One by one: the 8 youth who have everything to be the figures in the return of Argentine football

Matias Garcia

10/20/2020 1:24 PM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 10/20/2020 1:58 PM

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that affected the whole world and, in particular, destabilized the foundations of Argentina's economy, the clubs were affected by one of the largest exodus of footballers, who arrived abroad in search of foreign currencies.

In this way,

.

Among the promises that have an encouraging future and the young people who are already going through a great present, stand out Julián Álvarez, in River;

Benjamin Garré, from Racing;

Thiago Almada, from Velez;

Alan Velasco, from independent;

Agustín Urzi, from Banfield;

Pedro de la Vega, from Lanús;

Matías Palacios, from San Lorenzo;

and Gastón Ávila, from Boca.

Since his official debut at River, on October 27, 2018 in the 1-0 victory against Aldosivi at the Monumental, Julián Álvarez has become one of Marcelo Gallardo's favorite players, who has repeatedly shown that he hits more than what is wrong.

With only two games in the First Division, he entered instead of Exequiel Palacios during the first overtime of the historic final of the Copa Libertadores 2018 that was played between River and Boca, at the Santiago Bernabeu in Spain.

Since then, the 20-year-old forward who plays winger on the right began to add minutes and establish himself in Núñez's club, until the coronavirus pandemic suspended sports competitions worldwide.

However, far from playing against him,

.

Before the virus appeared, he had accumulated three goals and three assists in 26 games with the River shirt.

After the restart of activities, he won a place in the starting lineup alongside Rafael Santos Borré and Matías Suárez and has four goals in three games, all for the Copa Libertadores.

In the 2-2 draw against São Paulo in Brazil, he contributed a goal and an assist;

in the 6-0 win against Deportivo Binacional in Peru, he scored a goal;

and in the home victory (at Independiente's court) by 2-1 against the Brazilian team, he scored a double.

The young man from Calchín, Córdoba,

: in the South American Sub 20 of Chile 2019, he won the runner-up (he scored four goals in nine games);

In the 2020 South American Pre-Olympic in Colombia, he contributed four goals in seven games and won the gold medal, and in the 2019 Under-20 World Cup in Poland, he scored three goals in four games.

After the double friendly that Vélez played against Estudiantes de La Plata in the preview of the restart of Argentine football after the coronavirus pandemic, it was confirmed that

during the next season.

Charming, dribbler and daring, the 19-year-old footballer is one of the jewels with a promising future of the Liniers team.

In total, he has 46 games and nine goals.

The last goal he scored is a test of his personality: in the last minute of the match against Aucas of Ecuador, for the South American Cup, he took charge of the penalty that would determine if Vélez advanced to the next instance of the continental competition or if he was eliminated in first round.

His official debut was on August 10, 2018 in the 2-0 victory against Newell's Old Boys in the Super League.

In this way, he became the first Fortín player born in the new century to make his debut in the First Division.

The footballer born in Fuerte Apache, where he meets one of his idols Carlos Tevez, has a contract until June 2023 and

A native of Olavarría, Pedro de la Vega spent his childhood at the Ferrocarril Sud club. In 2012 he traveled to Buenos Aires to try his luck at River and Boca.

Neither club accepted him, unlike Lanús, who gave him a place in his pension.

In 2017, when he was playing in Seventh, he received the award given by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to the "Outstanding youth player".

Without even going through a reserve, he

, in the 1-0 defeat against Racing.

Since then, he has accumulated 32 official matches and five goals in the Garnet.

Thanks to the hierarchy and demonstrated talent, he was summoned by Fernando Batista to play the 2019 South American Sub 20 that was played in Chile.

There, he added minutes in the nine games played by the selected runner-up that achieved qualification for the Youth World Cup in Poland.

Although he has a contract with Lanús until June 2023, several teams in Europe follow the 19-year-old youth closely.

Among them, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City and Marcelo Bielsa's Leed United, recently promoted to the Premier League.

Agustín Urzi came to the Banfield youth team in 2008 and began training with the reserve at the age of 17.

On December 1, 2018, led by Julio César Falcioni, he made his professional debut in the 1-0 loss to Argentinos Juniors.

Since 2019, with Hernán Crespo as the club's technical director, the 19-year-old began to establish himself in the starting team.

In total, he

(against Atlético Tucumán and Newell's).

"

, defined himself the footballer who has a contract with the South institution until June 2023 and his termination clause is 20 million euros.

