Antoine Griezmann (born 21 March 1991) is a French footballer who currently plays for Spanish club Real Sociedad in La Liga. He plays mainly as a left winger, but can also be utilized as a striker. Griezmann is known for his technical skill, quick acceleration, and dribbling and is a French youth international, having represented his country at under-19, under-20, and under-21 level. In 2010, he was part of the team that won the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship on home soil.
Early years
Griezmann was born in the commune of Mâcon in the department of Saône-et-Loire and began his career playing for hometown club UF Mâcon. While there, he embarked on several trials with professional clubs in order to earn a spot in one of their youth academies, but was constantly rejected due to his size and lightweight frame, which clubs questioned.
In 2005, while on trial with Montpellier, Griezmann played in a friendly match against the youth academy of Paris Saint-Germain in Paris, and impressed several clubs, notably Spanish club Real Sociedad, whose scouts were attending the event. Following the match, the club's officials offered Griezmann a one-week trial in San Sebastián, which he accepted. He was later offered a second-week stay at the club. The club then contacted his parents and formally offered the player a youth contract. Griezmann's parents were initially reluctant to have their son move to Spain, but allowed him to make the move after positive reassurances
Real Sociedad
Griezmann's integration into Real Sociedad was slow with the player residing with the club's French scout and attending school in Bayonne, while training at the club's headquarters in San Sebastián in the evenings. He spent four years in the club's youth system and progressed through all the club's levels of youth before earning promotion to the senior team by manager Martín Lasarte for the club's 2009–10 pre-season campaign. In the pre-season, he scored five goals in four appearances and, due to an injury on the left wing, was kept on the first-team by Lasarte.
On 2 September 2009, Griezmann made his professional debut in the team's Copa del Rey match against Rayo Vallecano appearing as a substitute in the 77th minute of a 2–0 defeat. Four days later, he made his league debut appearing as a substitute in a 0–0 draw with Real Murcia. On 27 September, he made his first professional start and also scored his first professional goal against SD Huesca in a 2–0 win. Two weeks later, Griezmann scored his second goal of the campaign in a 2–0 win over Salamanca. In November 2009, he scored goals in back-to-back matches against Hércules and Recreativo de Huelva. The goal against the latter club was the only goal of the match. Griezmann appeared consistently in the team for the rest of the season scoring two more goals in wins over Cádiz and Numancia as Real Sociedad earned promotion to La Liga for the 2010–11 season as championship winners.
On 8 April 2010, Griezmann signed his first professional contract agreeing to a five-year deal with the club until 2015 with a release clause of €30 million. Prior to signing the contract, he drew considerable interest from Ligue 1 clubs Lyon, Saint-Étienne, and Auxerre. However, having already received considerable first-team playing time with Real, he signed with the Spanish club. Griezmann also drew interest from Premier League clubs Manchester United and Arsenal before signing his contract.
Griezmann made his debut in the Spanish first division on 29 August 2010, in the season's first match. In a post-game interview, he described the occasion as "fulfilling his childhood dream". In the team's first match after the September international break, Griezmann assisted on the equalizing goal scored by Raúl Tamudo against Real Madrid. Madrid later won the match 2–1 following a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo. On 25 October, Griezmann scored his first goal in the league in a 3–0 victory over Deportivo de La Coruña. He celebrated the goal by pretending to drive a truck that was parked near the field. A week later, Griezmann scored the opening goal in a 2–1 win over Málaga. In November 2010, Griezmann scored the only goal in the team's 2–1 loss to Hércules. In the team's second match of the new year, he netted the second goal in the team's 4–0 victory over Getafe. After going scoreless in the next nine matches, Greizmann returned to his scoring form in March netting the only goal for Txuri-urdin in the team's 2–1 defeat to Racing Santander. On 17 April, he scored both club goals in a 2–1 win over Sporting Gijón.
International career
Due to playing in Spain, Griezmann went unnoticed by several France youth international coaches. After his success with Real Sociedad, on 23 February 2010, he was named to the France under-19 team to play in two friendly matches against the Ukraine. On 2 March, Griezmann made his youth international debut appearing in the team's 0–0 draw with the Ukraine. In the return leg two days later, he scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute to give France a 2–1 victory.
On 7 June 2010, Griezmann was named to coach Francis Smerecki's 18-man squad to participate in the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. In the tournament, he scored two goals and provided an assist in the team's second group stage match against Austria, a 5–0 win, as the national team eventually won the competition on home soil.
Due to France's victory at the UEFA Under-19 championship, the nation qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which merited under-20 team appearances for Griezmann. On 28 September 2010, he was called up to the team to participate in friendly matches against Portugal and the reserve team of Italian club Juventus. However, Griezmann did not appear in either match due to being sent home early after suffering a thigh injury during a training session. The following month, despite still being eligible to appear at under-20 level, he was called up to the under-21 team by coach Erick Mombaerts as a replacement for the injured Gabriel Obertan to play in a friendly match against Russia. Griezmann made his under-21 debut in the match appearing as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 defeat.
After appearing in two matches with the under-21 team, Griezmann returned to under-20 level and made his debut with the team on 9 February 2011 in a 2–1 victory over England. On 10 June 2011, he was named to the 21-man squad to participate in the U-20 World Cup. He made his debut in the competition on 30 July 2011 in the team's 4–1 defeat to the hosts Colombia. On 10 August, in France's Round of 16 tie against Ecuador, Griezmann scored the game-winning goal in a 1–0 victory.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Griezmann
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