Claudio Echeverri He is 17 years old. This Friday, December 1st, Exactly 17 years, 10 months and 28 days. He shone at the Under-17 World Cup in Indonesia, scoring five goals in six games, including a hat-trick against Brazil in the quarter-finals. His youth, boldness and dribbling are exciting. Pure Argentinian DNA.pure pasture. You have to go with the flow and grow, that’s true, but comparisons are inevitable. A question arises: What did Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi do when they were the same age as Diablito?
The River Plate gem has played just four competitive matches for her club. Playing time is only 72 minutes. He still has no goals and assists. Martín Demichelis shined in the South American tournament and made his debut on June 22 against Racing.
A few days ago, after the draw with Instituto, the coach explained why Echeverri had so little playing time: “It is a rough diamond waiting to be enhanced. He is very talented and very intelligent. But the first phase was very difficult on his body. “Playing with 16-year-old boys is not the same as playing in the reserves or in the First Division.”.
Demichelis emphasized the growth of the child: “Spending time with leaders and intense training has allowed Claudio to improve a lot physically and technically, just keep giving him the ball because he will evolve on his own to where he is now in the World Cup.I’m very happy for him, for Subiabre, for Mastantono, for Ruberto… we have to be with them closely as they grow up“.
He justified the wait by comparing his case to that of Julian Alvarez: “He debuted in 2018 and became a starter in 2021“. Of course, although spider At the age of 18, he played in the Copa Libertadores final against Boca in Madrid and won.
In addition to four official matches, Echeverri also played a friendly match against River Plate. instead, His best statistics came with the youth team, where he scored 12 goals in 26 games since March 15, 2022When he made his debut against the United States (2-1) at Ezeiza Stadium, he amazed everyone with his individual performance. In the World Cup, he scored 5 goals in 6 games. In South America, he scored 5 goals in 8 games (and sent 3 assists), and in 12 friendly matches with other teams. Score 2 more goals. He also participated in several preparatory matches against clubs including River Plate.
Diego Maradona, as precocious as the rest
Diego Maradona’s statistics are unmatched by any football player as of September 30, 1978, when he was 17 years, 10 months and 28 days old.. Even for Messi.Therefore, evolution little devil It probably has more to do with Lionel than Diego.
By then, golden boyone of the nicknames at the time, He scored 37 goals in 83 official games for Argentina A month away from being crowned top scorer in Serie A for the first time, he achieved that goal and will continue to hold the record in the history of Argentine football. In addition, he scored three goals in ten friendly matches.
His love affair with the national team began on November 10, 1976, when he was only 16 years and 11 days old., against the Rosario Youth Team in the Argentina-Peru qualifiers in Vélez. When I was young, He scored 7 goals in 7 games, 6 goals in 4 friendlies and 1 goal in Venezuela’s three South American matches.In April 1977, Argentina failed to qualify for the first Youth World Cup in Tunisia.
although, On February 27, 1977, he made his first appearance for the national team in “Candy Box” Older in the friendly against Hungary (5-1). That year, until September, he added two more meetings. In the middle, César Luis Menotti left him out of the final list of 22 players who played and won the 78th World Cup.
Leo Messi and late bursts
Lionel Messi has scored 821 goals since making his debut for Barcelona in October 2004 at the age of 17.but He had it only once, on May 23, 2005, when he was 17 years, 10 months and 28 days oldlike now little devil Echeverri. That was against Albacete on May 1st. He only played 9 games and 238 minutes.
Two days ago on May 21, he played his last game for Barcelona B in the Spanish Football Promotion Group (4-0 victory over Osasuna B). Previously, he also played in the Barcelona C team. Older for some in these categories, but younger for Leo, who has scored 11 goals in 32 games for Cure (5 in 10 games for Barcelona C Goals, 6 goals in 22 games for Barcelona C) B).
He has yet to make his senior debut and is not a world champion with the Dutch U20 team. (today’s Netherlands). On June 29, 2004, he made his debut for the Argentinian youth team in the famous match against Paraguay (8-0), entering the second half and scoring a goal. Then, in another friendly against Uruguay (2-1), he scored twice. Finally, he participated in the South American Championship in Colombia, playing 9 times and scoring 5 goals.
It’s unclear how far the young Argentinian star will go. But for his performance in Indonesia, especially after his hat-trick against Brazil, Eight European clubs are already interested in him. It has a €25m release clause but River Plate know they must sign a new contract as soon as possible. He is young, he is now, he is the future of Argentine football.