Argentina's Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero had just begun their careers when they won Olympic gold medals in 2008.
Argentina definitely has a pedigree in men's Olympic football, winning gold twice in the last two decades.
Four years after their first victory at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Albiceleste sent a truly formidable squad in 2008 to defend their title. Argentina's Beijing Olympic list is close to absurdity, as the young Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria all compete with relatively older leaders such as Juan Roman Riquelme and Javier Mascherano.
According to the Olympic selection rules, each country must submit a squad of 18 under-23 players, of which up to 3 "overage" players, and if desired, the 19th place goalkeeper can also be selected.
To this end, Argentine coach Battista chose a 19-man group to play, and in the final at the Beijing National Stadium (also known as the "Bird's Nest"), Di Maria scored a goal that was enough to secure a back-to-back gold medal.
Where are all the members of that victory squad now? Well, it's funny, you should ask...
GK: Oscar Ustalli
: 22 years of age at the time of selection
In the selected time cap/target: 1/0
Clubs: Getafe, Spain
In 2005, Ustaly won the FIFA U-20 World Cup with Aguero and close friend Messi, who started the Olympics as Argentina's first choice, but suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury in the quarter-final match against the Netherlands, which allowed him to ruthlessly rob him. Have a place in the rest of the game and the next eight months of his career. "Oschi" eventually returned, but injury issues continued to haunt him for years to come, eventually seeing his tenure in Getafe abruptly end in 2012 as a second cross fracture led to another extended suspension. After playing for Boca Juniors, Newell Old Boys and– somewhat strangely, Sunderland, the 35-year-old now plays for Pachuca in Mexico's top flight.
GK: Sergio Romero
Age: 21
Cap/Target: 0/0
Clubs: Alkmaar, Netherlands
After Ustali was injured, Romero took over the top pick and did not look back, becoming the most appearance-making goalkeeper in Argentine history. In his record 96 international matches, Romero competed in two World Cups (2010 and 2014) and three Copa America (2011, 2015 and 2016). In these tournaments, he played in three finals and although he did not concede a goal in the first 90 minutes of any of them, he lost all of them. He missed the 2018 World Cup with an injury, although coach Jorgesan Pauli decided to abandon him. Before being released this summer, the 34-year-old spent six seasons at Manchester United, where he provided David De Gea with a solid substitute while winning both the FA Cup and the Europa League.
GK: Nicholas Navarro
Age: 23
Clubs: Naples, Italy
Navarro was not a member of the original team but was called up as a substitute during the Olympics due to Ustari's injury. The 36-year-old has been trading with De Sarandi Arsenal in Argentina until this week when he announced his retirement, which also included careers in Turkey and Mexico.
DF: Ezquil Garey
Age: 21
Games/goals: 1/0
Club: Real Madrid
The talented centre-back had just signed for Real Madrid when he was called up to the Argentine Olympic squad, but then he made a lot of progress after returning to the Bernabeu. Subsequent rivalries with Benfica, Zenit St. Petersburg and Valencia followed, but a string of injuries hampered Gare's career. The 34-year-old defender announced his retirement from professional football earlier this month after a year without clubs, saying he would feel "dishonest" to take his salary when he was barely healthy.
DF: Fabian Monzon
Appearances/goals scored: 0/0
Club: Boca Youth Team of Argentina
The left-back made a leap forward in European football shortly after winning the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics on loan from Boca to Real Betis. Monzon went on to play for Nice and Lyon in France, then in Catania in Italy before returning to South America with the University of Chile. The 34-year-old defender has moved back to Argentina, where he is still playing for Tier A side Atlético Tucumán.
DF: Pablo Zabaleta
Age: 23
Games/goals: 5/0
Club: Espanyol, Spain
Za balleta signed directly with Manchester City after the 2008 Olympics and made his debut within a month of winning the gold medal with Argentina. Over the next nine years, the right-back played an integral role in City's transition from Premier League title to heavyweight contender, winning two league titles and proving to be a favourite among fans. The defender then spent three seasons at West Ham Before retiring completely after 18 years in October 2020.
