Giuliano Simeone has been awarded with the‘FutbolJobs Award for Overcoming the Odds‘. The 22-year-old Argentine player suffered a serious injury during the preseason of the 2023-24 season. With a lot of effort and desire to overcome, he managed to fully recover from the ailment and even made his debut in the First Division, in that same season, with Alavés. This year he has managed to stay in the first team of Atlético de Madrid, after having played the Olympic Games in Paris with the Argentina national team. After making his debut and even scoring his first goal with the red and white team, the icing on the cake of this great 2024 for him was the call of the senior national team of Argentina. Giuliano gratefully received the trophy from Valentín Botella Nicolás, founder of FutbolJobs, at the Atlético de Madrid ‘s sports city in Cerro del Espino (Madrid).

-Do you know the FutbolJobs project?
-Yes, I know about it. I understand it’s for players, coaches, physios who are looking for work. Anything that is growth for the sport is fantastic.

He received the FutbolJobs award for ‘Overcoming’ after overcoming a serious injury with great success…
-It was a pretty tough injury that I was able to overcome with the help of a lot of people who were there to support me: family, friends, teammates… people from Atlético and Alavés. And I was able to get through it because of my perseverance, because of the work I did on a daily basis and with the greatest possible joy.

If they told you when I was in the hospital bed, just after surgery, that in a year and a half you were going to recover, debut in the First Division, Olympic Games, stay at Atletico, full international with Argentina…
-Honestly, if they told me that a long time ago, it would have been impossible to imagine all that. But it is clear that if you work day by day and keep working hard without thinking about the future but focusing on the present, things happen. That’s just the way it happened. I am very happy about all this, but right now I am focused on the day to day, on continuing to grow, on continuing to improve, on learning for more.

-What message would you send to a boy or girl athlete who has a serious injury like yours so young?
-I would tell all these boys or girls who have suffered this same injury or more serious ones to never give up, to fight on a daily basis, to make an effort, to try to go through this injury with joy, to surround themselves with the people they love, to listen and, above all, to learn from this process because this process is what makes you stronger for the future.

Now they are in a good moment for Atlético…
-We are in a good moment. The team is on a very positive streak. I think this is part of the whole team, of how we work in every training session, because of the very competitive squad we have at the club right now, and we are all pulling it together.

-And on the personal side…
-On the personal side I’m obviously very happy with what I’m experiencing, focusing on continuing to work and improve because I’m 21 years old and I have to learn from the best.

-In the short time you’ve been in the first team, you’ve convinced the fans at the Metropolitano. What do you think people like about you?
-I don’t know if people like me, but I do know that I will show them that every minute I play I will give my all for this club, for this crest. I’m always going to give my best, whether it’s 5, 10 minutes, whether I don’t play, whether I play as a starter… I’m always going to give 100%.

-Can Atleti win the league?
-We know what this club is like. We take it one game at a time.

-How do you manage sharing a locker room with some of your idols until recently: Griezmann, Koke, now Messi, in the national team…?
-You don’t have to manage anything. You have to watch, learn, listen, especially to them who have so much experience that they are legends. The best player in the world is Messi, learn from them and be at least at their level, both in the locker room and on the court.