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Antoine Griezmann joining MLS club Orlando City from July on a 2-year deal

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann is moving to Orlando City in Major League Soccer this summer.

The 35-year-old World Cup winner from France signed with Orlando City on Tuesday. The deal lasts from July through the 2027-28 season with an option for an extra year.

“From my first conversations with the club I could feel a strong ambition and a clear vision for the future, and that really spoke to me,” Griezmann said in a statement provided by Orlando City.

He helped France win the 2018 World Cup, reach the 2022 World Cup final, and retired from internationals in 2024 with 44 goals in 137 caps.

Griezmann is Atletico’s all-time leading scorer with 211 goals but his minutes have been managed by coach Diego Simeone this season. Even so, Griezmann has 13 goals this campaign in all competitions.

Griezmann, who also played for Real Sociedad and Barcelona, has spent 10 seasons at Atletico. His 488 games are the fourth-most in Atletico’s history.

He’s won three trophies with Atletico: 2014 Spanish Super Cup, 2018 Europa League and 2018 UEFA Super Cup. Atletico has the Copa del Rey final next month and is up against Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals.

“Let’s leave the future in the future because I’m not leaving yet,” Griezmann said in comments provided by Atletico. “I still have months left in this shirt, months to give my life on the pitch, both at our stadium and away, to lift that Copa del Rey and to dream of going as far as possible in the Champions League.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

NYPD says dozens rescued from human trafficking during World Cup

▶ Watch Video: Inside look at security preparations for World Cup Forty-three people, including seven minors, were rescued from human traffickers during the World Cup matches in the New York City area, according to the New York City Police Department's Special Victims Unit.The rescue operations were carried out between June 11 and July 19 by specialized NYPD detectives who arrested 89 individuals."The surprise was really the outpouring of support behind the mission and the collaboration with all our partners," said Inspector Gary Marcus, commanding officer of the Special Victims Unit.Those rescued, largely the victims of sex trafficking, are now being supported with an array of social services for the victims, including food, housing and counseling.The 87 operations carried out during the World Cup have generated new leads, officials said, and law enforcement agencies are building more cases based on the investigations already underway."We have ongoing investigations now as a result of these operations," an NYPD official told CBS News.Major sporting events are known to law enforcement as hotbeds of human trafficking.Years in advance, the NYPD devoted significant resources to preparing for the World Cup. Eight matches were played at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, including the final on Sunday."When we talk about the outreach and the prep we do, a large part of that involved visiting the known sex offenders, particularly the known human traffickers, in our registry," Marcus said. "Whether they're on parole or probation for human trafficking, we visited them to make sure they're compliant with the terms of their release, and secondly, to let them know that the NYPD is watching."The matches were held in multiple cities around the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Preparations to secure those games and prepare for crimes like human trafficking were coordinated between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.Police departments in many locations that hosted World Cup matches have made arrests and rescues connected to human trafficking, including in Georgia, New England and Missouri. Nationally, there were more than 673 arrests on human-trafficking charges made during the World Cup, and 61 adults and 13 minors rescued, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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