Julián Álvarez (footballer)

Julián Álvarez (born 31 January 2000) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester City and the Argentina national team. Nicknamed La Araña ("The Spider"), he is known for his aggressive pressing, dynamic scoring ability, and link-up play. He was a member of the Argentina team that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He is often regarded as one of the best young footballers in the world.

Julián Álvarez
Álvarez playing for Argentina at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Julián Álvarez[1]
Date of birth (2000-01-31) 31 January 2000[1]
Place of birth Calchín, Argentina[2]
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Manchester City
Number 19
Youth career
2014–2016 Atlético Calchín
2016–2018 River Plate
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2022 River Plate 57 (23)
2022– Manchester City 28 (8)
2022 → River Plate (loan) 17 (11)
International career‡
2018–2019 Argentina U20 15 (2)
2019–2020 Argentina U23 7 (1)
2021– Argentina 20 (7)
Honours
Men's football
Representing  Argentina
FIFA World Cup
Winner2022 Qatar
Copa América
Winner2021 Brazil
CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions
Winner2022 England
Pre-Olympic Tournament
Winner2020 Colombia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:19, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 March 2023

Club career

River Plate
Álvarez with River Plate in 2019

Álvarez joined River Plate from Atlético Calchín in 2016, notably participating in the Generation Adidas Cup with the club's youth teams.[3][4][5] Prior to signing for River, Álvarez had trials with Boca Juniors and Real Madrid; scoring twice in five games for the latter in a youth tournament.[4][6][7] He was unable to join Real due to age restrictions.[4] Álvarez was moved into River Plate's senior squad under manager Marcelo Gallardo during the 2018–19 season, with his professional debut arriving on 27 October 2018 during a Primera División fixture with Aldosivi; he was subbed on for Rodrigo Mora with 26 minutes remaining of a 1–0 victory.[3][8][9]

Álvarez appeared late on during the second leg of the 2018 Copa Libertadores finals, with River beating rivals Boca Juniors.[3] Álvarez scored the first goal of his senior career on 17 March 2019, netting in a 3–0 league win over Independiente.[3] During the succeeding December, he scored in the 2019 Copa Argentina Final against Central Córdoba as River won 3–0 to secure the trophy In 2020, Álvarez netted five goals in six Copa Libertadores group stage encounters.

On 25 May 2022, Álvarez scored six goals for River Plate in an 8–1 win over Alianza Lima in the Copa Libertadores.[10]

Manchester City

On 31 January 2022, his 22nd birthday, it was confirmed that Álvarez had signed for Premier League champions Manchester City on a five-and-a-half-year contract, but with the player remaining at River Plate on loan until July.[11] He scored on his competitive debut on 30 July, where City lost 1–3 to rivals Liverpool in the Community Shield.[12] On 7 August, Álvarez made his Premier League debut after coming on as a substitute for Erling Haaland in a 2–0 away win over West Ham United.[13] On 31 August, Álvarez scored his first two Premier League goals in a 6–0 win against Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium.[14]

International career

In 2018, Álvarez was selected by the Argentina U-20s to train against the senior team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[15][16] In December, Álvarez was picked for the 2019 South American U-20 Championship.[17] In preparation for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, he scored the second goal against Saudi Arabia in what was a 5–0 victory, during a friendly tournament played in Spain. After that, he received a call-up from Fernando Batista for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in May 2019.[18] Four matches and one goal, versus South Africa, arrived for him in Poland.[3] Batista subsequently called Álvarez up for the Olympic Team in the succeeding September, which preceded his selection for the 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament; which Argentina won, with Álvarez scoring once (versus Venezuela) in seven matches.[3][19]

Álvarez made his debut for the Argentina senior team on 3 June 2021, in a World Cup qualifier against Chile. He substituted Ángel Di María in the 62nd minute.[20] On 29 March 2022, he scored his first international goal in a 1–1 draw against Ecuador.[21]

He was included in Argentina's World Cup Winning 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[22] On 30 November, he scored his first World Cup goal in a 2–0 win in the last group stage match against Poland.[23] Álvarez followed with a second World Cup goal on 3 December, when he scored in Argentina's 2–1 win against Australia.[24] He continued his scoring streak by adding two more goals in Argentina's 3–0 win against Croatia in the semi-finals, becoming the youngest player since Pelé in 1958 to score two goals in a World Cup semi-final at 22 years, 316 days old.[25][26] On 18 December, he was involved in Argentina's second goal as his team defeated France 4–2 on penalties after the match ended 3–3 in extra-time of the final to win the World Cup.[27]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 14 May 2023[3]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
River Plate 2018–19 Argentine Primera División 5110—1[lower-alpha 3]01[lower-alpha 4]081
2019–20 Argentine Primera División 7031205[lower-alpha 3]1—172
2020 Argentine Primera División 102311111[lower-alpha 3]5—259
2021 Argentine Primera División 3520——10[lower-alpha 3]21[lower-alpha 5]24624
2022 Argentine Primera División 171111008[lower-alpha 3]6002618
Total 7434833135142212254
Manchester City 2022–23 Premier League 28853219[lower-alpha 6]21[lower-alpha 7]14515
Career total 102421365244163316769
  1. Includes Copa Argentina, FA Cup
  2. Includes Copa de la Superliga, EFL Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
  4. Appearance(s) in FIFA Club World Cup
  5. Appearance in Trofeo de Campeones de la Superliga Argentina
  6. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  7. Appearance in FA Community Shield

