Argentina’s Runner-Up: Football to New Business Venture

Ezequiel Garayformer Argentine defender with extensive experience in European clubs and the national team, goes through a new professional stage away from ball number five. After his retirement in 2021, the 39-year-old former player threw himself fully into the business world, focusing on the development of an ambitious sports project: PadelG24an 8,000 square meter padel club in Madrid, inaugurated on February 3, 2025.

The complex, which was born after four years of work and absolute dedication on the part of Garay, has 17 professional indoor courtsa terrace with a restaurant, gym, changing rooms with whirlpools, conference room for 100 people and a hotel with 11 double rooms. The club seeks to position itself as a reference for padel fans in the Spanish capital and its identity is linked to the number 24, the number that Garay used in various stages of his football career.

In recent statements during his time The Dazoneta of DAZNGaray described the intensity with which he lives this new challenge: “The padel club has me absorbed. It is difficult to say if I like football more than padel, because it is a sport that I am falling in love with. In percentage terms the difference is very small. Now that I learned to play paddle tennis, I like playing it more than watching it. I hate seeing it, I get nervous,” he admitted. The former defender also highlighted his competitive nature: “Tomorrow I play with Iker Casillas, I always tell him to play, we are going to play against each other. I am very competitive, I have already broken several rackets. I don’t like to lose. My professional goal is to continue growing in this new and beautiful world like paddle tennis and to be able to finish the club, which I haven’t finished yet.”

Garay recognized that his separation from football took place during his last years at Valencia, marked by injuries and difficult situations: “I have stopped liking football, I could say yes. The last four years in Valencia were complicated. I said ‘I don’t want to continue with football, I want to go somewhere else’ and that’s when paddle tennis appeared.“.

Within the framework of his new activities, Garay also referred to the eternal comparison between Lionel Messi y Cristiano Ronaldotwo figures with whom he had the opportunity to share a wardrobe. His opinion, expressed in the interview for DAZNwas forceful: “Cristiano is not the best footballer I played with. He is in second place in the TOP1 is Leo (Messi) and number two is Cristiano, without a doubt. They are two very different players and I was surprised. Leo. I was fortunate to meet both of them and Leo is something else.”.

In turn, regarding the Argentine captain, he stated that “When you see it coming, the aura has it, without a doubt. He is a very close person, very calm and familiar. The moments I lived with him were incredible. He is very calm, it is not De Paul’s personalityFor example. You see Rodri coming and you know he can play a joke on you but not him. “I didn’t agree with Rodri, but you can see that he is more extroverted than Messi.”

Regarding the Portuguese, Garay praised his discipline and capacity for sacrifice: “The anecdote that Carlitos Tévez always tells is true. He is the first one to arrive at 6 AM and the last one to leave, literally. He begins his routine, his gym, warm-up, physio and everything to arrive in the best conditions.” Despite admiration for Ronaldo’s work ethic, the former defender insisted that Messi ranks first among the footballers with whom he shared a team.

Uniting the two sports, and in a relaxed tone, Garay imagined a game of paddle tennis with the great figures of football: “I would play against Messi and Cristiano at paddle tennis. First he would play with Messi and then with Cristiano, he would rotate. The fourth player, we are going to put Riquelme. And of them my partner would be Messi. “They have told me that none of them do it wrong.”

Garay also referred to your preferences for the next World Cup 2026, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada. consulted in the program The Dazoneta Regarding the favorites to win the trophy, he responded: “Wherever Messi is, for me, he will always be the favorite to win the World Cup. Then comes Spain, Brazil, where Cristiano is also (Portugal), France with Mbappé and Morocco is very strong, I like it a lot.”

In his passage through Racing de Santander, coincided with Lionel Scalonicurrent Argentina coach and recalled: “It was obvious that he was going to be a coach. He is a very passionate person, who loves and goes crazy about football, but I was never going to imagine that he was going to achieve everything he achieved with the Argentine National Team. But hey, what was not achieved in the litter in which I was, they achieved it and they were more than happy for everyone.”

The former defender, who also played for Real Madridshared an anecdote about his personal life when mentioning his son’s fanaticism for Atlético Madrid: “I only watch football because my son forces me to. He is from Atlético Madrid, he is a Madrid fan and he is 8 years old, he loves it because of his grandmother.”

Garay, born in Rosario, Argentina, began his professional career in Newell’s Old Boys before making the leap to Europe. Throughout his career, he played for teams such as Racing Santander, Real Madrid, Benfica, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Valenciaaccumulating more than 300 matches at the club level and adding national and international titles. His time with the Argentine team included winning the U-20 World Cup in 2005, the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games and starting as a defender in the runners-up of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where Argentina lost in the final to Germany.

Garay played 32 games with the senior team between 2007 and 2015, He participated in two editions of the Copa América and was a key player in the team led by Alejandro Sabella during the 2014 World Cup. His record includes the Copa del Rey with Real Madrid and Valenciathe Primeira Liga and the Portuguese Cup with Benfica, the Russian league and cup with Zenit, in addition to the titles achieved with Argentina in youth and the Olympic medal.