Sergio Agüero

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Agüero and the second or maternal family name is Del Castillo.
Sergio Agüero
Kun aguero.jpg
Personal information
Full name Sergio Leonel
Agüero del Castillo
Date of birth 2 June 1988 (1988-06-02) (age 22)
Place of birth Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Atlético Madrid
Number 10
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2003–2006 Independiente 53 (23)
2006– Atlético Madrid 145 (54)
National team‡
2005–2007 Argentina U20 7 (6)
2008 Argentina U23 5 (2)
2006– Argentina 24 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 May 2010.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:47, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

Sergio Leonel "Kun" Agüero del Castillo[1] (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈseɾxjo aˈɣweɾo]; born 2 June 1988) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays as a striker for Atlético Madrid and the Argentine national team.

Agüero earned his nickname Kun when his grandparents noted his resemblance to Japanese anime character Kum Kum.[2]

Contents

Early life

Agüero was born in Quilmes, Buenos Aires on 2 June 1988 into a large family with seven children.[3][4] Agüero started playing football at a young age and he often played on a pitch in his local neighbourhood, Villa Itali.[2]

Club career

Independiente

Sergio Agüero started playing for Argentine first division Club Club Atlético Independiente, becoming the youngest player to debut in the Argentine First Division at 15 years and 35 days (on 7 July 2003 against Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro), breaking the record previously established by Diego Maradona in 1976.[2]

Atlético Madrid

Agüero with Atlético Madrid.

In May 2006 Agüero signed for Spainish club Atlético Madrid for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around €23 million, breaking the club's previous transfer record.[5][6] In the 2007–08 season, Agüero finished third in scoring in La Liga, behind Dani Güiza and Luís Fabiano, with 49 goals, and was runner up in the Trofeo Alfredo Di Stéfano award.[7]

Agüero became a regular goalscorer for Atlético in the 2008–09 season, forming a partnership with Uruguayan striker Diego Forlán, also a former Independiente striker. In March 2009, the duo of Forlán and Agüero scored a brace each in a 4–3 win over league leaders Barcelona.[8] Agüero finished in the top ten runners for the Pichichi Trophy while his teammate Forlán won the trophy.[9] Atlético finished fourth in the league, qualifying for the following season's UEFA Champions League.

In the 2009-10 season, Agüero scored twice against Chelsea during a 2–2 draw in the Champions League at the Vicente Calderón. Atlético were knocked out of the competition, but went on to reach the final of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, where they beat English club Fulham in extra time.[10] On 27 August 2010, Atlético Madrid captured the UEFA Super Cup by beating favorites Inter Milan by a score of 2-0. Agüero assisted José Antonio Reyes for the opening goal and then secured the win by scoring the second.[11]

International career

Agüero made his senior debut for Argentina in a friendly with Brazil, played at Emirates Stadium, England on 3 September 2006.[1] As a teenager, he represented Argentina at three FIFA World Youth Championships. Together with future 2008 Olympics squad teammates Fernando Gago of Real Madrid and Lionel Messi of Barcelona, they won the 2005 edition in the Netherlands.

2007 U20 World Cup

At the 2007 U-20 World Cup in Canada, he scored twice and helped set up three goals in a 6–0 win over Panama in the second game of the group stage of the tournament. Agüero then scored the only goal in Argentina's third match against North Korea from a free kick. Having qualified to the round of 16, he scored two of the three goals against Poland that would eventually give them a 3-1 win to advance to the next round. Argentina defeated Mexico in the quarter-finals and Chile in the semi-finals, and faced the Czech Republic in the finals, a team they drew 0-0 in the group stage. Agüero captained and scored the equaliser in the 62nd minute, leading to a 2–1 victory. In addition, Agüero won the Golden Boot of the tournament, scoring six goals in seven games, and the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament, succeeding to countryman Lionel Messi who won both awards at the 2005 tournament.

2008 Summer Olympics

As a member of the Argentine squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Agüero scored two goals in the space of five minutes in the semi-final 3–0 win over Brazil on 19 August 2008.[12] Argentina went on to win the gold medal, a second in a row at the Olympic tournament.

2010 World Cup

He was chosen for the 2010 World Cup squad, and made his World Cup debut in Argentina's second group match against Korea Republic on 12 June 2010, replacing Carlos Tévez in the 75th minute. Agüero's impact was immediate as Argentina scored in the next minute. He assisted on Gonzalo Higuaín's hat-trick goal late in the game. Argentina won the game 4-1.

