LOS ANGELES – In August 2018, a request was revealed several years earlier, in a personal way, by Emilio Azcárraga Jean to Carlos Vela: that he would one day play in America.
The original dialogue, according to witnesses, would have taken place during one of the rallies of the Mexican National Team, and would have been as follows:
– Emilio Azcárraga Jean: “At the age of 30, I would like you to play in America and retire there.”
– Carlos Vela: “Of course. I would love to. “
Azcárraga Jean estimated that at the age of 30, the Mexican striker ended his tour of Europe, and that with some successful garlands, he could retire to El Nido.
The calculation of the owner of America in terms of age, without crashing, with the exception of the trajectory of Carlos Vela by fields of high competition, crashing by its reach and expectations.
It wasn’t all he could be, because he never wanted to be all he could be. I had a reason to explain it: “Mine, mine, what I am passionate about, is basketball. Playing football is my job ”.
That reflection of great frankness, cost him that Antoine Griezmann will come to Atletico Madrid and not him. It surpassed the French in all competitive standards. Best footballer, it was Vela, but …
Cholo Simeone needs Spartan martyrs: “I want to tell you why these men won yesterday’s game. Because you played with the hearts of all of you. This is the only way to play football in this team “, is a resemblance to what a legionnaire must be under the orders of the Argentine coach at Atlético de Madrid.
A season in Spain, in 2013-2014, the least brilliant of Lionel Messi, not counting the previous and current, the nominations for player of the year in La Liga had three names: Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Costa and Carlos Vela . The Mexican was the soul of the Royal Society. It was its boiling point, but then the vapor of fascination evaporated.
In the end, Emilio Azcárraga Jean’s calculation fit his wishes perfectly with the valleys and ridges of Carlos Vela’s career. “At 30, I would like you to play in America,” had been the request, confirmed by the player himself and his representative, in addition to the wills linked to the Mexican National Team.
But, one day, the Mexican striker receives ‘Las Perlas de la Virgen’ from the virgin MLS franchise, Los Angeles FC. Don’t doubt it. He would have guaranteed a standard of living similar to what he enjoyed in Spain, but close to his passion, NBA basketball, in addition to his taste for baseball, without ruling out a comfortable level of privacy, privileges and even a certain anonymity
By then, Carlos Vela had already rotated – indirectly – his relationship with Azcárraga Jean, but without this being assumed. The Mexican striker refused to attend the calls of the Mexican National Team. Encounters with the leaders of the Tri, their refusal to record commercials, and advertising and propaganda campaigns, took away the player’s appetite. And he did not go to the World Cup in Brazil.
There was a direct call from the FMF, which instead of mending, mutilated the relationship. “This (his detachment from the Tri), Emilio (Azcárraga Jean) will not like,” was the message between threat, warning, suggestion, and mockery. Carlos Vela was fed up with the leadership of the FMF, and, of course, with its supreme foreman, even though he had no veil in matters between the leaders and Vela.
Today, that America is about to be dismantled, to get rid of half the staff due to its low performance, would it be the congruent moment for Carlos Vela and Azcárraga Jean to resume the deadlock of dialogue? Yes, the same one quoted at the beginning of this text.
– Emilio Azcárraga Jean: “At the age of 30, I would like you to play in America and retire there.”
– Carlos Vela: “Of course. I would love to. “
Does Miguel Herrera need a player like the LAFC striker for 2021? Obviously there are pros and cons. After the elimination of Mexico against the Netherlands and the legendary #NoEraPenal in Brazil 2018, the ‘Piojo’ revealed confidentially with the hub contributed Carlos Vela to make a difference in this World Cup.
Carlos Vela has left a historic mark on MLS, although he has not been able to get the title he wants. However, in goals, assists, weekly nominations for player of the day, not to mention the media impact, 2019 was a year of splendor for the striker.
And the equation or sophistry would fit: if Giovani dos Santos, repudiated and smelling of sulfur in the Galaxy, could land in America, a player of competitive structure like Carlos Vela, could adjust to the needs of Miguel Herrera .
True: Gio established himself in El Nido as the eternal promise of Mexican football, and only to clarify the choirs of claims, he scored a goal to Chivas, in whose shadow he intends to continue living in Coapa, because in the MX League, moment, although they have offered it, no one is interested in it.
However, there are factors to consider for a refusal by Carlos Vela to that wink made to Azcárraga Jean, who has left the ball on the court of the LAFC striker, so that he is the one who decides the course of his next action.
Carlos Vela has found the paradise of any striker in the loose, relaxed, silly marking that exists in the MLS. Of course, some strikers have been able to take advantage and others have not. He has found time and space, keys to factors to organize and to define.
It is an oversight I would not find them in the MX League, especially in the face of restraints or South American defenders, who do not tolerate those filigrees of wonderful ornamentation that still linger in the American league.
In addition, Vela is experiencing a partial retirement. Away from media issues, in a comfortable semi-anonymity, treated with deference and privilege in the team, and with the only condition that it comes out to do well its figure every week.
Even going out to play without any pressure turns his work into a therapeutic plan. But playing in Mexico, especially with the colors of the flagship of # ÓdiameMás, would once again sink into the whirlwind of questions, responsibilities, obligations, criticism, of those who live comfortably away, under the protection of the warmth of MLS .
As the only insane passion that would feed Carlos Vela, it would be the reverse that had arisen in the quarry of Chivas, ending in the hated rival. But, that heat was with Jorge Vergara concretely, because it ninguneó in the delivery of cars to the selected champions Sub 17 in Peru 2005 that belonged to the Herd.
“If he wants a car to stay,” said Vergara, when Vela already had a contract with Arsenal in the Premier League. That day, Vela hoped to return home in a brand new compact car, but being relegated by the owner of Chivas, he ended up doing in the proletariat urban truck.
That old king, when Vergara promised that no American would play Chivas, came under fire with the arrival of José Luis Higuera live, after numerous tweets expressing his affiliation with El Nido and even mocking him. of Guadalajara in its defeats.
And it ended it was when it finished Oribe Peralta arrived at Chivas, after its protagonism with America in different titles, and in addition with very low yield in the Herd.
Meanwhile, America has never shown remorse for the origin of the player, knowing, in addition, the media goal against Guadalajara, which that same year, approached Carlos Vela to try to “repatriate”, but was rejected.
Anyway, the word pledged, informally, is still there. The Mexican striker, who turns 32 in March, has a contract for another year, but would Vela be the torch, the beacon of America 2021? More, much more, than Giovani dos Santos will offer.