Kempes: ‘A new phase begins for Lautaro after goal against Liverpool’

Argentinian association football player

Lautaro Martínez

Martínez with Argentina U20 in 2017
Personal information
Full proper name	Lautaro Javier Martínez[ane]
Date of nascence	(1997-08-22) 22 August 1997 (historic period 24)
Place of nascence	Bahía Blanca, Argentina
Height	1.74 m (five ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s)	Striker
Club information
Current team	Inter Milan
Number	10
Youth career
2013–2014	Liniers
2014–2015	Racing Gild
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2018	Racing Club	48	(22)
2018–	Inter Milan	126	(51)
National team‡
2016–2017	Argentine republic U20	11	(vii)
2018–	Argentina	37	(19)
Honours Men’s football Representing Argentina Copa América Winner 2021 Brazil
* Senior social club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:34, thirteen March 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 Feb 2022 (UTC)

Lautaro Javier Martínez
(born 22 Baronial 1997) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays every bit a striker for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Argentina national team.

Martínez began his football career in his native Argentine republic, where he made his senior debut in 2015 with Racing Lodge. In that location he spent four seasons and represented the club in the league and Copa Libertadores, scoring 27 goals in 60 appearances earlier joining Inter in 2018, where he won the Serie A title in his third season with the club.

Martínez also previously represented Argentina at various youth levels and competed at the 2017 Due south American U-xx Championship and 2017 FIFA U-twenty World Cup. He fabricated his senior international debut in 2018, and represented the senior squad at the Copa América in 2019, helping his team to a third place finish, and 2021, winning the latter edition of the tournament.

Club career

[edit]

Early career

[edit]

Martínez was born in Bahía Blanca. He followed in his father’s footsteps to get a professional footballer, joining local side Liniers, with whom he excelled at U17 level.^[three]
In 2013, he scored thirteen goals in the U17 league and netted in the final of the National Cup, though Liniers ultimately lost on penalties to Rosario.^[4]
[5]

Racing Club

[edit]

Martínez’s form at youth level caught the attention of Racing Lodge interim motorbus Fabio Radaelli who afterwards signed him in Jan 2014.^[4]
Soon afterwards joining the club, Martínez began suffering from homesickness and wanted to render to his hometown. He was ultimately convinced by teammate Braian Mansilla to stay and went on to score 53 goals in 64 appearances for the club’s reserve side.^[3]
In 2015, a deal was concluded between Racing Club and Spanish side Real Madrid for Martínez’s signature but he chose to remain in Argentina. Martínez’south father, Mario after revealed that he chose to stay with Racing at the fourth dimension every bit he was non ready to get out the club.^[6]
His league debut followed on 1 Nov 2015 when he came on as a second-half substitute for Diego Milito in a 3–0 win over Crucero del Norte.^[seven]
On 17 Apr 2016, he was sent off for the first fourth dimension in his career after picking up two bookings in the space of five minutes in a ii–2 draw with Argentinos.^[3]
He scored his first goal afterwards that year, netting the opener in a 1–1 draw with Huracán in November.^[3]

Post-obit an injury to regular starting striker Lisandro López, Martínez assumed a more senior role for the 2016–17 flavor, scoring 9 goals in 23 league appearances for the entrada.^[3]
[viii]
He continued to atomic number 82 the line for Racing during the offset half of the following flavour and in Dec 2017 underwent a medical with La Liga side Atlético Madrid.^[9]
Reports followed that Martínez had signed for Atlético Madrid side but Racing later announced that he had signed a renewed contract which included an increased release clause. They besides criticised their Castilian contemporaries for submitting him to a medical without their permission.^[9]
[10]
He ended the year with a man of the match performance, scoring once and assisting another in a 3–one win over Gimnasia.^[11]
On 27 Feb, he scored his second hat-trick of the flavor when he scored three times on his Copa Libertadores debut against Brazilian side Cruzeiro. Racing won the match four–2.^[12]

That same month, Martínez was linked with a transfer to Italian side Inter Milan and on five May Racing Club President Victor Blanco confirmed that the sale had gone through. Blanco indicated that Martínez was set to join Inter ahead of the 2018–19 Serie A entrada only that he would attempt to keep him on loan until December 2018 in lodge for the striker to go along to participate in the Argentine side’s Copa Libertadores entrada.^[13]
[14]

Inter Milan

[edit]

