Éver Maximiliano David Banega (born 29 June 1988) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

club

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 ...

. He started his career with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, and signed with

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in 2008 where he remained for several years, appearing in 162 official games and winning the 2008 Copa del Rey. After joining

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

in 2014, he conquered three

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

trophies over two spells. Banega represented

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

at the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

. Additionally, he won an Olympic medal in 2008 and appeared in three

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

tournaments, helping the team to the final of the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and 2016 editions.

Club career

Boca Juniors

Born in

Rosario, Santa Fe Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, Banega came through the youth ranks at

, reaching the first team at 18, and winning immediate recognition thanks to his passing average and his performances in the Primera División. After teammate midfielder

Fernando Gago Fernando Rubén Gago (; born 10 April 1986) is an Argentine football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club Club Necaxa, Necaxa. During his 16-year club career, limited by multiple ...

moved to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in January 2007, he was named as his successor despite his young age. Banega made his professional debut in the 4–0 win against Banfield on 10 February 2007. On 1 April, just a few matches afterwards, he was given an ovation when he left the field.

Valencia

On 5 January 2008, Banega signed with Spanish side

on a -year deal, for a fee of around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

20 million. He made his debut on the 13th in a 1–0 loss at

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, coming on as a half-time substitute. Banega was loaned to Atlético Madrid for 2008–09. He made his official debut as a substitute during the ''Colchoneross 3–0 away victory over

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

, in the first group stage match of the season's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. However, he failed to settle in the team's starting XI, also being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in away draws against

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

and

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

. Following his return from Atlético, it appeared that Banega was to join English club Everton, but a move did not materialise due to problems acquiring a visa. He subsequently returned for the 2009–10 campaign, and assisted both goals in Valencia's opening game against

. He scored his first goal for the ''Che'' on 17 January 2010 in a 4–1 defeat of neighbouring Villarreal. Banega played 28 matches in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

(19 starts, two goals), as Valencia finished third and qualified for the Champions League. On 19 February 2012, however, he prolonged an existing spell on the sidelines – he had recently returned from a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury – after he was run over by his own car. As a result, he

fracture Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

d his left

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

and broke the

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

and

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

in his left leg, according to Valencia team doctor Enrique Gastaldi. He required ankle surgery, going on to miss the remainder of the season; the club only confirmed that the player had been hurt in an accident involving his own car after leaving training, however Spanish media had reported that the injury occurred when he failed to put the

handbrake HandBrake is a free and open-source transcoder for digital video files. It was originally developed in 2003 by Eric Petit to make ripping DVDs to a data storage device easier. HandBrake's backend contains comparatively little original code; t ...

on at a petrol station and, after the car moved, his leg was caught between the wheel and the curb. On 31 January 2014, Banega was loaned to

in his country, until the end of the campaign.

Sevilla

On 19 August 2014, Banega joined Sevilla for an undisclosed fee, crediting his decision to move clubs to manager

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa. He is widely regarded as o ...

, who had managed him at Valencia. He made his official debut four days later, replacing

Aleix Vidal Aleix Vidal Parreu (; born 21 August 1989) is a Spanish professional association football, footballer. Mainly a right winger (association football), right winger and a player of great speed, he can also operate as a right-back. Having spent his ...

for the final 20 minutes of a 1–1 draw against his former team. On 27 May 2015, Banega started for Sevilla in the

2015 UEFA Europa League final The 2015 UEFA Europa League final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, the 44th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Eu ...

defeat of

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

at Poland's

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

, being named

player of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in the process. On 11 August, in the ensuing edition of the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

, he scored the fastest ever goal in the competition through a third-minute

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

, but in a 5–4 loss to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 ...

. Even though he had been deemed surplus to requirements the year before by the same manager, Banega continued to be an undisputed starter in 2015–16, netting nine times in 46 competitive appearances. He played the full 90 minutes in the Europa League final, won 3–1 against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. In his last game for the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns, the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

on 22 May 2016, he was sent off for a 90th-minute tackle on

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

in an eventual 2–0 defeat to Barcelona after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

Inter Milan

On 16 May 2016, it was announced that Banega would sign for

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 Association football, football List of football ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, with the move being made effective on 1 July. In his first interview, he stated: "I'm very excited to play for a club like Inter", adding "I cannot wait to play for Inter." He was officially presented on 12 August, being given squad number 19. Banega made his

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

debut on 21 August 2016, starting and playing 70 minutes in a 2–0 away loss against

ChievoVerona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo (, ), is an Italian football club named after and representing Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto. It is owned since 2024 by the team' ...

. On 11 September, at newly promoted

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, he provided the first goal of

Mauro Icardi Mauro Emanuel Icardi Rivero (born 19 February 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Turkish Süper Lig club Galatasaray, whom he captains. Icardi began his footballing career at the youth teams of Vecindario ...

in an eventual 2–1 comeback win for the first three points of the season. Banega was named in Inter's

squad, starting in their first match against

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from the city of Beersheba, Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was estab ...

, which finished in a 0–2 defeat at the

San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...

. He scored his first goal for the ''nerazzurri'' on 2 October, but in a 2–1 away loss to

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. During the first part of the campaign, Banega started mostly but was also benched on occasion, which led to rumours of a possible move in the winter

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

. On 5 March 2017 he returned to the starting XI for the league match against

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

, assisting

Ivan Perišić Ivan Perišić (; born 2 February 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven and the Croatia national team. Usually deployed as a left winger, he has also featured as a left wing-back, ...

and scoring himself a

in a 5–1 away victory. One week later, he netted his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

as a professional in the 7–1 home thrashing of

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

, which set a new league personal best at six goals.