DF: Federico Fazio
Games/goals: 0/0
Club: Sevilla, Spain
After gaining a foothold in Sevilla, Fazio moved to the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur in 2014. Fazio scored 4-1 in his league debut (foul on compatriot Sergio Aguero) and was sent off to Lose to Manchester City. The centre-back had a tough time in London, and his Spurs career faded with successive loans – first back to Sevilla and then to Roma, with whom he signed a permanent contract in 2017 and revived his career.
DF: Nicholas Pareja
Age: 24
Club: Anderlecht, Belgium
Pareja has won the senior league title only once in the Argentine national team, but his club career has been even more impressive. After playing in Europe with Espanyol and Sparta Moscow, the centre-backs are at Sevilla as Spain won two of their three consecutive Europa League titles between 2014 and 2016. Pareja, 37, has retired.
The Argentine men's team won back-to-back gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. Koji Watanabe/Getty Pictures
MF: Fernando Gago
Age: 22 games
Goals: 9/0
Club: Real Madrid, Spain
Once the crown prince in midfield, Gago saw what should have been a brilliant career, but it was ruined by frequent injury problems. He made fewer than 40 appearances between 2016 and 2019. Before returning home with Boca Juniors in 2013, similar problems hampered Roma and Valencia's game. Gago rejoined Velezzasfield in the 2019-20 season before retiring from football at the age of 34 the following summer, just weeks after Za Balleta announced his retirement. In January, he became a coach in charge of Argentina's top club Aldosivi.
MF: Banega forever
Age: 20
Club: Valencia, Spain
Banega spent only six months in Valencia before being selected as a member of Argentina's 2008 Olympic team. The youngster went on to become one of Europe's most sought-after militant midfielders, playing for Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Sevilla – where he won a hat-trick in the Europa League. These days, the 33-year-old can be seen playing in Saudi Arabia's top flight with Al-Shabaab.
MF: Javier Mascherano
Blocks/Goals: 37/2
Clubs: Liverpool, England
By the time the 2008 Olympics took place, Mascherano was one of the most experienced members of the team. After all, this is a guy who made his senior international debut at the age of 19 before playing football for a minute in the first team. After playing for West Ham and Liverpool in England, the versatile man went on to become one of the most respected players in the world in Barcelona, winning 19 trophies in eight years there. Mascherano saw his long and illustrious career in Hebei Huaxia Happiness and University before retiring in 2020, making 147 adult appearances, becoming Argentina's second-largest playing player.
MF: Juan Roman Riquelme
Age: 30 appearances
Goals: 42/17
Club: Boca Juniors, Argentina
The oldest member of the team, Boca legend Riquelme serves as Argentina's veteran politician and captain in Beijing. The silky organiser scored a penalty in the semi-final 3-0 win over Brazil – his last goal for the national team. Two months after the gold medal, he retired from international competitions. Riquelme has been playing at club level until January 2015, when he decided to quit at the age of 36, despite considering the lucrative short-term contract offered by Paraguayan club Cerro Porteno. "I decided not to play football anymore," he said at the time. "Now I'm just a fan. I would go to the stadium and suffer. Riquelme is now back on the field in an official capacity as Boca vice-president.
MF: Jose Sousa
Cap/Target: 2/0
Clubs: Bayern Munich, Germany
Since participating in the 2008 Olympic Games, Sousa has been a nomadic career, playing for Bayern, Napoli, Kharkiv Metal, Atletico Madrid, Besiktas, AC Milan and Trabzon Sport. The 36-year-old is still strong in Turkey after signing Fenerbahce in 2020.
