7th December – Argentina U-20 World Cup Winners: Where are they now? (Part 2)

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.

Midfielders:

Lautaro Acosta – Lanus

A name familiar to La Liga fans, Lautaro Acosta is now back at his hometown club Lanus – the club he played for in 2007 when winning the U-20 World Cup.

In a career severely plighted by injury, Acosta has only gone to make two appearances for the senior side in 2017 under Jorge Sampaoli.

He arrived in Sevilla in 2008, but after an injury early on, he never recovered from a serious injury suffered in his first season. He plateaued at ten appearances in one season, and only made 23 in total for the Andalusians.

Spells at Racing Santander and Boca Juniors preceded a move back to Lanus – where he has stayed since 2013.

Ever Banega – Sevilla

An ever-present in the 2007 side, Banega has gone to have a successful career in Europe after leaving Boca Juniors.

Spending six years on the books of Valencia, with spells in Madrid and with Newell’s before joining Sevilla in 2014.

In his first spell, Banega won two Europa Leagues under Unai Emery with defeats of Dnipro and Liverpool, before joining Inter Milan for a short spell in 2016/17.

He’s gone on to make 65 appearances for the senior side, not finishing runner-up in the World Cup in 2014 though after missing out on the final 23.

Angel Di Maria – Paris Saint-Germain

One of the major success stories of this side, Di Maria went on to become the most expensive Argentine ever.

After winning the tournament being part of a Rosario Central side, Di Maria moved to Benfica in 2007.

He would excel on Portuguese shores, allowing for a move to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid in 2010. His best performance came in the 2014 Champions League Final, where he put in a man of the match display as Di Maria destroyed the Atleti defence to seal ‘La Decima’.

He made the move to Manchester United in 2014 for £59.7 million, a then British record fee for a star ready for Louis Van Gaal’s revolution at Old Trafford.

It didn’t go as planned, with Di Maria leaving to join Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the 2014/15 season where he has remained since.

He’s scored 78 goals in 199 appearances for the Parisians, and even with the arrivals of Neymar and Mbappe, has flourished in deep purple and blue in a different role.

Damian Escudero – Cuiaba

A journeyman of sorts, Escudero is now with his ninth club at the tender age of 32.

Having began at Velez Sarsfield, he went on to have his only spells in Europe with Villarreal and Vallodolid in the late noughties.

Escudero’s peripatetic career has eventualised in a spell in Brazil with Cuiaba. The midfielder has the nickname ‘Pichi’, the same as his father Osvaldo used to don in his career.

Escudero never featured for the senior side, but did feature in both the U-20 World Cup and the Olympic Games.

Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gomez – Atalanta

Like a fine wine, the agile Argentine certainly gets better with age.

Gomez, after beginning his career at Arsenal De Sarandi, never actually played for the senior international side until 2017 – ten years after the triumph in 07, much akin to Acosta.

Spells at Catania and Metalist resulted in the diminutive midfielder arriving in Atalanta. He found himself being a catalyst in the growth of the Nerrazurri from being bottom half regulars to a Champions League side.

He was named club captain in 2017 following the retirement of Cristian Raimondi, and has become the talisman which the Bergamo-based side rely on for creative spark in recent years.

Maximilliano Moralez – New York City

A former teammate of Gomez at Atalanta, the 32 year-old Moralez is currently plying his trade in the Big Apple.

Like much of his U-20 teammates his youth career was predominantly at Racing Club, and made over 50 senior appearances for them until 2008, where he joined FC Moscow, a club now ceasing to exist.

During this time he made his only Argentina cap, featuring in a 4-1 win over Venezuela in 2011.

A spell at Velez Sarsfield preceded a move to Atalanta, before moving Mexican side Leon, then alongside David Villa and Frank Lampard at New York City.

He still plays for the ‘City football group’ owned team, making 77 appearances and scoring 23 goals as they go in search of their first MLS Cup title.

Matias Sanchez – San Martin

Another ‘La Academia‘ graduate of Racing, Sanchez didn’t feature heavily in the 2007 victory – but has had certainly one of the most interesting careers.

