Carlos Alcaraz has attracted a lot of attention after abandoning tennis in favor of football, wearing the shirt of the iconic Argentine team Boca Juniors.
Alcaraz dressed in Boca’s blue and yellow for the annual meeting 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 £278million became the most expensive footballer of all time in 2017 when Paris Saint-Germain spent £200m to sign him from Barcelona, was among those in the comments of Alcaraz’s Instagram post.
The Brazilian superstar, now of Saudi Arabian giants Al-Hilal, wrote “Calidad” which translates to “quality”, a clear sign of approval from one of football’s biggest names.
Neymar would possibly have overcome Spain’s fierce division 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 the start of the match and the tennis star remained glued to his devices all night.
Both male and female Wimbledon winners attend the champions’ dinner and share a dance, which directly clashed with the European Championship final, and Alcaraz could not even leave his car before it was confirmed that Spain’s winner was not offside.
Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winning goal from the bench to undermine England’s dreams of ending a 58-year trophy drought; There were suspicions of offside before the VAR demonstrated that there had been no infringement.
“It all started on the phone,” Alcaraz said of how he approached his tennis duties and how he watched Spain. “Then we move on to TV at home and then we get [to dinner] on the iPad, so it’s kind of a combo bag.
“Just before getting out of the car, I saw the [winning] goal so I thought it was offside. I couldn’t get out of the car until I made sure it was a goal. So, it was a few minutes where the nerves were so high!
“I know some of them [the players of the Spanish national team]. I spoke to them before the start of the match. When I finished, one of the first FaceTimers I did with [captain] Alvaro Morata just to wish them the best of luck. I tried to give them all my strength to try to have a smart combination.
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