PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWSto take that chance when you get it.”
Questions about his commitment have
dogged Vela throughout his career. “I
enjoy playing but once the match ends
the football is finished for me,” says the
now 30-year-old, whose declaration of a
preference for watching basketball in his
spare time did not help his cause.
Nor did an on-off relationship with the
Mexican national side, which saw him fall
out with coach Jose Manuel de la Torre
and miss the 2012 Olympics, where El Tri
won gold. De la Torre’s successor Miguel
Herrera failed to persuade Vela to go to
the 2014 World Cup.
At Real Sociedad, who signed Velafrom Arsenal for €3million after a
year-long loan, he began to realise his
potential, but a 2018 move to start-up
club Los Angeles FC did not surprise
observers who felt he was taking the easy
option by swapping La Liga for MLS.
“I’m going at the right time and with
the desire to try a new adventure,” he
said at the time. “I want to be close to my
country. My family can visit more often
and I can go home more often.”
LA Galaxy’s Swedish superstar Zlatan
Ibrahimovic tried to belittle Vela’s move to
the US, saying: “He’s playing in MLS and
he’s in his prime. When I was 29, where
was I? Big difference.”
Vela, however, enjoyed the last laugh
as LAFC beat Galaxy in the play-offs, andalthough they lost to eventual champions
Seattle Sounders, Vela can take comfort
in looking back on a season in which he
broke multiple records, set a new single-
season scoring mark in MLS, with 34
goals in 31 regular-season games and was
voted the league’s Most Valuable Player.
Under his captaincy LAFC collected a
record 72 points en route to winning the
Supporters Shield as the best performing
club in the regular campaign.
Vela appears at peace with himself
these days, happy with life in Southern
California and telling The New York Times:
“If I go out to eat with my wife, or take
my son to the park, nobody cares.”
But football still remains little more
than a job and he adds: “I like to play
football. I love to go on the field and I
want to score 100 goals every game, if I
can. But it’s also my job. And when I
finish my job I have a life, I have a family.
“When I’m working, I want to be the
best. But when I’m out, I don’t want to
watch games. I don’t want to talk with
everybody about football. I want to talk
about life, about anything else.”
John Holmesdalequestioned his ruthlessness in front of
goal, explaining: “He is naturally gifted,
quick, intelligent and with very good
technique, so you now want him to add
that combative, determined side that
makes the difference.
“He’ll quickly be a world-class striker
when he adds that to his game. Some
day we all get our chance. The target is
Award...with
his trophies“I enjoy playing but once the match
ends the football is finished for me”Common sight...
celebrating yet
another goal