The 2016 Copa America Centenario had the same climax as that of the 2015 Copa America and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Argentina stumbled at the last hurdle as they lost in the finals of these three tournaments. The nation's 23-year long wait for a major trophy is set to continue and the fact that Argentina haven’t won a major trophy in the last 23 years is totally flabbergasting.
Also read: What if the Seven Deadly Sins were footballers?
The nation never had a dearth of footballing talent as the likes of Alfredo Di Stefano, Diego Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta mesmerised stadiums and conquered the hearts of fans and even now, some of the very best players in world football are Argentinian internationals and this piece lists ten of the best Argentine forwards, who currently play at least club football.
#10 Leonardo Ulloa
Ulloa was born in General Roca and started his career with Comision de Actividades Infantiles in the second tier of Argentinian football. He played for Argentinian clubs San Lorenzo de Almagro, Arsenal de Sarandi and Olimpo de Bahia Blanca before moving to Spain in 2008 joining CD Castellon in the Segunda Division.
A couple of years later, Ulloa moved to Almeria and he was the top scorer of the Segunda division in the 2011-12 season. After spending three years with the Almerienistas, he moved to the Football League Championship with Brighton and Hove Albion.
The 2014 summer transfer window saw Leicester city break their transfer record to sign Ulloa for £8 million. He didn’t get enough game time as he would have liked in his second season with The Foxes, as Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki were ahead of him in the pecking order. However, Ulloa's goals were vital in Leicester's Premier League triumph.
Ulloa has never been called up to the national team, but maybe there is still time left for that to happen.
#9 Lucas Pratto
Pratto, who currently plays his club football for Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro, is a tall striker with excellent ball control and has incredible pace. He can play as a secondary striker and is really good when deployed in that role.
He started off his career at Boca Juniors and was loaned out to Tigre, Union, Lyn Football and Universidad Catolica. It was during his spell his spell with the Chilean side that he started making an impression and he won the Foreign Footballer of the Year award.
In 2011, Italian club Genoa secured his services and he had a good start to his career with the Rossoblu, but managerial changes in the club didn’t help his cause. Subsequently, he was loaned out to the Argentine club, Velez Sarsfield for the next season.
After Pratto’s impressive performances, the club signed him on a permanent deal. He won the Velez Sarsfield Player of the Year award in 2013 and 2014. He was the top scorer of the Argentine top flight and won the Argentine Footballer of the Year award in 2014.
Brazilian club, Atletico Mineiro came calling in 2014 December and his performances for the Brazilian club had earned him a place in the national side as he was called up for the World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela. He scored his first goal for Argentina against Venezuela.
#8 Luciano Vietto
The 22-year-old was once dubbed as the ‘next Sergio Aguero’ and is currently on loan at Spanish side, Sevilla. Vietto started his career at his hometown club, Independiente de Balnearia. He then joined the Argentine side, Estudiantes, but the club released him a couple of years later.
Racing offered him a lifeline and he spent four years of his career with the La Academia. He was handed his debut by none other than Diego Simeone, who was the manager of the club at that point in time, in October 2011.
After he had made his mark in Argentina, it was just a matter of time before he moved to Europe. Plenty of European clubs were interested in securing the services of the youngster, who has a lot in his arsenal including the ability to shoot with both feet, immense work-rate and sublime technique.
In the summer of 2014, he moved to Spain’s Villareal and after impressing by scoring 20 goals in 40 appearances for the club, he moved to Atletico Madrid. His first season with the club was a disappointment and Vietto will be hoping that his loan spell with Sevilla will help him rejuvenate his career. There is no reason why he can’t do that and hopefully, for Argentine football, the youngster will do justice to his talents and turn into a player to watch out for.
(Video courtesy: ScoutNationHD YouTube channel)
#7 Carlos Tevez
The 2004 Athens Olympics saw a 20-year-old Argentine striker finish as the tournament’s top scorer with 8 goals from 6 games and announce himself to the world. That performance triggered the biggest transfer in South American football till that point in time as Brazilian club, Corinthians signed him for a record deal.
Tevez learned his trade at the youth academies of All Boys and Boca Juniors and he began his senior career with the latter. He spent three years of his career at Boca winning numerous trophies. His stay in Brazil with Corinthians was relatively short as he moved to England with West Ham United just six months after his move to Brazil. During his time in South America, Tevez won various individual honours including three South American Player of the Year awards.
Tevez has played for both the Manchester clubs and has won the Premier League with both of them. After seven years in England, he moved to Italy to join Juventus. In June 2015, he returned to Boca Juniors and won the Copa Argentina and the Argentine Primera Division. Tevez has made 76 appearances for the national side and has scored 13 goals.
He has always been a key figure in all the clubs he has played and on his day, he was one of the best strikers in Europe.
#6 Angel Correa
Correa is someone whom Argentine fans would hope they can look up to in the future, as he is one of the brightest prospects of Argentine football. Correa’s childhood was far from happy as he lost his father and brother before the age of 12. He had the mental strength to recover from that and move to Buenos Aires to join San Lorenzo’s youth system.
He made his debut for the senior team in March 2013 and racked up 12 goals and 17 assists for them before moving to Spain with Atletico Madrid. He could make his debut only after a year as he had to undergo surgery to remove a heart tumour.
