Franco Armani (; born 16 October 1986) is an 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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for Argentine Primera División club River Plate and the Argentina national team. He was a member of the Argentina team that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup, though never participated in any game.

Club career

Franco Armani left

Deportivo Merlo Club Social y Deportivo Merlo (usually known simply as Deportivo Merlo) is a argentinean football club located in Merlo, Buenos Aires. The team currently plays in Primera B Metropolitana, the third division of the Argentine football league syste ...

in 2010 for Medellin's Atletico Nacional. He stayed for 8 seasons and became their first choice goalkeeper. He was described as a hero to the Nacional fans, particularly being praised as an effective and reliable shot-stopper. Armani would go on to win thirteen trophies, including the Copa Libertadores – South America's Champions League – against

Independiente del Valle Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle, known simply as Independiente del Valle, is a professional football club based in Sangolquí, Ecuador, that currently plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A. Founded in 1958, the club pla ...

in 2016. In January 2018, River Plate paid Armani's buyout clause to Nacional, a reported $3 million. On 11 January 2018, he signed a three-year contract with Los Millonarios, which was renewed for an additional year in May 2018. On 14 March 2018, he was named man of the match in River's 2–0 triumph over arch rivals Boca Juniors for the 2017 Supercopa Argentina. The man of the match award was sponsored by the fast food company Burger King and he was literally 'crowned' on the pitch after the game.

International career

02 07 2019 Partida de futebol Brasil x Argentina (48190423372) (cropped)

Armani married a Colombian and applied for citizenship. Colombia were reportedly interested in naturalising Armani so that he could play for their

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

; however, he wished to return to Argentina to press his case for a World Cup berth with the nation of his birth. Armani has impressed for River, being described by '' Olé'' as a goalkeeper who wins matches. In June 2018, Armani was named in

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 ...

's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

by manager

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 ...

. On 26 June, he made his international debut starting in place of

Willy Caballero Wilfredo Daniel Caballero Lazcano (born 28 September 1981) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Southampton. He spent most of his career in Spain, representing Elche and Málaga and competing in La Liga ...

for Argentina's final group match against

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 ...

; Argentina advanced to the second round as group runners-up following a 2–1 victory. On 30 June, Armani started in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, which saw Argentina eliminated from the tournament following a 4–3 defeat. He was named in Argentina's final 23-man squad for the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and ...

by manager Lionel Scaloni. He played every minute of the tournament as Argentina claimed the bronze medal by finishing third after defeating

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

2–1 in the

third place play-off A third place match, game for third place, bronze medal game or consolation game is a single match that is included in many sporting knockout tournaments to decide which competitor or team will be credited with finishing third and fourth. The te ...

match. He was named in Argentina's 28-man squad for the 2021 Copa América. He made his only appearance in Argentina's final group match, where they defeated Bolivia 4–1 to progress to the next round. He remained understudy to Emiliano Martínez in the remaining matches as Argentina won the tournament by defeating

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

1–0 in the final. On 1 June 2022, Armani remained as an unused substitute as Argentina won 3–0 against reigning European Champions

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in the 2022 Finalissima. He was named in Argentina's final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

by Scaloni. He did not play a single minute in the tournament, with Emiliano Martinez as first-choice, as Argentina won the World Cup by defeating France 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out to win

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Career statistics

Club

¹ Includes Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana
² Includes Superliga Colombiana, Recopa Sudamericana, FIFA Club World Cup,

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 ...

Copa de la Superliga The Copa de la Superliga Argentina was an Argentine cup competition. It was contested by all the teams participating in the Primera División, and played after the conclusion of the regular season. The 2019 edition was sponsored by YPF, with it ...

and

Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional The Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional is an official national football cup of Argentina organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), and contested by the winners of Primera División and Copa de la Liga Profesional. The comp ...

International

Honours

Atlético Nacional * Categoría Primera A: 2011-I, 2013-I, 2013-II, 2014-I, 2015-II, 2017-I *

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equiva ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, 2013 Copa Colombia, 2013, 2016 Copa Colombia, 2016 * Superliga Colombiana: Superliga Colombiana, 2012, Superliga Colombiana, 2016 * Copa Libertadores: Copa Libertadores, 2016 * Recopa Sudamericana: 2017 Recopa Sudamericana, 2017 River Plate * Argentine Primera División: 2021 Argentine Primera División, 2021 *

: 2017 Supercopa Argentina, 2017, 2019 Supercopa Argentina, 2019 *Copa Libertadores: 2018 Copa Libertadores, 2018; runner-up: 2019 Copa Libertadores, 2019 *Recopa Sudamericana: 2019 Recopa Sudamericana, 2019 *Copa Argentina: 2018–19 Copa Argentina, 2019 Argentina *FIFA World Cup: 2022 FIFA World Cup, 2022 *Copa América: 2021 Copa América, 2021 *CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 2022 Finalissima, 2022

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armani, Franco 1986 births Living people People from Casilda Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Categoría Primera A players Ferro Carril Oeste footballers Deportivo Merlo footballers Atlético Nacional footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Expatriate footballers in Colombia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Colombia 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Association football goalkeepers Copa América-winning players Copa Libertadores-winning players FIFA World Cup-winning players Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province