Sergio Romero

Personal information
Full name	Sergio Germán Romero
Date of birth	(1987-02-22) 22 February 1987 (age 25)
Place of birth	Bernardo de Irigoyen, Argentina
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Sampdoria
Number	20
Youth career
1997	Almirante Brown
1997–2003	C.A.I.
2003–2006	Racing Club
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2006–2007	Racing Club	5	(0)
2007–2011	AZ	90	(0)
2011–	Sampdoria	23	(0)
National team‡
2007	Argentina U-20	23	(0)
2009–	Argentina	25	(0)
Honours Competitor for  Argentina Men's Football Gold 2008 Beijing Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 March 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 August 2011

Sergio Germán Romero (born February 22, 1987 in Bernardo de Irigoyen, Misiones) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie B club Sampdoria and the Argentina national team.

Early Life[link]

Sergio Romero grew up in a very poor family, during the economic crisis in Argentina. It is the Benjamin of a family of three boys. Romero is also the smallest in size, his two brothers Fernando and Diego are players of basketball and are very large, hence its nickname chiquito "the tiny". He grew up with his parents and brothers in the village of Benardo Irigoyen in the region of Misiones and saw soccer as a passion from an early age. Sergio will show that it is eight years since he chooses to position itself as a goalkeeper with the advice of his older brother Diego. When moving in the Argentine capital, he joins the club of Racing and begins a friendship with two young sisters, and Argentine actress, and Anissa Nadia Sabura. He climbs the level in Buenos Aires and signed his first professional contract in 2006 at the age of 19.

Club career[link]

The keeper received his youth at the club where he was also debut in professional football, namely Racing Club , an Argentine club that played in the Primera Liga . By the end of the season, Romero during the transfer period for about 1.5 million sold to the ambitious AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands, which was led by Louis van Gaal.

Romero moved in 2007 for around €1.5million from Racing Club to AZ.^[1] In 2007-08 season, Romero made 12 appearances, because initially he serves as the third goalkeeper behind Boy Waterman and Joey Didulica before he became the holder during the season. On 30 September 2007, Romero made his debut for AZ in a 2-1 loss against Heracles Almelo, where he received a yellow card for a foul. On 4 October 2007, Romero made his European tournament 1st round debut in a 0-0 draw against Portuguese side Paços de Ferreira, giving his first clean sheet at the club and also made another appearance in the European tournament group stage in a 1-0 win over against Greek side AEL after goalkeeper Waterman come off injured on a 33 minutes on 29 November 2007. In the league, Romero yet to have a clean sheet until on 23 February 2008 in a 0-0 draw against FC Twente and played 90 minutes. First choice goalkeeper Waterman notched the last weeks unconvincing and coach Louis van Gaal awarded Romero a chance. Although Romero plays well, that ends AZ disappointing season in 11th place in the league.

He was AZ's main goalkeeper for the 2008–09 season, making 18 clean sheet appearances. In March 2009, he broke his hand against the wall of the locker room in frustration after a quarterfinal cup loss against NAC Breda.^[2] In April, his team became Eredivisie champions in the 31st round of matches, with three games to spare.^[3] On 26 April he made ​​for the first time after his injury appeared in the first of AZ. He came into the team because usually reserve goalkeeper Joey Didulica was injured in a duel with Luis Suárez. AZ only conceded 22 goals during the campaign, nine less than the closest other side. Romero spent four seasons in the Eredivise with AZ and featured in 90 league fixtures. Also, the zero games which not only results in a lot of victories but also several enhancements to club and national records. Thus he was about 950 min not been passed, and he is thus fourth on the list of longest non-keepers passed.

Sergio Romero at Sampdoria in 2011 as he poses with a fan

In the two subsequent seasons, Eredivisie 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 Eredivisie , played 50 games, bringing his total score with the shirt of ' AZ in 90 appearances.

On 22 August 2011 Romero joined Serie B side Sampdoria for an undisclosed fee which the transfer is valued at € 3.5 million.^[4] He made ​​his debut in Serie B in the Aug. 26 home game with Padua finished 2-2. The September 24 was injured at 10 'of recovery in Albinoleffe - Sampdoria 1-3 and is replaced by the vice Da Costa . Returns to action on Oct. 15 in Ascoli -Sampdoria (1-2).

International career[link]

Romero represented Argentina at the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay and at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada where on August 8, 2007 Romero was first included in the Argentine selection for a friendly match against Norway. Then he was again summoned before the match against Australia,which Argentina also went on to win and replaced injured Oscar Ustari at the 2008 Summer Olympics football tournament.

Meanwhile, he is called up by coach Maradona also promoted to the first keeper of the national team of Argentina. He made his debut on 9 September 2009 with the 1-0 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Paraguay. On October 14, 2009 Romero played his third match. He stood at the base in the game against Uruguay, which Argentina qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Romero was named in Diego Maradona's final squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and played in all five of Argentina's matches. On June 12 2010, he made his debut at the World Cup 2010 campaign. Argentina played his first match of the group, with Romero in the base, against Nigeria. Romero kept his goal clean, and Argentina have scored since the game was won with 1-0. Romero also got a clean sheet against Greece on 22 June 2010.

