Juan Sebastián Verón

Juan Sebastián Verón

Verón lining up for Estudiantes in 2010
Personal information
Full name Juan Sebastián Verón
Date of birth (1975-03-09) 9 March 1975
Place of birth La Plata, Argentina
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
1993–1994 Estudiantes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1994–1996 Estudiantes 60 (7)
1996 Boca Juniors 17 (4)
1996–1998 Sampdoria 61 (7)
1998–1999 Parma 26 (1)
1999–2001 Lazio 53 (11)
2001–2003 Manchester United 51 (7)
2003–2007 Chelsea 7 (1)
2004–2006 → Internazionale (loan) 49 (3)
2006–2007 → Estudiantes (loan) 30 (2)
2007–2012 Estudiantes 107 (18)
2012 Brandsen 28 (7)
2013–2014 Estudiantes 21 (0)
Total 510 (68)
National team
1996–2010 Argentina 73 (9)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Juan Sebastián Verón (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxwan seβasˈtjam beˈɾon]; born 9 March 1975) is a retired Argentine footballer and the current chairman of Estudiantes de La Plata,[2] where he had served as Director of Sports.[3] Verón's career started in Estudiantes, continued in Argentina's Boca Juniors, and included stints in several Serie A clubs (where he won the Scudetto with Lazio and with Internazionale, and a UEFA Cup with Parma), and England's Manchester United and Chelsea. In 2006, Verón returned to Estudiantes.

In 2004, he was included in the FIFA 100 centenary list of the 125 greatest living footballers, selected by Pelé as part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. Verón has both Argentine and Italian citizenship. His nickname is La Brujita [la βɾuˈxita] (The Little Witch), a nod to his father Juan Ramón who was known as La Bruja (The Witch) and was also a championship winning player with Estudiantes.[4]

Biography

Juan Sebastián Verón is the eldest son of former Argentina striker Juan Ramón Verón, who scored against Manchester United for Estudiantes at Old Trafford in the 1968 Intercontinental Cup. He was born the day his father played a derby for Estudiantes against cross-town rivals Gimnasia y Esgrima. As a boy, Verón dreamed of playing for English club Sheffield United, as his uncle, Pedro Verde, played for the club at the time. When his son started to play professionally, his father tried to persuade one of his former clubs Panathinaikos to sign him. However, after a short trial with them, they finally decided that he was not good enough for their team. After his transfer to Manchester United, Verón said, "So there I was hoping to play for Sheffield United and here I am at Manchester United!"[5]

In 1993, Verón signed for Estudiantes de La Plata and in 1995 helped the team to return to the Argentine Primera División. In 1996, he joined Boca Juniors, playing 17 games and scoring three goals, alongside Diego Maradona. He made his international debut for Argentina against Poland in the same year. Sven-Göran Eriksson signed him for Sampdoria shortly afterwards.

Italian triumphs and passport controversy

In 1998, after playing for Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, he signed for Parma in a £15-million deal. The following year, Parma won the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup. Eriksson then signed him again, this time for Lazio in an £18.1-million deal, with Verón reportedly netting a weekly wage of £48,000. He made his debut for Lazio in the Italian side's 1–0 victory over Manchester United in the European Super Cup, in Monaco.

In 2000, Verón was the driving force for Lazio as they captured the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia and the Italian Super Cup.

But in February 2000 he was under investigation by Italian police for a possible fake Italian passport in order to avoid the non-EU quota. However, the charge was cleared by FIGC in June 2001, because his passport really had been issued by Italian officials, and he avoided a ban.[6] However, a new controversy was exposed that Verón and his agent may have used fake documents submitted to the Italian government in order to allege to the government that Verón had Italian descent and granted him an Italian passport, which claimed an Italian, Giuseppe Antonio Porcella was Verón's great grand father Ireneo Portela.[7] Manchester United even inserted a clause in the transfer document for a possible ban.[8] In July 2002, he was called to appear before Italy's state prosecutor to answer allegations he illegally acquired an Italian passport.[9] Elena Tedaldi, the agent who helped Verón to get the passport, was jailed for 15 months,[10][11] but Verón and Sergio Cragnotti, former Lazio president were acquitted in 2007.[12] It is because Verón also had Italian descent through another great-grand parent, and it was Tedaldi who used the fake documents.[13]

Spell in England

After the 2000–01 season, he moved from Lazio to Manchester United on 12 July for a fee of £28.1 million on a five-year deal, the most expensive transfer in English football at that time.[14] On signing for Manchester United, he was quoted as saying that he had no fear of the Premiership.