Although his start with the Argentina Under 19 National Team was not the best (expulsion in the semifinal against Uruguay at the 2018 South American Games in Bolivia), he was later summoned by Fernando Batista to play the friendlies prior to the World Cup in Poland, where he later started in the four games that the Argentine national team played.

In addition, he became champion in the 2020 Colombia Pre-Olympic with the Argentina Under 23 National Team (he played six games and scored a goal) and in the Lima 2019 Pan American Games (he scored a goal in the final against Honduras).

At 16 years, four months and 11 days, Matías Palacios became

.

So far, he has only accumulated 62 minutes in two games with the Boedo team shirt: with Patronato in 2018 for the Super League (his debut) and against Estudiantes de San Luis in 2019, for the Argentine Cup.

However, despite his limited participation in the professional team, he was already shielded with a contract until June 30, 2022 and a

.

In addition, he started in the preseason friendlies and scored the only goal in the victory over Talleres de Córdoba.

A native of General Pico, La Pampa, Palacios tried himself first at Talleres de Córdoba, although he left because he didn't feel like it.

Then he tried Velez, but they told him that "he was overweight," as he recalled.

It was then that San Lorenzo opened the doors of the club for him.

In 2019, he appeared among

lists under the title of “The Next Generation”.

On the other hand, he also stood out every time he put on the shirt of the Argentine National Team: he was champion in the South American Sub 15 of 2007 that was played in Argentina and in the South American Sub 17 of 2019 that was played in Peru, where he scored three goals and was the team's top scorer with Matías Godoy.

Benjamín Garré has an enviable resume: he made inferiors at Vélez;

At 16 he traveled to England to play in Manchester City (14 goals and seven assists in 61 games with the youth of the English team);

, Pep Guardiola;

He was part of the squad of the Argentine National Teams Sub 15, Sub 17 and Sub 20;

in the South American Sub 15 that was played in Colombia in 2015, he scored two goals in six games and obtained third place;

He traveled to the 2018 World Cup in Russia as a sparring partner for the senior team and got a photo with Lionel Messi;

and at the beginning of 2020,

.

Since he arrived at the Avellaneda club, the grandson of Óscar Garré, world champion in Mexico 1986, played seven games.

Five of them were for the Copa Libertadores (he scored a goal in the victory against Alianza Lima in Peru 2-0) and one for the Football Super League (he provided an assist in the 2-1 victory against Estudiantes de La Plata).

"I am a multifunctional footballer who plays for both wings. I am an attacker with versatility to move up or hook.

myself

", the young man from 20 years.

He debuted on May 28, 2019 at the hands of Ariel Holan, who made him add minutes in the 2-0 victory against Rionegro Águilas Doradas, in Avellaneda, for the round of 16 of the South American Cup.

Although he only played 261 minutes in ten games with the shirt of the team led by Lucas Pusineri, he managed to show off all his talent in the play that allowed Independiente to stay alive in the Copa Sudamericana 2019. It was on February 27, in Brazil, when Rojo lost 2-0 to Fortaleza and was being eliminated from the international tournament: the 18-year-old

that allowed Avellaneda's team to advance thanks to the visitor's goal.

“It was very important in qualifying against Fortaleza, as he made the momentous move.

”said Ricardo Bochini, an authorized word at the club.

During the stoppage of Argentine soccer, Velasco, who moves on the right side of the court, added minutes in the friendlies against Gimnasia and Esgrima La Plata, Morón and Banfield.

As for his game, what better than the definition of the footballer?

“I like to play extreme and I like to start from the outside, but I also like to ask for it in the middle.

I like to look for the one hand to hand, to arrive at the area ”.

Gastón Ávila arrived in Boca at the beginning of 2019, from Rosario Central, in a transfer that was around two million dollars for 60% and a purchase obligation of 40%.

The 19-year-old left-handed central defender

who stood out in the same position: the club's sports director, Nicolás Burdisso, who was key in his incorporation, and Rolando Schiavi, who had him under his command in the reservation.

Although the high sum that Boca paid for the youth who did not even have a contract in the Rosario team generated criticism, the footballer himself was in charge of clearing them in his debut in the Reserve: he scored a header goal against Lanús and shortly after he returned against Atlético Tucumán.

.

Later, he suffered a torn ACL and it was difficult for him to regain a place on the team.

Finally, he

.

After the stoppage due to the pandemic, Ávila participated in the friendly against Estudiantes de Río Cuarto and once again demonstrated his scoring ability, thanks to a frentazo that impacted inside the area.

MFV