Atletico Madrid striker Angel Correa and family robbed at gunpoint
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Argentina international Correa, a World Cup champion in 2022, joins a list of players in Spain who have fallen victim to robbery or burglary in recent years.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MADRID – Atletico Madrid striker Angel Correa and his family members were the victims of an armed robbery at his home over the weekend, although nobody was injured, Spanish police said on Jan 14.
A police spokesman said the 28-year-old forward and relatives were in the residence in the capital when four hooded criminals carrying at least one gun burst in at around 9pm on Jan 13.
The robbers took jewellery and cash from the player at gunpoint before fleeing, according to Cope radio.
Correa returned to Spain from Saudi Arabia on Jan 11 after playing a day earlier in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final, which his side lost 5-3 to Real Madrid.
Argentina international Correa, a World Cup winner in 2022, joins a list of players in Spain who have fallen victim to robbery or burglary in recent years, including former Real striker Karim Benzema and Atletico’s Alvaro Morata.
Morata’s wife Alice Campello was confronted by armed intruders in June 2019 while she was at home with a nanny and then one-year-old twins Alessandro and Leonardo.
The Italian said afterwards she would be “afraid for a long time to come” and posted on social media: “I think this is one of those things that are not easily forgotten, one of those things that makes you realise how much love and life is worth.
“Knowing that you have your children at home and thinking they can touch them or do something to them is really an inexplicable emotion. Fortunately, we are all well and know it could have been much worse.
“They have stolen so many memories but it’s over now. Now I will try not to think about it and think about our family and try to forget.”
In October 2019, Spanish police and Europol announced a burglary ring that targeted Atletico and Real footballers had been dismantled.
Over in England on the same day as the Correa incident, intruders entered Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton’s Northumbria home when his team were playing Manchester City at St James’ Park that Jan 13 evening.
The Brazilian player is injured, but was at the stadium for the game. He received an alert during the game that intruders had entered his house, and police were dispatched, the Daily Mail newspaper reported. The burglars had fled the scene before their arrival.
He is the latest Premier League player targeted by burglars. Several weeks previously, City player Jack Grealish’s home was also broken into.
Members of the England forward’s family and his fiancee Sasha Attwood were at home when it was targeted by burglars while City were playing Everton on Dec 27. More than £1 million (S$1.7 million) worth of jewellery and watches were reported to have been stolen.
The 28-year-old Grealish wrote on Instagram he was “devastated” and that it was a “traumatic experience” for all involved, and added: “The people that commit these terrible crimes have no idea of the damage they cause to people’s lives.
“I hope they are found and brought to justice, so no other family has to go through what we have.” AFP, REUTERS
