On December 25, Paraguay local time, legendary goalkeeper Chiravit announced on social platforms that he would participate in the 2023 Paraguayan presidential election. On the campaign poster released by Chilawite, his campaign slogan was "Proud to be a Paraguayan".
Chilawite, 55, has claimed as a player that he will run for the president of Paraguay after retiring from playing. When he led the team to the 1998 World Cup in France as paraguay captain, Chilawite said in an interview with paraguayan media that he hoped to become the president of Paraguay in 2008. At that time, this explosive news was broadcast on paraguayan television channel 13 and caused a huge reaction in Paraguay. As the "strongest goalkeeper in the history of South American football", Kiravit has a very high status in the minds of the Paraguayan people, in 1998, paraguay's national population was only more than 5 million, almost all the people are fans, so The approval rate of Chiravit's ascension to the top can not be underestimated.
Paraguay and hosts France played in the knockout rounds until overtime, and Chilawite and his teammates won the respect of fans around the world. But just after this World Cup, there was gossip about Kiravit's alleged drug trafficking, and although the Paraguayan police did not get valid evidence after an investigation, Kiravete's reputation was inevitably affected, and the 2008 presidential campaign was also gone.
For this time to stand up for the 2023 Paraguayan presidency, Chilawite said that he is from a poor family, has always been very concerned about the life of the poor in Paraguay, but also worried about the real life of the current Paraguayan people, so he hopes to change the country and create a new Paraguay by running for president.
There are two key words in Chilawite's life
Honors and others
However, there are also many people who worry that Chilawet's fiery personality is not suitable for politics. As a player, Chilawite, nicknamed "MadMan Goalkeeper", was talented but grumpy and didn't do anything. As a goalkeeper, Chilawite has attracted the attention of world football for his ability to score on set-pieces, scoring a total of 67 goals in his career. In 1996, Chilawite, who played for Sasfield in the Argentine league, shocked football by scoring an ultra-long-range hanging shot from 60 meters away in a match against River Plate! In 1995, 1997 and 1998, he was named the "World Goalkeeper of the Year" by FIFA three times, and was nominated for the "Best Team in South American Football" for six consecutive times. While playing in the Argentine League, Chilawite was also elected Argentine Footballer of the Year and South American Footballer of the Year in 1996, and his career was an honor.
The trouble keeps coming
But at the same time, Chilawite was in constant trouble on the field. In the 1998 World Cup in South America, he and Colombian star Asprila clashed during the match, and the two were sent off with red cards. More than a decade later, In an interview with Colombia's Pacific Television, Asprila revealed that the scene made a prominent Colombian drug lord very unhappy, and he approached Asprila and said that if the latter agreed, he would send someone to kill Chiravit. Thankfully, Asprila was not dazed, and he said, "Are you crazy?" Do you want to completely ruin Colombian football? Absolutely not, absolutely not! Asprila's statement saved Chilawite, and he may not have realized that the clash on the pitch had almost brought him to death.
However, Chilawet did not relent, and four years later, in the World Preliminary Round, Paraguay lost 2-0 to Brazil. The unbalanced Chilawite responded with a spit to the Brazilian superstar Roberto Carlos after the game, which came to shake hands with him, which almost caused a group beating of Brazilian and Paraguayan players. In the end, Chilawite was banned by FIFA for four games for this move, and missed the first round of the 2002 World Cup final against South Africa.
Before Kiravet, there were many examples of politics in world football – former world footballer Wea was elected president of Liberia in 2018; former AC Milan iron guard Karadze served as deputy prime minister of Georgia; Ukraine's number one star Shevchenko served as the second leader of the country's "Ukrainian Forward Party", but then he returned to football to take charge of the coaching whip of the Ukrainian national team; former Boca Youth Club president Mauricio Macri served as president of Argentina. These successful people in football are also jokingly called "men from CCTV-5 to CCTV-1" by fans!
Whether Chilawite can become the next star in politics, everyone can only wait and see.
Red Star News reporter Jiang Shan Compiled by Li Xueli
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