Carlos Vela is a Mexican professional soccer player who plays for the country’s national team as a striker. Currently playing in Major League Soccer (MLS) Los Angeles FC, Vela rose to popularity after playing in different leagues including English Premier League, Spanish League and MLS. Here’s what you need to know about him.
Biography and age of Carlos Vela
He was named Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido when he was born on March 1, 1989 in Cancún, Mexico. It was here that he was raised alongside his brother, Alejandro Vela, who also plays football in the country. As you can imagine, he started playing football at a very young age playing with his brother. As time and luck allowed, he was able to build a club for himself much faster than his older brother and that’s how he started his journey.
Considering the striker was born in 1989, guessing that his age is just a free kick doesn’t make sense.
Club football career
Carlos Vela started his career with Guadalajara in 2002 and played there until 2005 when youth club Arsenal showed interest in the rising star. This was possible thanks to his appearance at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Cup won by Mexico and he became the top scorer.
After joining the Arsenal youth team, he was soon moved to the main team, but had to leave on loan after a short time due to permit issues. This took him to Spain where he played for clubs like Salamanca and Osasuna before returning to England to play for West Bromwich Albion in 2011. 8 goals and 2 goals later he was on loan again in Spain to play for Real Sociedad who was able to soon make the deal permanent in 2012. From that time until 2017 when he moved to MLS, he had already netted 54 goals in a total of 184 games.
National football career
His national football career started in 2005 with the national under-17 team. What’s interesting is that’s what changed his career forever since his performance is one of the main features that helped Mexico win the trophy when they brought Brazil 3 goals down to 1 in the final. He dedicated his golden boot and the trophy to his father, who was instrumental in his life as a footballer and was a footballer until he was forced to retire following a injury.
His call to serve the nation in the U20 team came in 2007 and his time with the team was goalless after 8 games. Still, he was promoted to the national team in the same year. When he was invited to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he had already scored 18 goals after 67 appearances for the country.
With the Mexican national team, Carlos Vela won several trophies such as 2 CONCACAF Gold Cups and a CONCACAF Cup.
Carlos Vela’s wife and girlfriend
Even though there is no record of a wife or he was previously married, the Los Angeles FC winger is known to have a girlfriend and partner in Saioa Cañibano. He met the former sports journalist when he left Real Sociedad and often called her his wife. According to him, although his 7 years with the club didn’t give him any trophies, it still gave him a wife.
Even though they have maintained a very private relationship, they are known to have a son together named Romeo who was born in 2017. Before their son was born, they had a daughter before.
Height, weight and measurements
Being a very athletic player with good pace and strength, Carlos Vela has both the skill and stamina every player needs to be successful both as a striker and as a support. That said, he’s definitely not the tallest on any ground, but he’ll rank in the mid-seater list at a height of 1.75m (5ft 8in).
On top of that, he has a weight of 146 pounds (66 kg). Nevertheless, the general body measurements of the former Arsenal player have not been revealed, although you can be sure that he will do well in any collection of fit players.
