Javier Alejandro Mascherano[needs Spanish IPA] 

(born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine

professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive
midfielder, most notably for Liverpool, Barcelona and the Argentina national team.
Mascherano began his career at River Plate, where he earned his first senior honours, the Argentine
Primera División, in 2003–04. He moved to Brazilian side Corinthians in 2005, winning the Brazilian
Série A in his first season. Mascherano then moved to Europe, signing for Premier
League side West Ham United, but his brief time at the club was blighted by unusual contract terms
with Global Soccer Agencies. At the beginning of 2007, he joined Liverpool on loan, reaching the
final of the UEFA Champions League, before he signed with the club for £18.7 million. After three
years playing for Liverpool, Mascherano joined Barcelona in 2010, where he changed his position of
defensive midfielder to full central defender. With Barcelona, he won five La Liga championships,
two UEFA Champions League titles, and two FIFA Club World Cups, among other honours.
Mascherano made 147 appearances for the Argentina national team and is the second
most capped player in the country's history (after Lionel Messi). From his debut in 2003 until his
retirement in 2018, he represented the nation at five Copa América tournaments, finishing runner-up
in 2004, 2007, 2015, and 2016, and four FIFA World Cups, reaching the 2014 final. He twice won
a gold medal at the Summer Olympics, in 2004 and 2008, becoming the first male footballer to
achieve this double feat since Hungarian defender Dezső Novák in 1968. Between 2008 and 2011,
Mascherano served as the captain of Argentina.

Club career[edit]
River Plate[edit]
Born in San Lorenzo, Santa Fe, Mascherano came through the youth ranks at River Plate in Buenos
Aires, Argentina. However, before making his club debut he made his name representing Argentina.
Mascherano won his first silverware when River won the 2003–04 Clausura championship. In the
2004 Copa Libertadores River reached the semi-final, but lost on penalties to arch-rivals Boca
Juniors. Around this time several clubs including Real Madrid,[6] and Deportivo La Coruña declared
an interest in signing Mascherano, but River Plate turned down all offers, saying that none of the
interested parties were prepared to pay enough.
2004–05 was not a successful season for River, finishing third in the Apertura Championship and
only tenth in the Clausura. In the Copa Libertadores River again lost in the semi-final, this time
to São Paulo. After the Confederations Cup in Germany, Brazilian club Corinthians acquired
Mascherano from River Plate for US$15 million.

Corinthians[edit]
The Brazilian Série A runs from April, so Mascherano joined Corinthians in mid-season. After playing
only nine games for his new club, in September 2005, Mascherano suffered a stress fracture to his
left foot causing him to miss the end of the season. He returned to Argentina to be operated on by
the national team doctor and recuperate.[7][8][9][10] Corinthians, however, still claimed the 2005 Série A
championship with the team captained by Mascherano's Argentine compatriot, Carlos Tevez.
In total, Mascherano was out of action for six months, only returning on 5 March 2006.[11] Corinthians
were forced to start their 2006 Copa Libertadores without Mascherano, but he returned in time for
the Round of 16 tie against River Plate, which Corinthians lost. The 2006 Brazilian Série A also went
badly for Corinthians, and at one stage they were battling against relegation. In June, the league
season was interrupted for the 2006 World Cup.
Although his performance drew the attention of European clubs, he stated his desire to remain with
Corinthians to help with the relegation battle, and postponed any transfer until January at the
earliest.[12] Hours before the northern summer 2006 transfer window closed, however, Mascherano
joined West Ham United for an undisclosed fee, along with teammate Carlos Tevez.[13]

West Ham United[edit]

During the summer of 2006, Mascherano was linked with top clubs around Europe; he stated he
would relish playing in Spain for Real Madrid or Barcelona, but eventually signed for West Ham
United in the English Premier League alongside Carlos Tevez. Mascherano holds an Italian passport
due to his ancestry from Sicily.[14]
The move to West Ham was seen as surprising, with many of Europe's top clubs having been linked
with Mascherano all summer. There were many rumours about the nature of the transfer, primarily
regarding Media Sports Investment's interest in buying-out West Ham. Rumours included
speculation as to whether West Ham truly owned the players, or whether a third party held their
registration, and also that if a high enough (£112 million was touted) offer was received West Ham
would be forced to sell.[15] (It has since been discovered that Mystere Services and Global Soccer
Agencies are the companies that owned Mascherano.)[16]
Before Mascherano joined, West Ham had won one game, drawn one and lost one. Upon his arrival,
however, the team went into free-fall, losing eight games and drawing one game in all competitions
before their next win on 29 October. During this time, Mascherano rarely featured in the team
despite their struggles, prompting rumours about financial clauses related to the amount of time he
actually played. In October, Argentina national coach Alfio Basile stated that he hoped Mascherano
would leave West Ham "as soon as possible", and, "I hope for God's sake that Mascherano can go
to Juventus."[17]
On 16 January 2007, Liverpool requested clearance from FIFA to take Mascherano on loan from
West Ham.[18] FIFA's rules state that no player can play for more than two clubs between 1 July and
30 June the following year as Mascherano had already played for both Corinthians and West Ham
during this time.
FIFA approved the deal on 31 January 2007.[19] However, although Liverpool submitted his
registration details before the midnight transfer deadline, the Premier League did not immediately
announce whether it would allow Mascherano to play for Liverpool, saying that it wanted to "take
time to satisfy itself with the proposed arrangements".[20]
In a further development, it was announced on 2 March that the Premier League were charging
West Ham with breaking rule B13, concerning acting in good faith, and rule U18, which concerns the
influence of third-party ownership.[21] On 27 April, the Premier League issued West Ham a world-
record fine of £5.5 million.[22]

