Juan Pablo Sorín
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Juan Pablo Sorín (born May 5, 1976 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentinian football player who, as of 2006, is playing for Villarreal in the Spanish La Liga. He is a much-travelled player, having spent time in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Italy and France. He is captain of the Argentinian team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
He has an eccentric style of play and, despite being played in defensive roles, is often found up front attacking, using his heading skill to great effect.
Biography
Born to an Argentinian Jewish family, Sorín began his career playing in the lower-reaches of the Argentine league for Argentinos Juniors, a Buenos Aires football club. He broke into the first team in 1994 and in 95-96, he was bought by Juventus of Italy but he rarely played for Juve and soon returned to Argentina.In 1996, Sorín played for River Plate, and revived his career, winning three Torneos Apertura championships (1996, 1997 y 1999), one Clausura championship (1997), one Copa Libertadores de América in 1996 and a Supercopa Sudamericana in 1997.
In 2000, he was transferred to Cruzeiro of Brazil. He played for two and a half seasons, winning the Copa do Brasil and becoming one of the most cherished players by the fans up to this day.
After a season and a half at Lazio in Italy, Sorin was acquired by FC Barcelona. He made his Spanish League debut on February 9, 2003. The match was between FC Barcelona and Athletic and ended 2-2.
In the summer of 2003, he left the Nou Camp and moved to France to play for Paris Saint-Germain, where he won the Coupe de France.
In 2004, he returned to Cruzeiro but was later transferred to Villarreal of Spain, where he is currently playing. Sorín has enjoyed a good deal of success with Villarreal, helping them reach the semi-finals of the Champions League where they were beaten by Arsenal.
Sorín has also written a book called Grandes Chicos to raise funds for the building of a school and a childrens' hospital in Argentina.
World Cups
Sorín was part of the Argentina national football team squad in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan. The team played three matches against Nigeria, England and Sweden. However the team fared badly, losing to England and failing to reach the second round of the tournament.
The Argentine squad has since been rebuilt by José Pekerman and Sorín was made captain of his country for 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Sorín played an important role in the World Cup, creating dangers in opposing side's defence. Argentina qualified for the second round after taking care of Netherlands and crushing Serbia & Montenegro 6-0. Argentina went on to the quarter-finals where they lost to hosts Germany in a penalty-shoot out.
External links
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