Antoine Griezmann(oblation)

Antoine Griezmann born 21 March 1991 is a French footballer who plays for Spanish club Atlético Madrid mainly as a forward.

He began his career at Real Sociedad, where he spent five seasons before transferring to Atlético for €30 million.

Griezmann has been a French youth international, having represented his country at under-19, under-20 and under-21 level. In 2010, he was part of the team that won the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship on home soil. He made his debut for the senior national team in 2014 and played at that year's World Cup.

Club career
Early years

Griezmann was born in the commune of Mâcon in the département of Saône-et-Loire. His ancestry is Alsatian, hence his Germanic surname. He began his career playing for hometown club UF Mâcon. While there, he embarked on several trials with professional clubs in order to earn a spot in one of their youth academies, but was rejected because clubs questioned his size and lightweight frame.

In 2005, while on trial with Montpellier, Griezmann played in a friendly match against the youth academy of Paris Saint-Germain in Paris, and impressed several clubs, notably Spanish club Real Sociedad, whose scouts were attending the event. Following the match, the club's officials offered Griezmann a one-week trial in San Sebastián, which he accepted. He was later offered a second-week stay at the club. The club then contacted his parents and formally offered the player a youth contract. Griezmann's parents were initially reluctant to have their son move to Spain, but allowed him to make the move after positive reassurances.

Atlético Madrid

On 28 July 2014, Atlético Madrid reached an agreement with Real Sociedad for the transfer of Griezmann, for a fee believed to be close to his £24 million (€30 million) buy-out clause. He passed the medical examination the same day and signed a six-year contract on 29 July 2014.

Griezmann made his competitive debut in the first leg of the 2014 Supercopa de España on 19 August, a 1–1 draw away toReal Madrid, replacing Saúl after 57 minutes. On 17 September, he scored his first goal for the club, in a UEFA Champions League group match against Olympiacos, in a game which Atlético eventually lost 3–2. Griezmann netted a brace in a 4–2 win over Córdoba CF on 1 November, his first league goals for the club. On 21 December 2014, he scored his first La Liga hat-trick as Atlético won 4–1 at Athletic Bilbao, having trailed at half time. He was the La Liga Player of the Month for January 2015 despite appearing in only three of Atlético's five matches.

International career

Due to playing in Spain, Griezmann went unnoticed by several France youth international coaches. After his success with Real Sociedad, on 23 February 2010, he was named to the France under-19 team to play in two friendly matches againstUkraine. On 2 March, Griezmann made his youth international debut appearing in the team's 0–0 draw with Ukraine. In the return leg two days later, he scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute to give France a 2–1 victory.

On 7 June 2010, Griezmann was named to coach Francis Smerecki's 18-man squad to participate in the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. In the tournament, he scored two goals and provided an assist in the team's second group stage match against Austria, a 5–0 win, as the national team eventually won the competition on home soil.

Due to France's victory at the UEFA Under-19 championship, the nation qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which merited under-20 team appearances for Griezmann. On 28 September 2010, he was called up to the team to participate in friendly matches against Portugal and the reserve team of Italian club Juventus. However, Griezmann did not appear in either match due to being sent home early after suffering a thigh injury during a training session The following month, despite still being eligible to appear at under-20 level, he was called up to the under-21 team by coach Erick Mombaerts as a replacement for the injured Gabriel Obertan to play in a friendly match against Russia. Griezmann made his under-21 debut in the match appearing as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 defeat.

After appearing in two matches with the under-21 team, Griezmann returned to under-20 level and made his debut with the team on 9 February 2011 in a 2–1 victory over England. On 10 June 2011, he was named to the 21-man squad to participate in the U-20 World Cup. He made his debut in the competition on 30 July 2011 in the team's 4–1 defeat to the hosts Colombia. On 10 August, in France's Round of 16 match against Ecuador, Griezmann scored the game-winning goal in a 1–0 victory.

In November 2012, Griezmann was suspended, along with 4 other youth players, from France's national teams until 31 December 2013 for disciplinary reasons regarding a late night out before training.

On 27 February 2014, Griezmann received a call-up to France's senior squad by coach Didier Deschamps to play in a friendly against the Netherlands at the Stade de France. He earned his first cap on 5 March, appearing as a starter in the 2–0 home win and playing the first 68 minutes.

On 13 May, he was named in Deschamps' squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 1 June, playing against Paraguay in Nice, he scored his first international goal for France, opening a 1–1 draw. He added two more as a late substitute for Olivier Giroud in France's final warm-up match, against Jamaica on 8 June, the final two in an 8–0 win.

On 15 June, he was selected to start in France's first match of the 2014 World Cup, replacing the injured Franck Ribéry on the left side of Les Bleus' attack as they defeated Honduras 3–0 in Porto Alegre. France reached the quarter-finals before being eliminated by Germany.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/