There are few stars in football quite like Radja Nainggolan. The Belgian international has always stood out both for his ability on the pitch and his eccentricity off it, in a recent interview with France Football he discussed how he’s portrayed by the media: “Am I a bad boy? I’m not the way I have been labeled. I don’t think like a footballer or public figure. I can walk in the worst neighborhoods and live a normal life. I can accept the privileges given to footballers but I don’t go seeking them out. I go to the supermarket, I can drink a glass of wine and smoke a cigarette with no regrets. A footballer can smoke even if he doesn’t have a normal job. If you hide behind something it means you have other things to hide”
Nainggolan was asked to describe himself as a player and his motivation: “I consider myself and Italian player both from a tactical and technical aspect. I try to guarantee a good lifestyle to my family. I try to be like my mother who passed away a few years ago. She was the most important person in my life. She didn’t have much, but she gave everything by making sacrifices”
