France and Uruguay go head to head on Tuesday in the Stade de France, in what will be a rematch of the 2018 World Cup Quarter-Final, albeit with less on the line. To mark the occasion Antoine Griezmann will take to the pitch in a special custom pair of PUMA Future boots.
PUMA have provided Griezmann with a special pair of boots for the match against Uruguay, a country that carries special significance for the Atletico Madrid striker. Designed by renown footwear artist Pierre Navarro aka @Orravan_design, the pair features one boot dedicated to each country. The left is for France with a tricolour soleplate, while the right is a nod to his fondness of Uruguay.
What's all this about? Well, Griezmann professes a deep rooted respect for Uruguay that dates back to his start in professional football when he was taken under the wing of Uruguayan forward Carlos Bueno at Real Sociedad. Through this relationship Griezmann developed a love for Montevideo football cub Penarol, along with a taste for "mate" – a tea-like infusion popular in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and parts of Brazil. The phenomenon of "mate" drinking became well documented during the 2018 World Cup, and Griezmann is often still seen with one in hand.
His love for Uruguay continued following his move to Atletico Madrid where he befriended the tough-tackling Diego Godin, who is now godfather to Griezmann’s daughter. So, that should go some way to clear up why he has a pot on each boot with their respective national flag.
Tuesday night's friendly is a replay of the 2018 World Cup Quarter-Final in Nizhny Novgorod. France won that game 2-0 on the way to becoming World Champions and Griezmann scored but refused to celebrate. Following the match he even conducted his post match press conference with a Uruguayan flag draped around his shoulders.
Wonder what Luis Suarez will make of Griezmann's new design? The Uruguayan said before the Quarter-Final clash: "However much he says that he is half-Uruguayan, he is French and he does not know what it feels like to be Uruguayan.” So there.
As for @Orravan_Design, his most notable work with Griezmann to date came in the form of a special PUMA Future that he created for the Madrid derby back at the beginning of October. He has a very distinct style, and it's obviously one that is favoured by Griezmann, so it's likely that we'll see more of his work on the Future. In the future. You get what we mean.
The special 'mate' PUMA Future obviously won't be available to buy. Sorry to all the French-Uruguayans out there.
