Source: These football times
Author: Omar Saleem (Editor-in-Chief)
Translator's Note: Today is the 38th birthday of "Joker" Aymar, and I would like to send my sincerest wishes to this former football magician.
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"You're too young to leave home all day to play football, so concentrate on your studies." Ricardo Aimar is reluctant to let his son swim in the muddy waters of football. Although he himself loves the sport, Ricciardo is thinking about chances, and he is right, for the 13-year-old Pablo Aymar, focusing on learning is obviously more likely than playing football.
Interestingly, Pablo inherited many virtues from his father, such as humility, hard work, and honesty, but planning ahead and calculating the odds is clearly not one of them.
Aymar of the River Plate era
Pablo did not follow his father's advice, he made up his mind, convinced that football was his only path. So, after training for River Plate's youth team just twice, he plucked up the courage to explain everything to club legend Daniel Passarella – who had been conquered by Pablo Jr. – and asked him to communicate privately with his father to persuade him to stay in the River Plate academy, whose intervention left Ricciardo with no choice.
22 years later, when his son hangs up his boots, he is already a legend in football.
River Plate "New Prince", Maradona's successor
Like many good Argentine offensive players, Aimar was not born in Buenos Aires, he actually grew up in the central Argentine city of Rio Cualto, and like many of the best predecessors in Argentine football history, most of Aimar's football skills are honed on the streets.
It was on the street that Aimar and his friends played until late afternoon, only to be discovered by Alfie Mercado, the academy coach of the local club Rio Cualto University, that the little guy's amazing dribbling skills surprised him. Although Aimar does not have amazing speed or fancy ball handling movements, he has a great sense of the ball, and it seems that any action is effortless, which is exactly what defines Aimar's career.
Even without trial, Aimar can join the academy of local teams and train three times a week at the fourth level clubs, which are satellite clubs of Córdoba's local giants such as Belgrano and Talleres.
But it is clear that none of these clubs can satisfy Aimar, instead, the young man chose to go to the capital Buenos Aires and join the traditional giant of Argentine football, River Plate, he gave up the opportunity to continue his medical studies, entered the River Plate youth team, improved himself step by step, and made his first team debut at just 16 years old.
Aimar's debut against Athletic Cologne marked the birth of another extraordinary talent in River Plate, and the club should spend time and money to promote the development of this young talent. Aimar was too thin against the older and more flamboyant defenders in Argentina's top flight, but in the first few games, the lad was able to cope with it easily, but the next few serious impacts finally made him succumb to injuries. Injuries have also played an extremely important role in the career of the top striker.
The former River Plate Gemini stars - Saviola and Aimar
Aimar continued to improve, and the day to leave the riverbed was slowly approaching. In the stands at the Stadium of Monuments, there was talk of the young midfielder, who was like– perhaps better – Uruguayan legend Enzo Franciscoli, nicknamed "The Prince", considered the most elegant frontcourt player in River Plate's history and the most successful signing in the team's history. It should be said that Aimar can be compared with this predecessor.
Aimar is used to constantly cruising throughout the field, looking for loopholes in the opposing defensive line, sending out a fatal pass, which then changes the entire game. His left and right feet can calmly receive the ball, through cross-positioning with teammates and good acceleration, dodging the opponent's shovel, and sending out threatening passes at the first time. The already famous River Plate double-gun Juan Pablo Angel and Marcelo Salas were the direct beneficiaries of Aymar's brilliant pass, and all they had to do was ambush in the heart of the other side, seize the best position, and prepare to accept Amar's perfect straight plug. Indeed, Salas once said of his Argentine teammate: "Aimar is a different player, as long as I play as a center, he can always deliver cannonballs to me in the first place. ”
Salas celebrates the goal
Four seasons of steady play in the First Team of River Plate gave world football a glimpse of Aimar's outstanding talent, and the European media quickly compared him to Maradona, calling him the "natural successor" of the old horse. The accolades don't mean much to Aimar, but they add zero to his transfer fee.
After contributing 21 goals and 28 assists in 82 appearances for River Plate, Aimar waved off monumental stadiums. As he parted, the young man vowed that he would one day return to River Plate and give back to the team that had benefited him a lot. From this farewell to his return, there are 15 years between, which has also witnessed his ups and downs in European football.
