Mariano Nicolás González (born 5 May 1981) is a retired Argentine professional

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 an

attacking 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 ...

or as a winger.

Club career

Born in

Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823 and its name originates from the ''Piedra Moved ...

, Buenos Aires Province, González started his career at

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered o ...

, arriving at 17 from neighbouring Club Atlético Independiente. He made his professional debut at 21 under legendary

Osvaldo Ardiles Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team. He now runs his ...

, and went on to appear in 64 Primera División matches, notably scoring the 4–3 winner against Boca Juniors. In 2004, González left for Italy, signing with

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

side

U.S. Città di Palermo Palermo Football Club, more simply known as Palermo F.C. or Palermo (; scn, Paliemmu, link=no, ), is an Italian football club based in the Sicilian city of Palermo, conventionally founded for the first time on 1 November 1900. Among the club� ...

and going on to feature regularly during two seasons, especially

the second ''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the orig ...

. For the 2006–07 campaign he was loaned to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

, where he failed to break into the starting lineup, barred by the likes of

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Winger (association football), winger for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Real ...

and Dejan Stanković. Later, Inter opted not to renew the loan deal, and Palermo subsequently accepted a similar request by FC Porto on 17 July 2007. After

Ricardo Quaresma Ricardo Andrade Quaresma Bernardo (; born 26 September 1983) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger. He began his career at Sporting CP and went on to play for Barcelona, Inter Milan, Porto (twice), Chelsea, Beşiktaş ...

's sale to precisely Inter, González was acquired on a permanent basis by the Portuguese, for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

3.25 million, rejoining former Palermo teammate (and countryman)

Ernesto Farías Ernesto Antonio Farías (born 29 May 1980) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Born in Trenque Lauquen, Buenos Aires Province, Farías started playing professionally in 1997 for Estudiantes de La ...

, and began to feature more prominently, notabling scoring in

the last minute ''The Last Minute'' is a 2001 British-American urban gothic film, written and directed by Stephen Norrington. It shows a struggling man hitting bottom and finding light in unexpected places, and trying a huge alternative as the solution to hi ...

to level it 2–2 at Manchester United, for the

2008–09 UEFA Champions League The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League was the 54th edition of Europe's premier club football tournament and the 17th edition under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009. It w ...

quarter-finals, while also being an important part of the northerners' back-to-back Primeira Liga conquests (he also won the competition while on loan). After

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

finished, González was released by Porto and joined Estudiantes de La Plata on a free transfer.

International career

González won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

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 ...

in 2003, under

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning "The Crazy Bielsa"; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional football manager who was most recently the head coach of Premier League club Leeds United. He is a forme ...

. The following year he was summoned for the Copa América as the nation finished second, and also played olympic football at the 2004 Summer Olympics, winning gold.

Managerial career

On 1 April 2022 it was confirmed, that González had been appointed interim manager of Santamarina; the club he - at the time - already was playing for. González was - alongside his long-term friend Osvaldo Barsottini as his assistant - in charge for 12 games (five draws and seven losses), before he was replaced in June 2022.

Managerial

Personal life

González's younger brother,

Pablo Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People *Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer * Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer * Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist * Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * Pablo Br ...

, was also a footballer. A striker, he too started his career at Racing Club, and spent several seasons in Italy.

Honours

Club

Racing Club * Argentine Primera División: 2001 Apertura Inter *

: 2006–07 Porto * Primeira Liga: 2007–08, 2008–09,

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 sea ...

: 2008–09, 2009–10,

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 *

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. ...

International

Argentina * Summer Olympics: 2004

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Mariano 1981 births Living people People from Tandil People from Buenos Aires Province Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine footballers Association football wingers Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers Club y Biblioteca Ramón Santamarina footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Club Atlético Colón footballers Serie A players Palermo F.C. players Inter Milan players Primeira Liga players FC Porto players Argentina international footballers 2004 Copa América players Olympic footballers of Argentina Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Olympic gold medalists for Argentina Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Argentine football managers