Juan Sebastián Verón | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Verón withEstudiantes de La Plata in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President ofEstudiantes de La Plata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 October 2014 – 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Enrique Lombardi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Martín Gorostegui | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President ofEstudiantes de La Plata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 April 2024 – Incumbent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Martín Gorostegui | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Juan Sebastián Verón (1975-03-09)9 March 1975 (age 50) La Plata, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Footballer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Juan Sebastián Verón (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈxwanseβasˈtjambeˈɾon];[A] born 9 March 1975) is an Argentine former professionalfootballer and current chairman ofEstudiantes de La Plata,[1] where he had served as Director of Sports.[2] In 2004, Verón was included in theFIFA 100 list of the 125 greatest living footballers, selected byPelé as part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. Verón has both Argentine and Italian citizenship. His nickname is "La Brujita"[laβɾuˈxita] (The Little Witch), a nod to his fatherJuan Ramón who was known as "La Bruja" (The Witch) and was also a championship winning player with Estudiantes.[3]
Amidfielder, Verón's career started in Estudiantes, continued in Argentina'sBoca Juniors, and included stints in several clubs in the ItalianSerie A (where he won theScudetto withLazio and withInter Milan, and aUEFA Cup withParma), and England'sManchester United andChelsea. In 2006, he returned to Estudiantes, where he remained until his retirement in 2014, aside from a brief spell withBrandsen. He announced his short return to first team football would occur in the2017 Copa Libertadores.
At international level, Verón obtained 72 caps forArgentina between 1996 and 2010, scoring nine goals. He represented his nation at threeFIFA World Cups, and2007 Copa América.
In 1993, Verón signed forEstudiantes de La Plata and in 1995 helped the team to return to theArgentine Primera División. In 1996, he joinedBoca Juniors, playing 17 games and scoring four goals, alongsideDiego Maradona. He made his international debut forArgentina againstPoland in the same year.Sven-Göran Eriksson signed him forSampdoria shortly afterwards.
In 1998, after playing for Argentina at the1998 World Cup, he signed forParma for £15 million. The following year, Parma won theCoppa Italia and theUEFA Cup. Eriksson then signed him again, this time forLazio 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 theEuropean Super Cup inMonaco.[citation needed]
In 2000, Verón was the driving force for Lazio as they captured theScudetto, theCoppa Italia and theItalian Super Cup, as he scored eight goals.[4]
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.[5] 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 grant him anItalian passport, which claimed an Italian, Giuseppe Antonio Porcella was Verón's great-grandfather Ireneo Portela.[6] Manchester United even inserted a clause in the transfer document for a possible ban.[7] In July 2002, he was called to appear before Italy's state prosecutor to answer allegations he illegally acquired an Italian passport.[8] Elena Tedaldi, the agent who helped Verón to get the passport, was jailed for 15 months,[9][10][11] but Verón himself and former Lazio chairmanSergio Cragnotti were acquitted in 2007.[12] It is because Verón also had Italian descent through another great-grandparent and it was Tedaldi who used the fake documents.[13]
After the 2000–01 season, he moved from Lazio toManchester 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, also becoming the first non-UEFA player to break the English transfer record.[14] On signing for Manchester United, he was quoted as saying that he had no fear of thePremier League.
Verón's first season atOld Trafford started well. In September 2001, he found the back of the net in three of Manchester United's four outings, including a goal and an assist in a 5–3 comeback win atTottenham Hotspur,[15] which ultimately led to him being awarded thePremier League Player of the Month.[16] But as the season progressed and fatigue settled in, his performances declined. He would have trouble adapting to the relentlessly faster pace of the Premier League, where he 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 theChampions League, where he excelled due to the slower tempo of the matches, scoring four goals, and was at the heart of United's successes in the group stages.[4] 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 managerSir Alex Ferguson in support of Verón: "[Verón] is a fucking great player" were his parting words. "And you're all fucking idiots."[17] However, fans and pundits alike agreed that the signing was an expensive flop.[18] Verón later commented that the reason for his fitness problems and struggles with injuries at Manchester United were due to the less intense summer pre-season training in England.[4]
WhenChelsea paid £15 million for him two years on, following the arrival ofRoman 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 managerClaudio Ranieri to make the move toStamford Bridge. His transfer fee to Chelsea was about half that of his record-breaking transfer of just two years before.[19]
Verón made an excellent start to his Chelsea career by scoring the opening goal in a 2–1 victory overLiverpool atAnfield,[20] but he fell away with injury problems as the2003–04 season progressed and made only 15 appearances for Chelsea.
