Spotted: A vivid new mural welcoming soccer star Antoine Griezmann to Orlando at the busy intersection of Colonial and Mills in Mills 50.
On the Mills side of local restaurant Anh Hong, the one-story-high photorealistic mural reads “Welcome to Orlando” alongside a portrait of Griezmann and what look to be highlights from his notable football career. The mural features some seriously deep purple, the color of his new team, artfully capturing the excitement for the Orlando City Lions’ newest addition.
Griezmann has been playing soccer since 2009, for Real Sociedad, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and France. The French player is the latest to join Orlando City SC after years of scoring goals and making waves across the Atlantic. With Atlético Madrid, Griezmann helped the Spanish team win UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup titles as one of the team’s all-time leading scorers.
No doubt fans of the local team are excited for him to join mid-season, especially since the team is on the brink of qualifying for playoffs.
At his unveiling event/press conference at Full Sail earlier this week, Griezmann was excited, saying that it has been his dream since he was 18 to join Major League Soccer and that he is giving “1000%” to the Lions.
Despite not officially joining the team until Monday, July 13, Griezmann has already begun training and participating in friendly matches with the Lions. The most recent friendly match was against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, where Griezmann had an assist and scored a goal.
Griezmann will play his first official game with Orlando City on July 22 in San Jose, California against the San Jose Earthquakes.
