3rd December – Argentina U-20 World Cup winners 2007: Where are they now? (Part 1)

From Aguero to Acosta, and Piatti to Papu. The Argentine U-20 World Cup side was one to behold and be excited about for the future.

And with the squad now all having entered their thirties, we thought it would be good to see where the 23 exciting teenagers ended up and how their careers unravelled over the last 12 and a half years.

Goalkeepers:

Bruno Centeno – El Porvenir

One of the many unknown quantities in this squad, Bruno Centeno may have been the hardest one to dig out in this piece.

The third choice ‘keeper, playing for San Lorenzo at the time, has gone on to have a career vastly in his home country and never actually made an appearance for the U-20 side.

Since leaving his hometown club, he’s turned out for Almagro, Almirante Brown and Defensores de Belgrano before joining his current side El Porvenir, making 186 appearances across 13 years combined.

Javier Garcia – Racing Club

5ft”11 stopper Garcia has had a little more high profile career than his glove wearing colleague, even featuring for the senior side once in 2011.

Garcia, who featured for Boca Juniors and Tigre Matadores before arriving at Racing Club in 2017, didn’t feature in the tournament but still brought a medal back to Buenos Aires.

Sergio Romero – Manchester United

By far the highest profile of the three and current senior first choice, Romero has gone on to accumulate 96 caps for La Albiceleste.

Though one has to wonder what he could’ve made of his career if he wasn’t sat behind David de Gea on United’s bench.

After beginning his career at Racing Club and joining AZ Alkmaar in 2006, he has become one of Europe’s most sought after keeper’s twice. Once when Sampdoria swooped in 2011, and secondly when United crept under Liverpool and Arsenal’s nose to snap him up in 2015.

He’s established himself as the best number two in the league for a while, though fellow Argentine Paulo Gazzaniga may have staked his claim for that crown this season.

Defenders:

Matias Cahais – O’Higgins

Ah, one of South American football’s great journeymen.

Spending much of his professional career on the South American continent, Cahais has featured for Boca, Gimnasia and most notably Racing Club in his home country, whilst also moving to Chile, Colombia, Holland, Sweden and Mexico on his travels.

He scored twice in the South American Youth Championship in 2007 for the U-20s as the Argentine’s fell to Brazil, before featuring heavily as Cahais and his side went one better in the World Cup.

Federico Fazio – Roma

Speed is a key attribute to any footballer and their ability to get about the pitch – obviously it’s not the be all and end all though, as Fazio proves.

After beginning his career at Ferro Carril Coeste in Buenos Aires, Sevilla, then managed by Juande Ramos, signed him in January 2007, five months before the aforementioned tournament.

He made nearly 150 league appearances for the Andalusians before becoming one of Mauricio Pochettino’s first signings at Tottenham.

A poor returning loan spell to Sevilla succumbed his time in North London into nothing but a wasted prime, and it seemed like a career thrown down the drain – then came Roma.

Fazio was a man reignited in Serie A, and since joining permanently in 2017, has reached a Champions League semi-final, where they lost out 7-6 to Liverpool on aggregate.

Emiliano Insua (VfB Stuttgart)

Another key man in Argentina’s triumph, former Liverpool full-back Insua now turns out in Germany for VfB Stuttgart.

He made five senior appearances for Argentina, and played in the top divisions in England, Spain, Portugal and Turkey before making the move to Sud-West Deutschland in 2015.

Having come through the ranks at Boca Juniors, he never made an appearance – instead catching the eye of Liverpool scouts aged only 17.

He played seven matches in the World Cup 2007, in which his side conceded only four times.

Gabriel Mercado (Al-Rayyan)

Another product of the Racing Club youth system, Mercado is a somewhat unknown quantity on English shores despite his presence in Europe from 2016-2019.

Mercado made over 250 appearances for Racing, Estudiantes and River Plate before moving to Sevilla in 2016 – alongside Fazio for a short amount of time.

He now resides in Qatar with Al-Rayyan, and went on to play 24 times for his country, scoring four times.

Leonardo Sigali (Racing Club)

Its not coincidental that the Avellaneda-based side are nickname ‘La Academia’. However, Sigali is an exception to the rule, having joined in 2018 from Dinamo Zagreb.

He only made one appearance for the U-20 side, and Sigali’s career never really took off the way people believed it would when he moved to Villarreal in 2008.

Loan moves to Lanus and Godoy Cruz in between his European stints in Spain and Croatia have finally resulted in his return to Argentina with Racing Club.

German Voboril (Universidad de Concepcion)

Another one-cap wonder, Voboril is another who has never left Argentina since his youthful exploits in ’07.

One can’t help admiring his excellent trim and beard can they?

Voboril came through the ranks at San Lorenzo, making only 36 appearances in eight years, and has gone on to have spells with Newell’s Old Boys, Universidad de Catolica, and you guessed it, Racing Club.

He currently plays in Chile with Universidad de Concepcion – making one appearance since joining earlier this year.

Part Two will be out soon featuring midfielders and strikers – some big names already, but to be followed by bigger ones perhaps. Can you guess some?

There may be a hint in the opening line!

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