How much does Atlanta United’s Fernando Meza love his dog, Apollo?
Twenty-six days ago, just before the COVID-19 pandemic changed most everything, Meza embarked on a Southeastern trek to retrieve the 2-year-old French bulldog in Mexico.
First, Meza flew from Atlanta to Houston. After a layover, he flew from Houston to McAllen, Texas. From there, he rented a car and drove into Mexico, picked up Apollo and drove 17 hours for 1,140.8 miles — he provided the exact total in kilometers — back to Atlanta.
“And I’d do it again,” he said.
That’s how much he loves Apollo.
The dog at first belonged to one of Meza's teammates at Necaxa in Mexico, where he played last before joining Atlanta United in January. That teammate was sold to a club in another country. He was going to get rid of the dog. Meza said he would take it.
Meza loves the breed. His wife, who is in Buenos Aires, also has one.
With his wife and son in Argentina — they were working on securing visas when the pandemic began to take hold — it’s just Meza and Apollo in Atlanta trying to pass the time amid the mandated shelter-in-place orders. Meza said he talks to his family back home “thousands” of times a day. His son is young.
“I haven’t seen him in a month and a half,” Meza said. “It’s difficult. He’s growing up.”
And when he’s not talking to his family or working out, Meza said there’s this:
“Sometimes Apollo just lies down and stares at me, like ‘Now what do we do?’ ” Meza said through an interpreter.
Meza said he hasn’t used the downtime to teach Apollo any tricks, but does pay him a lot of attention.
When his soccer career is over, the centerback said he hopes to open a dog rescue center in Buenos Aires.
“That’s the plan,” he said.
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