His spell at Old Trafford was not a great success. He had trouble adapting to the faster pace of the Premiership and was not allowed the same space and time on the ball. There was plenty of pressure on him at the start of his second season at Old Trafford and his performances did improve considerably, especially in the Champions League, where he scored four goals and was at the heart of United's successes in the group stages. However, injury meant that he missed much of the end of the season. Questions over his performance led to an expletive laden tirade against the media by manager Sir Alex Ferguson in support of Verón: "[Verón] is a fucking great player" were his parting words. "And you're all fucking idiots.".[15] However, fans and pundits alike agreed that the signing was an expensive flop.[16]

When Chelsea paid £15 million for him two years on following the arrival of Roman Abramovich, Verón claimed that he wanted to stay and fight for his place at Old Trafford but Ferguson was willing to let Chelsea talk to him and he was eventually convinced by then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri that his future lay at Stamford Bridge, where he had much to prove. His transfer fee to Chelsea was about half that of his record-breaking transfer of just two years before.

Verón made an excellent start to his Chelsea career by scoring the opening goal in a 2–1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield,[17] but he fell away with injury problems as the 2003–04 season progressed and made only 15 appearances for Chelsea.

The Times listed Verón's transfers to Manchester United and Chelsea amongst the 50 worst transfers ever in Premiership history.[18] His several big-money transfers made Verón then the most expensive footballer in history with a cumulative total of £77 million at that time.

Return to Italy

Verón in training for Internazionale.

When José Mourinho took over as Chelsea manager the following season, Verón was loaned out to Internazionale initially for 2004–05, but he subsequently returned to Inter on loan for a further two seasons. With Inter, he was part of the squad that won the 2005 Coppa Italia, 2006 Coppa Italia, and also by default the 2006 Serie A title after Juventus were stripped of the title for a match fixing scandal.

Returning home

Verón & Roberto Rosetti '(right) during the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup.
Verón warming up before the semi-final of the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup.

In mid-2006, Verón made it known that he wished to return to his native Argentina for the 2006–07 season. He received offers from Boca Juniors and River Plate, but chose his boyhood club Estudiantes de La Plata, of whom he is a declared fan and has made significant donations in the past to upgrade the club training facilities. Chelsea agreed to loan Verón to Estudiantes for a season, until the end of his contract with the English club. On 13 December 2006, he helped Estudiantes win the Apertura 2006 tournament, its first in 23 years, in a final play-off match final over Boca Juniors. Some rival fans booed him, arguably dating back to his sub-par performances during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but Verón was ranked among the top three players in the 2006 Argentine League by sports newspaper Olé.[19]

Following his donations to the club's training grounds, Verón was a decisive factor in the agreement with La Plata city hall to update Estudiantes' historic stadium to modern standards. Verón personally engaged then Argentine president Néstor Kirchner to kick-start the negotiations, which had been stalled by La Plata mayor Julio Alak.[20] Verón indicated that he may run for Estudiantes president in the future.

In July 2007, Kevin Payne, president of Major League Soccer club D.C. United, met with Verón in Buenos Aires to discuss a possible transfer, but Verón decided to stay in Estudiantes.[21] Verón suffered from a string of minor injuries after his return from the 2007 Copa América, and missed a number of important games during the 2007–08 season. In early 2008, several football personalities chose Verón as the best player in the Argentine league.[22][23]

