| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Federico Insúa | ||
| Date of birth | (1980-01-03)January 3, 1980 (age 45) | ||
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2002 | Argentinos Juniors | 114 | (16) |
| 2002–2003 | Independiente | 56 | (14) |
| 2003–2004 | Málaga | 31 | (3) |
| 2004–2005 | Independiente | 35 | (9) |
| 2005–2006 | Boca Juniors | 37 | (11) |
| 2006–2007 | Borussia M'gladbach | 32 | (2) |
| 2007–2010 | Club América | 30 | (5) |
| 2009 | →Necaxa (loan) | 16 | (2) |
| 2009–2010 | →Boca Juniors (loan) | 30 | (3) |
| 2010–2012 | Bursaspor | 24 | (1) |
| 2012–2014 | Vélez Sarsfield | 62 | (9) |
| 2014–2015 | Independiente | 18 | (2) |
| 2015 | Millonarios | 41 | (10) |
| 2016 | Argentinos Juniors | 14 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 2003–2010 | Argentina | 14 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021 | Aldosivi (Assistant) | ||
| 2021–2023 | Racing Club (Assistant) | ||
| 2024 | Guadalajara (Assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 1 January 2016 | |||
Federico Insúa (born January 3, 1980) is an Argentine retiredfootballer who played 14 times for theArgentina national team. Usually a playmaker, he is well known for his vision and technique.
NicknamedEl Pocho, Insúa grew up in a middle-class family inBuenos Aires.[1] He moved to the youth teams ofArgentinos Juniors from theClub Parque youth team, and debuted professionally on November 18, 1997.[2] After five seasons with the club, he transferred toIndependiente in 2002. After winning a local championship with Independiente, he moved to Spanishfirst divisionMálaga CF in 2003, but after only one unsuccessful season he returned to Independiente.[1]
At the beginning of the2005–06 season, Insúa again transferred, this time toBoca Juniors. He debuted for Boca in a 4–1 victory overGimnasia de Jujuy. Even though he had a slow start, he succeeded in becoming Boca's playmaker, helping the team to win two league titles and two international cups by the end of 2006.
On July 28, 2006, Insúa transferred for €4 million to GermanBundesliga sideBorussia Mönchengladbach, which hoped to fill a gap in its offensive midfield. The 26-year-old midfielder put pen to paper on a four-year deal. The Argentine international wore the number 10 shirt for Borussia.[1] On February 3, 2007, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a game againstArminia Bielefeld.
After the relegation of Borussia in the2006–07 Bundesliga, he was sold toClub América (Mexico) for US$7.5 million, for four years, with a salary of US$1,875,000 a year. He joined the squad on June 27, 2007. On July 27, 2008, Insúa opened the 1–0 score againstSantos Laguna on the first match of the Apertua 2008 season. In early January 2009 he was loaned toNecaxa, but he could not help the team avoid relegation.
On July 18, 2009, Insúa was loaned toBoca Juniors for one year. Once the loan finished, he signed withBursaspor to a two-year deal on June 17, 2010.[3]
Insúa returned to Argentina for the2012 Clausura, joiningVélez Sársfield. With Vélez he obtained his fourth Argentine league title (with three different teams) after helping his team to win the2012 Inicial, starting all 19 games and scoring once.[4] He also won with Vélez the2012–13 Superfinal and helped the team to a semi-finalist campaign in the2013 Copa Sudamericana.
In January 2014, the attacking midfielder returned to Independiente when the team was playing in thePrimera B Nacional. He signed an 18-month contract with the club.[5] He played few matches in the tournament mostly as a substitute and the team was promoted back to the first division at the end of the season. He couldn't gain a single minute of play with new managerJorge Almirón and in October 2014 he was fired by presidentHugo Moyano.[6]
At the end of 2014 Insúa was hired by Colombian teamMillonarios to start playing in the2015 Categoría Primera A season.[7]
Insúa debuted for theArgentina national football team in January 2003 and played for them on a sporadic basis over the following years.
| Argentina national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2003 | 4 | 0 |
| 2004 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005 | 1 | 0 |
| 2006 | 2 | 0 |
| 2007 | 2 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 2 | 0 |
| 2010 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 14 | 0 |