MF: Diego Bonannot
Cap/Goals: 0/0
Clubs: River Plate, Argentina
Bonannot only made one appearance at the 2008 Olympics, but he did score a fantastic long-range free-kick in Argentina's third group game against Serbia. Unfortunately, in December 2009, a terrible tragedy befell the winger, who was the sole survivor of a fatal car accident in Argentina. He was able to return to the pitch and at the age of 33 was still playing at the Pontifical University of Chilean club.
Angel Di Maria's winning goal was one of several decisive performances of his career in the final. Mark Dustwell/Getty Pictures
Forward: Angel Di Maria
Club: Benfica, Portugal
The young, slender lad is now an older, slender veteran, but Di Maria has proven his worth to Argentina over the years. The 33-year-old winger won the gold medal match in 2008, scoring his only goal in the 2021 Copa America final against Brazil, earning his country its first major international event honour in 28 years. year. At club level, he was named the best player in the 2014 Champions League final, thus ending his four years at Real Madrid and locking in the club's long-awaited 10th European title – La Decima'. That summer's £60m move to Manchester United lasted just one year before joining Paris Saint-Germain, where he has won 17 trophies to date and reached the 2020 Champions League final.
Forward: Ezekür Ravezi
Blocks/Goals: 2/0
Club: Napoli. Italy
One of Europe's most coveted attacking geniuses, Ravizi left Napoli in 2012 to join Paris Saint-Germain, who is cash-rich and seeks to turn himself into a main force. The Argentine, who arrived in Paris at the same transfer window as Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, played for three and a half seasons in Ligue 1 before moving to the Chinese Super League with Hebei Huaxia Happiness in 2016, becoming the highest-paid player. Before retiring in 2019, footballers on the planet are in the process.
Forward: Lautaro Atta Costa
After a teenage outburst at club Lanus as a teenager, Acosta moved to Europe with Sevilla in 2008, but almost immediately missed due to serious injuries. Loans from Athletic Santander and Boca Youth followed, but all these early promises failed to materialize, and Acosta returned to Lanus in 2013. Now 33 years old, he made one point in La Liga despite making only 13 appearances last season.
Forward: Sergio Aguero
Appearances/goals scored: 7/2
Club: Atletico Madrid, Spain
Three years after the 2008 Olympics, and after Atletico had built his reputation, Aguero decided to join Manchester City in the hope of taking the next step. What followed was a decade of astonishing success, with the club winning five Premier League titles, in part due to Aguero's prolific nature. His goal in stoppage time on the final day of the 2011-12 season helped City win their first Premier League title, which remains one of the premier league's most iconic moments. All in all, Aguero scored 260 goals for City, making it the club's all-time goal record. After losing runners-up to Chelsea in the 2020-21 Champions League final, the 33-year-old joined Barca as a free agent.
Lionel Messi was on the cusp of becoming the world's best player when he won the gold medal in Beijing. Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Pictures
Forward: Lionel Messi
Blocks/goals: 26/8
Club: Barcelona, Spain
If Barca had gotten their wish, Messi wouldn't have competed in the 2008 Olympics at all, as the club insisted they didn't want their young stars to miss pre-season training in order to travel to China. In fact, it was the new head coach Guardiola who eventually pushed Messi into the Olympics with the aim of giving the players experience and making him happy.
"He [Guardiola] was the one who gave me permission," Messi recalled in a 2019 interview with Estudio Futbol. "I remember we were in italy in pre-season, after a friendly against Fiorentina, he grabbed me and said, 'You want to go, don't you? I said, 'Yes,' and he replied, 'Well, I'll allow you, on the only condition that the club people will accompany you and follow you everywhere.' I told him that wasn't a problem, as long as I could go! ”
Messi scored Argentina's first goal of the match in the first game of the group stage in a 2-1 win over Côte d'Ivoire before scoring the second goal against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. After helping Barcelona win the Triple Crown in La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, he won the first of his six Ballon d'Ors the following year. Still in Barcelona years later, Messi has won 34 trophies at club level, and this summer he led the national team to the Copa America.