Juan Pablo Sorín (born 5 May 1976) is an Argentine former

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, rugb ...

and current

sports broadcaster In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

, who played as a

left-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 ...

left 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 ...

. He had a successful club career in his native Argentina with River Plate, in Brazil with Cruzeiro, and with various teams in Europe, including

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

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 ...

and Villarreal. At international level, he represented

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

at two

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 has ...

s, and was the captain of Argentine side at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

; he also represented his nation in two editions of

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

, and the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup winners ...

Early and personal life

Sorín was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina, and is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He has written a book called ''Grandes Chicos'' ("Big Kids" or "Big Little People") to raise funds for the building of a school and a children's hospital in Argentina. He currently lives in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

, Brazil, and worked as a

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

for

ESPN Brasil ESPN is the Brazilian division of ESPN Inc. Launched in March 1989 as Canal+, it was the first country-specific version of ESPN outside the United States, launched in June 1995. The channel has covered major sporting events, like the 1996, 2000, ...

from 2012 to 2017.

Club career

Early career

Nicknamed ''Juampi'', as he is often known in Argentina, Sorín began his career playing in the lower-reaches of the Argentine league for

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

, a

football club. He broke into the first team in 1994 and during the 1995–96 season, after he captained the Argentina Under-20 side who won the

1995 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1995 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 10th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held in Qatar from 13 to 28 April 1995. The tournament t ...

played 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 sh ...

, his contract was bought by Italian club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

. However, he struggled to find space in an already established first-team under manager

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional football player and manager, who led the Italian national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as Italy head coach in the summer of 2004 and ...

, totalling only four appearances for the club; as such, he soon returned to Argentina. Sorín played for River Plate in the second half of 1996, and revived his career, winning three

Apertura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

championships (1996, 1997 and 1999), one Clausura championship (1997), one

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

and a

Supercopa Sudamericana The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually between 1988 and 1997 by ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

Cruzeiro and Lazio

He was transferred to Cruzeiro of

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 ...

in 2000. He played for two and a half seasons, winning the

2000 Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil 2000 was the 12th staging of the Copa do Brasil. The competition started on March 9, 2000, and concluded on July 9, 2000, with the second leg of the final, held at the Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte, in which Cruzeiro l ...

and becoming one of the most cherished players by the fans up to this day. After the

2002 Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil 2002 was the 14th staging of the Copa do Brasil. The competition started on February 13, 2002 and concluded on May 15, 2002 with the second leg of the final, held at the Boca do Jacaré in Taguatinga in the Federal District, ...

ended, he signed for

on loan in July 2002.

Barcelona and PSG

After an injury-plagued half-season at

in Italy, where he only played six league games, Sorin was acquired by

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

, occupying the non-EU quota along with Juan Román Riquelme and Roberto Bonano. He made his

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 Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

debut on 9 February 2003 in a 2–2 draw against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los L ...

. In total he made 15 appearances and scored one goal. He scored on the final matchday of the 2002–03 La Liga season in a 2–0 victory over

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blu ...

. After a successful half-season he left the

Nou Camp Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcel ...

in the summer of 2003 and was loaned out to

, where he won the

2003–04 Coupe de France The 2003–04 Coupe de France was the 87th edition of the annual French cup competition. It was won by Paris Saint-Germain. The cup finalist LB Châteauroux qualified for the UEFA Cup because PSG qualified to 2004–05 UEFA Champions League th ...

. Sorín returned to Cruzeiro in 2004 and played the

2004 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The 2004 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 48th edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. The competition was won by Santos, coached by Vanderlei Luxemburgo. Runners-up were Atlético Paranaense, which led the competition for 11 weeks ...