Landing in Europe, bats fly
"I received so many invitations, so much so that I was scared, and the top clubs of the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga all threw olive branches at me. In the end, I made the simplest decision. For Aimar, the simple decision was to join Valencia in January 2001, a rapidly rising La Liga powerhouse determined to challenge Real Madrid's dominance. In fact, Real Madrid also hoped to bring in Aimar that year, and after missing him, it was only in the summer of 2001 that it brought in The French King Zidane for a record transfer fee in the summer of 2001.
Played for Emmar during the Valencian period
After joining the Bats with a record transfer fee, Aimar played an immediate role, although the team only finished fifth in La Liga that season, but reached the Champions League final, eliminating Lyon, Arsenal and Leeds United in a row, and finally meeting Bayern at Milan City.
At the time, Valencia was coached by tactician Exto Cooper and the offensive end was full of names, including Mendetta, Vicente, Zahović, Baraja, Iliye and Karoo. However, Aimar easily occupied the main position in the team, complementing the diligent Albelda, the delicate Baraja and the tough Karoo.
Former Emal's midfield partner Mendetta
In his first month in La Liga, he won praise from Cruyff and quickly became a talking point in Spanish football, with teams including Barca looking to poach him from Mestalla.
The lure of the giants didn't make Aymar, nicknamed the "Joker," lose himself, and he remained focused on Valencia's game. Cooper decided to make Aimar a free man in the frontcourt, that is, he could play as he pleased, without having to stick to defensive tasks or the overall front pressure of the team. Aimar just needs to keep cruising, looking for opportunities to switch from defense to attack.
In the first six months of playing for Valencia, Aimar grew into one of the top players in European football, but that half year ended in failure, because in the Champions League final, Aimar was completely targeted by Hargreaves, so that he was replaced by Albelda at half-time. In the end, Bayern defeated the Bat Army through a penalty shootout and won the Champions League. Despite losing the final, everyone knew that this Valencia team was destined to succeed.
The Benitez era: double champions
After Cooper bid farewell to Spain and moved to Inter, Valencia appointed former Tenerife manager Benitez to succeed him, with the main goal of improving the team's ranking in the domestic league. In Benitez's view, the Real Madrid defensive line is weak, while Barca are trapped by off-field factors, and he accordingly sacrifices the most practical attacking philosophy in La Liga.
Spanish veteran Canizales took up the goalkeeping role, and in front of him was the extremely efficient combination of Ayala, Pellegrino and Alberda, Valencia easily won la Liga, conceding only 27 goals in 38 rounds (7 goals less than the second fewest Betis), seven points ahead of runners-up A Coruña. Although only 51 goals have been scored (tied for 6th most in the league and 69 for the most goals scored by Real Madrid), the team's attack points are extremely evenly distributed, and Aimar is already the third top scorer in the team with only 4 goals in the league (tied with Rufit, Angulo and Mista, behind Baraja and Salva). Despite this, the quality of his game has improved.
Benitez, who led Valencia to the championship
Aimar and Baraja formed the organizational core of Valencia, and his position retreated deeper in order to implement Benitez's cautious tactical philosophy, while also taking on the responsibility of protecting the team's defense. While this meant that he had to stay away from the opposition goal most of the time, the possession time became longer, allowing him to use his superior ball control skills and keen awareness to open a gap for his own attack and accurately find Kili Gonzalez, Rufit and Vicente in the open position on the flank, who would send Salva and Mista in the middle.
Although Aimar's form remained at a high level, with five assists in the Champions League and a tie for top assists with Rui Costa, Valencia did not perform well in the season after winning the title, finishing fifth in the league and out of the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Faced with such a situation, the manager has to do something, and the tactical board becomes the panacea he has chosen.
What drives Valencia to move forward is still Benitez's pragmatism, which requires players to move forward, constantly press opponents and make full use of the flanks to hit each other. The reward was the league and League Cup doubles, the greatest season in Valencia's history.
Valencia, who lifted the UEFA Cup
That season, Valencia scored 71 goals in the league, just one less than the most Real Madrid and conceded the fewest (27). They are all pushing ahead in the domestic league and in Europe, and Baraja is considered the best and most underrated midfielder in Europe. As for Aimar, he has only made 38 appearances due to injury, but his influence is still considerable.
No more dancing clowns
But from then on, Aymar's story will take a turn. After the doubles season, Valencia scored only one Copa del Rey (2008) in a full 13 years, never to get past Barca, Real Madrid and Atletico, and even in the competition against Sevilla, Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao. The la Liga giants carefully created by Benitez in the past quickly fell asleep and sold many of the top talents in the team.
