BarcelonaTwo Catalan footballers have helped Los Angeles FC make history. A club only five years old was crowned MLS champion earlier this month in a thrilling final against the Philadelphia Union. The former Barça players Cristian Tello and Ilie Sánchez, protagonists of this triumph, speak to the ARA and explain the American adventure with their most personal side.
The United States, a new challenge for Tello
Tello admits that it was clear that he wanted a change of scenery after five years in Sevilla playing with Betis. However, I didn’t expect it to be in the United States. “When my time at Betis ended, the United States was not part of my plans. I had in mind to continue in Spain. I was in contact with some clubs that I could have valued, such as Cadiz, Osasuna, Espanyol or Real Sociedad”, acknowledges the winger from Sabadell. They weren’t the only options: “The Premier League is also a place where I would always have liked to play.”
“I’m 31 years old and it’s a very different experience and a major challenge. When we got the call from Los Angeles we didn’t think twice,” says Tello. However, he remembers that it wasn’t all flowers and violets: “It was a bit difficult to leave for the other side of the world with my family, especially for my daughters.”
For Ilie Sánchez, on the other hand, the United States was already his home. The Barcelona player points out that his years in Kansas City helped him gain momentum: “My integration has been very easy. I had already been playing in the same league for five years, in one of the most important clubs”, points out Ilie. “Kansas City is an ideal place to meet the competition and enjoy our profession,” he recalls. “My teammates have welcomed me in a sensational way. The fans, moreover, are bestial and fill the field at every game.”
A 2022 full of memories
In terms of titles achieved, both players can boast of having lifted important ones this year. Tello said goodbye to Spanish football in the best way: “Having said goodbye to Betis with a title [la Copa del Rei] it’s something i’ll never forget. Now, in Los Angeles, I’m very happy for the experience I’m living and especially for the league we’ve won.”
One of the sweetest and most special moments for Ilie was the decisive penalty in the final. “At that moment, I didn’t think anything. If right before I kick it I start thinking that my fans are waiting for me to score, or that I have the best goalkeeper in the league in front of me [Andre Blake, del Philadelphia Union, ha sigut el porter menys golejat aquest any]that penalty would have been missed,” confesses LAFC’s number 6, who didn’t take the decisive penalty by chance: “In training we practiced penalties and I scored them all.”
Ilie explains that he feels comfortable in his team, where he has played more than 30 games this season. “It was key to feel like one of the most important pieces.” A player who is grateful to the sporting director of his current club and to the coach, Steve Cherundolo, who does not have his spine nailed for not having succeeded in Europe: “I have had a very good career here, in the United States, and I’m really enjoying it.”
The United States is not Europe. Despite having won the most important title, both footballers walk calmly on the street, where they go “unnoticed”: “It’s a different experience. I was used to the fact that in Seville or Barcelona everyone knows you”, says Tello. And his partner adds: “In and around the stadium, in the store or other sports like the Clippers [bàsquet] oh as Rams [futbol americà], they do recognize us and congratulate us. On the street, usually, no. Here, besides, I drive everywhere.”
In the European collective imagination, the MLS is spoken of as a kind of elephant graveyard. In reality, this is not the case, and the athletes prove it. “It’s a league that’s growing a lot. In a few years it’s going to be a very strong and competitive league,” says Tello, describing the differences between playing there and playing here: “The main difference I’ve noticed here is that it’s a league very physical. They are very open games, going back and forth and there are many more spaces. In Spain, the games are much more tactically worked out.”
According to Ilie, the key is in the financial aspect. “One of the main reasons every team plays offensively is that it’s a league that has a salary cap. Teams start with a similar budget every year, and everything they achieve during the season depends on their skill, ability and his way of doing things,” explains Ilie. “Every year the limit increases and the level the league has reached is very high. In addition, the good coaches and trainers who arrive year after year make the teams stronger,” he determined.
Tello and Sánchez have a rope for a while
“Right now, my idea is to finish my career here, in MLS. I don’t know at what age I will do it, but I think that at 35 or 36 is a good time to put an end to it,” says Tello, who makes it clear that he is “one of those who prefer to leave it being well, 100%”. A great mirror is Gerard Piqué, Tello’s ex-teammate at Barça: “In my opinion, Piqué has left it at a good age. He was still Barça’s best centre-back”.
There will also be Ilie for years: “I’m 31 and I’ve just won the most important of the titles I’m fighting for. Physically, I feel good and I really want to continue playing. Logically, there comes a point in the careers of footballers, coaches , from journalists or from everyone in general, where you want to change your mind and do something else. For now, that’s not my case. What I’m clear about is that I’m very good where I am,” he concludes.
