Carlos Vela (c) celebrates with his Los Angeles FC teammates. JAVIER ROJAS/EFE (EFE)
What a strange case, that of Carlos Vela. A technically well above average footballer who dislikes football (as a spectator he says he prefers basketball, which he also played as a child). A guy who could mark an era in the Mexico team, but took as little part in the phone calls as possible and seemed relieved when, at his request, they stopped calling him. A forward who rose to fame as a teenager when he was part of the Mexico U-17 team that won the World Cup in Peru in 2005 where he was top scorer, but it was 23 years before he won a league title with one Association. He made it into MLS on Saturday as captain of Los Angeles FC, crowned on penalties against Philadelphia. The Mexican was responsible for raising the trophy as the win was completed and he seemed happy. Part of that happiness may be that while others break their necks at the World Cup in Qatar, he can vacation wherever he sees fit.
Vela was born in 1989 in Cancun, Quintana Roo. He started his career in the children’s club Ko’Cha’Wolis (a Mayan name meaning “round ball”) and went from there to the base forces of Chivas de Guadalajara with his brother Alexander. He did not make his debut in the Guadalajara first-team after his performance with the U-17s in Peru was caught by the English arsenal. Due to the age limits in the Premier League, he was transferred to Spanish football and played as a midfielder and midfielder for Salamanca and Osasuna. Eventually he made his Arsenal debut in 2008 where he stayed until 2011 when he was loaned to West Bromwich Albion on the winter market.
In the summer of that year he would take the most important step in his club career and join Real Sociedad de San Sebastián. There the best Vela was seen. He formed an unforgettable partnership with Frenchman Antoine Griezmann and gained enormous prestige as a fine, successful striker capable of any technical prodigy. He was awarded the club’s Player of the Year in 2012 and 2014, winning the appreciation of the fans. In 250 games, he scored 73 goals and provided 45 assists. Excellent numbers for someone who isn’t a natural centre-forward.
Perhaps that’s why he surprised the football world when, in 2018, at the age of just 29, he decided not to renew at Real and continue his career with Los Angeles FC in the American league, which is usually seen as the place for the retirement of the figures in the twilight of their tracks. For quite a few, his escape to the United States was readily a waste of a talent that could continue to shine in Europe.
And if we go to wasted talent, Vela’s story with the Mexican team is quite a sampler. Vela could have played four World Cups (he was too young in 2006 and was called up to the senior team for the first time in 2007), but his path has been bumpy. He left for South Africa in 2010 after playing a key role in Mexico’s 2009 Gold Cup win, but a sense of indiscipline, in a 2011 concentration, separated him from the team for six months. Vela was outraged by the actions of the Mexican federation and from then on moved away from the calls. He therefore refrained from participating in the 2011 Copa America in Argentina, the 2012 London Olympics, the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup in Germany, to which he refused to do his best with Real Sociedad.
They managed to convince him to return in 2015, in time for Mexico to win another Gold Cup and in time to attend Russia 2018 where he had some of his best performances in the green jersey. But in 2019 he announced his final retirement from the national team. He argued with family and personal reasons. He shone in the US, finally being crowned in a league after two cup wins. Some consider him the best in all of MLS. However, his enormous talent will remain in Los Angeles this time. Will Mexico miss him in Qatar?
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