Xuenou > Sports > France star Griezmann pursued wife for a ‘year-and-a-half’ before she agreed to a date
France star Griezmann pursued wife for a ‘year-and-a-half’ before she agreed to a date
France star Griezmann pursued wife for a 'year-and-a-half' before she agreed to a date,If at first you don't succeed, try and try again - and that's exactly what Antoine Griezmann did to make sure he didn't let his wife of five years slip away when they first met

France star Griezmann pursued wife for a ‘year-and-a-half’ before she agreed to a date

France and Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann texted his wife for a year-and-a-half before she agreed to date him.

Griezmann, 31, is now five years deep into his marriage to Erika Choperena. But he was made to work for it by the 32-year-old, whom he first met back in 2010 in San Sebastian when he was playing for Real Sociedad.

"Erika was studying in a school next to where I trained, we crossed roads a couple of times and we began to text each other," Griezmann explained in his autobiography. "For a year-and-a-half, I sent her messages, I tried to seduce her."

READ MORE: Inside France's 2010 World Cup disgrace from player revolt to 'disgusted' director

She eventually gave him what he wanted and they've been together since December 27, 2011. They married in June 2017 and have three children together – Mia, 6, Amaro, 3, and Alba, 1 – who were all coincidentally born on April 8.

Unlike most WAGs, Erika largely keeps away from the limelight. Her wedding was a quiet affair at the Palacio de Galiana castle in Toledo, Spain.

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Erika Choperena
Erika Choperena made Griezmann play the long game (Image: Instagram/eri_chope)
Antoine Griezmann and Erika Choperena
The pair married in 2017 and have three children together (Image: Instagram/eri_chope)

She's a qualified child psychologist having been studying in the field when she met Griezmann, who got off to a winning start with his France team-mates at the World Cup this week by beating Australia 4-1 in their opening group game.

He was cheered on by his wife as they became world champions in Russia four years ago, but she doesn't appear to have made the journey to Qatar yet with their second match against Denmark coming up today (November 26).

France's forward Antoine Griezmann's wife Erika Choperena awaits the Russia 2018 World Cup quarter-final football match between Uruguay and France at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod on July 6, 2018
Erika was spotted in the stands at the 2018 World Cup (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Atletico Madrid's French forward Antoine Griezmann celebrates with his wife Erika Choperana after the UEFA Europa League final football match between Olympique de Marseille and Club Atletico de Madrid at the Parc OL stadium in Decines-Charpieu, near Lyon on May 16, 2018
She's happy to let Griezmann take the attention (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Despite being happy to let Griezmann dominate the headlines, Erika has still racked up over 300k Instagram followers. She is also believed to have run a beauty blog called Cordialmente Erika.

But as her fame grew and more people discovered the site, she deactivated it in 2014. She was once described by fellow WAG Ludivine Sagna, wife of Griezmann's former team-mate Bacary Sagna as "very kind but very discreet".

She may yet make an appearance in Qatar, though, if Griezmann and Co can replicate their heroics and defend their crown.

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