The 21-year-old is a skilful player who is hard to defend against and has a fine first touch. Correa has found the back of the net 11 times for Atletico Madrid and he scored at the Camp Nou last month helping his side to salvage a point.
The youngster has been called up to the national team five times and his solo goal came in the 7-0 demolition of Bolivia in an international friendly.
#5 Mauro Icardi
Mauro Emanuel Icardi Rivero is a player whom all the big clubs in Europe have their eyes on since his days at the Vecindario youth academy. Barcelona beat a host of clubs to secure his signature in 2007 and brought him to the La Masia academy.
In 2011 January, he moved to Italian side Sampdoria on loan and in May he decided to join them permanently to further his development. A year later, Inter Milan came calling and Icardi didn’t hesitate to move to the San Siro. Icardi has scored 58 goals in 111 outings for the club and has been the captain of his side since the 2015-16 season.
Also read: Mauro Icardi at war with Inter ultras, could be stripped off captaincy
The 23-year-old has had his own share of controversies, the most recent one being his criticism of a section of Inter fans in his autobiography. Icardi has made one appearance for Argentina, in a 2-3 defeat to Uruguay in 2013.
Icardi is a prolific goal scorer and makes up what he lacks in pace and acceleration with his clinical finishing and strength. He is on the radar of quite a number of clubs and it will be really interesting to see where he would end up after the next summer transfer window.
#4 Paulo Dybala
Dybala, who has inherited Juventus’s number 21 shirt from Andrea Pirlo, is an indispensable part of Massimilano Allegri’s tactical setup. The 22-year-old has drawn comparisons with Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Alessandro Del Piero and Roberto Baggio. He has an excellent left foot and is a versatile striker who can play as a false-nine or as typical number ten.
After spending his youth career and the early parts of his senior career at Argentine club, Instituto de Cordoba, he moved to Italian club Palermo in 2012. During his time with The Rosanero, he scored 21 goals and provided 16 assists. In June 2015, he moved to Juventus and had an excellent first season with the club as he finished as the club’s top scorer.
Dybala has made six appearances for Argentina, the first of which was against Paraguay in October 2015, but he is yet to score for the national side. One would feel it is just a matter of time before he does that and considering his immense potential and goal scoring record for his club, he could soon establish himself as one of the key figures in the Argentine national side.
#3 Gonzalo Higuain
Gonzalo Higuain, who moved to Juventus last summer for €90 million, is the most expensive South American footballer in history. He began his professional career at Argentine club River Plate after progressing through the club’s youth ranks.
In December 2016, Spanish giants Real Madrid secured his signature and he spent six years of his career at the Santiago Bernabeu scoring 122 goals and providing 56 assists in 264 appearances for the club where he won three La Liga titles and a Copa Del Rey.
He then moved to Napoli and won the Coppa Italia in his first season with the club. The 2015-16 season saw him setting a new record for scoring the most goals in a single Serie A season as he found the back of the net 36 times.
The 28-year-old who is also a French citizen, chose to play for Argentina and has scored 31 goals in 65 appearances. His ruthlessness in front of goal and ability to hold up the ball makes him one of the best strikers in Europe.
#2 Sergio Aguero
Aguero made his debut in the Argentine top-flight for Independiente at the age of 15 years and 35 days and broke Diego Maradona’s 27-year-old record of being the youngest debutant in the competition.
He spent his youth career at Independiente and broke into the senior team in 2003. After three years with the El Rojo, he moved to Spain to join Atletico Madrid. He became an integral part of Atletico's side and his partnership with Uruguayan striker, Diego Forlan was lethal.
Manchester City came calling in the summer of 2011 and subsequently, he moved to the blue half of Manchester. He has scored 147 goals in 219 appearances for the club and it was Aguero who scored the winner against QPR on the final day of the 2011-12 season that helped City win the Premier League.
He is the best striker in the Premier League and he would certainly have enhanced his reputation even more if it wasn’t for his injury concerns. He has scored 33 goals in 79 appearances for Argentina. He has won numerous individual honours including FIFA’s Young Player of the Year award in 2007 and Premier League Golden Boot at the end of the 2014-15 season.
#1 Lionel Messi
There was no doubt whatsoever about who would be number one in this list! Lionel Messi is the greatest player of his generation and arguably in the history of the beautiful game. He has won the Ballon d'Or 5 times which is a record.
Messi was a boyhood fan of Newell’s Old Boys and he joined the club’s youth academy at the age of six. When he was 10 years old, things took a turn for the worse as he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency.
Three years later, he was offered a lifeline as Catalan giants Barcelona offered to meet the expenses of his treatment. He moved to Spain and progressed through the youth ranks at the club and broke into the senior team.
Messi is the all-time leading scorer in La Liga and he holds numerous records such as scoring the most number of goals in a season and the most number of goals in a calendar year. He is Argentina’s leading goal scorer having scored 56 goals in 114 appearances.
The one summit that Messi has failed to conquer is putting an end to his nation's long wait for a major trophy, but one would feel he still has enough time left in his career to do so.
(Video courtesy: FEEL MY STYLE YouTube channel)
