Sergio Leonel "Kun" Agüero del Castillo[1] (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈseɾxjo aˈɣweɾo]; born 2 June 1988) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays as a striker for Atlético Madrid and the Argentine national team.

Agüero earned his nickname Kun when his grandparents noted his resemblance to Japanese anime character Kum Kum.[2]

Early life

Agüero was born in Quilmes, Buenos Aires on 2 June 1988 into a large family with seven children.[3][4] Agüero started playing football at a young age and he often played on a pitch in his local neighbourhood, Villa Itali.[2]

Club career

Independiente

Sergio Agüero started playing for Argentine first division Club Club Atlético Independiente, becoming the youngest player to debut in the Argentine First Division at 15 years and 35 days (on 7 July 2003 against Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro), breaking the record previously established by Diego Maradona in 1976.[2]

Atlético Madrid

Agüero with Atlético Madrid.

In May 2006 Agüero signed for Spainish club Atlético Madrid for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around €23 million, breaking the club's previous transfer record.[5][6] In the 2007–08 season, Agüero finished third in scoring in La Liga, behind Dani Güiza and Luís Fabiano, with 49 goals, and was runner up in the Trofeo Alfredo Di Stéfano award.[7]

Agüero became a regular goalscorer for Atlético in the 2008–09 season, forming a partnership with Uruguayan striker Diego Forlán, also a former Independiente striker. In March 2009, the duo of Forlán and Agüero scored a brace each in a 4–3 win over league leaders Barcelona.[8] Agüero finished in the top ten runners for the Pichichi Trophy while his teammate Forlán won the trophy.[9] Atlético finished fourth in the league, qualifying for the following season's UEFA Champions League.

In the 2009-10 season, Agüero scored twice against Chelsea during a 2–2 draw in the Champions League at the Vicente Calderón. Atlético were knocked out of the competition, but went on to reach the final of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, where they beat English club Fulham in extra time.[10] On 27 August 2010, Atlético Madrid captured the UEFA Super Cup by beating favorites Inter Milan by a score of 2-0. Agüero assisted José Antonio Reyes for the opening goal and then secured the win by scoring the second.[11]

International career

Agüero made his senior debut for Argentina in a friendly with Brazil, played at Emirates Stadium, England on 3 September 2006.[1] As a teenager, he represented Argentina at three FIFA World Youth Championships. Together with future 2008 Olympics squad teammates Fernando Gago of Real Madrid and Lionel Messi of Barcelona, they won the 2005 edition in the Netherlands.

2007 U20 World Cup

At the 2007 U-20 World Cup in Canada, he scored twice and helped set up three goals in a 6–0 win over Panama in the second game of the group stage of the tournament. Agüero then scored the only goal in Argentina's third match against North Korea from a free kick. Having qualified to the round of 16, he scored two of the three goals against Poland that would eventually give them a 3-1 win to advance to the next round. Argentina defeated Mexico in the quarter-finals and Chile in the semi-finals, and faced the Czech Republic in the finals, a team they drew 0-0 in the group stage. Agüero captained and scored the equaliser in the 62nd minute, leading to a 2–1 victory. In addition, Agüero won the Golden Boot of the tournament, scoring six goals in seven games, and the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament, succeeding to countryman Lionel Messi who won both awards at the 2005 tournament.

2008 Summer Olympics

As a member of the Argentine squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Agüero scored two goals in the space of five minutes in the semi-final 3–0 win over Brazil on 19 August 2008.[12] Argentina went on to win the gold medal, a second in a row at the Olympic tournament.

2010 World Cup

He was chosen for the 2010 World Cup squad, and made his World Cup debut in Argentina's second group match against Korea Republic on 12 June 2010, replacing Carlos Tévez in the 75th minute. Agüero's impact was immediate as Argentina scored in the next minute. He assisted on Gonzalo Higuaín's hat-trick goal late in the game. Argentina won the game 4-1.

Personal life

On 19 February 2009, it was announced that Agüero's fiancée, Giannina Maradona, the youngest daughter of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, had given birth to a son named Benjamin in Madrid.[13] Maradona was in the Spanish capital for the birth of his first grandson, while Agüero, 20, missed Atlético's training session earlier in the day. Atlético offered their congratulations in a statement on their official website.[14]

Agüero has a tattoo on the inside of his right arm, inscribed in Tengwar—a form of writing invented by J. R. R. Tolkien that was used by the Elves in his works. It translates roughly to Kun Agüero in the Latin alphabet.[15]