal is to stay in the league and we’ve definitely got a big buffer of points to feel comfortable. It’s nice to be able to look at the teams above us rather than teams below us.”
Fulham play Chelsea away on Friday night time in a west London derby between such contrasting golf equipment. Chelsea have simply spent extra within the January window than the mixed quantity of transfers in La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1. Can a extra modest membership equivalent to Fulham actually compete for a place in Europe subsequent season? “It definitely could happen. If we replicate our form in the first half of the season we give ourselves every chance. But the manager [Marco Silva] is very good at making sure we don’t look too far ahead.”
Photograph: Javier García/Shutterstock
Robinson selected his personal nickname when he was 5 years outdated however most males nonetheless name him Jedi. “It’s more a guy thing and my two sisters wouldn’t call me Jedi. They’d call me Antonee. So girls, apart from my mum and fiancée [Darcy], wouldn’t normally call me Jedi. But [Darcy] always calls me Jedster.”
What does Silva name him? “He’s a foreign coach, so it’s last names: Robinson. He’s a very encouraging manager and I briefly worked with him when he was at Everton and I was in the under-21s. I trained with him a few times for the first team.
“I got sent out on loan and then sold while he was at Everton because he didn’t see a pathway for me into the first team. So when he first came to Fulham I was thinking: ‘Oh, he’s already made up his mind about me.’ But he’s come here and done the same with everyone, which means that whoever does the best job and is the best fit is going to play. He’s got a very good philosophy of keeping the ball, attacking, being positive. He really suits me.”
Robinson, as Jedi the magician, seems to be a massively widespread member of the Fulham squad. His card tips, whereas telling amusing tales, once more noticed him grow to be an web sensation. “That first trick blew up on social media in pre-season,” he says. “I learnt that trick when I was about 15. We always have cards with us on trips so I did it for the lads. They made me do it again another night and got the coach and staff over to watch while they filmed it. I’m sweating, nervous, but I did it. The tricks are just random things that grab my attention and if it looks achievable then I want to do it and learn a skill. It’s fun to be able to wow someone quickly.”
Whether lighting up a room with a dazzling card trick or wowing the world together with his easy empathy throughout the World Cup, Robinson, the Jedster, has a knack of spreading magic and heat wherever he goes.
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