Carlos Alcaraz has attracted plenty of attention after ditching tennis in favour of football, sporting the shirt of iconic Argentinian team Boca Juniors.
Alcaraz donned Boca’s blue and yellow for the annual gathering of soccer players and coaches at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy and seemed excited to follow in the footsteps of tennis’ greatest legends.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic graced the La Bombonera stadium after a Boca Juniors exhibition match against All Boys and took part in a penalty shootout in front of a packed crowd in 2013.
There were fewer people there to watch Alcaraz swap tennis for football, but a big decision inspired the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion.
Neymar, who has a reported net worth of £278 million, the most expensive footballer of all time in 2017 when Paris Saint-Germain spent £200 million to sign him from Barcelona, was among those who commented on the post by Alcaraz on Instagram.
The Brazilian superstar, now a member of Saudi giant Al-Hilal, wrote “Quality”, a transparent sign of approval from one of the biggest names in football.
Neymar would have arguably risen above Spain’s fierce divide by praising a big Real Madrid fan as a former Barcelona favourite, but Alcaraz has shown just how involved he is in football.
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The 21-year-old was extremely conflicted this year after winning Wimbledon, as it took place on the same day that Spain faced England in the final of Euro 2024.
Alcaraz beat Djokovic in straight sets in the afternoon, hours before England’s heartbreak in Germany. But his commitments did not end before kickoff and the tennis star remained glued to his devices the entire evening.
The men’s and women’s Wimbledon winners attend the Champions Dinner and take part in a dance, which directly conflicts with the European Championship final, and Alautomobileaz couldn’t even abandon his car until it was proven that the Spanish winner wasn’t out of the match.
Mikel Oyarzabal got the winning goal off the bench to crush England’s dreams of ending a 58-year trophy drought, but there had been suspicions of offside before VAR confirmed there was not an infringement.
“It started on the phone,” Alcaraz said as he explained how he handles his tennis duties and how he views Spain. “Then we went to TV at home, and then we came here [to dinner] on the iPad, so he writes mixed.
“Right before they took me out of the car, I saw the [winning] goal, so I thought it was offside. He couldn’t get out of the car until he was sure he was a target. Here are some minutes in which the nerves were on edge!
“I know a few of them [Spanish national team footballers]. I spoke to them before I started the match. When I finished, one of the first FaceTimes I did was with [captain] Alvaro Morata just to wish them the best of luck. I tried to give them all my strength to try to do a good match.”
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