Return to Sevilla

On 27 June 2017, a mere 13 months after leaving the

Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium (; ) is a association football, football stadium in Seville, Spain. It is the home stadium of Sevilla Fútbol Club, Sevilla, and is named after the club's former president, Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán (1900–195 ...

, Banega returned to Sevilla. He was sent off in his first league game in his second spell for allegedly insulting the

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

, immediately after being booked for committing a foul in the last minutes of the 1–1 home draw against

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

Later career

In January 2020, it was announced that Banega would join Al Shabab of the

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

when the

, in which Sevilla were

winners Winners Merchants International L.P. is a chain of off-price Canadian department stores owned by TJX Companies. Its market niche is similar to the American chain TJ Maxx, and it is a partnered retailer to department stores HomeSense and Marshall ...

, ended. Four years later, aged 35, he returned to Argentina and Newell's Old Boys.

International career

Banega was selected for the Argentine under-20 team, alongside

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

, for the 2007 FIFA World Cup in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, appearing in all seven games for the eventual champions. Soon after joining Valencia in January 2008 he made his debut for the full side, in a 5–0 friendly win over

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

on 6 February which he started. During that summer, he appeared for

the nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, helping to conquer the gold medal. In spite of a solid season with Valencia, Banega was not selected for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

by manager

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

. He was however a member of the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

squad, playing the first two group matches as the hosts reached the quarter-finals under

Sergio Batista Sergio Daniel "Checho" Batista (; born 9 November 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former international player for Argentina. As a footballer he played as a midfielder for Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Nueva Chicago, Tosu Future ...

. On 26 March 2013 he scored his first goal, finishing a Clemente Rodríguez cross to equalise in a 1–1 draw away to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

in the

2014 World Cup qualifiers The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil. The remaining 31 places were determined by ...

, but was not chosen for the squad that appeared in

the finals ''The Finals'' is a free-to-play first-person shooter, developed and published by Embark Studios. The game focuses on team-based matches on maps with a destructible environment, where players (who are divided into a number of distinct classes) ...

. Banega was selected by coach

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who last coached Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He ...

for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, starting in the team's opening fixture against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

in La Serena. He was one of two players to miss his

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

attempt in the final, a 4–1 loss to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, with

Claudio Bravo Claudio Andrés Bravo Muñoz (; born 13 April 1983) is a Chilean former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Bravo began his career with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Socied ...

saving it. Banega started all the games in the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

in the United States, lost 4–2 in the same fashion to the same opponent. Previously, in the opening match of the group stage, he had scored in a 2–1 win over the same team, also setting up

Ángel Di María Ángel Fabián Di María (; born 14 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Primeira Liga club Benfica. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Argentine players of all time and one of the best pl ...

's first goal. Banega was included in the final squad for the

. He made his debut in the competition on 16 June, playing 36 minutes in the 1–1 group stage draw against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

after replacing

Lucas Biglia Lucas Rodrigo Biglia (; born 30 January 1986) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Formerly of Argentinos Juniors and Club Atlético Independiente, Independiente, he spent sev ...

. In the final group match against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

at the

Krestovsky Stadium Krestovsky Stadium, known as Gazprom Arena for sponsorship reasons (), is a retractable roof stadium with a retractable pitch in the western portion of Krestovsky Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which serves as home for FC Zenit Saint Peter ...

, he assisted

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

's opening goal with a long ball over the defence; the match eventually ended in a 2–1 victory, which saw his team progress to the second round as group runners-up behind

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, and he also featured the entire 4–3 round-of-16 defeat to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Style of play

A tactically intelligent and versatile

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

, Banega is mostly known for his technical skills,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

ability, quick feet, vision and accurate passing, which enables him to retain possession, dictate the tempo of his team's play in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

and create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates. Although he is usually deployed as a

, he can also be deployed as an attacking one; whilst at Boca Juniors, he operated as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, or as a

deep-lying playmaker In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

due to his creativity, work-rate and ball-winning abilities, and he is also an accurate set-piece taker. Banega's former Internazionale coach

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Saudi Arabia national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for h ...

said of him: "Banega is a midfielder who likes to mix it up a lot. He can start by playing off the front man and drop deep to pick up the ball. He plays for Argentina, he's got quality and charisma and I'm sure he'll be very useful to us."

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Boca Juniors *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Valencia *

: 2007–08 Sevilla *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2019–20 *Copa del Rey runner-up: 2015–16, 2017–18 Argentina U20 *

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 when i ...

Argentina U23 *

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Argentina *

runner-up:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Individual *UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2019–20 * Saudi Pro League Player of the Month: October 2020, February 2021

References

External links

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CiberChe stats and bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banega, Ever 1988 births Living people 21st-century Argentine sportsmen Argentine men's footballers Footballers from Rosario, Santa Fe Men's association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Boca Juniors footballers Newell's Old Boys footballers La Liga players Atlético Madrid footballers Valencia CF players Sevilla FC players Serie A players Inter Milan players Saudi Pro League players Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) players Copa Libertadores–winning players UEFA Europa League–winning players Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's international footballers 2011 Copa América players 2015 Copa América players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Copa América Centenario players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Argentina Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Argentina Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia