The 2013/2014 season was an absolute whirlwind for Richairo Živković. As we documented in previous matchday programmes, he started the season by breaking Arjen Robben’s youngest goalscorer record, spent the winter as the club’s top scorer despite mostly playing as a substitute, and secured a massive summer transfer to Ajax. By April 2014, the 17-year-old was the most talked-about teenager in Dutch football. But his “Hoofdrolspeler” interview in the April 11 edition reveals the bizarre, grounded reality of being a high school student thrust into the national spotlight.
Under the headline “Examens geen invloed op voetbal” (Exams no influence on football), Živković addresses his recent media silence. “It is sometimes annoying that the press only wants to talk about Ajax, while I am playing football at FC Groningen and doing my absolute best for the club,” he states bluntly. “I have therefore decided to give no more interviews about Ajax, so that I can focus completely on the FC.” It is a remarkably mature boundary set by a teenager trying to navigate the intense scrutiny of the Dutch sports media.
But the most charming part of the interview is hidden on page 17. While discussing the intense pressure of the upcoming European playoffs, Živković casually mentions his other major source of stress: his high school final exams (HAVO). “I indeed have to take exams in May. My exams may not have an influence on football and vice versa. It is naturally my task to plan that well. That is sometimes difficult, but it’s part of it.” The juxtaposition is hilarious: a professional athlete tasked with scoring goals against NAC Breda on Friday night, who then has to go home and study for his math finals.
A Look into the Future
Richairo Živković successfully navigated both his exams and the European playoffs, helping FC Groningen secure continental football before departing for Amsterdam. However, the intense media scrutiny he complained about in this interview only magnified at Ajax, where he struggled to meet the astronomical expectations placed upon him. His career eventually became a globe-trotting adventure, taking him to China, England, and Serbia. Looking back at this 2014 interview, it captures a fleeting, innocent moment: a local boy trying to balance the weight of a multi-million euro transfer with the mundane reality of high school homework.