Veron's fitness improved in time for the 2008–09 season, in which Estudiantes reached the finals of the Copa Sudamericana and secured a place in the 2009 Copa Libertadores. In 2009, he played in the Copa Libertadores for the second time, having seen Estudiantes eliminated in the round of 16 in the previous year by eventual champions Liga de Quito. After displaying his usual excellent level of play throughout the tournament, he found himself leading Estudiantes into the final for the first time since 1971. The Copa Libertadores has long been a special competition for Estudiantes and its fans, ever since the team won three consecutive titles from 1968–1970 with Verón's father playing a key role on the left wing. Verón certainly shared this affinity for the most prestigious title in the American continent, as evidenced by his declaration before the final: "I would trade everything I've won for this title."[24] His dream came true as Estudiantes won the final, after an aggregate of 2–1. A 0–0 tie in La Plata and a dramatic 2–1 win away in Belo Horizonte against Brazil's Cruzeiro sealed el pincha's triumph.[25][26] Verón was chosen by visitors to fifa.com as the best player of the 2009 Copa Libertadores.[27]

Verón was twice elected South American Footballer of the Year (2008 and 2009) by Uruguayan diary El País, a title that is cited worldwide.[28][29][30][31]

Argentine national team

Verón was called up for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, where Argentina was eliminated by the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. A rumour (never confirmed) that Verón had failed an internal doping test, and allegations of laziness hampered his relationship with the media and fans. He was called up again for the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, where Verón was regarded as a key player and captained the side in place of the injured Roberto Ayala. Some fans held him personally responsible for Argentina's dismal performance, which included a loss to England and elimination in the group phase.

After then-national coach José Pekerman omitted him from the 2006 World Cup squad, his replacement, Alfio Basile recalled Verón to the national squad in February 2007, based on his performance in Estudiantes's 2006 championship team. Verón was a starter in the Argentine team that reached the final of Copa América 2007. Due to injuries and Estudiantes's busy schedule, Verón did not feature in the immediate plans of national coach Diego Maradona, but was recalled to the Argentine squad as a second-half substitute in the 4–0 win over Venezuela on 28 March 2009, Maradona's first competitive game in charge of the national team. He also played in the starting XI in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Colombia on 6 June 2009 and was selected by manager Diego Maradona in the final 23-man squad for the finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Verón started Argentina's first group match against Nigeria, and provided the assist for Gabriel Heinze's goal. After missing the match against South Korea due to injury, Verón returned to the starting line-up against Greece and played the full 90 minutes as Argentina won 2–0. He came on as a substitute for Carlos Tévez in the 69th minute in Argentina's 3–1 victory over Mexico in the Round of 16, but did not feature during the quarterfinal loss to Germany.

On 26 August 2010, Verón retired from international football.[32] Nevertheless, Verón appeared again for Argentina in the 2011 Superclásico de las Américas, a two legged, non-FIFA sanctioned exhibition, between Argentina and Brazil's domestically-based players.[33]

Retirement

In December 2012, Verón returned to Estudiantes to work as Director of Sports of the institution. In a press conference, the president of the club, Enrique Lombardi, stated that Verón will not receive any remuneration for his work at the club.[3]

Style of play

Verón was a complete and versatile midfielder; he was gifted with excellent technical ability, vision and passing range, as well as a powerful shot from distance. He was also a strong, tenacious, influential, hardworking, and physical player.[34]

Career statistics

Club

[35][36][37][38][39][40]

Club performance League Cup Other Continental[nb 1] Total
ClubSeasonDivision AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Estudiantes 1993–94 Primera División 70——1080
1994–95 Primera B Nacional 385——31416
1995–96 Primera División 152——10162
Boca Juniors 1995–96 Primera División 174——00174
Sampdoria 1996–97 Serie A 32520——345
1997–98 29230—20342
Parma 1998–99 Serie A 26163—100424
Lazio 1999–2000 Serie A 31840—1224710
2000–01 223201071324
Manchester United 2001–02 Premier League 2651000130405
2002–03 2521050114426
Chelsea 2003–04 Premier League71001060141
Internazionale (loan) 2004–05 Serie A 24350—100393
2005–06 250001190351
Estudiantes (loan) 2006–07 Primera División 302———302
Estudiantes 2007–08 Primera División 187——82269
2008–09 183——242425
2009–10 274—2091385
2010–11 242——80322
2011–12 202——10212
Career total 461612431011351363078

International

[41]

Argentina senior team
YearAppsGoals
199620
199781
1998130
199941
2000103
200182
200261
200351
200400
200500
200600
200750
200810
200960
201050
Total739

Honours

Estudiantes
Parma
Lazio
Manchester United
Internazionale

Individual

Notes

  1. ↑ Includes 1999 UEFA Super Cup (1 match) and 2010 Recopa Sudamericana (2 matches).

