Julian Alvarez has had a dream start to his career in professional-level soccer. The Argentine started his senior career at the Argentine club River Plate before catching the eye of Pep Guardiola who signed him for Premier League defending Champions Manchester City.
Manchester City, aynı yaz hem Julian Alvarez’i hem de Erling Haaland’ı kadrosuna kattı.
Çok iyi iş. pic.twitter.com/GnJbWSOaEv
— De Marke Sports (@demarkesports) December 13, 2022
After impressing at the domestic level, Alvarez was called up to the senior national team by Lionel Scaloni back in 2021. He scored his debut goal for his country in a draw against Ecuador.
Alvarez was named in La Albiceleste’s 26-man squad for the FIFA World Cup 2022. He jetted off to Qatar with the national side and never looked back.
Alvarez made his World Cup debut appearance as a substitute in the first game in which Argentina suffered a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia. He appeared as a substitute yet again against Mexico but failed to score.
FT : Poland 🇵🇱 0 v 2 🇦🇷 Argentina
❌ Messi 39′ (Gagal P)
⚽ Mac Allister 47′
⚽ Julian Alvarez 67′
–Tim Tango menuju 16 besar 💪 #FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022 #POL #ARG pic.twitter.com/HtuftisGkd
— Anyway_Football (@anyway_football) December 1, 2022
The debut goal for the promising youngster arrived in the last group stage match against Poland. This was also the game in which manager Lionel Scaloni started Alvarez for the first time in a World Cup game.
Since then, Alvarez has been preferred by his coach over veteran forwards Lautaro Martinez and Paolo Dybala.
Following his debut goal against Poland, the 22-year-old continued his form by netting the second goal in a 2-1 win against Australia. He then went on to score 2 more goals in yesterday’s semifinal game against Croatia.
Julian Alvarez named Lionel Messi his idol
Julian Alvarez has reportedly always been a fan of the beautiful game. He started young and developed his game at Atletico Calchin and the youth club of River Plate.
When he was 11 years old, the Argentine was asked a few questions on camera.
Now, as he represents his country in White and Blue, that video has resurfaced. Many of the things Alvarez said in that video are relevant to his unbelievable World Cup campaign with his country and his idol.
-¿Cuál es tu sueño?
-Jugar un Mundial
– ¿Y tu ídolo en el futbol?
-MessiJulián Álvarez. 11 años. 🇦🇷❤️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/8yRbe3fJPh
— Cecilia González (@ceciazul) December 13, 2022
When translated, the tweet reads:
“What is your dream?”
“(To) Play a World Cup”
“And your idol in soccer?”
“Messi”
Alvarez was asked about his dream and his idol in the said interview when he was 11.
He replied by saying that his dream was to play for Argentina in the World Cup, and mentioned that his idol was Lionel Messi. Luckily, young Julian was able to realize his lifelong dream and in another stroke of luck, he got to do it right alongside his idol.
Alvarez accomplished his World Cup dream at 22
When a 22-year-old kid is being talked up by the likes of Pep Guardiola and being preferred over Lautaro Martinez and Paolo Dybala by his national team coach, one can’t help but buy into the narrative that he is something special altogether.
Alvarez has silenced the questions raised over his selection of more experienced forwards. He has been in fine form this season for both club and country, reminding us why he is considered one of the most exciting prospects in soccer at the moment.
World Cup debut for Julián Álvarez and Enzo Fernández. 🇦🇷
Let’s Argentina this continues! pic.twitter.com/ww881fhUxL
— River Plate (@RiverPlateInEn) November 22, 2022
Alvarez debuted for his country in the World Cup nearly 4 years later than his idol did. Lionel Messi’s World Cup debut was when he was 18 years old. Alvarez, on the other hand, debuted at the age of 22, achieving his dream of playing for his country in the World Cup, 11 years after he first announced his dream in a video.
Even though Alvarez is not currently mentioned in the same breath as wonderkids of world soccer, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland, he is certainly one to monitor as it takes something special to score 4 goals inside the first 6 appearances in a debut World Cup!