They grew up and emerged at Barça. They tried their luck in other teams. And finally they crossed the ocean to live and enjoy Major League Soccer (MLS), the League of the United States and Canada. “When the offer came I studied it and quickly came to the conclusion that it was a very good opportunity. A beautiful experience to live for me and my family. We won almost everything”, explains Cristian Tello, who after breaking into Blaugrana football and living his golden years at Betis, managed to touch metal with Los Angeles FC, the current MLS champion. He's not the only one. “I met Ilie Sánchez again. We shared several years at Barça B. Also with Carlos Vela and Gareth Bale ”, he adds.
Ilie Sánchez, who was captain of Barça B during a time well remembered and achieved promotion to the Second Division in 2010 with Luis Enrique, decided to join the MLS after an experience in Munich 1966 and a loan to Elche. He works for La Vanguardia at the Los Angeles FC facilities, a franchise he joined after five years in Kansas. "The first team won everything and had the best players in the world, two for each position," he points out. “Playing with Bale surprised me a lot. He was very methodical and hardworking. I didn't want to be the center of attention," says the Welshman, who retired after winning the MLS. Bale left and Los Angeles FC welcomed another youth player, Sergi Palencia, who accompanies him in the conversation with this newspaper. "I had Alves ahead of me, but also Sergi Roberto," recalls the right-back. "But life doesn't end at Barça," he reflects. Los Angeles FC is just a franchise that was established in 2014 and began competing in 2018. It is the first team to be valued at 1 billion dollars according to FORBES magazine.
The current MLS champion is here to stay and to continue fueling the rivalry with the other team in the city: Los Angeles Galaxy, led by another youth squad like Riqui Puig. Rivalries are created. This course we have faced each other twice. We beat them at home, which had never happened. They beat us later in the Rose Bowl. That game broke the MLS regular season game attendance record with 82,110 fans,” recalls Ilie. “Last year they beat us in the Cup but because we played with the second team due to a matter of priorities. It was the day that Riqui Puig lifted his Messi-style shirt”, recalls Palencia. “We had the Champions League final (CONCACAF) against León and they decided to play that match with the subsidiary. So that Galaxy win was a bit…. Curious”, remarks Ilie. “Now we have a third game in September… it's the revenge”, concludes Palencia.
Oriol Rosell also plays for Riqui Puig's Galaxy. Another youth squad who has no intention of returning to Europe. In fact, he was the first to bet on MLS "I'm the one everyone asks," admits Rosell, who also in 2013 became the first Spaniard to win MLS with Kansas. "That I take with me," he says. Everyone values and follows their Barça. “We are very calm with Xavi. The team will do great things this year”, says Rosell. They are also expectant with the arrival of Messi, Busquets and Alba at Inter Miami. "It will be my turn to cover Leo and Sergio," says Ilie, who is already waiting for September 12 to receive them. “We all know the Messi-Alba play. Now it will be my turn to avoid it, ”Palencia jokes. They all went to see the game that was played this past dawn at the SoFi Stadium between Barça and Arsenal.
Víctor Vázquez will not be there, one of the players who will also meet Messi again after starting with the Argentine in grassroots football. Víctor Váquez's injuries played a trick on him. Especially the one that affected his knee. “I am very proud of what I have done because it has not been easy due to injuries and especially the one in 2008 at Barça, which kept me away for a long time. Thanks to the effort, to what I've shown and to everyone's help, I'm still playing. And I plan to do it until the body holds. It's true that I couldn't succeed at Barça due to injuries, so I decided to take the Barça brand around the world”, says the 36-year-old midfielder.
When he retires, he is clear that his intention is to train. “And Barcelona will always be my home. We will see what the future holds for us. For now we are going to enjoy. Also of course. It will always be. It is where I have my family, my friends and my memories. At some point I will return because my son is there. We will see what the future holds for us. For the moment to enjoy football and Messi and Busquets and Alba. On September 20 we will play against them and I am really looking forward to it. It will be a pride ”, he concludes.