The Times listed Verón's transfers to Manchester United and Chelsea among the 50 worst transfers ever in Premier League history.[21] His several big-money transfers made Verón, at the time, the most expensive footballer in history, with a cumulative total of £77 million.
WhenJosé Mourinho took over as Chelsea manager the following season, Verón was loaned out toInter Milan initially for2004–05, but he subsequently returned to Inter on loan for a further season. With Inter, he was part of the squad that won the2005 Coppa Italia,2006 Coppa Italia,2005 Supercoppa Italiana and also by default the2006 Serie A title afterJuventus were stripped of the title for amatch fixing scandal.
In mid-2006, Verón made it known that he wished to return to his native Argentina for the 2006–07 season. He received offers fromBoca Juniors andRiver Plate, but chose his boyhood clubEstudiantes, 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 theApertura 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 the2002 FIFA World Cup, but Verón was ranked among the top three players in the 2006 Argentine League by sports newspaperOlé.[22]
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 presidentNéstor Kirchner to kick-start the negotiations, which had been stalled by La Plata mayorJulio Alak.[23] Verón indicated that he may run for Estudiantes president in the future.
In July 2007,Kevin Payne, president ofMajor League Soccer clubD.C. United, met with Verón inBuenos Aires to discuss a possible transfer, but Verón decided to stay in Estudiantes.[24] Verón suffered from a string of minor injuries after his return from the2007 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.[25][26]
Veron's fitness improved in time for the 2008–09 season, in which Estudiantes reached the finals of theCopa Sudamericana and secured a place in the 2009Copa Libertadores.In 2009, he played in theCopa Libertadores for the second time, having seen Estudiantes eliminated in theround of 16 in the previous year by eventual championsLiga de Quito. After displaying his usual excellent level of play throughout the tournament, he found himself leading Estudiantes into thefinal 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 to 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."[27] 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 againstBrazil'sCruzeiro sealedel pincha's triumph.[28][29] Verón was chosen by visitors tofifa.com as the best player of the 2009 Copa Libertadores.[30]
Verón was twice electedSouth American Footballer of the Year (2008 and 2009) by Uruguayan newspaperEl País, a title that is cited worldwide.[31][32][33][34]
In December 2016, Verón returned to professional football, signing an 18-month contract to play for Estudiantes in the2017 Copa Libertadores. Verón had vowed to return if fans bought 65% of the boxes at the club's new stadium, and fulfilled that promise by signing an 18-month contract; he would be given a minimum salary that would go directly back to the club for everyday operations.[35] He made his first appearance for the club since coming out of retirement in a 1–0 friendly victory over Bahia in theFlorida Cup, in Orlando, on 15 January 2017, playing the first half, before being substituted.[36]
Verón was called up for the1998 FIFA World Cup in France, where Argentina was eliminated by theNetherlands in the quarter-finals following a 2–1 defeat; during the match, Veron set-upClaudio López's goal.[37] 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 the2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan, where Verón was regarded as a key player andcaptained the side in place of the injuredRoberto Ayala. Some fans held him personally responsible for Argentina's dismal performance, which included a loss toEngland and elimination in the group phase.
After then-national coachJosé Pekerman omitted him from the2006 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 of2007 Copa América. Due to injuries and Estudiantes's busy schedule, Verón did not feature in the immediate plans of national coachDiego Maradona, but was recalled to the Argentine squad as a second-half substitute in the 4–0 win overVenezuela on 28 March 2009, Maradona's first competitive game in charge of the national team. He also played in the starting XI in a2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier againstColombia on 6 June 2009 and was selected by manager Diego Maradona in the final23-man squad for the finals of the2010 FIFA World Cup.
Verón started Argentina'sfirst group match against Nigeria, and provided the assist forGabriel Heinze's goal. After missingthe match againstSouth Korea due to injury, Verón returned to the starting line-upagainstGreece 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 overMexico in the Round of 16, but did not feature during the quarterfinal loss toGermany.
