Plácido Domingo's Sports History As A Soccer Player Served Him Well

Plácido Domingo playing soccer in 1980.

"As the World Cup nears, soccer fanatics will inevitably jink the conversation toward the beautiful game. That includes Placido Domingo, who explains why at 73 he can still get down on one knee to declare his love to the soprano. 'I was a goalkeeper and I know how to throw myself onto the floor,' said the Spanish opera singer. Even if his sporting past has served him well in his career, the tenor-turned-baritone never expected to be where he is today, still singing on stages all over the world. Because of that unexpected longevity, he finds himself doing double duty as leading man and general director for the LA Opera, where he wrapped up its 28th season this past weekend as the love-struck monk Athanael in Massenet's Thais, the 139th role of his career. Around 18 years ago, Domingo took over the direction of the Washington National Opera, and then more than a decade ago became director of the young Los Angeles company. 'I really thought I would be singing for a very short time,' he told Reuters in an interview last week at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where he first performed in 1967. 'That's the reason I started thinking of being a director of a theater. The voice is there, so I keep singing.'" [Source] A picture of the tenor playing soccer in 2011, can be found after the jump.