Gabriel Iván Mercado (born 18 March 1987) 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 for

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonat ...

. Mainly a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he could also play as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He began his career with Racing Club and Estudiantes before joining River Plate in 2012, going on to win six domestic and international tournaments including the

2015 Copa Libertadores The 2015 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2015 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 56th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. ...

. In 2016, he joined Sevilla for €2.5 million. Mercado made his international debut 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 2010, and was part of their squad that came runners-up at the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

, and also took part at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Puerto Madryn Puerto Madryn (; cy, Porth Madryn), also known as ''Madryn'', is a city in the province of Chubut in Argentine Patagonia. It is the capital of the Viedma Department, and has about 93,995 inhabitants according to the last census in 2010. Puer ...

, Chubut, Mercado made his professional debut for Racing Club on 21 February 2007 in a 0–1 home defeat to San Lorenzo. He went to establish himself as a regular member of the Racing first team. In July 2010, Mercado joined Estudiantes de La Plata for $800,000 and 50% of his rights. He won the Apertura in his debut season, and stayed at the club until 2012. In July 2012, he signed for River Plate.

Sevilla

On 4 August 2016,

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' ...

side

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA E ...

signed Mercado from River Plate on a three-year deal for a reported fee of €2.5 million, with River retaining 20% of a subsequent transfer fee. He was signed by compatriot manager Jorge Sampaoli to replace former captain Coke. He scored his first goal for the team on 20 September, deflecting

Samir Nasri Samir Nasri (born 26 June 1987) is a French former professional footballer. He primarily played as an attacking midfielder and a winger, although he had also been deployed in central midfield. Nasri was known for his dribbling, ball control ...

's free kick for the only score in a home

Seville derby The Seville derby (''Derbi Sevillano''), also known as The Great Derby (''El Gran Derbi''), is the name of a local city derby located in Seville, Spain contested between Real Betis and Sevilla. Sevilla FC were founded in 1890. This was followe ...

win over

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

Al-Rayyan

On 11 June 2019,

Al-Rayyan SC Al-Rayyan Sports Club () is a Qatari multi-sports club fielding teams in a number of sports such as football, futsal, basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics, table tennis, and swimming. It is based at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Umm Al ...

announced via their social media that they had signed Mercado.

Internacional

On 5 July 2021, he was announced and signed with Internacional until December 2022 after being without a club at the end of his contract with Al-Rayyan. His chosen jersey number was jersey number 25.

International career

Youth career

Mercado represented the Argentina Under-20 team at the

2007 South American Youth Championship The 2007 South American Youth Championship (Sudamericano Sub-20) was the 23rd edition of the competition. It was played in Paraguay between 7 and 28 January 2007, and was contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. This was t ...

in Paraguay and at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.

Senior career

Mercado made his full international debut for the Argentina national team after being called up to join

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

's squad of Argentina-based players who beat

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

2–1 on 10 February 2010. Mercado was first-choice in his position for Argentina in the 2016

squad, playing in

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 ...

against

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 ...

for the full 120-minutes, a 4–2 loss on penalties. In May 2018, Mercado was named in Argentina's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia; later that month, he was included in Jorge Sampaoli's final 23-man squad for the tournament. In the round of 16 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 ...

on 30 June, Mercado scored in a 4–3 defeat, which saw Argentina eliminated from the competition.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first''

Honours

Estudiantes * Argentine Primera División: 2010 Apertura River Plate *Argentine Primera División: Torneo Final 2014 *

Copa Campeonato The Copa Campeonato Primera División (familiarly known as Superfinal) was an official Argentine football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association. It was played in a single match format between the Torneo Inicial and Torn ...

: 2013–14 * Copa Sudamericana:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Recopa Sudamericana: 2015 * Copa Libertadores: 2015 * Copa Suruga Bank: 2015 *

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qual ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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 ...

: 2007 * Copa América runner-up:

* Superclásico de las Américas:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

References

External links

Gabriel Mercado – Argentine Primera statistics
at Fútbol XXI *
Gabriel Mercado at Football Lineups
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercado, Gabriel 1987 births Living people People from Puerto Madryn Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Association football defenders Argentine Primera División players La Liga players Qatar Stars League players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Sevilla FC players Al-Rayyan SC players Sport Club Internacional players Copa América Centenario players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Qatar Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Qatar 2018 FIFA World Cup players