Federico Insúa
FullnameFederico Insúa
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Birth dateJanuary 3, 1980 (age 46)
Birth placeBuenos Aires, Argentina
PositionAttacking midfielder
Years 11997–2002
Clubs 1Argentinos Juniors
Caps 1114
Goals 116
Years 22002–2003
Clubs 2Independiente
Caps 256
Goals 214
Years 32003–2004
Clubs 3Málaga
Caps 331
Goals 33
Years 42004–2005
Clubs 4Independiente
Caps 435
Goals 49
Years 52005–2006
Clubs 5Boca Juniors
Caps 537
Goals 511
Years 62006–2007
Clubs 6Borussia M'gladbach
Caps 632
Goals 62
Years 72007–2010
Clubs 7Club América
Caps 730
Goals 75
Years 82009
Clubs 8→ Necaxa (loan)
Caps 816
Goals 82
Years 92009–2010
Clubs 9→ Boca Juniors (loan)
Caps 930
Goals 93
Years 102010–2012
Clubs 10Bursaspor
Caps 1024
Goals 101
Years 112012–2014
Clubs 11Vélez Sarsfield
Caps 1162
Goals 119
Years 122014–2015
Clubs 12Independiente
Caps 1218
Goals 122
Years 132015
Clubs 13Millonarios
Caps 1341
Goals 1310
Years 142016
Clubs 14Argentinos Juniors
Caps 1414
Goals 141
Nationalyears 12003–2010
Nationalteam 1Argentina
Nationalcaps 114
Nationalgoals 10
Manageryears 12021
Managerclubs 1Aldosivi (Assistant)
Manageryears 22021–2023
Managerclubs 2Racing Club (Assistant)
Manageryears 32024
Managerclubs 3Guadalajara (Assistant)
Pcupdate1 January 2016

Federico Insúa (born January 3, 1980) is an Argentine retired footballer who played 14 times for the Argentina national team. Usually a playmaker, he is well known for his vision and technique.

Club career

Early years

Nicknamed El Pocho, Insúa grew up in a middle-class family in Buenos Aires.[1] He moved to the youth teams of Argentinos Juniors from the Club Parque youth team, and debuted professionally on November 18, 1997.[2] After five seasons with the club, he transferred to Independiente in 2002. After winning a local championship with Independiente, he moved to Spanish first division Málaga CF in 2003, but after only one unsuccessful season he returned to Independiente.[1]

Boca Juniors

At the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Insúa again transferred, this time to Boca Juniors. He debuted for Boca in a 4–1 victory over Gimnasia de Jujuy. Even though he had a slow start, he succeeded in becoming Boca's playmaker, helping the team to win two league titles and two international cups by the end of 2006.

Germany and Mexico

On July 28, 2006, Insúa transferred for €4 million to German Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach, which hoped to fill a gap in its offensive midfield. The 26-year-old midfielder put pen to paper on a four-year deal. The Argentine international wore the number 10 shirt for Borussia.[1] On February 3, 2007, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a game against Arminia Bielefeld.

After the relegation of Borussia in the 2006–07 Bundesliga, he was sold to Club América (Mexico) for US$7.5 million, for four years, with a salary of US$1,875,000 a year. He joined the squad on June 27, 2007. On July 27, 2008, Insúa opened the 1–0 score against Santos Laguna on the first match of the Apertua 2008 season. In early January 2009 he was loaned to Necaxa, but he could not help the team avoid relegation.

On July 18, 2009, Insúa was loaned to Boca Juniors for one year. Once the loan finished, he signed with Bursaspor to a two-year deal on June 17, 2010.[3]

Return to Argentina

Insúa returned to Argentina for the 2012 Clausura, joining Vélez Sársfield. With Vélez he obtained his fourth Argentine league title (with three different teams) after helping his team to win the 2012 Inicial, starting all 19 games and scoring once.[4] He also won with Vélez the 2012–13 Superfinal and helped the team to a semi-finalist campaign in the 2013 Copa Sudamericana.

In January 2014, the attacking midfielder returned to Independiente when the team was playing in the Primera B Nacional. He signed an 18-month contract with the club.[5] He played few matches in the tournament mostly as a substitute and the team was promoted back to the first division at the end of the season. He couldn't gain a single minute of play with new manager Jorge Almirón and in October 2014 he was fired by president Hugo Moyano.[6]

Millonarios

At the end of 2014 Insúa was hired by Colombian team Millonarios to start playing in the 2015 Categoría Primera A season.[7]

International career

Insúa debuted for the Argentina national football team in January 2003 and played for them on a sporadic basis over the following years.

National team statistics

[8]

Argentina national team
YearAppsGoals
200340
200410
200510
200620
200720
200800
200920
201020
Total140

Honours

Independiente
Boca Juniors
Vélez Sársfield

References

  1. ^ Lustig, Jan (August 7, 2006). "Das Rätsel 'El Pocho'" (in German). kicker. 64: 16.
  2. ^ Dana, Fabio (August 8, 2005). "Insúa; ¿Nace un conductor xeneize?" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  3. ^ "Un Pocho turco" (in Spanish). Diario Olé. June 18, 2010. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  4. ^ "Inicial '12 statistics". Argentine Soccer. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2012.
  5. ^ "Quería ayudar y mostrar todo lo que puedo dar" (in Spanish). Clarín. January 29, 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  6. ^ "Moyano echó a Pocho Insúa" (in Spanish). Clarín. October 17, 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  7. ^ "El Pocho Insúa se fue a Colombia" (in Spanish). Clarín. December 17, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  8. ^