Sergio Aguero: 5 greatest moments from the Manchester City icon's career
Sergio Aguero was forced into an early retirement from football on Wednesday after being diagnosed with a heart problem. It had kept him out of action for the last three months.
Aguero only made the move from Manchester City to Barcelona six months ago but he could only make a handful of appearances for the La Liga giants. He experienced chest problems and breathing difficulties during Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Alavés on 30 October. He was then admitted to the hospital for cardiological tests.
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Aguero was emotional while announcing his retirement at Camp Nou. He wiped away tears as he bid farewell to the beautiful game in the presence of well-known personalities like Pep Guardiola, Joan Laporta and Xavi.
Aguero retires as one of the greatest strikers in Premier League history
Sergio Aguero is the Premier League's leading overseas goalscorer. He has found the back of the net 184 times, nine more than Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. He has the best minutes-per-goal ratio of any top-flight player with more than 20 goals and scored once every 108 minutes.
In just 10 seasons with the Cityzens, Aguero reached up to fourth place in the Premier League's all-time top scorers. Only Alan Shearer (260), Wayne Rooney (208) and Andrew Cole (187) have scored more than the Argentine.
The 33-year-old striker's exploits in front of goal could never be captured by words. Kun Aguero had a trophy-laden memorable career. As he looks ahead to the next chapter in his life away from the pitch, we take a look at five of his greatest moments.
Honorable mentions:
November 2017: Aguero surpassed Eric Brook’s 78-year record to become Manchester City's all-time top scorer across all competitions. He achieved the feat with a goal against Napoli in the Champions League.
May 2010: Aguero assisted Diego Forlan twice in the Europa League final with Atletico Madrid to lift his first major trophy at club level.
January 2020: Aguero scored the 12th hat-trick of his Premier League career to overtake Alan Shearer's long-standing record.
May 2015: Aguero scores 26 goals in the 2014-15 Premier League campaign to win his only Golden Boot award in the English top-flight.
#5 Impossible angle goal against Liverpool - February 2013
Sergio Aguero has scored a lot of goals in his career with quite a few of them being world-class strikes. None of them could quite match the audacity with which he scored the equalizing goal against Liverpool in the Premier League during the 2012-13 campaign.
It started with a misunderstanding between the then Reds goalkeeper Pepe Reina and defender Martin Skrtel. It saw the keeper rush out of his line to intercept a long pass directed towards Aguero. The Argentine forward beat him to the ball on the right-hand side of the box but the ball was now almost at the byline.
It seems no angle is impossible for @aguerosergiokun... 😱
#GoalOfTheDay https://t.co/L3UWM3mFGq
Aguero took the faintest of touches on the ball to open up a sliver of space to get the ball onto his right foot. In his stride, he executed a chipped finish from outside of the box into the back of the net. Given the angle and buildup to the goal, no wonder it was termed the impossible angle goal at that time.
#4 Youngest player to feature in the Argentine Primera Division - July 2003
Sergio Aguero was destined for greatness from the very start. Having joined the youth ranks of the Independiente at the age of nine, he showed great promise. He was handed his senior debut on the final day of the Argentine Primera Division in 2003 by coach Oscar Ruggeri.
The game was against San Lorenzo on 5 July 2003. Aguero was just 15 years and 35 days old as he stepped onto the pitch as a 69th-minute substitute. He became the youngest-ever player to play in the Argentine top-flight with that brief appearance. He broke a long-standing record held by none other than the legendary late Diego Maradona.
Aguero's record still stands intact after 19 years and it does not seem that it will be broken anytime soon, so his legacy continues.