Enzo Pérez
Pérez with Valencia in 2015 | ||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Enzo Nicolás Pérez Seguí[1] | |||||||||||
Date of birth | 22 February 1986 | |||||||||||
Place of birth | Maipú, Argentina | |||||||||||
Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)[2] | |||||||||||
Playing position | Midfielder | |||||||||||
Club information | ||||||||||||
Current team | Valencia | |||||||||||
Number | 8 | |||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||
1996–2003 | Deportivo Maipú | |||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||
2003–2007 | Godoy Cruz | 84 | (12) | |||||||||
2007–2011 | Estudiantes | 119 | (14) | |||||||||
2011–2014 | Benfica | 70 | (9) | |||||||||
2012 | → Estudiantes (loan) | 13 | (0) | |||||||||
2015– | Valencia | 34 | (0) | |||||||||
National team‡ | ||||||||||||
2009– | Argentina | 18 | (1) | |||||||||
Honours
| ||||||||||||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 May 2016. |
Enzo Nicolás Pérez Seguí (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈenso ˈpeɾes]; born 22 February 1986) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Spanish club Valencia CF and the Argentina national team.
He played four years for Benfica in Portugal, where he won five major titles, most notably the domestic treble in the 2013–14 season, and reached two consecutive UEFA Europa League finals.
Club career
Early career
Born in Maipú, Mendoza, Pérez began his career in Deportivo Maipú, like his father, and started his professional playing career with Godoy Cruz, where he wrote his name into club history by scoring a fifth-minute goal in the 1–1 draw with Belgrano on 9 September 2006. This was the first goal ever scored by Godoy Cruz in the Argentine first division. In total, he scored 12 goals in his career at Godoy Cruz, most coming from penalties. In 2007, Pérez joined Estudiantes de La Plata, where he finished as runner-up with the team in the 2008 Copa Sudamericana. He was then a first team regular in the team that won the 2009 Copa Libertadores.
Benfica
On 8 June 2011, Pérez signed a five-year contract with Portuguese club Benfica for a fee rumored to be around €5.5 million for his full rights from Estudiantes.[3] After a serious knee injury sustained in the Champions League qualifiers, Pérez was loaned back to Estudiantes for six months on 9 February 2012.[4]
On 27 July 2012, at the Eusébio Cup, Pérez scored a long-range goal against Real Madrid from a tight angle to complete a 5–2 win.[5]
In the 2012–13 season, Pérez was successfully converted into a central midfielder, partnering with Nemanja Matić,[6] assuming a central role in the team.
In the 2013–14 season, his influence was further increased after the departure of Matić to Chelsea on 15 January 2014, becoming a vital piece in Benfica's domestic treble (Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga) and their second consecutive Europa League Final. Pérez, however, was not present in the eventual loss on penalties (4–2) to Sevilla in the final, having picked up a suspension in the semi-final against Juventus on 1 May 2014.[7][8] His performances attracted attention from other clubs,[9] while Benfica manager Jorge Jesus named Pérez his side's most difficult player to replace and the "brain" of the team.[10][11] On 6 July 2014, Pérez won the Player of the Year award.[12]
In the beginning of the 2014–15 season, Pérez won the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, thus winning all four Portuguese titles with Benfica in the 2014 calendar year.
Valencia
On 2 January 2015, Spanish La Liga club Valencia CF signed Pérez[13][14] for a transfer fee of €25 million,[15] the tenth-highest ever fee for an Argentine player.[16] On 4 January, he debuted for Valencia in a home win over Real Madrid (2–1) in La Liga.[17]
International career
Pérez made his Argentina senior squad debut on 30 September 2009 under then-manager Diego Maradona[18] in a friendly match against Ghana,[19] an eventual 2–0 victory for the Albicelestes.
On 2 June 2014, Pérez was called up for the 2014 FIFA World Cup by manager Alejandro Sabella.[20] After midfielder Ángel Di María sustained an injury in the quarter-finals, Pérez started in his placed in both the semi-final and final against Germany, which Argentina lost 1–0 after extra time.[21][22]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 21 May 2016[23]
Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | International1 | Other2 | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Estudiantes | 2007–08 | 10 | 2 | — | 3 | 0 | 13 | 2 | |||||
2008–09 | 25 | 4 | — | 15 | 2 | 40 | 6 | ||||||
2009–10 | 30 | 4 | — | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 5 | ||||
2010–11 | 33 | 5 | — | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 5 | ||||
2011–12 | 14 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||||
Total | 112 | 15 | — | 36 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 152 | 18 | ||||
Benfica | 2011–12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
2012–13 | 28 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | — | 47 | 4 | ||
2013–14 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | — | 47 | 5 | ||
2014–15 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 1 | |
Total | 70 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 117 | 10 | |
Valencia | 2014–15 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |||||
2015–16 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | |||
Total | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | ||
Career total | 216 | 24 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 74 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 229 | 28 |
1International competitions include the Copa Libertadores, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
2Other competitions include the FIFA Club World Cup, Recopa Sudamericana and Portuguese Supercup.
