Agüero Sergio
Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo, colloquially known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for the English Premier League club Manchester City and the Argentine national team. He is widely considered as one of the best players of his generation and one of the best centre-forwards in Premier League history. Agüero began his career at the Argentine Independiente. On 5 July 2003, he became the youngest player to play in the Argentine Primera División on his debut at 15 years and 35 days, breaking the record previously established by Diego Maradona in 1976. In 2006, he moved to Europe to play for Spain’s La Liga side Atlético Madrid, for a transfer fee of €23 million. There he made a name for himself, attracting attention from Europe’s top clubs by scoring 101 goals in 234 appearances while winning the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup in 2010. Agüero moved to Premier League club Manchester City in July 2011 for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of £35 million. On the last day of his debut season with the club, he scored a 94th-minute winner against Queens Park Rangers that earned City its first league title in 44 years. At the end of the 2015–16 season, of players who had played at least two seasons in the Premier League, Agüero had the highest goals per minute ratio in the history of the competition since its formation in 1992, averaging a goal every 106 minutes, ahead of Thierry Henry. He also holds the joint-record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League match – five – and the fastest to do so, in 23 minutes and 34 seconds of match time. In November 2017, Agüero became Manchester City’s all-time highest goal-scorer, scoring his 178th City goal against Napoli. Agüero is currently the 4th highest goalscorer in Premier League history, and the highest non-English scorer in the history of the competition, with 180 goals in the division. He also holds the record for most hat-tricks in the Premier League, with twelve. At the international level, Agüero represented the Argentina under-20 team at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2005 and in 2007, winning both tournaments. He played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, scoring 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 the senior team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 2011 Copa América, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2015 Copa América, and the Copa América Centenario, reaching the finals of the latter three tournaments. He also participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where he scored his first and second World Cup goals for Argentina, and the 2019 Copa América, where he won a bronze medal. He wears “Kun” on his shirt, a childhood nickname based on the title character from the cartoon Kum-Kum.
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Having scored on Manchester City’s opening fixture of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion on 12 August, Agüero scored his second goal of the season against Liverpool in a 5–0 win on 9 September. This was his 124th Premier League goal, and saw him overtake Trinidadian Dwight Yorke as the top-scoring non-European in the competition’s history. One week later, Agüero scored his sixth Premier League hat-trick in a 6–0 win at Watford to put Manchester City top of the league. On 28 September, Agüero was involved in a road accident after attending a Maluma concert in Amsterdam, when his taxi crashed into a lamppost. He was left with a fractured rib and ruled out for two weeks. On 21 October, Agüero scored his 177th goal for Manchester City in a 3–0 win over Burnley, equalling the record set by Eric Brook. This was also the Citizens 11th straight win, equalling another club record. He scored his record 178th goal for the team on 1 November away at Napoli in a Champions League group game, a 4–2 win that sent his team through to the knockout stages of the competition. On 20 January, Agüero scored his second hat-trick of the season against Newcastle in a 3–1 win, his second goal being the landmark 350th goal of his career. He was later awarded the Premier League Player of the Month for January, claiming the award for the fifth time in his career. On 10 February, Agüero scored four goals in a 5–1 Premier League home thrashing of Leicester City, claiming his third hat-trick of the season. He opened the scoring in the 2018 EFL Cup Final on 25 February, by chipping Arsenal’s David Ospina in a 1vs1 situation, ultimately helping City secure a convincing 3–0 victory at Wembley Stadium.
