Sergio Escudero (エスクデロ競飛王, ''Esukudero Seruhio''; ; born 1 September 1988) is a 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 an

attacking 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 striker for

Victoria Premier League 1 The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier Le ...

club

North Geelong Warriors FC North Geelong Warriors Football Club, formerly known as North Geelong Croatia, is an Australian professional soccer club from the regional Victorian city of Geelong. The club currently competes in the Victoria Premier League 1, Australia's third ...

. Born in Spain, he has represented the Japan U23 national team internationally. He is the son of Argentine-Japanese footballer Sergio Ariel Escudero.

Career

When Escudero was three years old, he moved to Japan because of his father's work and joined the local club team. After living in Japan for five years, he moved to Argentina and Escudero began his career with the Vélez Sársfield youth team, where his father, also named Sergio Ariel Escudero and uncle Osvaldo Salvador Escudero have played. Then he was called up to the U-15 Argentina national team training camp. In 2001, Escudero returned to Japan and joined

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo ...

junior youth team in Chiba and later moved to

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

junior youth team in Saitama. He scored many goals in youth level league matches and contracted with Urawa Reds in 2005. Playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, Escudero made his debut as a professional on 15 April 2005, against

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. They currently play in J1 League after being promoted from J2 League as cha ...

at the age of 16 years, 8 months and 21 days and he became the second youngest J. League Division 1 player after

Takayuki Morimoto is a Japanese former professional footballer who plays as a second striker. He holds the record for the youngest Japanese player to make his professional debut, and the youngest scorer in J1 League history. Morimoto represented Japan at the 20 ...

. In 2006, German outfit

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

were interested in him but Urawa refused to release him. On 11 June 2007, he obtained his Japanese citizenship and therefore he had a chance to play for the Japan U-20 team at

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the scor ...

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 ...

. However he failed to make it to the tournament since the squad was submitted before he became a Japanese citizen. In May 2008, he joined the U-23 national team which played at the

2008 Toulon Tournament The 2008 Toulon Tournament was the 36th edition of the Toulon Tournament, and was held from 20 May to 29 May 2008. Tournament finished with the final between Italy and Chile at Stade Mayol in Toulon as Italy had the title after the final score of ...

and scored a goal against

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

. On 17 July 2012, Escudero joined South Korean outfit

FC Seoul FC Seoul () is a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS G ...

on a six-month loan deal. He received number 26 and scored his debut goal on 21 July. He scored four goals and provided three assists in the end of the season. His loan was made permanent in December. He scored the opening goal and assisted Dejan Damjanovic's 2–2 equalizer in the 2013 AFC Champions League Final match against China powerhouse

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club (), previously Guangzhou Evergrande (), was a Chinese professional football club based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Historically, Guangzhou FC played its home matches at various grounds in their home city, most notably at T ...

on 26 October 2013. His impressive performance made him

Man 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 ...

. On 25 February 2015, Escudero signed a two-year contract with

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side Jiangsu Guoxin-Sainty. On 1 August 2022, Escudero joined a Primera División club C.D. Atlético Marte.

Personal life

The son of former Argentine-Japanese footballer of the same name, he was born to Argentine parents of Spanish descent in Spain, and thus held dual Argentine and Spanish citizenship. In 2007, he acquired Japanese citizenship automatically as a result of his father's naturalization. Escudero is a cousin of

Damián Escudero Damián Ariel Escudero (born 20 April 1987) is a former Argentine professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A well-travelled professional, Escudero played for a number of clubs in Argentina, Spain, Mexico and Brazil after starting out ...

and nephew of

Osvaldo Escudero Osvaldo Salvador Escudero (born October 15, 1960, in Paso de los Libres, Corrientes) is a former Argentine professional footballer. He was part of the Argentina Under-20 team that won the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship in Japan. Escuder ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Japan U23's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Escudero goal.''

Honours

Urawa Red Diamonds * J. League Division 1:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

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 ...

Japanese Super Cup The , the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J.League and the Japan Football Association. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the reigning J1 Leag ...

FC Seoul *

K League Classic The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Jiangsu Guoxin-Sainty *

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

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 ...

References

External links

Profile at Kyoto Sanga
* *
Q&A with Escudero at fussballD21

Yahoo! Sports Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Escudero, Sergio 1988 births Living people Footballers from Granada Argentine men's footballers Spanish men's footballers Japanese men's footballers Japanese expatriate men's footballers J1 League players J2 League players K League 1 players Chinese Super League players Sergio Escudero Salvadoran Primera División players Victoria Premier League players Urawa Red Diamonds players FC Seoul players Jiangsu F.C. players Kyoto Sanga FC players Ulsan HD FC players Tochigi SC players Sergio Escudero C.D. Atlético Marte footballers North Geelong Warriors FC players Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Japanese expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in China Japanese expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Expatriate men's footballers in El Salvador Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Australia Argentine sportspeople of Spanish descent Spanish people of Argentine descent Sportspeople of Argentine descent Naturalized citizens of Japan Japanese people of Spanish descent Japanese people of Argentine descent Men's association football forwards Naturalised association football players 21st-century Argentine sportsmen 21st-century Spanish sportsmen