Mr. Lineker has gone where not even the opposition Labour Party goes these days for fear of being branded out of touch. Silver-haired and boyish-looking at 56, Mr. Lineker is something of a national treasure in Britain. Mr. Lineker, who is now worth an estimated $15 million, comes from solid working-class stock himself. It’s just wrong.”Listening to Mr. Lineker, soccer becomes almost a parable for what has gone right and what has gone wrong in Britain over the last 30 years. Today’s superstars, like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, earn in a week “what I earned in a year,” Mr. Lineker said.

Source: New York Times January 27, 2017 14:30 UTC