18 May 2011
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Argentina has given the world some of its greatest joys: The literature of Jorge Luis Borges, Hector Germán Oesterheld's influential graphic novels, and the beautiful voice of Carlos Gardel. In the footballing world however Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Carlos Tévez, Ossie Ardiles, Juan Sebastian Verón, Ricardo Bochini, and a long list of other household names have influenced the way the game is played. However, there are many of Argentina's exports who are not as well known by football fans around the world, ending up at less glamorous locales and sometimes even attaining a cult status amongst fans of the smaller clubs they end up at. The list below shows a few of those Argentine players based abroad who you might have thought had disappeared.
1. Leonardo Ponzio
Born in Santa Fé, Ponzio began his footballing career at Newell's Old Boys, where he impressed early on. In 2003, at just 21 years of age, Ponzio signed for Real Zaragoza in Spain's La Liga. He became a central player in their midfield set up, and was joined by the Milito brothers, forming a talented and invaluable Argentinian connection which helped Zaragoza to a Copa del Rey win in 2004 and to another final in 2006, where they lost to Espanyol.
In 2007, Ponzio returned to Argentina to play for River Plate where he stayed for two more years, before returning to Real Zaragoza in January 2009. With Zaragoza relegated to the Segunda, Ponzio became a central character in the squad, helping their drive for promotion. This season, things have been tough though, as the side struggles to stay out of relegation trouble. Ever present, Ponzio has done his share of work, including scoring this great goal against Getafe last month.
2. Ismael Blanco
Blanco started his career in Argentina with Colón, but suffered a serious setback in 2004 with a cruciate ligament injury. What followed was a spell on the sidelines and a loan move to Libertad in Paraguay, where he scored 28 goals. He returned to Argentina to play for Olimpo, but eventually made a move to Europe in 2007, joining AEK Athens. Blanco was not the only South American at AEK however -- among his teammates that season was the international superstar Rivaldo, which Blanco claims was an important factor in his choosing to move to AEK. He has been the Greek Superleague's top scorer twice, in his debut season 2007-08, and 2008-09. His nickname is Zoro, which he got for keeping a mask in his sock and revealing it after scoring against Veria:
His goal scoring exploits have won him the respect of the fans, but the odd bicycle kick here and there doesn't hurt either:
3. Renato Civelli
Argentinians are known for their flair and skill in attack, but also for their tough tackling (especially against near neighbours Brazil) and tactical awareness, which are attributes which Civelli has shown in his time at OGC Nice. His first European adventure was to Olympique Marseille however, where he remained on the periphary of the squad (including a short loan spell back in Argentina at Gimnasia) until injury to the regular centrebacks enabled his inclusion early in 2009. Although the run in the team allowed him some exposure, he returned to Argentina again as a free agent, before OGC Nice picked him up in July 2010. He has been one half of their starting centre back partnership where he now has a song dedicated to him. My French isn't great, but I don't think he's known as a man to shirk out of a tackle:
4. Juan Emmanuel Culio
A native of Mercedes, Culio is one of two Argentines of relative prominence at Galatasary, joining Liverpool loanee Emiliano Insúa. Culio made his debut for Galatasaray in January of 2011, but he began his career in Argentina with Almagro, before moving to Racing and Independiente without making many waves, or too many appearances. Europe came calling in the form of Romanian club CFR Cluj however, and it was his preformances with them in their Champions League debut season for which finally made a name for him. He gained some notoriety in particular in that 2008/2009 season for his two goals against Roma in the opening game of their group fixtures for that year, winning the man of the match award and shocking the Italian giants.
THE QUINTESSENTIAL - Mauro Rosales
Rosales is one of the few players on this list to have made a handful of appearances for the Argentinian international senior squad, which is why you may recognise the name. If you're anything like me though, you really recognise the name from cursing him to your last breath for scoring against you in PES 6 every time you played Ajax. That notwithstanding, Rosales gained some prestige at Newell's Old Boys between 2000-2004, which earned him a callup to the Selección, before securing a move to Dutch giants Ajax in the Eredivisie. The summer of 2004 also saw perhaps the highlight of his international career, when he won the gold medal with the Argentinian Olympic team. His spell at Ajax was relatively successful. He won two Dutch Cups and the Johan Cruijff Schaal, the Dutch version of the Supercup. In 2007 he returned to Argentina to play for River Plate, however he failed to make much of an impact in his time there. In February of 2011 he joined the Seattle Sounders where he has had bad luck with injuries, however he has produced three assists in seven games. A compilation of some of his goals can be found here, the first of which is a bit of a cracker:
by Adrian Collins
Adrian Collins is an Ireland-based freelance writer on various topics, from football to literature.
Have a look at his excellent blog here: http://diversiondistraction.blogspot.com/
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