Javier Pastore

Personal information
Full name	Javier Matías Pastore
Date of birth	(1989-06-20) 20 June 1989 (age 23)
Place of birth	Córdoba, Argentina
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Paris Saint-Germain
Number	27
Youth career
2002–2007	Talleres
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2007–2008	Talleres	5	(0)
2008–2009	Huracán	31	(8)
2009–2011	Palermo	69	(14)
2011–	Paris Saint-Germain	33	(13)
National team‡
2010–	Argentina	13	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7:38, 20 May 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:44, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

Javier Matías Pastore (born 20 June 1989) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Argentina national football team as an attacking midfielder.

He started his career with Talleres and then Huracán in his native Argentina before moving to Serie A team Palermo in 2009 for a fee of reported €4.7 million.^[1] In 2011 Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain bought him for a reported €39.8 million.^[1]

Club career[link]

Early life[link]

Javier Pastore started his career in the youth system of the Argentine club Talleres. Pastore slowly worked his way up to the first team. In 2007, he made his debut in the Argentine second division under the wing of manager Ricardo Gareca. In 2007, he only managed to play five games.

Huracán[link]

During the 2008 season, he was loaned to Huracán of the Argentine Primera. Pastore made his professional debut for Huracán on 24 May 2008 in a 1–0 loss with River Plate. In the 2009 Clausura championship, he established himself as a regular first team player for the club under the management of Ángel Cappa. This was his breakthrough tournament, where his side narrowly missed out on the championship title. His performance against River Plate was particularly lauded where he opened the scoring with a 25-yard shot and then scored again with a piece of individual brilliance helping Huracán win 4–0 in the club's biggest win against River Plate in over 60 years. He ended up as the team's top scorer with seven goals and three assists. Pastore and teammate Matías De Federico were integral to Huracán's title challenge that season.

Palermo[link]

On 11 July 2009 Palermo formally announced the signing of Pastore for five years until 30 June 2014, with the transfer fee being about €4.7 million.^[1][2][3] Before his move to Palermo, the player was also linked to number of other top European clubs, including Manchester United, FC Porto, AC Milan, and Chelsea.^[4]

His debut was on 15 August in the Coppa Italia, while his debut in Serie A was eight days later. His breakthrough game was on 4 October against Juventus, when he assisted Edinson Cavani's goal in a 2–0 win, appearing in all the websites and national newspapers. He scored his first Serie A goal on 30 January 2010 in a 2–4 away defeat to Bari. In his first season at Palermo, Pastore proved himself as being a promising but inexperienced youngster, playing mostly as a second half substitute under head coaches Walter Zenga and, later, Delio Rossi.

He then established himself as a regular under the tutelage of Rossi, playing usually in a role behind the regular striking duo of Fabrizio Miccoli and Edinson Cavani. Thanks to his performances, all praised by fans and pundits, Palermo finished off the season in 5th place, qualifying for the Europa League. In the 2010–11 season, on 14 November, Pastore scored his first career hat-trick in a derby match against Catania.^[5] On 30 July 2011, Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini revealed that a fee had been agreed over Javier Pastore's transfer to PSG.^[6]

Paris Saint-Germain[link]

On 6 August 2011, Paris Saint-Germain formally announced the signing of Pastore, wearing the number 27.^[7] The transfer fee throughout was €39.8 million.^[1] However due to third-party ownership by his agent Marcelo Simonian, which would received €12.5 million (not known it included agent fee or not)^[1] and Palermo announced through its website, said the club only received €22.8 million.^[8]

The president of Palermo, Maurizio Zamparini, had started the legal action,^[1] despite FIGC did not allowed any Italian club formed any agreement with third parties, which Zamparini risked a sports punishment for himself.^[9] He scored his first goal in Ligue 1 match against Stade Brestois 29 in a 1-0 win

International career[link]

Following a string of good performances in his first season at Italian Serie A level, Argentina head coach Diego Maradona called up Pastore for national squad duty against a Catalan representative team for an unofficial friendly game on 22 December 2009. Pastore made his debut as a second half substitute scoring a goal in the process. As the game was not a FIFA recognised representative game, Pastore did not receive a cap.

