Juan Pablo Sorín


Juan Pablo Sorín is an Argentine former footballer and current sports broadcaster, who played as a left back or left midfielder. He had a successful club career in his native Argentina with River Plate, in Brazil with Cruzeiro, and with various teams in Europe, including Barcelona, Lazio, Paris Saint-Germain and Villarreal. At international level, he represented the Argentina national team at two FIFA World Cups, and was the captain of Argentine side at the 2006 FIFA World Cup; he also represented his nation in two editions of Copa América, and the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Early and personal life

Sorín was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is Jewish. He has written a book called Grandes Chicos to raise funds for the building of a school and a children's hospital in Argentina. He currently lives in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and worked as a pundit for ESPN Brasil from 2012 to 2017.

Club career

Nicknamed Juampi, as he is often known in Argentina, Sorín began his career playing in the lower-reaches of the Argentine league for Argentinos Juniors, a Buenos Aires football club. He broke into the first team in 1994 and during the 1995–96 season, after he captained the Argentina Under-20 side who won the 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship played in Qatar, his contract was bought by Italian club Juventus. However, he struggled to find space in an already established first team under manager Marcello Lippi, totalling only four appearances for the club; as such, he soon returned to Argentina.
Sorín played for River Plate in the second half of 1996, and revived his career, winning three Apertura championships, one Clausura championship, one Copa Libertadores de América in 1996 and a Supercopa Sudamericana in 1997.

Cruzeiro and Europe

He was transferred to Cruzeiro of Brazil in 2000. He played for two and a half seasons, winning the 2000 Copa do Brasil and becoming one of the most cherished players by the fans up to this day.
After the 2002 Copa do Brasil, in July 2002 he signed for S.S. Lazio.
After an injury-filled a half season at Lazio in Italy, Sorin was acquired by FC Barcelona, occupied the non-EU quota along with Juan Román Riquelme and Roberto Bonano. He made his Spanish League debut on 9 February 2003. The match was between Barcelona and Athletic de Bilbao and ended 2–2. After a successful half a season he left the Nou Camp in the summer of 2003 and moved to France to play for Paris Saint-Germain, where he won the Coupe de France. Sorín returned to Cruzeiro in 2004, played at 2004 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

Villarreal

In November 2004, Sorin transferred to Villarreal of Spain on free transfer. Sorín enjoyed a good deal of success with Villarreal, helping them reach the semi-finals of the Champions League where they were beaten by Arsenal of England.

Hamburg

Sorín was reportedly the subject of interest from English Premiership sides Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United during the summer of 2006, but ended up signing for Hamburger SV. After two years with the German club and only 24 appearances because of injury, Sorín left when his contract expired on 15 July 2008.

Return to Cruzeiro

Sorín returned again to Cruzeiro on 29 August 2008. He signed a contract until the end of season, with the option to renew for two more years. He played his only match since his return in a Série A game on 14 June 2009, and after another injury-riddled year with Cruzeiro, he announced his retirement on 28 July 2009.

International career

Sorín was part of the Argentine squad in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea. The team played three matches against Nigeria, England and Sweden. However the team failed badly, failing to reach the second round of the tournament.
The Argentine squad was then rebuilt by José Pekerman and Sorín was made captain of his country for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Sorín played an important role in the World Cup for Argentina as an effective attacking full-back. Argentina qualified for the second round after taking care of Ivory Coast and crushing Serbia and Montenegro 6–0. After defeating Mexico in extra time, Argentina went on to the quarter-finals where they lost to hosts Germany on a penalty-shoot out.

Style of play

Sorín was a strong, versatile, and hardworking left-back, who could also play as a centre-back, or anywhere on the left wing, due to his passing and crossing ability with his left foot. He had an eccentric style of play, and despite being played predominantly in defensive roles, he often made attacking runs into more offensive positions, where he used his technical skills and aggressive heading ability to great effect.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each Sorín goal.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.9 October 1996Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Venezuela2–15–21998 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.10 February 1999Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States1–01–0Friendly
3.11 July 1999Estadio Antonio Oddone Sarubbi, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay1–01–21999 Copa América
4.28 March 2001Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina2–05–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.25 April 2001Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia3–33–32002 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.17 April 2002Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany1–01–0Friendly
7.20 November 2002Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan1–02–0Friendly
8.2 June 2004Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil1–21–32006 FIFA World Cup qualification
9.20 July 2004Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru3–03–02004 Copa América
10.4 September 2004Estadio Monumental "U", Lima, Peru3–13–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.30 May 2006Stadio Arechi, Salerno, Italy2–02–0Friendly

Honours

Club

; Juventus
; River Plate
; Cruzeiro
; Paris Saint-Germain
;Argentina