Luca Caioli - Griezmann: Updated Edition

1950, Paos de Ferreira, Portugal. The story begins here, in a village 28 kilometres from Porto with 53,000 inhabitants, known as the Capital do Mvel (Capital of Furniture) thanks to its many furniture factories; it even has its own Ikea.

It is on 5 April in the Holy Year proclaimed by Pope Pius XII that the directors of the football section of the local scout troop realise that the moment has come to take things seriously. They decide, after decades of popular football without a real club or league participation, that it is time to roll up their sleeves.

They take it upon themselves to found the Futebol Clube Vasco de Gama. The name is both a tribute to the Portuguese navigator and explorer and a nod to the Club De Regatas Vasco de Gama in Rio de Janeiro, a Brazilian football institution founded in 1898 by Portuguese immigrants. In the 1940s and 50s, they set the Carioca championship ablaze. Two names stood out: Barbosa, the canaria keeper who would never be forgiven after the Maracanazo the 1950 World Cup final loss to Uruguay and Vav, the striker who was part of the sing-song trio for the Brazilian national team: Did, Vav, Pel. In short, the name chosen by the scouts had a ring to it and would bring them good luck.

Their strip was yellow, with a Maltese cross on the chest, blue shorts and socks. After registering its name, social status, colours and structure in black and white the club was now part of the Associao de Futebol do Porto. Then came the green light to renovate the pitches at Campo de Cavada and enrol in the regional championship. The teams official debut was scheduled for 19 November 1950 at the ground in nearby Tapada. Vasco de Gama, or Vasquinho as it had been affectionately christened by its supporters, beat Lousada 21. In other words, they won the derby! (Lousada is a small town just seven kilometres from Paos de Ferreira).

It is well known that local rivalries were particularly strong in amateur football back then. It was Agostinho Alves, a capable striker, who scored the winning goal. He was one of the stars of the team, as were the goalkeeper Leo and the defender Amaro Lopes, who was known as Amaro da Cavada as he was born in the same part of town as the football ground. Within the family he was known as Tio Mrio. He was 27. The team photo for the 195152 season shows him in the front row, kneeling as he holds the ball. He has black hair, slicked back with pomade, a thin and angular face with an imposing nose. Beneath the thin moustache of a Hollywood actor he is sporting an amused smile, which changes his features and gives him a deep expressive wrinkle on his cheek. He is wearing the yellow shirt with a laced-up neck, as was customary at the time. As a defender he was described as raudo, a symbol of the garra pacense, in other words a footballer with plenty of character, one who did not make himself scarce when the game required him to give his all or spit blood. A Gennaro Gattuso, a Pepe, a John Terry or an Eric Cantona, for example. He was a tough guy, hard but correct. Noble, I would say, explains Jos Lopes, his eldest son.

Amaro supported FC Porto, he loved football, had been playing for years, and took the ups and down of Vasquinhos seasons with a smile. It was a club that, from the very beginning, knew how to maintain good relations with the greats of the region, so much so that to the great joy of Amaro and his pacense teammates, Porto and Boavista came to play friendlies at the Campo da Cavada. Later, Panteras (the nickname given to players from the Boavista club) even provided them with a new strip. The first great sporting success came in January 1953: Vasco won away at Amarante, a formidable opponent, and, with a 21 victory over Penafiel, clinched the third regional division championship the fourth level of Portuguese football although they were not promoted at the end of the season. That would take another four years. On 10 July 1957, after a footballing marathon of four matches in a row with a total of more than six hours of play, Vasquinho fought off Sporting Clube da Cruz and achieved promotion to the second regional division.

When, during the 196263 season, the club changed its name to become Futebol Clube de Paos de Ferreira, also changing its colours shortly afterwards (from yellow to blue and white stripes in honour of FC Porto), Amaro Lopes da Cavada was no longer part of the team. Like millions of Portuguese, he had packed his bags and left. With his wife Carolina, one year his junior and originally from the parish of So Pedro da Raimunda, and their three sons, he took the difficult decision to emigrate.

My parents arrived in France at Christmas 1957. I was four, Maria was two and Manu was a newborn, he wasnt even three weeks old, recalls Jos Lopes. We were supposed to go to Cassis, where we had family who could help us, but my father found a job in construction in Mcon. So, at Christmas, we ended up in the extreme south of Burgundy, 70 kilometres from Lyon. We were the first Portuguese family to arrive in the town. Theres a large community there now, with more than 120 families. Lots of them, very many, came from Paos da Ferreira and landed up there thanks to my parents, who helped members of our family, then our friends to find work and get on their feet. I remember that my mother, who had her hands full with the four of us [my sister Andre was born a year after we arrived in Mcon], helped the young people who came on their own, giving them a hand with administrative procedures and, as she didnt know how to write in French, she would ask me, when I was just ten years old, to fill out forms and requests. Many of those fleeing the Salazar dictatorship came knocking on our door and were welcomed by us until they found a place to live. Our house in Fontenailles, not far from Champlevert, was almost like the centre of the Portuguese community.

Although she had to stay at home, my mother helped a great many people. My father worked an enormous amount. He worked hard at the building site and forged a career in construction, but never forgot about football during those first five years. He played at FC Mcon and Crches-sur-Sane, a village 8 kilometres from here.

As incredible as it may sound, it seems the Portuguese defender never took his sons to the stadium. But they went anyway, and a passion for football was handed down. Maybe it is in the familys DNA. Jos played for twelve years with ASPTT Mcon and had a season at La Chapelle-de-Guinchay. Manu, his brother, a false winger on the right, who is said to have been the king of perfect passes and hook turns, played for the Association Mcon Portugais. He could have been a pro if hed taken it more seriously, says Jos. One summer, he had a trial in Portugal and they wanted him. But he wasnt interested in it any more.

But the Lopes brothers shared this passion for football with a certain Alain Griezmann, whom they met at secondary school in the late 1960s. He was in the same class as Manu Lopes. The two were inseparable and they spent their afternoons on the pitch. They got along wonderfully and despite the years that friendship has not diminished. Alain spent time with the Lopes family and ended up falling in love with Isabelle, the youngest daughter of Amaro and Carolina. He was 29, she was twenty and they started dating. Thanks to football and Sportings Sunday matches, they saw each other regularly and were married the following year. Antoine was born on 21 March 1991. Isabelle had Maud three years later, and Tho, the youngest in the family, was born in 1996.

Amaro Lopes da Camada, their maternal grandfather died in 1992. He would never meet Tho. Nor would he see his grandson, Antoine, reach the pinnacle of world football. He would not be able to support his beloved Paos da Ferreira in the Primeira Liga, the top division of the Portuguese championship. But his sons, grandchildren and the Portuguese community of Mcon still think of him and have not forgotten his great passion for football, which he has handed down to his descendants. Every February, for nineteen years, Sporting Club Mcon has organised a futsal tournament for its youngest players. It is named after Amaro Lopes.