On 26 August 2010, Verón retired from international football.[38] Nevertheless, Verón appeared again for Argentina in the 2011Superclásico de las Américas, a two legged, non-FIFA sanctionedexhibition, between Argentina andBrazil's domestically based players.[39]
In December 2012, Verón returned to Estudiantes to work as Director of Sports of the institution. In a press conference, club president Enrique Lombardi stated that Verón would not receive any remuneration for his work at the club.[2]
Verón is the eldest son of Argentina strikerJuan Ramón Verón, who scored againstManchester United for Estudiantes atOld Trafford in the1968 Intercontinental Cup.[40] He was born the day his father played a derby for Estudiantes against cross-town rivalsGimnasia y Esgrima. As a boy, Verón dreamed of playing for English clubSheffield 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!"[41]
His son,Deian, is a professional footballer.[42] His brother, Iani, also played football.[42]
Verón is considered by pundits to have been one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, as well as one of best playmakers in the world in his prime.[43][44] Verón was a talented, complete, influential and versatile midfielder, who usually functioned as aplaymaker; he was capable of playing both as anattacking midfielder and in thecentre, or even just in front of the defensive line, as adeep-lying playmaker, due to his awareness, ability to read the game, tackle and dictate the tempo of his team's play or orchestrate his team's attacking moves from deeper positions with his passing after winning back the ball, in addition to providingassists and creating goalscoring opportunities for teammates. He could also get forward and score goals and often functioned in a free role in midfield. A strong, athletic, tenacious, hard-working and physical player, in his prime, he was gifted with pace, good footwork and excellent technical ability, as well as outstanding vision, creativity, passing range and possessing a powerful shot from distance with either foot.[4][37][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52] During his time at Parma, he was also used in a moreadvanced role as asecond striker on occasion.[53] He was also an accurateset-piece taker, known for his powerful,bendingfree kicks with his right foot.[54][55][56]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Estudiantes | 1993–94 | Primera División | 7 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 1994–95 | Primera B Nacional | 38 | 5 | — | — | 3 | 1 | — | 41 | 6 | ||||
| 1995–96 | Primera División | 15 | 2 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 16 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 60 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 8 | ||
| Boca Juniors | 1995–96 | Primera División | 17 | 4 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 4 | |||
| Sampdoria | 1996–97 | Serie A | 32 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 34 | 5 | |||
| 1997–98 | Serie A | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 2[c] | 0 | — | 34 | 2 | |||
| Total | 61 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 7 | ||
| Parma | 1998–99 | Serie A | 26 | 1 | 6 | 3 | — | 10[c] | 0 | — | 42 | 4 | ||
| Lazio | 1999–2000 | Serie A | 31 | 8 | 4 | 0 | — | 11[d] | 2 | 1[e] | 0 | 47 | 10 | |
| 2000–01 | Serie A | 22 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 7[d] | 1 | 1[f] | 0 | 32 | 4 | ||
| Total | 53 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 79 | 14 | ||
| Manchester United | 2001–02 | Premier League | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13[d] | 0 | — | 40 | 5 | |
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11[d] | 4 | — | 42 | 6 | ||
| Total | 51 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 11 | ||
| Chelsea | 2003–04 | Premier League | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[d] | 0 | — | 14 | 1 | |
| Internazionale (loan) | 2004–05 | Serie A | 24 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | 10[d] | 0 | — | 39 | 3 | ||
| 2005–06 | Serie A | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9[d] | 0 | 1[f] | 1 | 35 | 1 | ||
| Total | 49 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 74 | 4 | ||
| Estudiantes (loan) | 2006–07 | Primera División | 30 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 30 | 2 | ||||
| Estudiantes | 2007–08 | Primera División | 18 | 7 | — | — | 8 | 2 | — | 26 | 9 | |||
| 2008–09 | Primera División | 18 | 3 | — | — | 24 | 2 | — | 42 | 5 | ||||
| 2009–10 | Primera División | 27 | 4 | — | — | 9 | 1 | 2[g] | 0 | 38 | 5 | |||
| 2010–11 | Primera División | 24 | 2 | — | — | 6 | 0 | 2[h] | 0 | 32 | 2 | |||
| 2011–12 | Primera División | 20 | 2 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 21 | 2 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Primera División | 22 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 22 | 0 | |||||
| 2016–17 | Primera División | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Estudiantes total | 219 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 281 | 33 | ||
| Career total | 483 | 61 | 24 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 137 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 657 | 78 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 1996 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997 | 8 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 13 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 10 | 3 | |
| 2001 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 72 | 9 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 July 1997 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco,Asunción, Paraguay |  Paraguay | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1998 World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 4 September 1999 | El Monumental,Buenos Aires, Argentina |  Brazil | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 29 March 2000 | El Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina |  Chile | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 3–1 | |||||
| 5 | 3 September 2000 | Estadio Nacional,Lima, Peru |  Peru | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 6 | 28 March 2001 | El Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina |  Venezuela | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 7 | 15 August 2001 | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa,Quito, Ecuador |  Ecuador | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2002 World Cup qualification |
| 8 | 27 March 2002 | Geneva, Switzerland |  Cameroon | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 9 | 20 August 2003 | Stadio Artemio Franchi,Florence, Italy |  Uruguay | 1–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
Estudiantes
Parma
Lazio
Manchester United
Inter Milan
Argentina
Individual
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