He was subsequently called up by Maradona again for a friendly game against Germany, but did not get onto the pitch. His official debut was against Canada on 25 May 2010. Pastore was included by Maradona in Argentina's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[10] On 22 June, Pastore made his World Cup debut when he came on the pitch in the 77th minute against Greece, replacing Sergio Agüero. Argentina won the match 2–0.^[11] On 27 June, he was again substituted on against Mexico in the 87th minute, this time replacing Maxi Rodríguez. Argentina won the match 3–1.^[12]

Honours[link]

Individual[link]

• Serie A Young Footballer of the Year: 2010

Career statistics[link]

As of 1 June 2012.^[13]

International goals[link]

Argentina's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	22 December 2009	Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain	Catalonia	1 – 2	2 – 4	Unofficial Friendly

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pastore's Website
• Sky Sports Profile
• ESPN Soccernet Profile

Argentina squads v t e Argentina squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Pozo 2 Demichelis 3 C. Rodríguez 4 Burdisso 5 Bolatti 6 Heinze 7 Di María 8 Verón 9 Higuaín 10 Messi 11 Tévez 12 Garcé 13 Samuel 14 Mascherano (c) 15 Otamendi 16 Agüero 17 Gutiérrez 18 Palermo 19 Milito 20 M. Rodríguez 21 Andújar 22 Romero 23 Pastore Coach: Maradona v t e Argentina squad – 2011 Copa América 1 Carrizo 2 Garay 3 Zabaleta 4 Burdisso 5 Cambiasso 6 G. Milito 7 di María 8 Zanetti 9 Higuaín 10 Messi 11 Tévez 12 Andújar 13 Pareja 14 Mascherano (c) 15 Biglia 16 Agüero 17 Rojo 18 Pastore 19 Banega 20 Gago 21 Lavezzi 22 D. Milito 23 Romero Coach: Batista

Marek Hamšík

Personal information
Full name	Marek Hamšík
Date of birth	(1987-07-27) 27 July 1987 (age 24)
Place of birth	Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Napoli
Number	17
Youth career
2001–2002	Jupie Podlavice
2002–2004	Slovan Bratislava
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004	Slovan Bratislava	6	(1)
2004–2007	Brescia	65	(10)
2007–	Napoli	180	(50)
National team‡
2003–2004	Slovakia U-17	6	(3)
2005–2006	Slovakia U-19	6	(1)
2006–2007	Slovakia U-21	2	(0)
2007–	Slovakia	54	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 31 May 2012

Marek Hamšík (born 27 July 1987) is a Slovak football midfielder who currently plays for Serie A club S.S.C. Napoli and captains the Slovakia national team.

Club career[link]

Early career[link]

Despite the fact that Hamšík grew up in Banská Bystrica, he never played for major local team Dukla Banská Bystrica. Instead he began playing for a small youth team Jupie Podlavice.^[1] In 2002, he signed with a major Slovak team Slovan Bratislava. He played once for the Slovan A-team and scored a goal.

He moved from Slovan to Brescia in 2004 as a 17 year old young talent at a transfer fee of €500,000.^[2] His first match in Serie A with Brescia was against Chievo Verona on 20 March 2005 when he was 17 years and 237 days old.^[2] Later in that season, Brescia finished 19th in the Serie A league and were relegated to the Serie B. In 2005–06, he played 24 league matches for Brescia in Serie B, with Brescia finishing tenth. He had an impressive 2006–07 season, scoring 10 goals in 40 matches.

Napoli[link]

Hamšík playing for Napoli

On 28 June 2007 newly-promoted Serie A club Napoli announced that Hamšík had signed a five-year contract with them.^[3] The transfer cost Napoli €5.5 million. The president of the club De Laurentiis described him as a player who should be closely watched in the future.^[4]

He played his first major match with Napoli against Cesena in the first round of the Italian Cup. Napoli won 4–0, Hamšík made the opening goal and scored the second himself. He scored his first goal in the Serie A on 16 September 2007 in the match against Sampdoria.^[5]

His football icon is Czech midfielder Pavel Nedvěd.^[6] In 2007 he was voted the second best Slovak footballer of the year (after Martin Škrtel) and also he was voted the best young Slovak footballer (The Peter Dubovský Trophy).^[7] Hamšík ended his first season with Napoli as the club's top scorer, with nine goals from 37 games. At the start of the 2008–09 season, Hamšík scored in both of Napoli's first two games and went on to score a further 9 goals in his second season with the club, finishing as Napoli's top scorer for the second year running.^[8] In 2009 he was again runner-up as best Slovak footballer of the year^[9] and repeated his success as the best young Slovak footballer.^[10]

2010–11[link]

Hamšík playing in the Europa League against AS Monaco

On 19 September 2010, Hamsik scored Napoli's first goal as they came back from a goal down to defeat Sampdoria 2–1 in Genoa.^[11] Following this on 23 September, Hamsik signed a three-year contract extension on his contract that ties him with the club until June 2015.^[12] Three days later Hamsik scored his second goal of the new season with an 81' minute penalty to earn Napoli a 4–1 comeback win away to newly promoted Cesena.^[13] On 30 January 2011, Hamsik scored a well taken effort as Napoli hammered Sampdoria 4–0.^[14]

The 2010–11 season was very productive for Hamsik as he helped lead Napoli to a very successful season and earn automatic qualification into the Champions League by finishing third in Serie A.^[15] Hamsik played in 36 of the 38 Serie A games that season, netting 11 goals and contributing with a further six assists.^[16]