Personal life

On 19 February 2009, it was announced that Agüero's fiancée, Giannina Maradona, the youngest daughter of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, had given birth to a son named Benjamin in Madrid.[13] Maradona was in the Spanish capital for the birth of his first grandson, while Agüero, 20, missed Atlético's training session earlier in the day. Atlético offered their congratulations in a statement on their official website.[14]

Agüero has a tattoo on the inside of his right arm, inscribed in Tengwar—a form of writing invented by J. R. R. Tolkien that was used by the Elves in his works. It translates roughly to Kun Agüero in the Latin alphabet.[15]

Career statistics

Correct as of August 27th 2010[16]

Club Season League Cup[17] Continental[18] Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Independiente 2003–04 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0
2004–05 12 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 5 0
2005–06 36 18 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 18 4
Argentina 53 23 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 53 23 4
Atlético Madrid 2006–07 38 6 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 40 6 3
2007–08 38 19 7 4 2 0 7 5 2 49 26 9
2008–09 37 17 9 1 0 0 9 4 2 47 21 11
2009–10 31 12 4 7 2 3 16 6 4 54 20 11
2010–11 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 1 2
Spain 145 54 24 14 4 3 33 16 9 192 74 36
Career totals 198 77 28 14 4 3 33 16 9 245 97 40

International goals

Argentina's goal tally first

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 17 November 2007 El Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Bolivia 1 – 0 3–0 World Cup 2010 Qualifying
2. 26 March 2008 Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt  Egypt 1 – 0 2–0 Friendly
3. 4 June 2008 Qualcomm Stadium, California, United States  Mexico 4 – 1 4–1 Friendly
4. 6 September 2008 El Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Paraguay 1 – 1 1–1 World Cup 2010 Qualifying
5. 11 October 2008 El Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Uruguay 2 – 0 2–1 World Cup 2010 Qualifying
6. 28 March 2009 El Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Venezuela 4 – 0 4–0 World Cup 2010 Qualifying
7. 12 August 2009 Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia  Russia 1 – 1 3–2 Friendly
8. 24 May 2010 El Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Canada 5 – 0 5–0 Friendly

Olympic goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 19 August 2008 Beijing Worker's Stadium, Beijing, China  Brazil 1 – 0 3–0 Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics
2. 19 August 2008 Beijing Worker's Stadium, Beijing, China Brazil Brazil 2 – 0 3–0 Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics

Honours

Club

Atlético Madrid

Country

Argentina

Individual

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ""Football Database – Aguero"". http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=1411. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "The Rise of Sergio Aguero". BBC Sport. 7 May 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7384547.stm. Retrieved 25 March 2009. 
  3. ↑ "ESPN Profile". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=44927&cc=5739. Retrieved 17 June 2009. 
  4. ↑ http://www.kunaguerofans.com/la-historia-del-kun/
  5. ↑ ""Atlético agree fee for Independiente starlet"". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=369484&cc=5739. 
  6. ↑ ""Atlético sign Argentine prodigy Aguero"". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=369713&cc=4716. 
  7. ↑ "Marca names the Madridista captain the best player of the league". Real Madrid. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202736803447/noticia/Noticia/Raul_wins_the_Di_Stefano_Trophy.htm. 
  8. ↑ "Atletico stun Barcelona as Real close up". CNN. 1 March 2009. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/football/03/01/spain.barcelona/index.html. Retrieved 7 June 2009. 
  9. ↑ "El uruguayo Forlán ganó el 'pichichi' y la 'Bota de Oro'" (in Spanish). Eurosport. 1 June 2009. http://es.eurosport.yahoo.com/01062009/15/uruguayo-forlan-gano-pichichi-bota-oro.html. Retrieved 26 June 2009. 
  10. ↑ "Forlán double gives Atlético glory". UEFA. 2010-05-12. http://en.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/matches/season=2010/round=2000042/match=2000967/postmatch/report/index.html. Retrieved 2010-07-30. 
  11. ↑ "Atletico Madrid Goal Heroes Jose Antonio Reyes & Kun Aguero Praise Team After Inter Win". Goal.com. 2010-08-27. http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2010/08/27/2090098/atletico-madrid-goal-heroes-jose-antonio-reyes-kun-aguero-praise-. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
  12. ↑ Nick Harris (20 August 2008). "Argentina 3 Brazil 0: Argentina in final after routing arch rivals". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/argentina-3-brazil-0-argentina-in-final-after-routing-arch-rivals-902777.html. Retrieved 5 June 2009. 
  13. ↑ ""Maradona a grandfather thanks to Atletico's Agüero"". Reuters. http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldFootballNews/idUKLJ7605820090219. 
  14. ↑ "Benjamín Agüero Maradona is born on Thursday 19 February and weighs 3.660 kilos". Atletico Madrid. http://www.clubatleticodemadrid.com/en/atleticoaldia/noticias.asp?id=3520. 
  15. ↑ "Sergio Aguero Tattoos". Vanishing Tattoo. http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo/celeb-aguero.htm. Retrieved 5 June 2009. 
  16. ↑ ESPN (26 October 2008). "Sergio Aguero Stats, News – Atletico Madrid". ESPN Soccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=44927&&cc=5739. Retrieved 26 October 2008. 
  17. ↑ Includes Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España
  18. ↑ Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Copa Libertadores
  19. ↑ Tuttosport 'Golden Boy' award winner El Mundo
  20. ↑ Sergio Agüero, Golden Boy

External links

Atlético Madrid – current squad

1 Asenjo · 2 Valera · 3 A. López · 4 M. Suárez · 5 Tiago · 6 Camacho · 7 Forlán · 8 R. García · 10 Agüero · 11 Mérida · 12 Assunção · 13 De Gea · 14 Filipe · 15 Godín · 16 Juanito · 17 Ujfaluši · 18 Domínguez · 19 Reyes · 20 Simão · 21 Perea · 22 Diego Costa · 27 Joel · TBA Elías · Coach: Quique Flores