It may seem as if Pep Guardiola is the king of innovation, but he’s positively mainstream when you compare him to Jorge Montanari. After all, his players communicate in a made-up language.
The Argentine Montanari coaches the national team of Esperanto, which was set up to help showcase the world’s most widely-spoken constructed language (it’s that or Klingon).
The team consists of players from Brazil, Argentina, Slovakia, Switzerland, France, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Taiwan and Nepal, competing at the World Congress of Esperanto each year.
“Our players talk in Esperanto, even with compatriots, so no one’s left in the dark,” says Montanari, who learned the lingo in just two months. “It’s the easiest language in the world.”
Sadly, winning isn’t so easy. They’ve lost to Western Sahara as well as…
