Juan Sforza
Personal information
Full name Juan Sebastián Sforza
Date of birth (2002-02-14) 14 February 2002[1]
Place of birth Coronel Domínguez, Argentina
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder[3]
Team information
Current team
 Newell's Old Boys
Number 13
Youth career
Santa Teresita
Unión de Álvarez
Sarmiento
Fundación Messi
2015–2020 Newell's Old Boys
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Newell's Old Boys 43 (2)
International career
Argentina U15
2018–2019 Argentina U17 13 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 04:54, 26 April 2022 (UTC)

Juan Sebastián Sforza (born 14 February 2002) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Newell's Old Boys.[1][4]

Club career

Sforza began his career at the age of eight with Santa Teresita, before moving over to Unión de Álvarez and then Sarmiento.[3][5][4] He soon penned terms with Fundación Messi, an academy set up by Lionel Messi; Lionel's brother, Matías, became one of Sforza's agents in 2019.[3][6] In 2015, Sforza joined Newell's Old Boys.[7] He progressed through their academy for the next five years, notably captaining their reserves.[3] Sforza signed his first professional contract on 13 March 2019.[8] His breakthrough into the first-team wouldn't arrive for another twelve months, though would do so in late-2020 under manager Frank Darío Kudelka.[7]

Sforza's senior debut arrived on 19 December 2020 in a Copa de la Liga Profesional win away to Godoy Cruz, as the midfielder replaced Julián Fernández with four minutes remaining.[1] He had previously been an unused substitute five times in that competition.[1] His first career goal arrived soon after during a victory over Central Córdoba on 28 December.[1]

International career

Sforza represented Argentina at U15 and U17 level; as captain of both.[3] He was a part of the squad that won the 2017 South American U-15 Championship on home soil, as he netted goals against invitees Czech Republic and, in the semi-finals, Peru.[3] After appearing for the U17s in a friendly with the United States in 2018, the midfielder was selected by Pablo Aimar in 2019 for the South American U-17 Championship in Peru and FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil.[1][3] He scored once, versus Uruguay, in eight appearances at the former as they won the trophy, before featuring four times at latter as they reached the round of sixteen.[1]

Personal life

Born in Argentina, Sforza is of Italian descent.[9]

Career statistics

As of 28 December 2020.[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Newell's Old Boys 2020–21[nb 1] Primera División 211000—0031
Career total 211000—0031

    Honours

    Argentina U15[3]
    Argentina U17[1]

    Notes

    1. ↑ Soccerway counts Copa de la Liga Profesional appearances as league appearances.

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Argentina - J. Sforza". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
    2. ↑ "Juan Sebastián Sforza" (in Spanish). Newell's Old Boys. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Rosarino, de Newell's y con el Barcelona de Messi atento a su actuación en el Mundial: Juan Sforza, el capitán de la Selección Sub 17 que aprendió a jugar con una sonrisa". Infobae. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
    4. 1 2 "Juan Sforza". World Football. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
    5. ↑ "Barcelona to sign Newell's golden boy Juan Sforza". AS. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
    6. ↑ "El hermano de Messi debuta como representante: maneja a un juvenil de Newell's que es figura de la Selección Sub 17". Infobae. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
    7. 1 2 "Newell´s renovó a Juan Sforza hasta 2023". Newell's Old Boys. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
    8. ↑ "Juan Sebastián Sforza, Valentín Benítez y Martín Bellotti, los tres juveniles de Newell's que firmaron su primer contrato y representarán a Argentina". Newell's Old Boys. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
    9. ↑ 🖉"Da Capaldo e Valentini a Maestro Puch: tutti gli oriundi nel mirino di Mancini per l'Italia - TUTTOmercatoWEB.com". www.tuttomercatoweb.com.
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