International
As of match played 29 March 2023[28]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Argentina 202150
2022147
202310
Total207
Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Álvarez goal.
List of international goals scored by Julián Álvarez
No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition Ref.
1 29 March 2022Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo, Guayaquil, Ecuador7 Ecuador1–01–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification [29]
2 27 September 2022Red Bull Arena, Harrison, United States11 Jamaica1–03–0Friendly [30]
3 16 November 2022Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates12 United Arab Emirates1–05–0Friendly [31]
4 30 November 2022Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar15 Poland2–02–02022 FIFA World Cup [32]
5 3 December 2022Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar16 Australia2–02–12022 FIFA World Cup [33]
6 13 December 2022Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar18 Croatia2–03–02022 FIFA World Cup [34]
7 3–0

Honours

River Plate[3]

Argentina Olympic Team[3]

Argentina[3]

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: List of Players: Argentina" (PDF). FIFA. 29 November 2022. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2022.
  2. "Julian Alvarez". Club Atlético River Plate. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022.
  3. "Argentina - J. Álvarez". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  4. "Julian Alvarez: The ex-Real Madrid kid spearheading River Plate's Libertadores quest". Goal.com. 17 December 2020. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  5. "Álvarez: Llego al gol por consecuencia del juego". River Plate. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  6. "Se probó en Real Madrid, but later admitting to sopporting F.C. Barelona because of his idol, Lionel Messi - La historia del pibe al que Gallardo le dio la 9 de River para la Copa Libertadores". Clarín. 9 August 2018. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  7. "Se probó en Real Madrid, estuvo en el Mundial y el sábado debutaría en River". La Nación. 25 October 2018. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  8. "Ficha Estadistica de JULIAN ALVAREZ". BDFA. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  9. "Julián Álvarez, el 9 que hizo su debut en River". TyC Sports. 27 October 2018. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  10. "Future Manchester City Player Julian Alvarez Scores Six Goals for River Plate in 8-1 Win". 26 May 2022. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  11. "City sign Julian Alvarez from River Plate". Manchester City F.C. 31 January 2022. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  12. Hafez, Shamoon (29 July 2022). "Community Shield: Liverpool 3-1 Man City - Darwin Nunez seals victory". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  13. McNulty, Phil (7 August 2022). "West Ham 0-2 Man City: Erling Haaland scores twice as Man City turn on style". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  14. "Man City 6-0 Nottingham Forest: Erling Haaland scores another hat-trick in easy victory". BBC Sport. 31 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  15. "Es cordobés, hace siete años se fotografió con Messi y hoy entrenan juntos". Mundod Lavoz. 21 March 2018. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  16. "De 18 años - Julián Alvarez, el pibe argentino que jugó en Real Madrid y hoy es sparring de Lionel Messi". Clarín. 1 June 2018. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  17. "Convocados para el Sudamericano Sub 20". AFA. 22 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  18. "Lista de convocados para el Mundial". AFA. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  19. "La Selección Sub 23 jugará ante Bolivia desde las 19, en el estadio de Banfield". AFA. 3 September 2019. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  20. "Argentina v Chile game report". ESPN. 3 June 2021. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  21. "How many goals has Julian Alvarez scored for Argentina?". El Futbolero. 29 March 2022. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  22. "Lista de la Selección Argentina para el Mundial de Qatar 2022" (in Spanish). TyC Sports. 11 November 2022. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  23. "World Cup 2022: Poland 0-2 Argentina - South Americans top group after dramatic night". BBC Sport. 30 November 2022. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  24. "Argentina 2-1 Australia". FIFA. 3 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  25. "ARGENTINA VS. CROATIA HIGHLIGHTS - 2022 FIFA WORLD CUP". FOX Sports. 13 December 2022. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  26. de 2022, Por Newsroom Infobae13 de Diciembre. "Julián Álvarez, el doblete más joven desde Pelé". infobae (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  27. "A ground-breaking World Cup with a fairy tale ending". FIFA. Archived from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  28. "Julián Álvarez". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  29. "Ecuador vs. Argentina - 30 March 2022 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  30. "Argentina vs. Jamaica - 28 September 2022 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  31. "UAE vs. Argentina - 16 November 2022 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  32. "Poland vs. Argentina - 30 November 2022 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  33. "Argentina vs. Australia - 3 December 2022 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  34. "Argentina vs. Croatia - 13 December 2022 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  35. Murray, Scott (18 December 2022). "Argentina beat France on penalties after thrilling World Cup final – live reaction". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  36. Graham, Bryan Armen (11 July 2021). "Argentina 1-0 Brazil: Copa América final – live!". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  37. "Italy 0–3 Argentina: Messi and Di Maria shine in impressive Finalissima win". BBC Sport. 1 June 2022. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  38. "El 11 ideal del Sudamericano Sub 20 – Chile 2019 - CONMEBOL". www.conmebol.com (in European Spanish). 13 February 2019. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Julián Álvarez (footballer).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.