'Griezmann, a cartoon signing: "Since I was 18, my dream was to make it to MLS"'
The former Atlético, Barça and Real Sociedad player has eight goals and three assists with Orlando City
It was Jorge Valdano who described Romário as "a cartoon player" . Now it is Antoine Griezmann (Macon, 1991) who, settled in Orlando , on the doorstep of the "Disney Universe ", has become a cartoon signing.
At 35 years old, the former Atlético player is turning the Major League Soccer upside down: he has eight goals -seven in the league- and three assists in 12 matches with Orlando City. He has now scored in four consecutive matches.
In the win over Atlanta United (2-3), sharing the attack with Argentine Martín Ojeda, he once again made the difference with a new brace: he scored the 1-1 in the 26th minute by getting ahead of his marker to finish at the near post a cross from Joran Gerbet and made it 1-3 in the 77th minute by finishing, one-on-one, a great give-and-go with Justin Ellis .
' "Since I was 18 years old, my dream was to reach Major League Soccer. It was important for me to arrive in good physical and mental shape, and that is why I made the decision," the French international said by way of introduction.'
Since I was 18 years old, my dream was to make it to Major League Soccer. It was important for me to arrive in good physical and mental shape
Said and done. Petar Musa (Dallas) and Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) lead the "Pichichi" race in the MLS with 18 goals , but the truth is that, since his debut with Orlando City on July 23, no one has scored more league goals (7) than Griezmann.
Goals scored in MLS since Griezmann's debut
Antoine Griezmann (Orlando City) ---> 7 goals in 9 matches
Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) ---> 6 goals in 7 matches
Denis Bouanga (Los Angeles FC) ---> 6 goals in 10 matches
Luis Suárez (Inter Miami) ---> 6 goals in 9 matches
Petar Musa (Dallas) ---> 6 goals in 8 matches
Robert Lewandowski (Chicago Fire) ---> 6 goals in 9 matches
Simon Becher (St. Louis City) ---> 6 goals in 10 matches
Tai Baribo (DC United) ---> 6 goals in 6 matches
Not only that. Griezmann has become a good-luck charm. Whenever he scores... his team doesn't lose: they have racked up four wins and one draw in the five matches in which the former Real Sociedad, Barcelona and Atlético player has found the net.
A streak that largely explains the meteoric rise experienced by Orlando City . It has gone from being third from bottom before Griezmann - it had only 14 points in 15 matches - to occupying "playoff" places: it stands sixth in the Eastern Conference with 31 points from 24 matches.
“Every league match is important since we made the jump to the "playoffs." The team is aware of that. Momentum is fundamental in MLS… We need to maintain it to be among the top five, or even the top three, that is our objective,” admits midfielder Joran Gerbet .
"The Little Prince" sets aside individual statistics and, if anything, appears even more ambitious: "Here I am, full of desire, and my goal is to win a trophy and make the whole city happy" . The truth is that, for the moment, no one can stop him.