Martínez officially joined Inter on four July 2018 for a reported fee of €22.7 million and he signed a five-year contract with the club.^[xv]
He made his unofficial debut ten days afterward and scored in a 3–0 friendly win over Swiss club, Lugano.^[xvi]
His full debut followed on 19 August when he started in a 1–0 Serie A loss to Sassuolo in the opening week.^[17]
He scored his first league goal against Cagliari, the opener of a 2–0 win at San Siro on 29 September.^[18]

Martínez scored his starting time European goal on 14 February 2019, netting a penalization to aid Inter win against Rapid Wien, in the outset leg of 2018–nineteen UEFA Europa League round of 32.^[19]
Following this lucifer, he began to commencement in every match, profiting from Mauro Icardi’s abstence due to personal reasons.^[20]
In his first Derby della Madonnina friction match confronting city rivals Milan, Martínez first assisted Matías Vecino’s header earlier scoring himself a punishment in the 2nd half, helping Inter to win 3–2;^[21]
Inter retook the third place in Serie A,^[22]
and besides achieved the first league double over them since 2011–12 flavour.^[23]

On two Oct 2019, Martínez scored his first goal in UEFA Champions League in a 2–ane abroad defeat to Barcelona in group stage;^[24]
he became the commencement player since Roberto Boninsegna in 1970 to score at Camp Nou for Inter.^[25]
Later in the contest, by scoring a caryatid in a 3–1 away win against Slavia Prague, Martínez reached ii milestones: he became merely the quaternary Inter histrion (afterward Hernán Crespo in 2002, Christian Vieri in 2003 and Samuel Eto’o in 2010) and the 5th Argentinian player (afterward Hernan Crespo in 2002, Lionel Messi in six occasions, Sergio Agüero in 2019 and Ezequiel Lavezzi in 2013) to score in four consecutive Champions League games.^[26]
[27]
On 17 August 2020, Martínez scored a brace in a 5–0 win confronting Shakhtar Donetsk to achieve the 2020 UEFA Europa League Last.^[28]
On 8 March 2022, Martínez scored against Liverpool in a 1-0 victory at Anfield, marking Inter’s get-go Champions League knockout goal in three,647 days.
^[29]

International career

[edit]

Youth squad

[edit]

In 2017, Martínez represented Argentina at the 2017 South American U-20 Championship where he ended as the tournament’s articulation-top scorer with v goals, in the procedure helping Argentina qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-twenty Earth Loving cup.^[7]

He was subsequently named in the team for the World Cup which kicked off in May that twelvemonth. In the build-up to the tournament, he suffered impairment to his nasal cartilage after being struck by a knee in a warm-upwards match against Vietnam.^[30]
As a consequence of the injury, he started Argentina’s opening match at the tournament against England from the demote and was later sent off later on video technology indicated that he had lashed out at Fikayo Tomori. Upon doing so, he became the first ever player to be dismissed after a video referral, and Argentine republic ultimately lost the friction match 3–0.^{[xxx]
[31]
[32]}
On his return, he scored a brace in a 5–0 win over Guinea, though his goals were not enough to prevent Argentine republic from existence eliminated from the grouping-stages.^[30]
[33]

Senior team

[edit]

On 12 March 2018, Martínez received his beginning call-up for the senior squad for two friendly matches against Italy and Spain.^[34]
He made his debut against the latter on 27 March, coming on every bit a substitute for Gonzalo Higuaín in a half dozen–ane defeat.^[35]
In May 2018 he was named in Argentina’southward preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA Earth Cup in Russia just was omitted from the final selection.^[36]
[37]
Later that year, he made his full debut in a four–0 friendly win over Iraq during which he besides scored his first senior international goal.^[38]

In May 2019, Martínez was included in Lionel Scaloni’s final 23-human Argentina squad for the 2019 Copa América.^[39]
In Argentina’s final group lucifer confronting Qatar on 23 June, he scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win, which enabled them to advanced to the knock-out stages of the competition.^[40]
On 28 June, in the quarter-finals of the tournament, Martínez scored the opening goal in an eventual 2–0 win over Venezuela with a back-heel in the opening ten minutes of the match; he was later named
Human of the friction match, and the victory enabled Argentina to accelerate to the semi-finals of the competition.^[41]

On ten September 2019, Martínez scored his commencement international chapeau-trick in a friendly against Mexico, which Argentina won 4–0.^[42]

