Griez Is The Word

Is France’s leading player on the cusp of greatness?

On Antoine Griezmann’s forearm there is a tattoo in Arabic. It is a quote from a famous French writer who shares his first name with the Atletico Madrid and France striker. 

Author of The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery effortlessly captures life’s awesome wonder, and it is because of him that Griezmann decided to ink himself with the line “Fais de ta vie un rêve, et fais de ton rêve une réalité”, which means “make your life a dream, and make your dream a reality”. 

If that has been Griezmann’s mantra, then so far so good. At 27, most of his dreams have already come true. A leading light in French national coach Didier Deschamps’ squad and a hero in his adopted homeland of Spain, his talent is no longer a secret. 

“He always knows how to hurt the opposition,” says Diego Simeone, his coach at Atletico – and the animated Argentinian is not kidding. In front of goal, Griezmann has the kind of ice in his veins that others can only dream of and he is a player who never needs asking twice to set the net bulging. 

Griezmann is no physical, bullying presence smashing his way onto the goalscoring leader board, though. He relies on pace, all-round athleticism and the audacity to try his luck from anywhere. “I try to play between the lines, to get on the front foot and attack defenders like Messi,” he says.