El cuatro de agosto/August 4th

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Photo from skysports.com. Click HERE. 
Feliz cumpleaños a... Antonio Valencia (Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera)! (1985-       )

An Ecuadorian professional soccer player who has played for Manchester United in England since June of 2009, Valencia grew up in Lago Agrio, a small town in the Amazon rainforest. He lived in a small house with his five brothers and one sister, and he used to sell drinks with his mother outside the local soccer club. When he was nine years old, he was discovered by a scout and began training with a local sports academy. When he was 16, he left home to play for El Nacional, an 8-hour bus ride away. Only his mother and older brother, who paid for the bus ticket, knew. He won the Ecuadorian Serie A with El Nacional before signing with La Liga's Villarreal (in Spain) in 2005. He was on loan to Wigan Athletic when he caught the attention of Manchester United. Valencia made his debut with Ecuador in 2004 and has played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2007 Copa América, the 2011 Copa América, the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Copa América Centenario. He and his wife Domenica have one daugter, Zoila, born during the 2006 World Cup. Click HERE to see a short documentary about his life.

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

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