Sergio Augero

Sergio Leonel “Kun” Agüero del Castillo  born 2 June 1988 is an Argentine footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester City and the Argentine national team. On 5 July 2003, he became the youngest player to debut in the Argentine Primera División at 15 years and 35 days, breaking the record previously established by Diego Maradona in 1976. He plays with the shirt name Kun Agüero.

In 1991, when Sergio was three years old, his family moved to a small, simple house just outside of Los Eucaliptus, a shantytown bordering the districts of Quilmes and Bernal. It was in these fields that Sergio started to display signs of his talent with the ball – as years went by, they would manifest more clearly. Under Leonels watchful eye and Adriana´s strict stance on rewards and punishments, Sergio joined his first youth teams in different sports clubs of southern Buenos Aires – going down the same path that his father had treaded when he was a younger, in Tucuman.  He was part of that enormous seedbed of talent that urban Buenos Aires becomes every weekend, with thousands of children aiming to win the highly-contested annual tournaments. Kun knew to make a name of himself as a skilful and decisive striker in these competitions, garnering attention from scouts that saw a great future in the First Division ahead of him.

Sergio entered the youth system of Independiente of Avellaneda, then under the leadership of two long-standing members of that football club – “Mencho” Balbuena and Nestor Rambert. Each weekend, Kun enjoyed playing a new match with his team.    During his years in Independiente´s junior divisions, Sergio took part of many tourneys in his category countrywide – some organized by the Association of Football of Argentina -, and Kun never failed to impress. In 2001, Independientes junior team managed to secure the competition with a victory over River Plate´s squad, in a match played at Atlanta´s stadium. Little did Kun know that the year after he would be the youngest player to debut in the national senior First Division, being 15 years and 35 days old ? at a younger age than other Argentinean exponents as Diego Maradona, Carlos Tevez, Javier Saviola or Pablo Aimar, or world-renowned players such as Pele or Ronaldo. By then, the Agüero-Castillos had negotiated a contract for multinational agency IMG to represent their son.

In 2005, a year and a half later, Sergio had become a regular in Independiente´s main squad. His outstanding performance earned him a place in the Argentina national U-20 team, despite being 3 years below the cap, and then proceeded to win the U-20 World Cup hosted by the Netherlands. The final match against Nigeria was decided by a penalty awarded to Sergio and scored by Lionel Messi. Kun dedicated that victory to his friend Emiliano Molina, who had played with him throughout all his term in Independiente´s youth system and tragically passed away in a car accident during the World Cup. Shortly after returning to Argentina, he also chose to dedicate to his friends memory a superb victory in the local derby against Racing de Avellaneda, where Kun scored a goal that will remain in the annals of Argentinean football. Kun, just 17 years old but already the idol of the crowds, had to part from his beloved team in 2006 when he was transferred to Atlético Madrid for 23 million euros – a record-breaking figure for the country. He had played in Independiente for 54 local matches and 2 international events, having scored 23 goals (see Fact Sheet and Statistics). The club used the money they received from the transfer to remodel the Libertadores de America stadium, finally reopened in 2009.

After one season getting used to his new environment, Sergio Agüero managed to win the hearts of the colchoneros with his majestic performance, becoming a fan favourite. The stadium echoed with the war cry “Kun, Kun!” – showing the crowds recognised his flair and determination on the field. Sergio´s appearance on the FIFA U-20 World Cup of 2007 held in Canada was a key factor – he led the national team into winning another trophy, picking up the mantle left by Leonel Messi to be selected as best player and become the top goalscorer of the competition (see Honours). It was after this event that his performance in the Spanish team started to improve considerably. Then, in 2008, he was part of the Olympic team that took gold in the games hosted in Beijing. In May of 2010, Atlético Madrid took first place of the Europa League – the team´s first continental title in 48 years. A few months later, Kun joined the Argentina national team that played in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, debuting on the match against South Korea during the qualifying round. Back in Europe, he assisted Atlético Madrid in winning the UEFA Super Cup against Internazionale by scoring the second of the two goals that secured the match. During the Spanish football season of 2010-2011, Sergio scored 27 goals – reaching a total of 101 in his five seasons along with team. In July of 2011, he signed the transfer to Manchester City, for a record fee for the English team.

In July 27th of 2011, Sergio signed for Manchester City, and was set for his debut match with the Citizens on August 15th of that year, issued with the number 16 shirt. It was the first round of the Premier League, in a match against Swansea  the first and only Welsh team in the competition. Agüero came on as a substitute for De Jong in the 59th minute, and in just 10 minutes he had already proven his skill with a goal, an assist and  plays. During injury time, he scored a goal with a right-foot 30 yard strike, the fourth goal for the team. After this debut, Sergio stated that “this could be the beginning of something great”. And it was. On May 13th of 2012, Kun eked out the goal during injury time that allowed Man City to defeat QPR 3-2 and claim the title of the Premier League once more after 44 years.