DOHA, Qatar — A trivia question for you: What does Cristiano Ronaldo have in common with defenders Andre Ooijer and Gary Breen? Well, as of late Tuesday evening, when Manchester United announced he had left the club “by mutual agreement,” Ronaldo was playing in a World Cup without a club to his name, an experience he shares with those two former players from previous competitions.
It’s a rare circumstance, one made even more so in Qatar by the World Cup’s one-off scheduling in the middle of the European season: Most contracts expire on June 30, which means players are unable to really find a new club until the summer, when the World Cup usually begins. (This World Cup was moved only because Qatar’s climate made summer unsafe for athletes.) And in previous editions, most players would’ve had their next moves lined up anyway, like Frank Lampard in 2006, who had announced he was leaving Chelsea before the World Cup, but had agreed to join New York City FC after the tournament. (He actually ended up playing for Manchester City, but that’s another story.)
But for some like Ooijer and Breen, when they joined up for national team duty with Netherlands in 2010 and Republic of Ireland in 2002 respectively, they faced an uncertain future beyond the tournament. Both released by their former clubs, they had no contract lined up and were left to navigate the wilderness of free agency while trying to focus and compete in the sport’s biggest competition.
