In Maradona’s footsteps

Published : Oct 18, 2008 00:00 IST

Sergio Aguero, who hit the big time in Argentina at the age of 15, is now thrilling the crowds in Spain after being snapped up by Atletico Madrid, writes Andy Hampson.

At 20, Sergio Aguero’s international career is still in its infancy, but his future seems bright and he is one of many youngsters to have been labelled with the magnificent — but undoubtedly burdensome — label of the ‘New Maradona’.

It is something all players inevitably fail to live up to but, as well as similarities in stature and playing style, Aguero at least has one extra strong link to the great Diego Maradona — he is engaged to his daughter.

Nicknamed ‘El Kun’ after a Japanese cartoon character, Aguero was born and had his schooling in Quilmes, Buenos Aires, and lived in the neighbourhood of Villa Itali. He was a football fanatic as a child — “I had always lived with the ball at my feet” — and soon came to the attention of Independiente. He broke into the first team in 2003 when he was 15 years and 35 days old, breaking the record of a certain Maradona.

Aguero went on to make 53 appearances for the club, scoring 23 goals, before Atletico moved in to take him to Europe for a club record 20 million euros in the summer of 2006. He made an immediate impression with a debut goal but his first season in the Spanish capital was otherwise unspectacular as he was often played out wide.

The sale of club hero Fernando Torres in 2007 facilitated the change as he was moved up front to partner Diego Forlan. The switch enabled him to assert himself and he netted 27 goals in all competitions last season.

Aguero caught the eye on the international stage last year with a tournament-leading six goals in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada, including one in the final victory over Canada. He was named Player of the Tournament and later FIFA Young Player of the Year. He was also a member of the squad that won the Under-20 World Cup in 2005. Aguero made his senior debut in a friendly against Brazil in London two years ago. He is yet to establish himself at this level but it seems only a matter of time. He played a crucial role as Argentina won the Olympic gold in Beijing this summer.

Little has gone wrong for Aguero during his meteoric rise to fame but, after breaking through so young, he had to learn fast how to cope with experienced players. Not surprisingly he was seen as an easy target for big defenders.

“There were some difficult times at first,” he said. “I was a lot younger and smaller than most of the players, so I had to learn how to avoid and dodge aggressive tackles.

“At times, especially in the beginning, I think I became a target for malicious tackles and so referees were forced to look after or protect me, or at least pay closer attention to intentional rough hits.

“But eventually I learned to avoid these rough tackles and improved so that I was able to anticipate and dodge injuries.”

Aguero has been dating Maradona’s 21-year-old daughter Giannina since they met at the end of last year. They were engaged in May and she is already five months’ pregnant. Maradona, a huge fan of the player, is reportedly delighted with the news. It has also been reported that the baby boy, when born, will be named Leonel — Aguero’s middle name — but this has not been confirmed by the couple.

When Aguero first arrived in Madrid the media and fan attention was so big, he claims, that it took him 15 minutes to reach the car waiting to pick him up. Since then his profile has only increased but still he chooses not to remain inconspicuous. He recently purchased a Mercedes Smart car — one of the world’s smallest road vehicles — for Giannina and paid extra to have it in her favourite colour ‘bubblegum pink’. Not being one of the range’s usual colours, the car had to be part dismantled and repainted at a cost of 4,000 euros.

FACTFILEName: Sergio AgueroPosition: StrikerClub: Atletico MadridD.O.B.: 02/06/1988Argentina senior caps: 3Argentina senior goals: 0Argentina debut: v Brazil, 2006Moment to remember

Aguero grabbed the headlines this summer with two goals for Argentina in a 3-0 defeat of fierce rivals Brazil in the Olympic semifinals in Beijing. Argentina went on to beat Nigeria in the final.

Moment to forget

Aguero and Atletico had one of their least distinguished nights last February when they were stunned by Bolton in the UEFA Cup. The Spanish side were beaten 1-0 at the Reebok Stadium and Aguero was sent off for spitting at Matt Taylor.

© PA Sport, 2008, All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, re-written, re-distributed or commercially exploited. Sportstar is not responsible for any inaccuracy in the material.

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