Football Player's Biography 7: Sergio Agüero

Full name	Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo
Date of birth	2 June 1988 (1988-06-02) (age 22)
Place of birth	Quilmes, Argentina
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7¹⁄₂ in)^[1]
Playing position	Striker

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] He is married and has a son with Diego Maradona's daughter Giannina Maradona

Early life

Agüero was born in Quilmes, Buenos Aires on 2 June 1988 into a large family with seven children.^[4]^[5] His mother, Adriana, was a housewife, and his father, Leonel, was a taxi driver. Kun is the second child of the seven, but unlike his siblings Yesica, Gabriela, Maira, Daiana, Mauritius and Gaston, he took the name of his mother, Agüero, and not Del Castillo, the name of his father. Agüero started playing football at a young age and he often played on a pitch in his local neighbourhood, Villa Itali.^[2] He was quoted as saying that the best place for children to learn how to play football was on the street, and that doing so helped him in his own development.^[6]

Club career

Independiente

Sergio Agüero started playing for Argentine first division team Club Atlético Independiente, becoming the youngest player to debut in the Argentine First 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.^[2] His first goal for the club came in a 2–2 draw against rivals Estudiantes de la Plata on 26 November 2004.^[7] Agüero soon became a regular in the first team, earning a place in the Argentina squad for the U-20 World Cup in 2005.
Agüero'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.^[7] 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 cameras in April 2006 that he intended to leave the club at the end of the season.^[7]

Atlético Madrid

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.^[8]^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[13]
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.^[14] In March 2009, the duo of Forlán and Agüero scored a brace each in a 4–3 win over league leaders Barcelona.^[15] Agüero finished in the top ten runners for the Pichichi Trophy while his teammate Forlán won the trophy.^[16] 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.^[17] 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.^[18] 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.^[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.^[20] On 4 January 2010, 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.^[21] The following day he was named as the new vice-captain of Atlético, along with strike partner Diego Forlán.^[22]

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.

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.^[23] 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

Agüero is currently married to Giannina Maradona, the youngest daughter of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, whom he has dated since the end of 2007. On 19 February 2009, it was announced that Giannina had given birth to a son named Benjamín in Madrid.^[24] 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.^[25]
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. He also has a tattoo on his left arm with his son's name and date of birth