Villarreal

In November 2004, Sorín transferred to Spanish side Villarreal on a free transfer. He scored his first goal for the club on 20 February 2005, a game-winner in the last minute of the game to give Villarreal a 3–2 victory against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

. He scored three more goals during the season to help Villarreal finish third in the league table for the 2004–05 season and earn qualification to the Champions League. In the 2005–06 league season, Sorín made 20 appearances and scored 3 goals. He made 13 appearances in the

2005–06 UEFA Champions League The 2005–06 UEFA Champions League was the 51st season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League and the 14th since it was rebranded from the European Cup in 1992. 74 teams from 50 football associations took p ...

and scored a goal in the qualifying stages against Everton, helping the club reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten by

Arsenal 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 ...

Hamburg

Sorín was reportedly the subject of interest from English Premiership sides

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 d ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

during the summer of 2006, but ended up signing for

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

in August 2006. He signed a three-year contract on a €3m transfer fee. After two years with the German club and only 24 appearances because of injury, Sorín left when his contract expired on 15 July 2008.

Second Return to Cruzeiro and Retirement

Sorín returned again to Cruzeiro on 29 August 2008. He signed a contract until the end of season, with the option to renew for two more years. He played his only match since his return in a Série A game on 14 June 2009, and after another injury-riddled year with Cruzeiro, he announced his retirement on 28 July 2009.

International career

Sorín made his Argentina debut in 1995. His first major tournament participation was at the

1999 Copa América The 1999 Copa América was a football tournament held in Paraguay, from 29 June to 18 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There was no qualifying for the final tournament. Mexico and Japan were invited t ...

, where Argentina were eliminated by eventual winners

in the quarter-finals. Sorín was part of the

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

squad in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

held in Japan and South Korea. He played and started all three matches 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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. However the team performed poorly, and were eliminated in the group stage. Sorín played at the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held i ...

, scoring a goal in a 3–0 victory against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

. He started 5 out of 6 possible matches, missing the match against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Argentina lost the final to Brazil 2–4 on penalties after a 2–2 draw following 90 minutes. The next year, Sorín played at the

2005 Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup winner ...

. He played and started every match, as Argentina lost in the final to Brazil again 4–1. The Argentine squad was then rebuilt by José Pekerman and Sorín was made captain of his country for the

in Germany. Sorín played an important role in the World Cup for Argentina as an effective attacking full-back. Argentina qualified for the second round after taking care of

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...

(2–1) and crushing

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

6–0. After defeating Mexico in extra time, Argentina went on to the quarter-finals where they lost to hosts

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

on a penalty-shoot out.

Style of play

Sorín was a strong, versatile, and hardworking

, who could also play as a

centre-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 ...

, or anywhere on the

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

, due to his passing and crossing ability with his left foot. He had an eccentric style of play, and despite being played predominantly in defensive roles, he often made attacking runs into more offensive positions, where he used his technical skills and aggressive heading ability to great effect.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sorín goal.''

Honours

Juventus *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

: 1995–96 River Plate *

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). T ...

: 1996 Apertura, 1996 Clausura, 1997 Apertura, 1999 Apertura *

Supercopa Libertadores The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually between 1988 and 1997 by t ...

Cruzeiro *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Copa Sul-Minas Copa Sul-Minas was a Brazilian football competition that ran between 2000 and 2002, with teams from the three Southern states of Brazil, plus the Southeastern state of Minas Gerais. It replaced the 1999 tournament called Copa Sul which only include ...

: 2001, 2002 *

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

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; Protests ...

Paris Saint-Germain *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

: 2003–04 Argentina *

FIFA World Youth Championship 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 wh ...

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 ...

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

: 1995 Individual *South American Team of the Year: 1996, 2000, 2001 * Bola de Prata: 2000 * UNFP Player of the Month: April 2004

References

External links

*
Lega Serie A Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorin, Juan Pablo 1976 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Association football midfielders Association football defenders Argentine Jews Argentine footballers Argentina youth international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Argentina international footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players FC Barcelona players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Club Atlético River Plate footballers Jewish Argentine sportspeople Jewish footballers Juventus F.C. players S.S. Lazio players Villarreal CF players Hamburger SV players Bundesliga players La Liga players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1999 Copa América players 2004 Copa América players Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serie A players Ligue 1 players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine Primera División players Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Pan American Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games