Aimar's career has progressed on a similar trajectory. Injuries gripped the most appreciated front flank in European football, and his form plummeted. While Maradona emphasises that Aimar is the only player he is willing to pay to see, Aymar's chances of playing in Mestalla are becoming less and less.
Benitez moved to Anfield, replaced by Italian coach Ranieri, who was put on the wing by Aimar, who did not play his due role at all, or could only play the role of gold medal substitute. This is not for the Argentine, he needs trust and freedom to be able to play 100% of the way. However, in Ranieri's eyes, Aimar is just a player who plays well and badly. In fact, the regressive tactics of the "potmakers" are not suitable for the best Team in Europe a few months ago.
Ranieri, who had coached Aimar
In February, Valencia finished seventh in the league, Ranieri stepped down and Antonio López, who was in charge of transition, put Aimar back in the starting line-up until the end of the season. In the summer of 2005, Flores officially took over the Valencian whip.
At that time, Aimar was different from before, the full confidence of the past had collapsed, he would no longer constantly attack the opposing defense, using his talent to frequently send out deadly passes, but only wanted to play the safety card on the field. Perhaps it was his time under Benitez – although he helped the team succeed – that changed the way Aimar played, making him cautious in his pursuit of success, or perhaps it was Ranieri's distrust of him combined with injuries that made him lose confidence in his abilities. In any case, the most watchable talented midfielder of all time was able to do it in the 2005-06 season. That season also became his last season for Valencia.
Despite making 35 appearances under Flores, Aimar's role has become extremely limited, and despite this, he is still considered one of the few talented players in world football. So to reinvigorate his career, he had to change.
Reinvigorate
Benitez's Liverpool were once considered the most promising to get him, after 12 months of the Reds' champions league and FA Cup titles under the tutelage of Master Bey. However, Aimar made a surprising choice, deciding to stay in La Liga and join mid-tier side Zaragoza (3rd in Valencia and 11th in Zaragoza in 2005-06).
Aimar and former Zaragoza teammate Pique
Some believe that this is a sign of Aimar's lack of ambition, which shows that he does not think he can continue to play for the top team. In fact, the deal, which Zaragoza has called "the most important signing in the history of the club", is a great opportunity for Aimar to return to his favourite position. His real motivation for succumbing to Zaragoza was to kick his beloved game while playing it in the way he liked best.
Perhaps, Aimar sees the transfer as a springboard back to the top teams. In any case, not joining Liverpool is a pity for Aimar and Anfield.
This is a big disrespect for Zaragoza, because in the first season after Amar joined, Zaragoza still showed a strong team style. In addition to Aimar, Zaragoza has also recruited strong reinforcements such as the Milito brothers, Ayala and Pique, and Aimar has become the perfect partner for Diego Milito, helping his Argentine compatriot score 23 goals in La Liga in a single season, and after Levany, he is second in the Golden Boot battle.
Diego Milito during his time at Zaragoza
Zaragoza finished sixth in La Liga that season, only six points behind Valencia and two places behind, which can be said to be a revival of Aimar's career in some ways. Head coach Victor Fernandez gave him great freedom, with Aymar making 31 league appearances, contributing five goals and 11 assists. Although he still suffered minor injuries, he still recovered to a level close to the peak.
However, what happened after that was far beyond his control.
Due to poor management, Zaragoza suffered financial difficulties and had to sell key players one after another. The following season, Zaragoza fell from 6th to 18th, relegated to the second division, and Aimar made only 22 appearances. Fernandez couldn't wait to sell his players to save the precarious club, and Aimar's injury led to a further decline in his confidence and form, and although Zaragoza scored more goals (50 goals) than Atlético Santander in 6th place, he ended up in La Liga by one point.
The last light
At this time, Aimar was 28 years old and should still be at the peak of his career, but he had to find another way out again. Although he has just finished his worst season of his career, the offer to bring him in still flies like a snowflake, including an offer from the parent team River Plate. And where to stay next will also give Aimar a definite position in his career.
Aimar eventually chose to join Benfica, and the Portuguese Super League giants' shrewd signing policy and fluid attacking style intrigued Aimar. Moreover, Benfica invited Aimar to join in the hope that he would replace the newly retired Rui Costa. Benfica has Cadoso, Nuno Gomez, Di Maria and Reyes in the team, and the attacking firepower is extremely fierce, which is one of the reasons why Neymar chose to join them.
Emal while playing for Benfica
Aimar knows he has to work tirelessly to get a starting spot in the squad, and although he was plagued by injuries at the beginning of the season, he returned home after Christmas and played at his best level since leaving Valencia in the second half of the season. He was once again the most dynamic organizer, as if he had regained his life, retreating deeper to catch the ball and constantly delivering wonderful passes to his teammates.
Although Benfica performed poorly in the Portuguese Premier League, he won the League Cup that season. Aimar also conceded a penalty in the final penalty shootout, but it did not affect the team's victory. People began to expect that the Argentine "clown" would gradually find its best form.
In the 2009–10 season, Benfica brought in Amar's former river plate teammate Saviola, and both of them ambushed behind the single-arrow Cardoso to deliver cannonballs for the Paraguayan centre-forward. Cardoso thus delivered a perfect answer sheet with 38 goals in 47 games, and Benfica easily won the Portuguese Premier League crown, scoring 78 goals in 30 games and conceding only 20 goals. With Aimar, Saviola and Di Maria, it added a unique Argentinian flavor to the team's front court, in addition, Benfica also won the League Cup and completed the domestic double.
The former River Plate Gemini reunites in Benfica
The 31-year-old's physical condition continues to decline, but it is also quite suitable for the slower pace of the Portuguese Premier League, and he has become the most beloved player of the Stadium of Light fans. However, injuries have been eating away at his body.
For the next three seasons, Aimar continued to spend time in Benfica, dedicating his final aura to European football. When he said goodbye to Benfica, he left a good answer sheet with 34 assists in 107 league games.
farewell
After bidding farewell to Benfica, most people decided he would return to the Argentine league, but Aimar once again made a surprising decision, just as he had repeatedly deceived the opposing defender with incredible passing in his career, and he accepted a generous contract from Malaysian side Johor. After joining Johor, he made a total of 8 appearances and scored 2 goals, at a time when many believe Johor will be the last stop of his career.
After leaving European football, Aimar traveled to Malaysia
Still, there is a glorious moment that awaits Aimar. Eight months after leaving Johor, Aimar returned to training at River Plate with the goal of winning a formal contract, after all, he had promised to return to his home team. Although the injury made him no longer able to bear the demands of the game, then-River Plate coach Gallado gave him the opportunity to accept the fans' worship. In May 2015, he came off the bench in River Plate against Rosario Central, a farewell match of his career.
postscript
When Aimar brushed off his football career, everyone began to discuss the question of what position he could rank among the many great talents of Argentine football.
River Plate farewell match on Aymar
Unlike Messi, who once called Aimar the idol he idold as a child, and Maradona, players like Aimar, Riquelme and Ortega are less clear in their place in football legends.
Aimar won the 1997 Fide for Argentina, including Riquelme, Samuel and Cambiasso, but he made only 52 appearances for Argentina's senior team in his career, scoring eight goals. Although Riquelme was named to the Argentina squad in the 2002 World Cup, he spent most of his national team career in The Shadow of Perón, and of course, because of his injuries and too many good forwarders in the Tango Army, he was unable to get more opportunities to play.
Aymar in a national team jersey
So, where exactly can Aimar be placed? Some will question that he has won too few awards, after all, after helping Valencia win the double, his form has quickly declined, far from meeting the extremely high expectations of the original "Maradona successor".
But the truth is that after Argentina's football handed over to the dominant level, Aimar also conquered Europe, winning eight important trophies in the Spanish and Portuguese top flights. The double he helped Valencia win is considered the most important achievement in the history of the Bat Army team, and it is only because of the lack of a match for manager Ranieri that his trajectory in Valencia will turn from prosperity to decline. During his time at Benfica, he helped the team win 5 major trophies, and that team played the most pleasing football in Europe at the time, with many talented offensive talents.
In addition to the trophies, Aymar's style of football is different and intoxicating. His ability to string the team together perfectly with the most dexterous touches and passes, as evidenced by the goal he scored against Liverpool in the Champions League for Valencia. He's the kind of player that little fans dream of being – like the kid from Rosario named Lionel (Messi).
Messi hugs idol Amar
Perhaps the two main criteria for positioning a player are what he has won and whether he makes the fans happy. For Aimar, he has won more titles than many Argentine talents, and his elegant style of play has delighted the whole world.
Well, there is no doubt that for everyone who has seen him play, Pablo Aimar is one of the best in history.