Uriel Antuna’s hardest lesson
Uriel Antuna has a talent that few in Mexico can match. Speed, overflow, goal. We have seen him shine in the National Team and even in Europe. But his career has been a constant up and down, a rollercoaster of performance that often left fans wondering: what’s wrong with him?
The answer, it turns out, was more in his head than his feet.
“The ego makes us believe we are untouchable”
In a frank talk with Fox Sports, the now Pumas player took off his mask. He admitted something that many suspected: early fame, money and the spotlight made him lose his way.
“When you are very young and all that happens to you, the National Team, fame, it can happen. It is proven that we are not used to that and I think that one of the things I experienced was precisely the ego,” Antuna confessed.
It was an honest and raw recognition. He said that in those moments he felt above everything, even his teammates. That luxuries and recognition surpassed him.
The most revealing thing was his reflection on loneliness on that journey upward.
“I would have liked someone to tell me: ‘You’re slipping,’ but I had to learn the hard way.”
He learned by hitting himself. And today, he says, he is grateful for those blows because they opened his eyes. They made him value what was essential: his family, his wife, his children. And understand a key truth of the trade.
“Football goes fast, but if you don’t live in the present, it goes even faster.”
A new beginning with Pumas
Today, wearing the university shirt under the orders of Efraín Juárez, Antuna seems to have found a safe harbor. A place where he prioritized the sports project over the economic project to rebuild.
He thanks the institution for this opportunity to show itself again. To show that the talent is still there, but now accompanied by a cooler head and a more grateful heart.
His story is a powerful reminder. Physical talent is only part of the equation. Mentality, humility and knowing how to handle success are muscles that also need to be trained.
Antuna is in that process. And seeing if he manages to maintain that balance will be one of the most interesting duels on the field.
