Rafael Nadal beats Lionel Messi and Batman to be voted the 'ideal boss' by kids in Spain

Children often look up to famous personalities (fictional and non-fictional) in their growing years. While some try and emulate their heroes, others dream of having some sort of future connection with them. And the young ones in Spain are no different, as demonstrated by a recent survey in which they picked Rafael Nadal as the ideal boss / leader that they’d like to work with.

In the survey, 1,800 children were asked to pick their choice of leader from a host of options. And 18.3% of them voted for one of the most celebrated Spaniards of all time - Rafael Nadal.

▶️ Los niños de Baleares quieren de jefes a @RafaelNadal , @rosalia y @fernandosimon_ encuesta @adecco_es https://t.co/bHGMZxlaxS

— mallorcadiario.com (@mallorcadiario) August 11, 2020

Rafael Nadal edges past Lionel Messi in the survey

Even though tennis doesn’t really put as much focus on the nation as it does on the individual (barring a few team tournaments), Rafael Nadal has achieved a great many laurels for Spain. Two of his greatest career achievements have come while representing his country - the singles gold at the Beijing Olympics, and the doubles gold at Rio.

There is also the small matter of Nadal having won 19 Grand Slam titles, just one shy of Roger Federer's all-time record. There's very little reason why he wouldn't be the face of sport in Spain.

Rafael Nadal with Marc Lopez and their doubles gold medal at the Rio Olympics

While Rafael Nadal's achievements make him immensely popular in Spain, it is his personality that captures the attention of children. Nadal is renowned for his incredible qualities such as sportsmanship, humility, kindness and empathy, both on and off the court. That hasn’t gone past the notice of the surveyed children, who felt that Nadal would guide them the best and thus picked him as their top choice.

The kids who took part in the poll were aged between 4 and 16 years, out of which 329 chose the Mallorcan as their favored boss/leader. Legendary footballer Lionel Messi took the second spot with 17.2% of the votes, and in third place was renowned epidemiologist Fernando Simon (who is the spokesperson for COVID-19 in Spain).

Rafael Nadal outscored Lionel Messi in the survey

In addition to Messi and Simon, Rafael Nadal outscored the likes of Sergio Ramos, Rosalia (singer), Ladybug (cartoon), Katy Perry, the late Kobe Bryant , King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and even Batman.

Nadal’s popularity among children can also be attributed to his Foundation and Academy. It is well-documented that the best of learning and attention are provided to all the children / teenagers who attend his Academy, which even prompted the great Bjorn Borg to enroll his son there.

Rafael Nadal is a very charitable individual

Rafael Nadal’s foundation, meanwhile, greatly helps the needy and disadvantaged members of the society. The Spaniard is known to donate to a number of charitable causes, as can be seen from the fact that he raised 14 million euros (along with Pau Gasol) to help those affected by COVID-19.