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Agüero was married to Gianinna Maradona, the youngest daughter of Argentine footballer Diego Maradona. On 19 February 2009, Gianinna gave birth to their son, Benjamín, in Madrid. Diego Maradona was there for the birth of his first grandson, while Agüero, then 20, missed Atlético’s training session earlier in the day. Atlético offered their congratulations in a statement on their official website. Agüero and Gianinna separated in 2012 after four years together. Agüero’s nickname “Kun”, which features on his shirt, dates back to his childhood. It was first given to him by his grandparents, due to a resemblance to the character “Kum-Kum” from the anime Wanpaku Omukashi Kumu Kumu which was Agüero’s favourite television programme as a child. He stated, “I have grown to appreciate it because it’s unique. It’s not every day an athlete is nicknamed after a cartoon character!” Agüero has a tattoo on the inside of his right arm inscribed in Tengwar—a form of writing invented by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings—that transliterates roughly to Kun Agüero in the Latin script. He also has a tattoo on his left arm of his son’s name and date of birth. Agüero holds Spanish nationality, after being granted citizenship in 2010 whilst playing for Atlético Madrid. Agüero shares a close friendship with Lionel Messi, his regular roommate during outings for the national team since 2005. He described Messi as being “like a brother” in his 2014 autobiography, Born to Rise, which contains a foreword written by Messi. Gastón del Castillo and Mauricio del Castillo are brothers of Agüero.
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Agüero was selected for the Argentina U17 team to participate at the 2004 U-16 South American Championship in Paraguay in September. He participated in all of Argentina’s group stage matches, scoring in a 2–1 win against the United States and a 3–1 win against Ecuador to help Argentina finish top of their group. Agüero scored in the 47th minute of Argentina’s 1–0 quarter-final victory against Peru, setting up a semi-final match against Colombia which Argentina lost 2–0. Agüero represented Argentina at two FIFA World Youth Championships, winning back-to-back world titles. He was part of the team that won the 2005 edition in the Netherlands, alongside his future 2008 Olympics squad teammates Fernando Gago and Lionel Messi. At the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, held in Canada, Agüero 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. He 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. 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. Argentina went on to win its second consecutive gold medal at the Olympic tournament. At age 18, Agüero made his senior debut for Argentina in a friendly with Brazil, played at Emirates Stadium, England on 3 September 2006. A year later, he scored his first international goal in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Bolivia, and went on to score three more times as the Albiceleste successfully qualified for the finals in South Africa. Agüero taking on two Swiss players in an international friendly in 2012. Agüero was chosen for the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad, and made his FIFA World Cup debut in Argentina’s second group match against South Korea on 12 June 2010, replacing Carlos Tevez 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. Argentina, however, subsequently lost to Germany in the quarter-finals.
Match Worn Boots
Club Atletico de Madrid
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Often considered to be one of the best strikers in the world, Agüero is regarded as an all-out centre forward, but can also play as a second striker off another striker, which he often did at Atlético Madrid with Diego Forlán, due to his passing ability, tactical intelligence, and vision, which made him a capable assist-man. When asked to name the players who influenced his playing style, Agüero named former Brazilian striker Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Diego Maradona as the best players to have played the game, but said that the player who influenced his style of play the most was “the Brazilian Ronaldo”. Aguero has a diminutive figure with a stocky build, which has led to comparisons with former Manchester City teammate Carlos Tevez and past forwards such as Romário, Del Piero, and Diego Maradona. When both were on the same team, some pundits called Agüero Tevez’s heir apparent at City and others said that he was superior to his compatriot. His ex-manager at Manchester City, Roberto Mancini, has compared Agüero to former Brazilian striker, Romário, due to his pace, goalscoring ability, positioning in the area, and technique.[229] Although naturally right footed, Agüero is also capable of striking well with his left foot, and can finish well both inside and outside the area with his powerful and accurate shot. A prolific goalscorer, Agüero’s playing style is characterised by agility, acceleration and strength, being described as “sharp and clever” by former Argentine player Osvaldo Ardiles; a view which is shared by his international captain Lionel Messi, who believes Agüero possesses “immense power, strength and an incredible work ethic.” Combined with his close control, quick feet, dribbling skills, and strength to keep the ball, he has been described as “a menace in the box”. Despite his ability, Agüero’s playing time has often been limited by injuries throughout his career. Aguero‘s regular goal celebration features in the FIFA video game FIFA 17.