Akwai wani lokaci daga Oktoba 2008 wanda har yanzu yana yawo cikin abubuwan da suka faru mafi kyau a cikin ƙwallon ƙafa: Dimitar Berbatov, bayan ƙasa da wata ɗaya da ya shiga Manchester United, ya gudu don kama wutar Anderson kusa da tutiyar kusurwa ta Old Trafford. Abin da ya biyo baya — dakatar da kwallo ba zato ba tsammani, juyawa digiri 180, da taɓawa mai ƙyaftu ta wuce bisa mai kare West Ham United James Collins — ya ƙare a cikin ɓangaren daƙiƙa. Sai Berbatov ya ci gaba da tafiya, ba tare da gaggawa ba, zuwa yankin hukunci kuma ya tura kwallo ga Cristiano Ronaldo don ya kammala. Taron ya fashe da murna. Berbatov bai girgiza ba.

Wannan lokaci ya yi ban mamaki sosai wanda ya zaburar da waka — Berbatov Spin, ta Broke Boy Fly — ɗaya daga cikin aƙalla wakoki uku da aka rubuta don girmama mai kai hari ɗan ƙasar Bulgaria. Wani mawaki na rap daga Thessaloniki mai suna Richi ya kuma tsara gaisawa bayan Berbatov ya ɗan yi lokaci yana wasa a PAOK a ƙarshen aikinsa. 'Yan wasa kaɗan ne za su iya da'awar cewa an rubuta waƙoƙi da yawa don wata taimako ɗaya kawai.

Mutumin da ke bayan abin rufe fuska

Yanzu yana da shekara 45, kuma yana aiki a matsayin jakadan alamar kasuwanci ta Turai na LiveScore da LiveScore Bet tun da ya yi ritaya a shekarar 2019, Berbatov ya zauna tare da FourFourTwo yana tunani game da halayen da ba a damu ba wanda ya mai da shi jarumin ƙaunar jama'a a Bayer Leverkusen, Tottenham Hotspur, da Manchester United.

Wannan halin da yake kama da halayya ta yau da kullum ya kasance da niyya sosai — kuma asalinsa ba ya cikin ɗakin yin tufafi ko filin horarwa, sai dai a cikin fina-finan yamma na Italiya guda biyu da ba a san su sosai ba. "Ina girma, akwai wani fim mai suna They Call Me Trinity, tare da Bud Spencer da Terence Hill", ya bayyana. "Mutumin a cikin fim yana kullum ya kwance, kamar bai damu ba — amma shi ne mafi sauri wajen jan bindiga a yamma kuma kowa ya san haka. Koda ka ƙasƙanta shi, za a ba ka mamaki da abin da zai iya yi."

"A cikin tunanina, ba tare da gane hakan ba, ina sanya wannan cikin wasana da rayuwata."

Fiye da ɗan wasan salon

Berbatov yana jaddada cewa fuskarsa mai sanyi ba ta nuna rashin ƙwazo ba. Bayan taimakon Ronaldo, kyamarori sun kama shi yana tafiya baya kamar babu abin da ya faru. "A cikina, na san na yi wani abu na musamman — saboda surutu taron jama'a", ya yarda. "Amma a waje, na yi kamar: 'Babu abin da ya faru, abokai, ina yin wannan kullum.'"

Wannan falsafa ta miƙe har zuwa yadda ya ga matsayin mai kai hari. Tare da Robbie Keane a Tottenham Hotspur, Berbatov ya zama majagaba na fara sauka mai zurfi kafin kalmar "ƙarya tara" ta shiga cikin ƙamus na dabaru. "Ni da Robbie Keane muna sauka daga matsayin mai kai hari na tsakiya, muna wasa kusan kamar lamba tara da lamba goma a lokaci guda", ya tuna. "Wasu lokuta lokacin da na yi taimako, ina jin daɗi fiye da lokacin da na zura kwallo."

Wannan daɗi ya haifar da ƙwalaye 329 a duk tsawon aikinsa — ciki har da hat-trick a kan Liverpool da ƙwalaye biyar a wasa ɗaya a kan Blackburn tare da Manchester United — tare da taimakoki masu yawa da aka bayar da ikon salwanta wanda ya sanya abin da yake da wahala ya zama na yau da kullum.

Fasaha da ƙarfin jiki

Berbatov yana da hankali idan ya yi magana game da yadda wasan zamani ya canza. "Ƙwallon ƙafa ya canza — yana da ƙarfi fiye da yadda yake, yana da dabaru fiye da yadda yake. Na fahimci hakan, domin a ƙarshe, sakamako shi ne mafi muhimmanci", in ji shi. "Amma ƙwallon ƙafa shi ma fasaha ne. A lokacin da na buga, ya kasance lokaci mai kyau a gare ni — mafi fasaha, mafi waƙa."

Ya kaurace wa shelar cewa zamanin mai wasan fasaha na ƙwallon ƙafa ya ƙare gaba ɗaya. Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne — ko bayan barin Manchester City — da Cristiano Ronaldo har yanzu suna wakiltar wannan al'ada, in ji shi. "Har yanzu muna da masu fasaha a filin wasa", in ji shi. "Wataƙila yanzu yana da ƙarfi kaɗan fiye da yadda yake, amma suna nan."

Game da gadonsa, Berbatov yana da tsabta ta yau da kullum: "Ina fatan na nishadda mutane — na san na yi haka, a zahiri."