International
International appearances
- As of match played 16 November 2016[24]
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Argentina | 2009 | 2 | 0 |
2010 | 1 | 0 | |
2011 | 2 | 1 | |
2012 | 1 | 0 | |
2013 | 1 | 0 | |
2014 | 9 | 0 | |
2016 | 2 | 0 | |
Total | 18 | 1 |
Honours
Club
- Godoy Cruz
- Estudiantes
- Copa Libertadores: 2009
- Argentine Primera División: 2010 Apertura
- FIFA Club World Cup: Runner-up 2009
- Recopa Sudamericana: Runner-up 2010
- Benfica
- Primeira Liga: 2013–14, 2014–15[25]
- Taça de Portugal: 2013–14
- Taça da Liga: 2013–14
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2014
- UEFA Europa League: Runner-up 2012–13, 2013–14
International
- Argentina
- FIFA World Cup: Runner-up 2014
- Superclásico de las Américas: Runner-up 2014
Individual
References
- ↑ "Valencia: El Valencia lució el apellido materno en sus camisetas" [The players wore maternal surenames in their jerseys]. AS.com. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
- ↑ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. 11 June 2014. p. 2. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ↑ "Águias compram metade do passe de Enzo Pérez". A Bola. 10 June 2011.
- ↑ "Enzo Pérez emprestado ao Estudiantes da Argentina". desporto.pt.msn.com. 9 February 2012.
- ↑ "Eusébio Cup: Benfica-Real Madrid, 5–2 (crónica)". Maisfutebol. 27 July 2012.
- ↑ "Jorge Jesus: a tentação do abismo". futebolportugal.clix.pt. 2 February 2013.
- ↑ "Juventus 0–0 Benfica". BBC Sport. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ↑ "Benfica: o que acontece quando Enzo Pérez não joga?". maisfutebol. 12 February 2014.
- ↑ "Manchester United battle Valencia to land €30m Benfica midfielder Enzo Perez". 101greatgoals.com. June 2, 2014.
- ↑ "Enzo tem um caráter muito forte". desporto.sapo. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
- ↑ "Jorge Jesús: "Enzo Pérez será el más difícil de sustituir"". plazadeportiva.com. 2 June 2014.
- ↑ "Enzo Perez eleito melhor jogador da época passada" [Enzo elected Best Player of 2013–14] (in Portuguese). MaisFutebol. 6 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
- ↑ "Comunicado" [Announcement] (PDF). S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). CMVM. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
- ↑ "Presentación oficial de Enzo Pérez como nuevo jugador del Valencia CF" [Official presentation of Enzo Pérez as new player of Valencia CF] (in Spanish). Valencia CF. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
- ↑ "Comunicado" [Announcement] (PDF). S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). CMVM. 29 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
- ↑ "Enzo Pérez é o 10.º argentino mais caro da história" [Enzo Pérez is the 10th most expensive Argentine in history]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 31 December 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
- ↑ "Valencia vs. Real Madrid - 4 January 2015 - Soccerway". Soccerway. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- ↑ "Maradona deu a mão a Enzo Pérez". Jornal Record. 8 June 2011.
- ↑ "Los 19 para Ghana". Diario Olé. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ↑ "Enzo Pérez confirmado no Mundial". noticiasaominuto.com. 2 June 2014.
- ↑ "Netherlands Argentina Match report". FIFA.com.
- ↑ "Germany Argentina Match report". FIFA,com.
- ↑ Enzo Pérez profile at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
- ↑ Enzo Pérez at National-Football-Teams.com
- ↑ Cunha, Pedro Jorge (17 May 2015). "Benfica bicampeão: 28 com as faixas e dois à espera" [Benfica back-to-back champion: 28 with the sashes and two await] (in Portuguese). Maisfutebol. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ↑ "Prémios da Liga: Veja quem são os vencedores" [League awards: See who are the winners] (in Portuguese). zerozero. 6 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Enzo Pérez. |
- Valencia official profile
- Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI (Spanish)
- Enzo Pérez profile at ForaDeJogo
- Enzo Pérez – FIFA competition record
- Enzo Pérez – UEFA competition record