Liverpool[edit]

Mascherano in a training session for Liverpool in 2008

On 10 February 2007, Liverpool added Mascherano to their UEFA Champions League squad and

gave him the number 20 shirt. Eventually, on 20 February 2007, Mascherano's move to Liverpool
became official after the Premier League accepted Liverpool's request to register the player
at Anfield.[23]
Mascherano made his debut for Liverpool against Sheffield United on 24 February 2007,[24] and was
praised by the Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez and team captain Steven Gerrard after Liverpool's
4–0 victory. After playing in a match against Arsenal on 31 March, Benítez called Mascherano a
"monster of a player".[25] Similarly, his teammates were impressed by his talent; Xabi Alonso noted
how mature a player he was for his age, saying, "He has a cool mind on the pitch. He is analysing
and thinking about the game in each moment."[6] Mascherano's first Champions League appearance
came in the quarter-final first leg away to PSV Eindhoven on 3 April. Hastily establishing himself as a
starter at the club, Mascherano played in the Champions League Final that year against Milan. He
and teammate Alonso were successful in stifling the creative play of both Kaká and Clarence
Seedorf for much of the match but Liverpool eventually succumbed to Milan, losing 2–1 at
the Olympic Stadium in Athens.[26] He was voted Liverpool's man of the match by the fans on the
official Liverpool website.[27]

Mascherano playing for Liverpool in 2010.

Following months of speculation, Mascherano signed a four-year permanent contract with Liverpool
on 29 February 2008, ending his association with Media Sports Investments.[28] The transfer
reportedly cost Liverpool £18.6 million,[29] and covered not only the transfer fee, but also the player's
wages for the four-year deal.[30] It was allowed to go through immediately as Mascherano was not
contracted to another club, making him exempt from the rules of the transfer window. He scored his
first Premier League and Liverpool goal on 15 March 2008, with a 20-yard strike against Reading.[31]
On 29 November 2009, Mascherano claimed the first goal in the 2–0 win
against Everton at Goodison Park when his 30-yard shot appeared to be heading just off target
before it took a wicked deflection off Joseph Yobo before finding the net. The goal officially went
down as an own goal.[32] In a match against Portsmouth on 19 December 2009, Mascherano was
sent off for committing a bad foul on Tal Ben Haim. It was later confirmed that the sending off meant
a four-match suspension for Mascherano. This was due to this being his second red card of the
season, Liverpool went on to lose the match 2–0.[33] Mascherano had the worst disciplinary record of
the 2009–10 Premier League season with seven yellow cards and two red.[34] He scored his first goal
of the season with a bullet of a shot from outside the area in the UEFA Europa
League against Unirea Urziceni away from home in a match Liverpool won 3–1 to secure their place
in the round of 16 of the competition with an aggregate win of 4–1.[35]
On 27 July 2010, after returning from a break after the 2010 World Cup, Mascherano informed new
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson that he wanted to leave the club.[36] During that break, Hodgson had
failed with several attempts to contact Mascherano, able only to leave messages for him saying that
he was looking forward to meeting him back on Merseyside as his calls went unreturned.[37]
Mascherano was held in high esteem by the Liverpool fans, who gave him his own song, (to the tune
of the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army").[38] After winning the 2011 Champions League Final with
Barcelona against Manchester United, Mascherano, speaking directly after the match, said, "I want
to say, I know that Liverpool supporters, after my exit, I know they were a little bit sad with me—this
is for them as well."[39][40]
Liverpool announced on 27 August that they had agreed a £17.25 million transfer fee with Barcelona
for the player and had given permission for him to speak with the Spanish club