December 21 was Wednesday. That day Antoine Griezmann began working alone, monitored by the Atlético coaches. 72 hours had passed since the end of the World Cup in Qatar On Sunday the 25th, the Frenchman already worked with the rest of the team, playing against Elche on December 29.
Rodrigo dePaul Griezmann was measured in the final between the Argentines and the French on December 18. But the albiceleste was proclaimed champion and Atlético gave him two weeks of vacation. The day that Atlético honored their World Cup semifinalists at the Metropolitano, the stands gave warm applause to the Croatian goalkeeper Ivo Grbic, gave Griezmann a unanimous ovation and whistled to the three Argentine players. But beyond the whistles, the red and white fans chanted Correa’s name and energetically booed De Paul.
The reason is that upon arrival to Madrid, the midfielder claimed to suffer some discomfort in the hamstrings that caused the umpteenth anger of the Atlético fans with the player, because coincided with the dissemination of a video in which De Paul was seen on a stage jumping and carrying his partner without a hint of apparent injury. Video that corresponded to a party from less than a week ago. The problem is that it was not the first time that De Paul’s word had been questioned.
Lied to Simeone
Rather, it was not the first time that the images denied the words of the athletic footballer. At the end of last September, after a national team break, Atlético played against Sevilla on a Saturday. De Paul took two days longer to return than Correa and Nahuel from the United States. The player called Simeone and asked to extend the permission for 48 hours for “personal reasons”. The problem is that at night Images of De Paul with his partner, singer Tini Stoesselen, appeared on social networks at the Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony in Miami. The player did not arrive in time to prepare for the match against Sevilla and in which he was not even called up.
De Paul had lied to Simeone and had left his teammates stranded at a difficult time for the group and for the club. One more on the list of the Argentine for whom Atlético paid 35 million euros for his transfer to Udinese in the summer of 2021. Accumulate a year and a half with poor performance and zero commitment, as these two episodes demonstrate. The player has a contract until June 30, 2026 and Simeone has already given the green light for him to leave after what happened. The problem is that there are no firm offers for him. Only Juventus has asked, which later collapsed with the departure of Agnelli and his board. There is no interest from the Premier, where Gil Marín asked Jorge Mendes to find a destination for him. Not even after winning the World Cup is he a player with a market.
Since he arrived in Madrid as world champion, De Paul has not been called up against Arenteiro, Elche or Oviedo and he did not have minutes against Barça or Almería. Before the match against Almería he was once again hunted for a party early Thursday morning despite the fact that he had training the following Friday. Simeone had to pull him against Valladolid after Marcos Llorente’s injury. And he has played in the Cup against Levante and Madrid, and with Osasuna.
Precisely in Pamplona De Paul appeared at the microphones to try to win over the mattress fans: “People express themselves and when they do I feel that they are right. It’s part of this. I always felt the support when people needed it. Playing in the Metropolitan is playing with one more. They encourage us and don’t let us give up. I am grateful to the people, because of them we are bigger”. ‘tribune’ speech that does not buy a hobby that wants him out. To this is added that the club is still looking for a buyer, the coach put the cross on him when he lied to him and in the locker room they do not believe in him after the numerous episodes that he has starred in showing his lack of commitment. Rodrigo De Paul is today an expendable champion. A guy who conquered the world, but not the hearts of the athletic.