References

  1. ↑ "Juan Sebastián Verón profile". Sky Sports.
  2. ↑ "Verón arrasó y se convirtió en el nuevo presidente", Clarín, 4 Oct 2014
  3. 1 2 "Verón volvió a Estudiantes", Clarín, 10 December 2012
  4. ↑ La Brujita nació en un clásico (Spanish)
  5. ↑ 'My uncle played for Sheffield United' The Guardian. 2 March 2003.
  6. ↑ Kennedy, Frances (28 June 2001). "Players banned over false passport scandal". The Independent (London). Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  7. ↑ Kuper, Simon (15 July 2001). "The £28m show pony". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  8. ↑ Buckley, Kevin (13 October 2001). "Football Focus: United's `safety-net' clause in Veron deal". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  9. ↑ "Veron faces passport charges". BBC Sport. 2 July 2002. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  10. ↑ King, Dan (24 October 2009). "DAN KING: So who got the Alonso millions at Liverpool?". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  11. ↑ "Raids linked to Italian passport probe". journallive. 14 July 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  12. ↑ "Verón y ex presidente de la Lazio absueltos por pasaportes falsos". EMOL (in Spanish). 23 February 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  13. ↑ "Lazio: La vera storia del passaporto di Veron" (in Italian). ju29ro.com. 10 May 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  14. ↑ "Veron seals £28.1m Man Utd move". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 12 July 2001. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  15. ↑ Taylor, Daniel (7 May 2002). "Ferguson rages at Verón critics". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  16. ↑ http://www.manutdtalk.com/sir-alex-ferguson-5-worst-signings/296/
  17. ↑ "Hasselbaink sinks Liverpool". BBC. 17 August 2003. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  18. ↑ Edgar, Bill (18 July 2007). "The 50 worst transfers". The Times (London). Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  19. ↑ "Nunca pensé en renunciar a la Selección" (in Spanish). Olé. 3 November 2006.
  20. ↑ "La radiografía del peor momento del fútbol argentino". Lanacion.com. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
  21. ↑ Ole (Spanish)
  22. ↑ Ole (Spanish)
  23. ↑ Ole (Spanish)
  24. ↑ Ole (Spanish)
  25. ↑ "Cruzeiro 1 – 2 Estudiantes La Plata". ESPN. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  26. ↑ "Juan Sebastián Verón leads Estudiantes to Copa Libertadores triumph". The Guardian (London). 16 July 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  27. ↑ fifa.com (Spanish)
  28. ↑ corrieredellosport.it (Italian)
  29. ↑ "soccerway". soccerway. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  30. ↑ "Verón fue reelecto como el Rey de América – Diario EL PAIS – Montevideo – Uruguay". Ovaciondigital.com.uy. 30 December 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  31. ↑ Argentina (31 December 2009). "Estudiantes Star Juan Sebastian Veron Named South American Player of 2009". Goal.com. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  32. ↑ "Legend Juan Sebastián Verón Retires From Argentina". Bleacher Report. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  33. ↑ "Veron and Riquelme given recall". ESPN Soccernet. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  34. ↑ "MEMENTO - Juan Sebastian Veron, la "Bruja" del pallone". Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  35. ↑ Veron career stats. Football Database.eu. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  36. ↑ Veron Argentinian stats, Futbolxxi. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  37. ↑ Veron statistics (from 2005 and onwards). Soccerway.com. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  38. ↑ Veron Serie A stats, LegaSerieA.it Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  39. ↑ Veron English stats. Soccerbase.com. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  40. ↑ Veron UEFA stats. UEFA.com. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  41. ↑ "Juan Sebastián Verón". National Football Teams. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  42. ↑ "FIFA Technical Study Group designates MasterCard All-Star Team". FIFA.com. 10 July 1998. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  43. ↑ "World Cup 1998". Planetworldcup.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  44. ↑ "A Verón le preocupa la Selección". Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  45. ↑ "South American Team of the Year". 16 January 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  46. ↑ "El Virrey". Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  47. ↑ "FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2009 – AWARDS". Retrieved 8 April 2015.

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