Griezmann's heartfelt message to Vela
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.
Antoine Griezmann, forward for Atlético de Madrid, sent an emotional message to his former teammate and friend Carlos Vela after the announcement of his retirement from professional football.
Advertisement
'Thank you for your football and your friendship, Carlitos,' wrote the Frenchman on social media, recalling the years they shared at Real Sociedad.
The friendship between the two has endured over the years. On several occasions, Griezmann has expressed his affection for Vela, even wishing to play together again.
For his part, the Mexican has responded warmly to these gestures. In interviews, he has expressed his desire for Griezmann to join LAFC in the future, highlighting the good relationship they maintain and their mutual appreciation.
Vela's retirement marks the end of an outstanding career in which he shone both in Europe and in MLS.
His legacy includes titles, records, and an indelible mark on the teams he played for, especially at LAFC, where he became an iconic figure.
📸 AFP - 2013 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Emmanuel Macron invites wife Brigitte to stand by his side to celebrate soccer championship, week after infamous viral slap clip
French President Emmanuel Macron invited his wife to stand by his side Sunday to celebrate the Parisian soccer team winning the Champions League at the Elysee Palace, just a week after the first lady was caught slapping the president on video. Macron gently took his wife Brigitte's hand in front of dozens of cameras as the couple cheered on the victorious team, following a tense week of speculation about their relationship status amid their public quarrel. The shocking video showed Brigitte take both her hands and smash them into Macron's face as they were departing the presidential jet that had just landed in Hanoi for an official visit with Vietnamese dignitaries last Sunday. Advertisement 3 President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron stand side-by-side with the hometown championship soccer team one week removed from the viral slap. via REUTERS As they descended the stairs, the first lady appeared to mutter 'Dégage, espèce de loser' — or in English: 'Stay away, you loser' to her husband, a lip reader told the UK's Daily Express newspaper. Footage of the soccer celebration this Sunday shared by the Daily Mail shows a much happier couple. With a broad smile, the French president encouraged his wife to join him as he stood with the players from the triumphant Paris Saint-Germain team. Advertisement Macron welcomed the Paris Saint-Germain team back to the French capital Sunday after the athletes beat Inter Milan 5-0 Saturday night, hoisting the Champions League trophy for the first time in the club's history. In Sunday's more cheerful video, Macron poses for photos with the jubilant team. He shouts 'bravo' and then happily calls for Brigitte to join them. The players can be seen moving out of the way so the first lady can stand with her husband. Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president of the PSG, also encourages her to join the crowd, and moves aside for her, the clip shows. 3 Emmanuel Macron, holds up a soccer jersey, and his wife Brigitte welcomed the victorious French team. POOL/AFP via Getty Images Advertisement Then the video show Macron and his wife inviting others to join the photo op. Macron eventually steps forward to hold aloft a team jersey. The pair tried to play off last week's highly publicized slap, as playful rough housing, then as Russian disinformation, but eventually conceded that the camera caught them mid-domestic squabble. 'At the beginning, the Elysee [Palace] denied the truth of the images, suggesting a video generated by AI and relayed by pro-Russian accounts before finally authenticating the sequence which [they said] evoked a moment of 'complicity,'' said news outlet Breves de Presse in a post on X Monday. 3 The shocking moment that First Lady Brigitte Macron slaps her husband French President Emmanuel Macron. Advertisement President Trump offered up cheeky advice last week for France's first family to help keep the peace. 'Make sure the door remains closed,' Trump chuckled in the Oval Office while responding to a question about the stunning video of Madame Macron's assault. 'That was not good,' Trump said of the slap video. 'No, I spoke to him and he's fine, they're fine. They're two really good people. I know them very well. And, I don't know what that was all about, but I know him very well and they're fine.' The pleasant meeting with the team came during a tumultuous time on the streets. Two fans died and a police officer is in a coma after mass nationwide celebrations turned into violent riots, French authorities said Sunday.
Hamilton Spectator
4 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Cruz Azul whips Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 to win CONCACAF Champions Cup
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Ángel Sepúlveda scored twice and Cruz Azul routed the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 on Sunday to win its seventh CONCACAF Champions Cup. Sepúlveda finished with a tournament-best nine goals. Ignacio Rivero, Lorenzo Faravelli and Mateusz Bogusz also scored for Cruz Azul, which built a 4-0 lead by halftime. The Liga MX club tied crosstown rival Club America for most titles in the tournament. It was Cruz Azul's first title since 2013-14 when La Máquina beat Tijuana. The Whitecaps were looking to make history as the first Canadian team to win the tournament, and the first winner from Major League Soccer since the Seattle Sounders in 2022. Cruz Azul had four shots on goal in the first half and scored on all of them. La Máquina took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Whitecaps and Ignacio Rivero coolly finished with his left foot in the seventh minute in front of cheering home fans at Estadio Olímpico Universitario. Faravelli's goal came after a similar defensive lapse, struck from distance and went into the net after hitting the post. After Sepúlveda's sliding goal in the 37th, Bogusz added a goal in the 45th just before the teams went into the break. Sepúlveda added another goal on a header in the 50th. It was Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier's fourth clean sheet of the tournament. The Whitecaps had no shots on goal during the match. Vancouver was without Sebastian Berhalter because of yellow card accumulation. He scored in both legs of the semifinal against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. The Whitecaps had hoped that captain Ryan Gauld would return from a knee injury in time for the game but he was not available. Cruz Azul advanced with a two-legged victory over UANL Tigres. It was the first meeting between the Whitecaps and Cruz Azul. A sold-out watch party in downtown Vancouver went from wild to mild by halftime, sensing a runner-up status was inevitable. Social media reaction was mixed, with people applauding the Whitecaps' superb season and unbeaten streak, while people such as Rob @604robbie on X stated: 'Nothing more Vancouver sports then not showing up in the most important game of the year.' Glyn Bough @GlynBough said on X the difference in class was so evident. 'The speed of though, action, positioning and quality of pass or defending the pass is at a different level from the Mexican side.' ___ AP soccer:
Los Angeles Times
6 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Carlos Vela helped grow soccer in the U.S. Here are 9 other Latino players who have done the same
A legend of Major League Soccer has officially hung his cleats. Carlos Vela, the first designated player signed by Los Angeles Football Club and the top scorer in the club's history, announced his retirement on Tuesday. During his time with LAFC, the Mexican striker established the club as a prime destination for well-known players from around the world — European stars Gareth Bale, Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris all joined the black and gold. He helped the team win its first trophy by scoring 34 goals during the 2019 season, en route to lifting the Supporters' Shield and setting the MLS single-season record. Vela's arrival was yet another chapter in the long history of Latino players leaving a mark on MLS. Here are nine other footballers who did the same. As the newest kid on the soccer block, MLS needed serious playmakers to establish itself as a legitimate league when it first launched in 1996. To do so, it enlisted high-profile players from Latin America. Marco Etcheverry, Carlos Valderrama and Jorge Campos dominated American soccer from 1996 to 2001. Etcheverry, born in Bolivia, dribbled his way into the history books by helping D.C. United reach the MLS Cup finals four consecutive years, winning three of them, including the inaugural one. Valderrama, who hailed from Colombia, directed the offense of the Tampa Bay Mutiny and was instrumental in the club winning the first ever Supporters' Shield — awarded to the team with the most points at the end of the regular season. The league's initial success also depended on the personalities on the field. Sports, after all, exist to entertain. Enter Jorge Campos, the very colorful goalkeeper from Mexico. Campos didn't just have swagger; he was also a two-way player. As a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chicago Fire, Campos would start games as the goalkeeper and finish as a striker. His unique style gave the MLS the coolness it needed to remain relevant. Carlos 'El Pescadito' Ruiz, who started off his career in his native Guatemala, admitted that he had doubts when he first agreed to transfer to MLS. 'Everything we hear about Major League Soccer is not so good. … We hear that all the players come here to finish their careers,' Ruiz told the New York Times. It didn't take long for Ruiz to make an impact. He notched 24 goals during the 2002 season — his first in the league — earning the Golden Boot award given to the season's top goal scorer. That same year, Ruiz led the Galaxy to its first MLS Cup. English soccer legend David Beckham made a splash when he joined the Galaxy in 2007. But he wasn't the only high-profile footballer to make a move to MLS that year. Cuauhtémoc Blanco, one of the most popular players in Mexican soccer history, chose to take his talents to the Chicago Fire, becoming the second-highest-paid MLS player in the process (behind Beckham). Blanco's short MLS stint was productive: He was a two-time MVP finalist, scored the MLS goal of the year in 2007 and took home the MLS All-Star Game MVP honors in 2008. Also coming into the league in 2007 was Guillermo Barros Schelloto, who joined the Columbus Crew after not getting enough playing time at Argentine club Boca Juniors. Thanks to Schelloto, the Crew, one of the league's founding clubs, won its first MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield in 2008. He was also named the 2008 MVP. In 2011, Schelloto returned to Argentina, though not before cementing his place as one of the most iconic players in Crew history. These three highlight how important attracting players from Latin America has been for MLS during much of its existence. Raul Ruidiaz was instrumental in the Seattle Sounders' transformation from expansion team to one of the most formidable clubs in North America. The Peruvian-born player joined the team in 2018 at age 27 and led the team to its second MLS Cup victory in 2019. In 2022, the Sounders became the only MLS club to date to win the CONCACAF Champions League. Ruidiaz contributed two goals in the Sounders' 5-3 aggregate victory against Mexican side UNAM. Ruidiaz left the club at the end of 2024, but not before becoming the Sounders' No. 2 all-time leading scorer in franchise history. After bouncing around and struggling at clubs in Switzerland and Italy, the Venezuelan-born Josef Martínez found a home at Atlanta United FC, joining the expansion club while on loan from Torino in 2017, during its inaugural season. The following year, Martínez had one of the most prolific individual seasons in MLS history. His 31 goals set an MLS single-season record (broken the following year by Carlos Vela). In addition to winning the Golden Boot, Martínez was named league MVP, All-Star Game MVP and MLS Cup Final MVP (Atlanta United won its only MLS Cup by defeating the Portland Timbers, 2-0). Martínez was key in turning Atlanta into a soccer city. During the 2018 season, the franchise averaged more than 53,000 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. For context, BMO Stadium (where LAFC plays) and Dignity Health Sports Park (where the Galaxy play), have a seating capacity of 22,000 and 27,000, respectively. Since its inception, MLS has had a somewhat earned reputation of being a place where players go to retire. But over the last decade, the league has helped change the narrative by exporting young talent to Europe. Which brings us to Miguel Almirón. The Paraguayan soccer player formed part of Atlanta United's 2018 championship run. In 2019, he was sold to English Premier League club Newcastle United for a reported $27 million. Almirón's transfer paved the way for the likes of Mexican American Ricardo Pepi and Colombian Jhon Durán to follow suit. In 2022, FC Dallas received $20 million for Pepi (he was 18 at the time) from German club Augsburg, and the Chicago Fire received $18 million in transfer fees from EPL club Aston Villa for Duran.