On 28 June 2021, he scored Argentina’south final goal in a 4–ane win over Republic of bolivia in his nation’due south last group friction match of the 2021 Copa América.^[43]
On iii July, he scored the 2d goal in a 3–0 win over Ecuador in the quarter-finals of the competition.^[44]
On vi July, Martínez scored the opening goal in a ane–i draw in the semi-finals confronting Republic of colombia; he later netted his spot kick in Argentina’southward eventual 3–2 penalty shoot-out victory to progress to the final.^[45]
[46]

Style of play

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Later initially playing as a central defender in his youth, Martínez later established himself equally a forward, citing Radamel Falcao as one of his major influences.^[47]
A dynamic, quick, agile, and technically gifted player, who is a prolific goalscorer, he is known for his elegant playing style, good dribbling skills, and clinical finishing ability, also as surprising concrete strength and aerial prowess despite his diminutive stature;^{[48]
[49]
[l]}
however, he has too drawn criticism from pundits for his lack of accuracy from the punishment spot.^[51]
Possessing good link-upward play, defensive contribution, and an ability to drop deep off the ball to either printing opponents or drag them out of position, he is as well a highly creative and hard-working player, who is capable of profitable goals as well as scoring them himself;^{[50]
[52]
[53]}
as such, he is also able to play as a 2nd striker, in addition to his usual part equally either a centre-forward or out–and–out striker.^{[54]
[55]
[56]}
Due to his leadership, tenacity, and mentality on the pitch, he has been nicknamed
El Toro
(“The Balderdash,” in Spanish).^[57]
[58]
In 2020, Spencer Rance of
90min.com
considered Martínez to be one of the most promising young players in world football game,^[59]
while manager Mauricio Pochettino rated him equally i of the best strikers in the world.^[60]
Sometime Argentine republic and Inter striker Hernán Crespo likened Martínez to compatriot Sergio Agüero in 2020.^[61]

Career statistics

[edit]

Club

[edit]

As of lucifer played 13 March 2022
^[62]

International

[edit]

As of match played 1 February 2022
^[63]

Equally of match played 1 February 2022.

Scores and results list Argentina’southward goal tally starting time, score column indicates score after each Martínez goal

List of international goals scored past Lautaro Martínez

No.	Engagement	Venue	Opponent	Score	Consequence	Contest
1	xi October 2018	Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi arabia	Iraq	1–0	4–0	Friendly
2	22 March 2019	Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain	Venezuela	1–2	1–iii	Friendly
3	7 June 2019	Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan, Argentina	Nicaragua	3–one	5–1	Friendly
iv				4–ane
five	23 June 2019	Arena practise Grêmio, Porto Alegre, Brazil	Qatar	i–0	two–0	2019 Copa América
vi	28 June 2019	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Venezuela	ane–0	2–0	2019 Copa América
7	10 September 2019	Alamodome, San Antonio, United States	United mexican states	i–0	4–0	Friendly
8				2–0
9				four–0
x	13 Oct 2020	Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia	Bolivia	ane–1	2–1	2022 FIFA Globe Loving cup qualification
11	17 November 2020	Estadio Nacional del Perú, Lima, Republic of peru	Peru	2–0	2–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
12	28 June 2021	Loonshit Pantanal, Cuiabá, Brazil	Bolivia	iv–1	4–i	2021 Copa América
13	iii July 2021	Estádio Olímpico Pedro Ludovico, Goiânia, Brazil	Ecuador	2–0	3–0	2021 Copa América
fourteen	half-dozen July 2021	Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasilia, Brazil	Colombia	1–0	i–1	2021 Copa América
fifteen	2 September 2021	Estadio Olímpico de la UCV, Caracas, Venezuela	Venezuela	1–0	three–1	2022 FIFA Earth Cup qualification
16	x Oct 2021	Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentine republic	Uruguay	3–0	3–0
17	xiv October 2021	Estadio Awe-inspiring Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Peru	1–0	one–0
18	27 January 2022	Estadio Zorros del Desierto, Calama, Chile	Republic of chile	2–i	2–one
xix	1 Feb 2022	Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba, Argentina	Republic of colombia	1–0	1–0

Honours

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Inter Milan

• Serie A: 2020–21^[64]
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2021
• UEFA Europa League runner-upwardly: 2019–twenty^[65]

Argentina

• Copa América: 2021^[66]

Individual

• Ballon d’Or: 2021 Nominee
• UEFA Europa League Squad of the Flavour: 2019–20^[67]

References

[edit]

External links

[edit]

• Lautaro Martínez at Soccerbase
  
• Inter Milan official profile