From lifting the Copa Libertadores in 2009, and now fast-forwarding ten years where he’s won an A-League title in Australia, played in the MLS and Greece too. However, he’s spent the majority of his career in his homeland and is now back there with second tier side San Martin.

His most successful spell probably came with Estudiantes between 2008-2013. Having won the esteemed Libertadores in 2009, he added to that with an Apertura title the following year.

Claudio Yacob – Nottingham Forest

The first English based player in the side, Yacob has spent the vast majority of his career in the Midlands after coming through at, you guessed it, Racing Club.

The hardened defensive midfielder arrived in West Bromwich Albion in 2012 after six years at his boyhood club, making his debut under Steve Clarke in a 3-0 win over Liverpool at The Hawthorns – a game in which he was awarded man of the match.

He left the Baggies after six years of service in 2018, joining Nottingham Forest, where due to injury and lack of form he has seldom featured.

Forwards:

Ariel Cabral – Cruzeiro

Having been listed as a forward on the side’s roster, Cabral has later dissipated into central midfield as his career has progressed.

After beginning at Velez Sarsfield, he went on to make just two appearances for the senior side under Luis Batista – both defeats, to minnows in comparison Nigeria and Poland.

And since 2015 he has been at Brazilian side Cruzeiro, where he formed a trio with former Football Manager wonderkids Lucas Romero and Giorgian De Arrascaeta, known as ‘La Banda’. He’s made nearly one hundred appearances for the Brazilian side, scoring just once.

Pablo Piatti – Espanyol

Long-term La Liga servant Pablo Piatti has often been compared as a BTEC version of Lionel Messi, who unfortunately didn’t feature in this side.

Piatti, a quick-thinking and skilful technician, has been in Spain since 2008 – playing for Almeria, Valencia, and now Barcelona’s Catalonian rivals Espanyol.

He’s hit 14 in 92 since moving to La Periquitos, but has only three in his last fifty and is likely to be moving on next summer.

Mauro Zarate – Boca Juniors

Again calling Football Manager fans to unite – what a player this lad was back in the late noughties – especially in his Velez days.

The winger come striker scored 28 goals in his first 99 games, resulting in a move to Qatar with Al-Sadd for a reported £13 million.

A loan to Birmingham City followed by a permanent move to Lazio the following season with a spell at Inter Milan sandwiched, before a return to Velez.

Since then he’s had spells at West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers, Fiorentina, Watford, Al-Nasr, and another loan at Velez before staying in Argentina with Boca Juniors.

Despite his illustrious career across the globe, Zarate’s only international matches were played at Under-20 level in this period. It was a successful one though, scoring the winning goal in the final against the Czech Republic in one of his two goals for the U-20 side.

Sergio Aguero – Manchester City

The biggest success story of this side, Argentina will be proud of their record-scoring, four-time Premier League winning, devastatingly clinical centre forward – who fittingly won the Golden Boot at this tournament.

He begun humbly at hometown club Independiente, hitting 23 in 54 games before a £20 million move to Atletico Madrid, a record sale for Los Diablos Rablos.

It was after the sale of Fernando Torres to Liverpool a year later and Aguero fresh from winning this tournament (and hitting six goals in seven) soon became the pivotal cog in a youthful exciting Madrid side alongside Diego Forlan.

Aguero won the Europa League with Atleti in 2010 after beating Roy Hodgson’s Fulham 2-1 after extra time, He assisted both goals for Diego Forlan.

A move to Oil-rich Manchester City followed a season later, and nobody could’ve predicted the success he went on and is still having with the Citizens.

It’s difficult to know how to summarise in few words, but the perfect way to begin must be with potentially the most iconic moment in Premier League history.

“We’re in to added time here, Balotelli, Aguero!”

The rapturous celebrations from the Etihad as the Argentine smashed in the winner against Queens Park Rangers can still be heard in alleys of Manchester, and have been nothing but amplified by the success of Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola.

Aguero’s dynasty at City was confirmed when he became the club’s all-time top scorer, and is continuing his world class record to this day with 244 goals in 353 games in his nine years at the club.

So there we are – an in-depth look at the 23 men who won the Under 20 World Cup with Argentina in 2007.

From Aguero to Acosta, and Piatti to Papu – it was certainly one of the greatest youth sides in modern times.