Jun 02, 2021 at 06:30
HONOR
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Age can be and is a grade. Ask Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero, who was presented as the first signing of the 2021/22 season for Barça at the age of 32, although he turns 33 today. Henrik Larsson landed in Barcelona in 2004, too, at the age of 32. Both dressed as blaugrana being legends in their former teams and with more than contrasted careers.
17 years have passed between the signing of Henrik Larsson and ‘Kun’ Agüero, but the trajectories of the Swede and the Argentine have drawn parallel lines until they wear the elastic Blaugrana. Their signings took place at zero cost, since they arrived at Barça with their contracts terminated: Larsson with Celtic de Glasgow and Agüero with Manchester City. Likewise, both signed under the mandate of Joan Laporta for two seasons.
The Swedish striker was a fundamental piece in Frank Rijkaard’s Barça. He assumed his role as a supporting actor and with humility he won the affection of the fans and a place in the team’s rotations. A team with Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Giuly and a young Messi who was starting to emerge left little room for changes up front, but Larsson quietly struck a stone.
In 59 games he scored 19 goals and distributed two assists, the most memorable, without a doubt, those of the 2006 Champions League final against Arsenal. Larsson jumped onto the pitch in the absence of half an hour for the final whistle and assisted Samuel Eto’o in the 1-1 and was the author of the pass to Belletti in the final 1-2 that crowned the Blaugrana as European champions for the second time in its history.
Two legends who fall for goals
The legend of Agüero began to be forged in the Independent Athletic Club of Argentina, where he made his professional debut when he was only 15 years old. His great performances earned him a ticket to Europe where he joined the ranks of Atlético de Madrid. He spent five seasons there and was essential in achieving the first Europa League that the mattress team achieved in its history, that of the 2009/10 season..
Two years later he packed his bags for the Premier League to play for Manchester City. In England he elevated his status from great footballer to absolute legend. His innate scoring nose has allowed him to close his time at City as the team’s top scorer in history with 260 goals, as well as being the fourth top scorer in the history of the Premier League, winning the Golden Boot of the competition in 2015.. Especially remembered was the goal he scored against QRP in the discount on the last day that proclaimed City as League champion for the third time in its history, 42 years later.
Larsson doesn’t fall short either. The younger ones may not remember him, but the Swede began to make a name for himself in his native country in the late 1980s and early 1990s, playing for Högaborgs and Helsinborgs. He later joined Feyenoord to make the jump to Celtic Glasgow.
A 25-year football career allowed him to score 635 goals (300 of them for Celtic) in 774 games. An unusual regularity that allowed him to average 0.82 goals per game. These figures allowed him to win the Golden Boot as the top scorer of all the European leagues in 2001 and the trophy for top scorer in the Scottish league five times.
Weighed down by injuries
Larsson suffered a chilling injury in 1999: a broken tibia and fibula in his left leg. An injury that kept him off the pitch for almost a year. In his first season at Barça, he was out for six months due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. And if that was not enough, A fracture in the patella in his right knee forced him to hang up his boots at the age of 38, since the recovery time was two months. His body said enough.
The left knee of ‘Kun’ has also led him down the street of bitterness. In 2018 he underwent surgery to undergo arthroscopy. The same knee has prevented him from being 100% this past season, due to a tear in the meniscus, which left him absent from June to October. Later he was chaining some injuries, including the positive one in Covid-19, which made him miss 34 games last season.
Reunion in the new season?
The parallel paths of Larsson and Agüero could end up converging next season. The Swede is part of the Barça staff as the team’s third coach and assistant to Ronald Koeman. In the event that the Dutch coach fulfills the remaining year of his contract, the former Swedish striker would remain on the team’s coaching staff and would train and advise the Argentine..
Fate is a whim and could end up uniting two capitalized legends. Two players who had the goal as a penalty and who will defend the same colors.
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