Juan Mata doesn’t fit the mould when it comes to the Premier League’s biggest stars. Raised in northern Spain, Mata started his career with Real Oviedo before moving to Real Madrid and making his name at Valencia, but the Manchester United star is one of the most mild-mannered players in the league.

Now, Mata is calling on fellow footballers to join him in his new venture, Common Goal, a movement in which Mata hopes his fellow players will pledge 1% of their salaries to a collective fund that supports football charities around the world.

Sports marketing agency Dark Horses have created the first in a series of films with the Manchester United midfielder as he seeks to promote the cause and get his colleagues on board.

As Common Goal’s first member, Mata is now looking to assemble a ‘Starting XI’ of like-minded players who make the 1% pledge and lead the movement forward.
“What we’re trying to do is define a shared social agenda for football,” explains Mata. “Common Goal goes beyond individual brands and egos to deliver a greater impact. By making the pledge, we can form a lasting connection between football as a business and football as a tool for social change.”

Mata issued the challenge today sharing a short film from his recent trip Mumbai, India. “One of the first lessons I learned in football is that it takes a team to win a game”, recalls Mata. “We live by this mantra on the pitch, yet we rarely see it play out in the social impact space, which is dominated by individual initiatives. Through Common Goal we’re creating a collaborative way for football to give back to society. I urge my fellow players to get involved.”

Common Goal is the brainchild of streetfootballworld, the international leader in football for good. Established in 2002, the organisation supports a network of more than 120 football charities in 80 countries that reach 2.3 million disadvantaged young people on a daily basis.
Steve Munachen, Dark Horses creative director commented ‘”The aim of the campaign is to spark a conversation between footballers about the most effective way give back to the sport from which they have received so much. Common Goal and Juan Mata are leading the conversation and their work should serve as an inspiration to all footballers across the world to work together to make a real difference’