If footballers had their own entry music

The make-believe universe of WWE has, for long, featured a number of memorable songs which serve as entrance music when a WWE superstar enters the arena. This tradition helps build up the spectator experience and makes it a greater spectacle for both the ringside audience, as well as for viewers who will catch the production later on the tube.

Football, when you think about it, already has enough drawing power to make it the most popular game in the world by a distance. Yet, as a team game, individual players’ identities are quite suppressed due to being part of a group.

But the biggest football stars have their own drawing power – many female football fans also follow the game to be able to relax while watching 22 well-groomed gentlemen battle it out for 90 minutes.

The addition of entrance music for football’s great icons is a great idea worth considering, so as to ratchet up the TRPs of broadcasters and give players some fun moments and opportunities for banter (friendly or otherwise). We follow up with footballers and songs which would serve as their ideal entry music.

1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Blackwater Park by Opeth (Blackwater Park, 2001)

Zlatan is a national icon – one of the people that citizens of Sweden consider to be the reason for their national pride and joy. The Swedish progressive metal music scene is one of the best in the world and has led to the rise of rockers of world-renowned bands like Meshuggah, Opeth, Eluiveitie, Katatonia among others.

It would be epicness if Zlatan’s entry onto the football pitch were to be marked by one of the best songs ever written by Swedish prog metal gods Opeth. ‘Blackwater Park’ is one of the epics in Opeth’s huge body of work.

From subtle changes in tempo, extreme switches between the mellow parts and the death metal parts, it typifies Opeth’s old approach to songwriting and is an epic lasting over 12 minutes.

One can easily picture Zlatan celebrating goals with those fearsome death growls by Akerfeldt playing through the stadium.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo – Flying Whales by Gojira (From Mars To Sirius, 2005)

Ronaldo’s playing style is typified by fast footwork, intelligent running to draw defenders out of position and his reliance on his extraordinary pace. Yet, he is a completely well-rounded player who can do everything on the pitch, even though it is his quickness in the mind that helps him achieve all the feats that mere mortals could never hope to.

Gojira brings in a wall of sound driven forward by the exemplary drum-work of Mario Duplantier and the melodic growls of his brother Joe, while the entire 4-piece band is itself playing some of the grooviest melodies ever written. ‘Flying Whales’ is probably their most powerful single track.

Flying Whales would be an appropriate reference to use to describe some of Cristiano’s headed goals.

3. Lionel Messi – Physical Education by Animals As Leaders (Animals As Leaders, 2010)

Messi’s genius on the football pitch is defined by his first touch, his ability to accelerate away from defenders and the vision to find the perfect weight for crosses, passes and shots. It is a skillset that every modern footballer wishes to have, and yet, he exudes the class of the olden times with his refreshing attitude towards the game.

Modern metal is being taken forward by the likes of Tosin Abasi of Animals As Leaders in ways that leave nearly every guitarist on the planet jealous of his talents. AAL’s first, self-titled album contains a number of amazing compositions, and Physical Education is a particularly catchy groove.

The main riff of this song would be an amazing background track in celebration of Lionel’s goals.

4. Gareth Bale – JATO Unit by Jeff Loomis (Zero Order Phase, 2008)

Apart from being one of the fastest players to ever play the game, Gareth Bale is also a really tricky customer who keeps defenders on their toes with his nimble turns, pirouettes and stepovers. Although he doesn’t always look to dribble his way past his opponents, when played as an inverted winger there is no one in the world currently who can provide the assisting-scoring combination that he does for Real.

Plus, his work rate makes him a really valuable addition to the Real defense.

Jeff Loomis is perhaps one of the greatest shredders to ever play. An absolute master of all guitar techniques, Loomis was the driving force behind the rise of Nevermore. Although he is currently playing for Arch Enemy, Loomis’ best work is from his solo projects.

Imagine Bale scoring a goal on the counter-attack, cutting through defenders like a hot knife through butter. And JATO Unit playing all around the stadium in rejoicements.

5. Neymar – Ballin by Logic (2013)

Neymar is as Brazilian a footballer as they come – mind-bogglingly skilled, yet appearing to play in a carefree manner. The best thing about this is that he really does play with a smile on his face, and the flair that he displays in making a mockery of his opponents is unique to him. He has his own style, his own manner of going about his business that has a charisma about it.

The kind of charisma that fills up the biggest stadiums in the world just for the entertainment value he provides.

This form of entertainment should culminate with some catchy beats and racy verses. Which is why Logic would be a perfect pick for Neymar. The Maryland rapper has a lyrical flow that few in the world can match, while his swagger is something one typically associates with confident individuals like Neymar.

‘I came from nothing to something like it’s nothing, yeah you know I done it now there’s no discussion’ would be a nice track to belt out when Neymar goes into celebratory mode after scoring a great goal at the Nou Camp.

6. Mats Hummels – Du Hast by Rammstein (Sehsucht, 1997)

Mats Hummels, more than anyone else in German football, typifies everything about the current generation of German players. His technical supremacy, cool head, physical robustness and inclination to play with a natural flair makes him the best poster boy for the German national team.

As has Rammstein taken over the mantle of representing German music and bringing their musical tradition to the world’s mainstream pop culture. Other than Scorpions, Rammstein are the most globally acclaimed German rock-and-roll band. They make music which appeals to people from everywhere, yet they mainly use German lyrics for their songs.

7. Andres Iniesta – Glasgow Kiss by John Petrucci (Suspended Animation, 2005)

Iniesta is undoubtedly the most pleasing player to grace the football pitch in the last decade. His first touch, adroitness of movement, pure quality of passing and dribbling skills are second to none. Routinely, he conjures up moments on the biggest stages that only he is capable of.

Football fans are lucky to be able to enjoy his class over such a long period of time, and one can only hope that he continues in the same vein till the time he decides to get out for good.

Often, superlatives have fallen short of describing the aesthetic pleasure of watching an Iniesta goal, which is why it would be best to use an instrumental. And this is one of Petrucci’s very best works – the Jesus of the guitar world himself has an astonishingly wide range of music masterpieces. The main lead chorus of this song serves almost as a ballad.

8. Luis Suarez – Beast Mode by Ludacris (Ludaversal, 2015)

Suarez has been quite a revelation for all football fans. His exploits in the last 3 years have left no doubt that he is the most lethal player in the world today, barring only Messi and Ronaldo. Indeed, so big has the jump in his production been that Liverpool were able to sell him for a price three times as big as the sum they bought him for.

And that deal already seems to be a bargain for the Blaugrana, for whom he top-scored in the league last season and won his first undisputed Golden Boot.

To call his form ‘Beast Mode’ would be to sell it short, but Suarez surely does look like a good person to personify a player in the form of his life. Should footballers be allowed to have their own entry music, Beast Mode would play at the Nou Camp time and time again to the delight of Barca fans.

9. Mesut Ozil – Schism by Tool (Lateralus, 2001)

Ozil has been one of the best playmakers plying their trade in Europe, if not the very best in the last 4-5 years. What separates him from a typical no. 10 is his relaxed approach to constructing attacks and finding gaps in defenses.

His impeccable ball control and vision allows him to make his style of play look disarmingly simple, yet, almost anyone playing like him would be doomed to failure in their attempts to emulate his manner of lazy elegance. More than anything, Ozil’s passing is analogous to a work of art, with an aesthetic value.

It would be difficult to attribute a single song to him that would portray his brilliance, but Schism by Tool is as good an example of a mainstream rock-and-roll track as any that would fit the bill. The unorthodox use of time signatures and the iconic Tool sound in this Grammy-winning song would do justice to Ozil’s best moments on a football pitch.