Monday, September 12, 2011

Sergio Arguero

Sergio Leonel "Kun" Agüero del Castillo (Spanish pronunciation; born 2 June 1988) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester City in England's Premier League and the Argentine national team.

On 5 July 2003 he became the youngest player to debut in the Argentine First Division at 15 years and 35 days, breaking the record previously established by Diego Maradona in 1976,who is Agüero's father-in-law due to his marriage to Maradona's daughter, Giannina.

At international level, Agüero represented the Argentina under-20 team at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2005 and in 2007 winning both tournaments. Agüero played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he scored two goals in the 3-0 semi-final win against Brazil as Argentina went on to win the gold medal. Agüero was selected to represent Argentina in the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2011 Copa América
In 2006, Agüero moved to Europe to play for La Liga side Atletico Madrid in a fee worth €23m from Independiente. Here he made a name for himself, attracting attention from Europe's top clubs by scoring 101 goals in 234 appearances while winning a Copa del Rey and the UEFA Europa League. Agüero moved to Premier League club Manchester City in July 2011 for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £35m.
Sergio Agüero joined the youth system of Independiente aged nine. He then started playing for the side becoming the youngest player to debut in the division at 15 years and 35 days (on 5 July 2003 against Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro), breaking the record previously established by Diego Maradona in 1976. His first goal for the club came in a 2–2 draw against rivals Estudiantes de la Plata on 26 November 2004.Agüero soon became a regular in the first team, earning a place in the Argentina squad for the U-20 World Cup in 2005.

The Argentine's most famous goal for Independiente came on 11 September 2005 in a 4–0 win against Racing Club de Avellaneda, where he ran from inside his own half before finishing with his left foot. His outstanding performances during the 2005 Torneo Apertura attracted interest from a number of big name European clubs, and after months of speculation, Agüero announced to television in April 2006 that he intended to leave the club at the end of the season.
In May 2006 Agüero signed for Spanish club Atlético Madrid for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around €23 million, breaking the club's previous transfer record. He caused controversy early in his Atlético career by using his hands to score the winning goal against Recreativo Huelva on 14 October 2006, it was only his second goal for the club, the first coming in a 4–1 away win against Athletic Bilbao on September 17. In the 2007–08 season, Agüero finished third in scoring in La Liga, behind Dani Güiza and Luís Fabiano, with 19 goals, and was runner up in the Trofeo Alfredo Di Stéfano award. Kun won many plaudits for his man of the match display against Barcelona in March 2008, scoring twice, assisting a goal, and winning a penalty for Atlético in a 4–2 win. He also scored important goals against the likes of Real Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal to help Atlético finish fourth and qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over ten years.

Agüero was once again a regular goalscorer for Atlético in the 2008–09 season, forming a partnership with Uruguayan striker Diego Forlán, also a former Independiente striker. On September 16, he scored his first Champions League goals in a 3–0 away win at PSV Eindhoven. In March 2009, the duo of Forlán and Agüero scored a brace each in a 4–3 win over league leaders Barcelona. Agüero finished in the top ten runners for the Pichichi Trophy while his teammate Forlán won the trophy.Atlético finished fourth in the league, qualifying for the following season's Champions League.
Despite not being as prolific in front of goal, Agüero had another good season in 2009–10, and was praised for his influential performances as Atlético enjoyed their most successful season in over a decade On 3 November 2009, he 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 Agüero assisted both goals in a 2–1 extra time win against English club Fulham. He also helped Atlético reach the final of the Spanish Cup, although this time they were not victorious, losing to Sevilla in the Camp Nou on May 19 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.On 4 January 2011, Atlético Madrid confirmed via their official website that Agüero had signed a new contract with the club, keeping him at the Vicente Calderón until 2014. The following day he was named as the new vice-captain of Atlético, along with strike partner Diego Forlán.
On 28 July 2011 Manchester City confirmed that Agüero had signed a five-year contract with the club.The fee was not disclosed, but was reported to be in the region of £35 million(€41million) Agüero was issued with the number 16 shirt for his first season at City and wears the shirt name Kun Agüero. He was an unused substitute in the Dublin Super Cup match against Inter Milan and the 2011 FA Community Shield against Manchester United with manager Roberto Mancini believing Agüero was not yet fit. Agüero made his debut for Manchester City on 15 August 2011 in a 4–0 Premier League victory over Swansea City. Agüero came on as a substitute in the 59th minute scoring his first goal for the club within 9 minutes after a tap in from a cross from full back Micah Richards. He then turned provider with an assist after chipping over the oncoming goalkeeper before flicking the ball back into the penalty box and into the path of the goal for David Silva to score. Agüero rounded off his debut by scoring again in injury time with a 30 yard strike. His 30-minute debut gained rave reviews among football journalists, with some suggesting it was one of the best seen in English football.City continued their strong start winning 3-2 away at Bolton Wanderers with Agüero missing two chances in the penalty box. On the 28 of August, Agüero scored his third league goal in Manchester City's 5-1 rout of Tottenham Hotspur. On his third start for the club he scored his first hat-trick in English football, against Wigan.
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 , and the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament.

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