Exactly four years after dazzling in his first senior appearance for Real Sociedad, Antoine Griezmann is dreaming of making his Champions League debut with the San Sebastián outfit. The Frenchman's love affair with the Sociedad faithful goes back to 1st August 2009, when the club was preparing for its third season in the Spanish second tier.
On the eve of the pre-season friendly with Azkoitia minnows Anaitasuna, the then new coach, Martín Lasarte, asked for a left winger to be brought up from the B-team so that he could field a different line-up in each half. Bingen Erdozia, the man first in line, was ruled out with a knock, so instead the call was put out to a youngster who was just about to start training with the reserves.
The youngster in question was Antoine Griezmann and the rest, as they say, is history.
Despite not knowing any of his teammates, he put in a barnstorming performance and scored twice, the second of which was a real stunner. His ability and tenacity instantly caught the eye and he became a fixture in the squad.
The Sociedad number 7 still gets goose bumps on recalling the occasion. "I remember being focused on getting a chance with the B-team and then suddenly they called me up to the first team. I was thrown straight into a match; I hadn't even trained with them before. I was over the moon! I was lucky enough to score twice and since then, it's been like a whirlwind", he noted.
"I went from being a nobody to getting stopped in the street. And Sociedad was able to escape the second division and return to the top flight", added the Frenchman, who has already clocked up 152 competitive appearances for the club.
Source: http://www.marca.com/2013/08/01/en/football/spanish_football/1375388726.html
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