Champion of Seville: three Argentines join a brand started by Ardiles, Valdano and Maradona

Marcos Acuña, Gonzalo Montiel, Alejandro Gomez and Erik Lamela join the list of 41 Argentines who have won the european championship, the second-tier tournament in European football. The top three also became world champions just five months ago. AND Cheek Montiel, like that December 18, 2022 in Qatar, he converted the fourth and decisive goal of the series of penalties. In a quick review of the list, It never ceases to amaze that the three Argentines who won the old UEFA Cup were also champions, one in the first and two in the second. Also, two other players had previously won it and joined that exclusive roster.

The UEFA Cup was created in 1971 as an alternative to the international competition for non-champions and as a sort of successor to the Fairs Cup. The league winners played in the European Cup (now the Europa League) and the cup winners played in the Cup Winners’ Cup. The first champion was English Tottenham. In those 70s there were few Argentines playing in Europe.

Argentina won its first world title, as it is known, in 1978. Immediately the doors of English football opened. Sheffield United came to buy Diego Maradonawho was just 17 years old, but couldn’t do it because he was on the non-transferable list prepared by the coach Cesare Luis Menotti. So, the chosen one was Alejandro Sabella, who became the first Argentine player to be transferred to England. A few days later Julio Ricardo Villa and Osvaldo Ardiles, both world champions, and Claudio Marangoni left.

Of the four, only Ardiles has won the UEFA Cup, in 1984, six years after the title with Argentina. bones He was no longer a starter as in the first few seasons, but in the final second leg, played on 23 May against Anderlecht of Belgium, he came on eleven minutes from time. Both games finished 1-1 and Spurs celebrated after winning 4-3 on penalties. Only 164 characters were published by Clarín the following day: “Tottenham Hotspur became UEFA Cup champions, beating Anderlecht on penalties, 4-3, after drawing 1-1. Ardiles has reappeared in the England squad.” Other times.

Even the second star is known, Argentina won it in Mexico in 1986. Among the 22 champions there was already one who had won it twice: Jorge Valdano with Real Madrid. The striker was a two-time champion in the 84/85 and 85/86 seasons. He also had a double celebration just 55 days apart. On 6 May he is UEFA champion and on 29 June with the national team at the Azteca. Real beat Cologne in Germany 5-1 in the first leg (two goals from Valdano) and lost the rematch 2-0 in Berlin, where they won the Olympic return.

The other champion, three years later, was Diego Maradona with Napoli. One of the best-remembered moments from that 1988/9 UEFA Cup season was the warm-up for the semi-final against Bayern Munich, at the pace of Living is life. The song and those images have become a football anthem. The final was against German Stuttgart. In the first leg, at the San Paolo, Napoli won 2-1 with Diego’s goal from a penalty. The rematch was 3-3 and there was an Italian party in Germany.

Years went by, in 2009 UEFA restructured the competitions and the Europa League era began and of those 3 champions the list has grown to a total of 41. Of the new ones, two were champions in Qatar: Nicolás Otamendi, who had celebrated with Porto in 2011, and Angel Correa, champion with Atlético de Madrid in 2018. Both completed Argentina’s list of world and Europa League champions up until this Wednesday. Now three more have joined.

They were champions of the old UEFA Cup 13 other Argentines, of which only Néstor Sensini won twice with Parma (1994/95 and 1998/99). Subsequently, they celebrated once: Javier Zanetti and Diego Simeone (Inter, 1997/98), Jun Sebastián Verón, Hernán Crespo and Abel Balbo (Parma, 19898/99), Mauricio Pellegrino, Robert Ayala AND Paul Aimar (Valencia, 2023/04), Osmar Ferreyra (CSKA Moscow, 2004/05), Javier Saviola (Seville, 2005/06), Federico Fazio (Seville, 2006/07) and Alejandro Domínguez (Zenit Russia, 2007/08).

The only champion in the UEFA Cup and Europa League version was Fazio, who repeated himself twice with Sevilla (2013/14 and 2015/16). As in Seville he has already won it four times, Ever Banega celebrated three times (2014/15, 2016/17 and 2019/20) and Nicolás Pareja, two (2014/15 and 2015/16). Eduardo Salvio also scored twice, but with Atlético de Madrid (2008/09 and 2011/12). And with this consecration, Lucas Ocampos also adds two (2019/20 and 2022/23).

Meanwhile, they have won it once: Mariano Pernía, Maximiliano Rodríguez and Sergio Aguero (Atlético de Madrid, 2008/09), Fernando Belluschi and Mariano González (Porto, 2010/11), Diego Perotti (Seville, 2013/14), Mariano Barbosa (Seville, 2014/15), Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo (2016/17), Axel Werner, Augusto Fernández, Nicolás Gaitán, Juan Agüero and Luciano Vietto (Atlético de Madrid, 2017/18), Wilfredo Caballero and Gonzalo Higuain (Chelsea, 2018/19) and Franco Vázquez (2019/20).

Another world champion in Qatar remained at the door, because Roma’s only Argentine was Paul Dybala. Now, the seasonal brace will be in the Champions League final, on June 10 in Istanbul between Manchester City (Julián Alvarez) and Inter (Lautaro Martínez). But that’s another story.