He was called up by Sergio Batista to play the Copa America, where Argentina was local and lost to Uruguay on penalties. Nevertheless, Sergio had excellent performances in the matches, being voted best player in the match against Colombia.

National team[link]

^[5]

Personal life[link]

He is married to model/actress Eliana Guercio. Sergio's older brother, Diego Romero is a professional basketball player in Argentina, and he played at Florida State University. On Tuesday 16 February 2010 Sergio became a father of a daughter called Yazmín.

International appearances[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Final Score	Result	Competition
2009
1.	September 9, 2009	Asunción, Paraguay	Paraguay	1–0	Lost	2010 World Cup qualification
2.	10 October 2009	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Peru	2–1	win	2010 World Cup qualification
3.	October 14, 2009	Montevideo, Uruguay	Uruguay	0–1	win	2010 World Cup qualification
4.	November 14, 2009	Madrid, Spain	Spain	2-1	Lost	Friendly
2010
5.	March 3, 2010	Munich, Germany	Germany	0–1	win	Friendly
6.	May 24, 2010	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Canada	5–0	win	Friendly
7.	June 12, 2010	Johannesburg, South Africa	Nigeria	1–0	win	2010 FIFA World Cup
8.	June 17, 2010	Johannesburg, South Africa	South Korea	4–1	win	2010 FIFA World Cup
9.	March 3, 2010	Polokwane, South Africa	Greece	0–2	win	2010 FIFA World Cup
10.	June 27, 2010	Johannesburg, South Africa	Mexico	3–1	win	2010 FIFA World Cup
11.	July 3, 2010	Cape Town, South Africa	Germany	0–4	Lost	2010 FIFA World Cup
12.	August 11, 2010	Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	0–1	win	Friendly
13.	September 7, 2010	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Spain	4-1	win	Friendly
14.	October 8, 2010	Saitama, Japan	Japan	1–0	Lost	Friendly
15.	November 17, 2010	Doha, Qatar	Brazil	1–0	win	Friendly
2011
16.	February 9, 2011	Geneva, Switzerland	Portugal	2–1	win	Friendly
17.	June 20, 2011	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Albania	4–0	win	Friendly
18.	July 1, 2011	La Plata, Argentina	Bolivia	1–1	Draw	2011 Copa América
19.	July 3, 2010	Santa Fe, Argentina	Colombia	0–0	Draw	2011 Copa América
20.	August 11, 2010	Córdoba, Argentina	Costa Rica	3–0	win	2011 Copa América
21.	September 7, 2010	Santa Fe, Argentina	Uruguay	1–1(4–5 pen)	Draw	2011 Copa América
22.	September 2, 2011	Kolkata, India	Venezuela	1–0	win	Friendly
23.	September 6, 2011	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Nigeria	1–3	win	Friendly
24.	November 11, 2011	Mendoza, Argentina	Bolivia	1–1	Draw	2014 World Cup qualification
25.	November 15, 2011	Barranquilla, Colombia	Colombia	1–2	win	2014 World Cup qualification

Honours[link]

Club honours[link]

AZ

• Eredivisie
  • Winner (1): 2008–09
• Johan Cruijff Shield
  • Winner (1): 2009

International honours[link]

• FIFA U-20 World Cup
  • Winner: 2007
• Summer Olympics
  • Gold medal: 2008

References[link]

External links[link]

• Guardian statistics
• (Spanish) Argentine Primera statistics
• Sergio Romero career stats at Soccerbase
• (Spanish) [1]

Argentina squads v t e Argentina squad – 2007 FIFA World Youth Championship Winners (6th Title) 1 Romero 2 Fazio 3 Insúa 4 Mercado 5 Banega 6 Cahais 7 Yacob 8 Sánchez 9 Zárate 10 Agüero 11 Escudero 12 García 13 Voboril 14 Sigali 15 Cabral 16 Gómez 17 Moralez 18 di María 19 Piatti 20 Acosta 21 Centeno Coach: Tocalli v t e Argentina squad – 2008 Olympic Gold Medalists 1 Ustari 2 Garay 3 Monzón 4 Zabaleta 5 Gago 6 Fazio 7 Sosa 8 Banega 9 Lavezzi 10 Riquelme (c) 11 di María 12 Pareja 13 Acosta 14 Mascherano 15 Messi 16 Agüero 17 Buonanotte 18 Romero 22 Navarro Coach: Batista 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

Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol

Muslera playing for Uruguay national football team in 2012.
Personal information
Full name	Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol
Date of birth	(1986-06-16) 16 June 1986 (age 26)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Galatasaray
Number	25
Youth career
2001–2004	Montevideo Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2007	Montevideo Wanderers	44	(0)
2006–2007	→ Nacional	5	(0)
2007–2011	Lazio	96	(0)
2011–	Galatasaray	39	(1)
National team‡
2009–	Uruguay	33	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 April 2012

Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol (Spanish pronunciation: [feɾˈnando musˈleɾa]; born 16 June 1986 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Uruguayan footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Galatasaray and is first-choice keeper for the Uruguayan national team. He was selected the sixth best goalkeeper in the world in 2011 by the IFFHS.^[1]

Club career[link]

Uruguay[link]

Muslera started his professional football career with Montevideo Wanderers in 2004, having come through the club's youth system. After impressive performances for Wanderers, Uruguayan giants Nacional opted to take him on loan in 2007. After returning to Montevideo, and a display of successful performances, he began to attract attention from Europe, until he was signed by Lazio in 2007.

Lazio[link]

Muslera playing for Lazio.

Lazio signed Muslera in August 2007 for a fee of about €3 million.^[2] He made his debut for Lazio in a 3–1 home win against Cagliari on 16 September 2007, and made four more consecutive starts, the last which was a disastrous performance in Lazio's 1–5 home loss to Milan on 7 October, a match in which he was at fault on four of the five goals Lazio conceded. That result saw him benched in favour of 44-year-old Marco Ballotta. Muslera remained as the second choice for the remainder of the season, making only four more league appearances and none in the UEFA Champions League. He did however play all of Lazio's remaining Coppa Italia matches, putting in good performances.

Muslera started as second-choice keeper for the 2008–09 season behind new signing Juan Pablo Carrizo but regained the starting spot in January 2009 following a run of poor form by Carrizo, coupled with conflicts with team management. Muslera's first starting appearance in the league this season saw him make several saves in a 3–1 loss to Sampdoria, including blocking an Antonio Cassano penalty. Further impressive performances in away wins over Napoli and Genoa, as well as in his first ever Derby della Capitale, saw Muslera regain a considerable amount of faith he had lost the previous season.

Known to the Lazio fans as castorino, or the "little beaver", Muslera was also an integral part of the club's successful Coppa Italia campaign, making decisive saves against Milan and Juventus as Lazio reached the final for the first time in five seasons. In the final on May 13, 2009, Muslera saved two penalties as Lazio emerged victorious 6–5 in the shootout after the match ended 1–1 in extra time.^[3]

The Uruguayan's impressive season saw him cement his position as the Roman club's first choice in the 2009–10 season, despite the arrival of Argentine keeper Albano Bizzarri on a free transfer. Muslera played in goal as Lazio opened the season with a 2–1 win over Inter in the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana, played in Beijing.

Following his successful performance in the 2010 FIFA World Cup he was voted the 7th best goalkeeper in the world by IFFHS.^[4]

Galatasaray[link]

On 19 July 2011, Galatasaray officially announced the signing of Fernando Muslera from Lazio on a 5-year contract while he was on duty in the Copa América with Uruguay.^[5][6] The transfer involved Lorik Cana moving in the opposite direction, to Lazio, while Galatasaray also paid €6.75 million to Muslera's former club, Montevideo Wanderers who owned 50% of his playing rights.^[7][8] The total value of his transfer is therefore believed to be in the region of €12 million, making Muslera the most expensive goalkeeper transfer in Turkey^[9] and the fifth most expensive goalkeeper of all time. (However Lazio valued the sale of Muslera for a peppercorn fee as well as signing Cana also for peppercorn fee as a special accounting arrangement) He will earn €2 million a year.^[10]

On 8 April 2012, the last day of the Turkish Super League, he scored his first goal of his career from a penalty kick against Manisaspor. He also broke a new club record for every foreign player scoring for Galatasaray in a single season. The same match also resulted in Muslera keeping his 16th clean sheet of the season, an all time league record.^[11]

International career[link]

Muslera in action with National team

Muslera had been called up for the Uruguayan national team on numerous occasions, but did not earn his first cap until October 10, 2009, when he started in Uruguay's 2–1 away win over Ecuador. The match was Uruguay's penultimate qualifier for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

2010 FIFA World Cup[link]

He made his FIFA World Cup debut against France on June 11, 2010, Uruguay's opening game of the tournament and the second game on the opening day of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He kept a clean sheet during all 3 of Uruguay's group matches (0–0 against France, 3–0 against South Africa, and 1–0 against Mexico). Muslera was decisive in the quarterfinal match against Ghana, when he saved two penalties at the penalty shootout. Muslera was a key component of the Uruguay team that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup and subsequently finished fourth in the tournament.

2011 Copa América[link]

Muslera was called again by coach Óscar Tabárez to represent Uruguay as the first choice goalkeeper at the 2011 Copa América, which was held in Argentina. He was selected Man of the Match in the quarter-final match against Argentina in which Uruguay went through on penalties, with Muslera saving a penalty from Carlos Tévez to win them the match. Uruguay won the Copa América, Muslera played all the games.

Career statistics[link]

As of 19 April 2012‎^{[12][13][14][15]}

Club[link]