Personal goals motivated footballer Anthony Gordon to learn Spanish – a recipe for success

By Abigail Parrish, Lecturer in Languages Education, University of Sheffield

Anthony Gordon – one of the stars of England’s football team at the 2026 World Cup – surprised many when he was presented as a new Barcelona player at the end of the 2025-26 domestic football season: he answered a question at the press conference in confident Spanish. Gordon explained that he had been learning the language for years with the hope of one day playing for Barcelona.

I research motivation, particularly when it comes to learning languages. Gordon’s ambition to learn…

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