Continuing our alphabetical world tour, next up is Argentina. A footballing powerhouse, Argentina are 14-time champions of South America and two-time champions of the world. According to the Premier League website, 71 players have represented Argentina in the Premier League.
First Players – Juan Cobian (Sheffield Wednesday; 1998-99) and Horacio Carbonari (Derby County; 1998-2002)
Not one Argentine appeared in the Premier League in its first six seasons, but two players made their debuts on the opening day of the 1998/99 season.
Even Wednesday fans would be hard-pressed to remember Cobian, who made just nine league appearances in a single season at Hillsborough. Carbonari became a fan favourite at Derby over a four-year spell littered with brilliant goals from defence.
Most Appearances: Pablo Zabaleta – 303 (Manchester City, West Ham; 2008-present)
Arguably the best right-back of the previous decade, Pablo Zabaleta won the Premier League twice with Manchester City before swapping Manchester for London in 2017.
Zabaleta scored the first goal in City’s famous 3-2 victory over QPR on the final day of the 2011/12 season, one of his nine Premier League goals.
He featured in the PFA team of the year on one occasion, in 2012/13. With his current deal at West Ham set to end this summer, Covid-19 may have brought a premature end to Zabaleta’s time in England.
Top scorer: Sergio Agüero – 180 (Manchester City; 2011-present)
Could it be anyone else? Another Manchester City legend, Sergio Agüero, is the top-scoring Argentinian in the history of the Premier League.
Only four men have scored more, and Agüero looked certain to become the first non-English player to pass 200 up until the league’s suspension.
Despite scoring 20 or more goals for the last five seasons, Agüero has only won the Premier League Golden Boot on one occasion; in 2014/15.
Current Players
The following 15 players have appeared for Argentina in the 2019/20 Premier League season so far:
Sergio Agüero, Nicolas Otamendi (both Manchester City), Emiliano Buendia (Norwich), Willy Caballero (Chelsea), Federico Fernandez (Newcastle), Juan Foyth, Paulo Gazzaniga, Erik Lamela, Giovani Lo Celso (all Spurs) Manuel Lanzini, Pablo Zabaleta (West Ham), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton), Roberto Pereyra, Ignacio Pussetto (both Watford) and Marcos Rojo (Manchester United).
Trivia
- Only seven non-UK nations have had more Premier League players than Argentina’s 71.
- Sergio Aguero has 180 Premier League goals, more than the next six Argentines combined.
- Four Argentines have received more than one Premier League red card (Fabricio Coloccini, Pablo Zabaleta – both four; Javier Mascherano, Mauricio Tarricco – both three)
- Argentina’s national sport is Pato, a game played on horseback.
- Nine Argentines have won the Premier League – Juan Sebastian Verón, Hernán Crespo, Gabriel Heinze, Carlos Tevez, Pablo Zabaleta, Sergio Agüero, Martin Demichelis, Leonardo Ulloa and Nicolás Otamendi.
