Fernando Daniel Belluschi (, ; born 10 September 1983) is an Argentine

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

currently playing for

Estudiantes de Río Cuarto Asociación Atlética Estudiantes (usually known as Estudiantes de Río Cuarto) is a sports club located in the city of Río Cuarto, Córdoba Province (Argentina). Although many sports are practised at the club, it is mostly known for its footbal ...

Club career

Belluschi began playing professionally at

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

in 2002, with whom he won the 2004 Apertura Championship. He moved to River Plate in 2006 and with the departure of

Marcelo Gallardo Marcelo Daniel Gallardo (; born 18 January 1976) is an Argentine football coach and former professional player who last managed River Plate. Gallardo began his career in the club's youth divisions, and made his debut in the Argentine Primera D ...

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

following the 2006 Apertura, he was named team captain, a position he would fill for two years. He then joined

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

for reported €6.5 million in early 2008. On 6 July 2009,

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

purchased Belluschi's playing rights and 50% of his economic rights for €5 million. The other 50% was owned by private investment company Rio Football Services Ltd. He signed a contract until 2013 with a release clause of €30 million. In 2012, Belluschi was sent on to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

under a purchasing option of €3.5 million, or €5 million if the club qualified for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. In summer 2012, Porto sold its 50% ownership of his economic rights for €1.05 million. On 10 July 2015,

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

signed Belluschi on a free transfer. His salary was set at €1.1 million. He debuted for the side as a substitute in the 61st minute for an injured

Marc Crosas Marc Crosas Luque (born 9 January 1988) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Crosas is also a football analyst for Univision Deportes. He is a Mexican naturalized citizen. Club career Barcelona Bo ...

in the '' Clasico Joven''. He did not receive his international pass until the ''Clasico Joven'', which was why he did not participate in any league matches up to that point. He failed to score for Cruz Azul, having a penalty saved by

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

goalkeeper Miguel Ángel Fraga on matchday 11. On 26 January 2016,

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

signed the then-32-year-old Belluschi on a free transfer.

Career statistics

International career

Belluschi has won six

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, all in friendlies. In November 2017, after six years away from the national team, Belluschi was named in coach

Jorge Sampaoli Jorge Luis Sampaoli Moya (; born 13 March 1960) is an Argentine football coach who is currently manager for Sevilla of La Liga. Sampaoli started out as a youth player and eventually switched to management after a severe injury. Sampaoli starte ...

's squad for friendlies against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in the former.

Personal life

Belluschi is married to Florencia, whom he met in his home city of Los Quirquinchos. They began dating when he was 17 years old and have been together since. He is best friends with fellow professional footballer

Ignacio Scocco Ignacio "Nacho" Martín Scocco (; born 29 May 1985) is an Argentine retired professional footballer who last played as a forward for Newell's Old Boys. He has also played for clubs in Mexico, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, England and Brazil ...

, and both served as best men at each other's wedding. Belluschi also holds an Italian passport due to his Italian ancestry from the

province of Pavia The province of Pavia ( it, Provincia di Pavia) is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy; its capital is Pavia. , the province has a population of 548,722 inhabitants and an area of ; the town of Pavia has a population of 72,205. ...

, where his paternal great-grandfather emigrated to Argentina from.

Honours

;Newell's Old Boys *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

: Torneo Apertura 2004 ;Olympiacos *

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: 2007–08, 2008–09 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 2007–08, 2008–09 ;Porto *

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

: 2010–11, 2011–12 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 2009–10, 2010–11 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: 2010–11 ;San Lorenzo *

Supercopa Argentina The Supercopa Argentina (English: Argentine Super Cup) is an official National association football cup of Argentina organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The annual football match was played for the first time in 2012, being cont ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

;Argentina *

South American Youth Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Individual *

Footballer of the Year of Argentina The Footballer of the Year of Argentina (in Spanish: ''Olimpia de Plata al Mejor Futbolista'', that literally translates to "Silver Olimpia to the Best Footballer) is a yearly award given by the Argentine Sports Journalists' Circle (''Círculo de ...

: 2016

References

External links

* *
Player Profile on the River Plate Website

Argentine Primera statistics
at Fútbol XXI {{DEFAULTSORT:Belluschi, Fernando 1983 births Living people Argentine people of Arbëreshë descent Argentine footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentina international footballers Association football midfielders People from Caseros Department Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province UEFA Europa League winning players Newell's Old Boys footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Olympiacos F.C. players FC Porto players Genoa C.F.C. players Bursaspor footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Club Atlético Lanús footballers Estudiantes de Río Cuarto footballers Argentine Primera División players Super League Greece players Primeira Liga players Serie A players Süper Lig players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Greece Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Turkey