2011–12[link]

Hamšík scored the winning goal in their 2–0 home victory over Villarreal on 27 September, earning Napoli their first ever victory in the UEFA Champions League.^[17] On 29 November Napoli welcomed league leaders Juventus to the Stadio San Paolo,^[18] Hamšík missed a 15th minute penalty before heading in a goal to give the hosts the lead seven minutes later.^[19] The match was enthralling and ended in a 3–3 draw, after Napoli conceded two late goals to preserve Juventus' unbeaten start to the season.^[20]

He provided an assist for Gökhan Inler's opening goal against Villareall on 7 December and then scored the decisive goal, helping Napoli to a 2–0 victory in Spain.^[21] The win secured qualification to the Round of 16 in a very difficult group, that also included Bayern Munich and Manchester City.^[22] Hamsik helped Napoli finish the first half of the 2011–12 campaign on a high, netting a superb goal in their 6–1 hammering of Genoa on 21 December.^[23] Hamsik also provided assists for strikes by Goran Pandev and Walter Gargano during the game.^[24] Through the first half of the 2011–12 campaign, Hamsik had appeared in 16 Serie A games, contributing with both five goals and five assists. In their European campaign, Hamsik appeared in all six group stage matches and contributed with two goals and an assist.^[25]

Following the winter break, Hamšík provided an assist for Edinson Cavani's goal and netted Napoli's third goal in their 3–1 defeat of US Palermo on 8 January 2012.^[26]

On 9 March, Hamšík signed a one-year contract extension with Napoli, keeping him at the Italian club until June 2016.^[27] The announcement was made following Hamsik netting an incredible angled shot against Cagliari Calcio earlier that day, as Napoli ran out 6-3 winners.^[28] Hamšík's final goal of the season came in a 2-0 victory Palermo on 1 May, as he doubled their lead in the 35th minute following a penalty from Cavani.^[29] Napoli finished the season in fifth place in Serie A and the Slovakian forward contributed with nine league goals and nine assists.^[30]

Hamšík was also very influential as Napoli reached the Coppa Italia final against Scudetto winners Juventus on 20 May.^[31] After being slipped in by Goran Pandev, Hamšík was one on one with Marco Storari and made no mistake as he touched it past the onrushing Juventus goalkeeper, securing a 2-0 win that delivered The Partenopei their first trophy in over twenty years.^[32] Following the triumph, Hamšík shaved his famous Mohawk hair as he had pledged to chop off his "crest" if Napoli won the trophy.^[33]

International career[link]

Hamšík in national team jersey

Hamšík represented Slovakia at junior level, playing in the UEFA Under-17 European Championships qualifiers ^[34] and the UEFA Under-19 European Championships.^[35] He played also for the Slovak U-21 national team.

He is a regular member of the Slovak national team. He made his debut on 7 February 2007^[36] in the friendly match against Poland which ended 2–2.^[37] He played his second match against Germany in the Euro 2008 qualification, which Slovakia lost 2–1.^[38] He has become the key member of the attack in the national team, usually playing as a left or central attacking midfielder. Hamsik captained his country in their first World Cup experience in South Africa 2010, where Slovakia was beaten by later finalist Netherlands in the first knockout stage match.

International goals[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	13 October 2007	Štadión Zimný, Dubnica, Slovakia	San Marino	1 – 0	7–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2.	21 November 2007	Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino	San Marino	3 – 0	5–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
3.	6 September 2008	Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia	Northern Ireland	2 – 0	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	19 November 2008	Stadium Pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia	Liechtenstein	1 – 0	4–0	Friendly match
5.	19 November 2008	Stadium Pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia	Liechtenstein	2 – 0	4–0	Friendly match
6.	10 February 2009	Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus	Ukraine	2 – 0	2–3	Friendly match
7.	5 September 2009	Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia	Czech Republic	2 – 1	2–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.	14 November 2009	Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia	United States	1 – 0	1–0	Friendly match
Correct as of 25 February 2010

Club statistics[link]

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Napoli

• Coppa Italia (1): 2011–12

Individual[link]

• Peter Dubovský Trophy (2): 2007, 2008
• Serie A Young Footballer of the Year (1): 2008
• Slovak Footballer of the Year (2): 2009, 2010

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marek Hamšík

• Player profile on Napoli's official website

v t e Slovakia squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Mucha 2 Pekarík 3 Škrtel 4 Čech 5 Zabavník 6 Štrba 7 Weiss 8 Kozák 9 Šesták 10 Sapara 11 Vittek 12 Perniš 13 Hološko 14 Jakubko 15 Stoch 16 Ďurica 17 Hamšík (c) 18 Jendrišek 19 Kucka 20 Kopúnek 21 Saláta 22 Petráš 23 Kuciak Coach: Weiss