Leonardo Ángel Biagini (born 13 April 1977) is an Argentine retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a striker. Most of his professional career was spent in Spain where he arrived at the age of 18, going on to represent six clubs in more than one decade with totals of 244 games and 43 goals, 145 matches and 18 goals being in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

. He was part of Atlético Madrid's squad when they conquered the double in 1996, although he did not feature prominently with the team. In 2007, in his 30s, he returned to his country.

Football career

Born in

Arroyo Seco, Santa Fe Arroyo Seco is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It has about 20,000 inhabitants according to the . Its name (literally "dry stream") is the same as a neighbouring creek. The city is located on the western shore of the Paraná River ...

, Biagini started his career 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 the Primera División, in 1993. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, he was a main part of the Argentina under-20 team that won the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

in Qatar. Biagini signed for Atlético Madrid at just 18, being an important attacking element as the capital club won the double in his first year. He was mainly and regularly used as a substitute for compatriot

Juan Esnáider Juan Eduardo Esnáider Belén (; born 5 March 1973) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. Having spent most of his career in Spain, he was known as a powerful player with an excellent aerial game. He s ...

and Kiko during his spell and, after a poor second season, moved to fellow league side CP Mérida in the summer of 1997, where he would be eventually

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

. Biagini then played five seasons with RCD Mallorca where, safe for his first year where he scored a career-best 11 goals (also helping the team to the final of the

1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The 1998–99 season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup club tournament was the last season of the competition before it was abolished. Lazio won the final against Mallorca to earn their only title in the competition. Chelsea were the defending champi ...

by scoring the 1–0 winner against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the last-four's second leg, in a 2–1 aggregate victory), he would be very scarcely used due to several injury problems, also serving a six-month loan to England's

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in the First Division, where he found the net against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

and Wimbledon. Biagini returned to Spain and Mallorca for the 2002–03 campaign, being part of the side that won

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

– even though he did not appear in any matches – and being subsequently released. After four additional years in the

Spanish second division Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, in representation of three teams, he returned home and joined

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

Honours

Club

Atlético Madrid *

: 1995–96 *

: 1995–96 Mallorca * Supercopa de España:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Arsenal Sarandí * Copa Sudamericana: 2007

International

Argentina *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

Individual

South American Youth Football 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 f ...

Top Scorer:

(4 goals)

References

External links

Argentine League statistics
* * *
Football-Lineups profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biagini, Leonardo 1977 births Living people People from Rosario Department Copa Sudamericana-winning players Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Newell's Old Boys footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Atlético Madrid footballers CP Mérida footballers RCD Mallorca players Rayo Vallecano players Sporting de Gijón players Albacete Balompié players English Football League players Portsmouth F.C. players Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Footballers from Santa Fe Province